Data Warehouse Center Application Integration Guide

Default properties for all object types

The Information Catalog Manager provides a set of default properties for the generic object type. These default properties serve as the base for any user-defined tables. Some properties are generated by the Information Catalog Manager; some are required; and some are optional.

FLGID

An ID, generated by the Information Catalog Manager, that uniquely identifies an instance.

The FLGID ID is 16 digits, with the first 6 digits used for the object type ID (OBJTYPID) and the next 10 digits used for the instance ID (INSTIDNT). FLGID has the following format:

Figure 26. FLGID Format

Name

Name of the step. The name can be used on glossary, news queries, and other objects. This is a required property, and it is not nullable. It is displayed in the Information Catalog Manager windows.

UPDATIME

A system time stamp that indicates the date and time of the creation or last update to the instance.

UPDATEBY

The user ID of the information catalog administrator or user with special privileges who last updated the instance. For Attachment objects, this field can be the user ID of an information catalog user.

Default property summary

The information catalog administrator can use the predefined template to create an object type. The information catalog administrator can append attributes to the template to customize it for the organization. The predefined template has several optional fields. Table 76 shows the default properties.

Table 76. Default properties of the predefined template

Column name Data type Description Nullable NLS
OBJTYPID CHAR(6) A six-digit object type ID, generated by the Information Catalog Manager, that represents a specific object type. No SBCS
INSTIDNT CHAR(10) The unique instance ID generated by the Information Catalog Manager. It is the second part of the FLGID, the 10-digit serial number that uniquely identifies this instance within its own object type. No SBCS
NAME VARCHAR(80) This name is entered by the information catalog user to identify each user-defined object instance in the product. No Both SBCS and DBCS
UPDATIME CHAR (26) The date and time of metadata creation or last update. This value is generated by the Information Catalog Manager. No SBCS
UPDATEBY CHAR(8) The user ID of the information catalog administrator or user with special update privileges who last updated the instance. For attachment objects this field might be the user ID of the information catalog user. This value is generated by the Information Catalog Manager. No Both SBCS and DBCS
Note:
NLS: National Language Support
SBCS: Single Byte Character Set
DBCS: Double Byte Character Set

Column name	Data type	Description	Nullable	NLS
OBJTYPID	CHAR(6)	A six-digit object type ID, generated by the Information Catalog Manager, that represents a specific object type.	No	SBCS
INSTIDNT	CHAR(10)	The unique instance ID generated by the Information Catalog Manager. It is the second part of the FLGID, the 10-digit serial number that uniquely identifies this instance within its own object type.	No	SBCS
NAME	VARCHAR(80)	This name is entered by the information catalog user to identify each user-defined object instance in the product.	No	Both SBCS and DBCS
UPDATIME	CHAR (26)	The date and time of metadata creation or last update. This value is generated by the Information Catalog Manager.	No	SBCS
UPDATEBY	CHAR(8)	The user ID of the information catalog administrator or user with special update privileges who last updated the instance. For attachment objects this field might be the user ID of the information catalog user. This value is generated by the Information Catalog Manager.	No	Both SBCS and DBCS
Note: NLS: National Language Support SBCS: Single Byte Character Set DBCS: Double Byte Character Set

Guidelines for extendible objects types

An object type is extendible if it can be changed. An object type category is extendible if other objects can be added to it. Most Information Catalog Manager objects are extendible including PROGRAMS, QUERY, IMAGE, REPORT, business group (BUSNSGP), TABLES, COLUMNS, GLOSSARY, CONTACTS, and NEWS. The COMMENTS object type is not extendible. The Programs and Attachments categories are not extendible.
All Information Catalog Manager objects are organized into the following categories:

Elemental (E)
An object type that cannot have any objects within it, for example, REPORT, QUERY, and IMAGE objects.
Grouping (G)
An object type that can contain other Grouping or Elemental objects, for example, INFOGRPS, and TABLES object types.
Program (P)
An executable object type, for example, the PROGRAMS object type.
Contact (C)
A special object type used to identify a person or organization to contact if a question arises about another object, for example, the CONTACTS object type.
Dictionary (D)
An object type that helps the user find the definition or synonyms of the terminology used in the user's business environment, for example, the GLOSSARY object type.
Support (S)
An object type that provides additional information about the information catalog or business environment, for example, the NEWS object type.
Attachment (A)
An object type that is used to attach additional information to another object, for example, the COMMENTS object type.

