Getting started with the new MDM Application Toolkit Hierarchy coach view

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From version 11.4 FixPack 3 the MDM Application Toolkit has a new hierarchy widget, which replaces the now deprecated MDM Tree coach view.

This new widget, the MDM Hierarchy coach view uses the latest in web visualisation technology to render hierarchies in BPM coaches. As well as using this new technology the MDM Hierarchy coach view also has a new method of interacting with the MDM operational server.

To highlight some of the new features, this post presents a step-by-step guide of how to get up and running with the new MDM Hierarchy coach view. I will assume a degree of familiarity with IBM BPM, in particular Process Designer.

Set-up:

• Before opening BPM ensure the MDM operational server has a hierarchy, containing at least one hierarchy node.
• Create a new Process App, I have called mine Hierarchy Demo.
• Open the new Process App in IBM Process Designer
• Import the MDM Application Toolkit
• Log in to Process Admin in a browser, expand Admin Tools, click on Manage EPV’s. In the snapshot drop down select the Process App you have just created. In the name drop down select MDM_Connection_Details. Configure the EPV values in the variable list with your MDM servers’ details.
• Create a Client-Side Human Service, I’ve called mine Demo Hierarchy
• Open up the default coach, created in the Client-Side Human Service

Step 1: Drag and drop the MDM Hierarchy coach view from the palette onto the canvas, it is listed under the MDMAT grouping.

Switch to the configuration tab. You will notice that most of the fields have default values. In the rootNodeId field enter the values for the hierarchy and a node in the hierarchy in the format <hierarchyID/hierarchyNodeID> 

Step 2: Press the “Run” button in BPM. This will launch a browser, showing the coach you have just created. The hierarchy will be visible, and should render data if it has been set up correctly.

That is all that is required to get the MDM Hierarchy coach view up and running.

The coach view has a set of other configuration options; please see the documentation for more details on the configuration options.

The MDM Hierarchy coach view can be augmented by connecting it to a set of other coach views, which provide pop-up dialogs with additional behaviour that complements the hierarchy. These are the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Add, the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Details, the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Error and MDM Hierarchy Dialog MultiParent.

While each of these coach views can be added independently, the instructions below will guide you through adding them all.

Step 1: Adding the other coach views.

Drag and drop the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Add, the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Details, the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Error and MDM Hierarchy Dialog MultiParent on to the canvas that contains the MDM Hierarchy coach view.

Step 2: Create a new MDM_Hierarchy_Event_Framework for all of the widgets to use.

Switch to the variables tab. Create a new Private variable, call it “events”. Change the Variable Type to MDM_Hierarchy_Event_Framework. This variable is used by the MDM Hierarchy coach view to communicate with the other coach views, it provides a hot swappable mechanism so that the out of the box dialogs can be replaced with custom dialogs making use of the event framework.

Step 3: Configure all of the widgets to use the same, shared event framework. Switch back to the Coaches view. For each coach, select it on the canvas, then select the Configuration tab at the bottom.

Locate the EventFramework configuration option; click the purple button next to the label. Then click the Select button to the right hand side. Find the variable you created in Step 2 (events) and select it. Do this for each of the widgets.

Step 4: Configure the visibility for each of the dialog coach views; this step should not be performed on the MDM Hierarchy coach view.

Select the coach view, then click the Visibility tab at the bottom. Leave source as “Value” then press the purple button next to the Visibility label. Press the Select button, then expand the events variable, expand the appropriate event, then select the visibility entry. Each of the different dialogs should be configured against its specific event. The MDM Hierarchy Dialog Add should be configured to use the addNode event; the MDM Hierarchy Dialog Details should be configured to use the nodeDetails event; the MDM Hierarchy Dialog MuliParent should be configured to use the multiParent event; the MDM Hierarchy Error Details should be configured to use the error event.

Step 5: Click the “Run” button in BPM.

The tree now has additional behaviour, if you right click on a node a pop-up dialog should now appear that will display additional data about the node. The add button on this dialog will launch the add dialog that can be used to add nodes into the hierarchy. If a node in the hierarchy has multiple parents in the hierarchy an icon indicating this is displayed to the right of the node, the MultiParent dialog will be launched if that icon is clicked and allows users to re-focus the hierarchy on the different parent nodes.

This brief post has demonstrated how to use the new MDM Hierarchy and associated coach views. In future posts more advanced topics, such as replacing the ajax service which supply the data to the hierarchy, and how to create custom widgets that use the event framework will be explored.