Defining software hierarchies

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Use the Software Catalog application to define the hierarchy for a particular software product. This task allows businesses that use discovery tools other than Asset Discovery for z/OS® to manually define hierarchical relationships like the ones that are imported from those products.

About this task

In the Software Catalog application, the parent-child relationships displayed on the Product Hierarchy tab represent the software hierarchy of a particular software product, including any higher-level software, related releases, and related versions or features.

When the current catalog record originates with any other discovery tool, or as manual entries like those described in this procedure, the field values on the tab can be changed.

For people who use Asset Discovery for z/OS, any hierarchical relationships are established in that application and, if imported, appear as read-only values here. This task, however, is for people using other discovery tools; it gives them the ability to define the same kind of hierarchical relationships that the aforementioned products already do. The hierarchical relationships are used in audit reports and be linked to other applications.

The Product Hierarchy tab presents tree hierarchy-like information, but without actually displaying a tree structure view. Distributed software products offer versions and releases, mainframe software products offer versions and features.

The data in the Higher Level Software section is always read-only. If the currently displayed software is at the product level, you can define its various versions, if any, in the Related Versions section. If the currently displayed software is at the version level, you can define any related releases or features in the Related Releases/Features section.

The hierarchical relationships that you define are used in capacity calculations for discovered software in any software license report where a license covers software at the product or version level, but the deployed software is discovered at the version or release level.

The versions and releases of the product appear separately in the Deployed Software application (and in the Software tab of the Computers application), and a business can use this information to distinguish among software versions and releases when performing software upgrades.

The steps for defining software hierarchies follow:

Procedure

  1. On the navigation bar, click Open Menu > Administration > Deployed Assets > Software Catalog.
  2. On the toolbar, display all records for software products, or use the table filter or Advanced Search to filter the records that you want to display.
  3. Select the software catalog record for the software whose hierarchy you want to define.
    The software catalog record cannot originate with Asset Discovery for z/OS. It must either originate with another discovery tool or be a manual entry.
    Note: To determine manual entries, you can select Where Clause from the Advanced Search menu for the record list and enter the following clause:

    (isdeleted = 0 and catalogsourceid is null)

  4. In the record heading on the Software tab, if the Type field is empty, select a value for the field.
    The available values are PRODUCT, VERSION, and RELEASE. If the current software catalog record already has a product hierarchy parent or child defined, as can be seen on the Product Hierarchy tab, the Type field is read-only to maintain the integrity of the current product hierarchy.
  5. Click the Product Hierarchy tab.

    On this tab, the Higher Level Software section is always read-only.

  6. Do one of the following.
    • If the Type field for the currently displayed software record is PRODUCT:
      1. In the Related Versions section, click Select Software
      2. In the Select Software window, add any related versions from already existing Software Catalog records to the table.

        (If the Type field for the currently displayed software record is anything but PRODUCT, the Select Software button is not displayed in the Related Versions section. If, for example, the currently displayed software is a version, adding a version to a version is not allowed.

        The Select Software window does not display software catalog records that:
        • Were imported from Asset Discovery for z/OS
        • Already have a higher level software relationship defined
        • Are products or releases
        • Have a different software name than the product record
      3. Click OK to save your changes and return to the tab.
    • If the Type field for the currently displayed software record is VERSION:
      1. In the Related Releases/Features section, click Select Software
      2. In the Select Software window, add any related releases or features from already existing Software Catalog records to the table.

        If the platform (in the Platform field) in the record heading is DISTRIBUTED, related releases should be added. If the platform is MAINFRAME, related features can be added.

        (If the Type field for the currently displayed software record is anything but VERSION, the Select Software button is not displayed. If, for example, the currently displayed software is a release, you are not allowed to add a release to a release.

        The Select Software window does not display software catalog records that:
        • Were imported from Asset Discovery for z/OS
        • Already have a higher level software relationship defined
        • Are products or versions
        • Have a different software name than the product record
      3. Click OK to save your changes and return to the tab.
  7. [Optional.] To remove a new or existing hierarchy entry, delete the unwanted row from the table by clicking Mark Row for Delete and then Save. Only the row linking the software catalog record is removed, the software catalog record itself is unaffected.