The process used to create, delete, and update object types is identical for all object types, except for the PROGRAMS and COMMENTS object types.
The PROGRAMS object type is predefined by the Information Catalog Manager and is the only object type used within the Program category. You cannot create another object type under the Program category, and you cannot delete the PROGRAMS object type.
The COMMENTS object type is predefined by the Information Catalog Manager and is the only object type used within the Attachment category. You cannot create another object type under the Attachment category, and you cannot delete the COMMENTS object type.
With a new object type such as VIDEO or AUDIO, you can create your own object type, if the DPname of the object type is unique within the Information Catalog Manager.
All objects must include a universal unique identifier, UUI, as part of their object type definition. The UUI is used to compare with a similar identifier in the target information catalog during the import process.
If the property has a data type such as LONG VARCHAR, the Information Catalog Manager will automatically put the property and its metadata into a separate overflow table and split the property into smaller segments so a user can search for it. The search will proceed slowly because of the size of the property.
The Information Catalog Manager supports five data types:

CHAR
A fixed character string, up to 254 characters.
VARCHAR
A variable-length character string, up to 4000 characters. The maximum length of a row of a table is also 4000.
LONG VARCHAR
A variable-length character string, up to 32700 characters.
The Information Catalog Manager keeps metadata of this type in a separate table and divides the metadata into smaller segments so that you can search for the string. When the metatdata is retrieved, the Information Catalog Manager puts the segments back together.
TIMESTAMP
A seven-part value that consists of year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and microsecond in a character string of 26 bytes. It has the format yyyy-mm-dd-hh.mm.ss.nnnnnn.
LONG VARCHAR FOR BIT DATA
Binary data such as a bitmap.

Relation types

The Information Catalog Manager supports the following types of relationships that are created and deleted through the same FLGRelation API. Different APIs, such as FLGNavigate, FLGWhereUsed, and FLGListContacts are used to access each type of the relationship. These APIs call their corresponding IPIs to complete the user's request.
1. Contains (C)
  For example: a hierarchical business structure or a relational table to the relational columns.
  This relation is retrieved by APIs such as FLGNavigate and FLGWhereUsed.
2. Contact (T)
  For example: the name of a person providing services for specified objects.
  The FLGListContacts API is used to access this relation.
3. Attaches relationship (A)
  For example: comments for a specified object.
  The FLGListAssociates and FLGFoundIn API are used to retrieve this relation.
4. Link relationship (L)
  A grouping or elemental category object type instance can link to any other grouping or elemental category object type instance.
  The FLGListAssociates API is used to retrieve this relation.
The relation rules based on the Information Catalog Manager defined categories are described in Logical metadata model.

Objects are not required to have relationships. You can find all objects by using the Information Catalog Manager windows (see the Information Catalog Manager Administration Guide), the FLGSearch API, or by viewing the FLG.NAMEINST table. See the Information Catalog Manager Programming Guide and Reference for more information on Information Catalog Manager APIs. See FLG.NAMEINST table for information on the FLG.NAMEINST table.

Relation instance

If there is a relation between two object instances, this instance-to-instance relation is added to the relation instance table.

The table has the following format:

.--------------.---------------.-------.
| FLGID of     | FLGID of      |RelType|
| source       | target        |C/T/L/A|
| (16 digits)  | (16 digits)   |       |
'--------------'---------------'-------'

See FLG.RELINST table for more information on the properties in the table.

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