Searching the Registry

The Search and Explore links in the menu area allow you to search the Registry.

• Using the Search Menu

• Selecting a Query

• Searching by Object Type

• Searching by Name and Description

• Searching by Classification

• Viewing Search Results

• Viewing Object Details

• Using the Explore Menu

Using the Search Menu

Click Search in the menu area. The Search form opens. The form contains the following components:

• Select Predefined Query drop-down list

• Name text field

• Description text field

• ClassificationSchemes tree

Click Hide Search Form to close the Search form and clear the results area.

The next few sections describe how to use these components.

Selecting a Query

The Select Predefined Query drop-down list contains the items shown in Table 1–2.

Table 1–2 Predefined Queries

Query Name	Search Purpose
Basic Query	The default generic query, which allows you to search by object type, name, description, and classification
Basic Query - Case Sensitive	Case-sensitive version of Basic Query
FindAllMyObjects	Finds all objects owned (published) by the user who makes the query. May take a long time if the user owns many objects
GetCallersUser	Finds the User object for the user who makes the query

The default selection is Basic Query. The following sections describe how to perform basic queries:

• Searching by Object Type

• Searching by Name and Description

• Searching by Classification

Use the FindAllMyObjects query to search for all the objects that you have published. Use the GetCallersUser query to view or modify data for the user you created when you registered.

Searching by Object Type

The simplest search is by object type only.

The default choice in the Object Type drop-down list is RegistryObject, which searches all objects in the Registry. To narrow the search, change the object type.

The ClassificationNode menu item lists concepts within ClassificationSchemes. ClassificationNode is a synonym for Concept.

To Search by Object Type

Steps

1. Choose an object type from the Object Type drop-down list.

2. Click the Search button.

   The search returns all objects of the specified type. You can narrow the search by specifying a name, description, or classification.

Searching by Name and Description

To Search by Name or Description

Steps

1. From the Select Predefined Query drop-down list, select either Basic Query or Basic Query -- Case Sensitive.

2. Type a string in the Name or Description field.

3. Click Search.

   By default, the search looks for a name or description that matches the entire string that you typed. You can use wildcards to find a range of objects.

   The wildcard characters are percent (%) and underscore (_).

   The % wildcard matches multiple characters:

   • Type %off% to return names or descriptions that contain the string off, such as Coffee.

   • Type nor% to return names or descriptions that start with Nor or nor, such as North and northern.

   • Type %ica to return names or descriptions that end with ica, such as America.

   The underscore wildcard matches a single character. For example, the search string _us_ would match objects named Aus1 and Bus3.

Searching by Classification

Classification objects classify or categorize objects in the registry by using unique concepts (ClassificationNodes) that define valid values within a classification scheme. The classification scheme is the parent in a tree hierarchy that contains generations of child concepts. Table 1–3 describes the classification schemes provided by the Registry specifications. Many of the terms in this table are defined in the Registry specifications.

Table 1–3 Classification Scheme Usage

Classification Scheme Name	Usage	Description or Purpose
AssociationType	Frequently	Defines the types of associations between RegistryObjects. Used as the value of the associationType attribute of an Association instance to describe the nature of the association.
ContentManagementService	Rarely	Defines the types of content management services. Used in the configuration of a content management service, such as a validation or cataloging service.
DataType	Frequently	Defines the data types for attributes in classes defined by this document. Used as the value of the slotType attribute of a Slot instance to describe the data type of the Slot value.
DeletionScopeType	Occasionally	Defines the values for the deletionScope attribute of the RemoveObjectsRequest protocol message.
EmailType	Rarely	Defines the types of email addresses.
ErrorHandlingModel	Rarely	Defines the types of error handling models for content management services.
ErrorSeverityType	Rarely	Defines the different error severity types encountered by the Registry while processing protocol messages.
EventType	Occasionally	Defines the types of events that can occur in a registry.
InvocationModel	Rarely	Defines the different ways that a content management service can be invoked by the Registry.
NodeType	Occasionally	Defines the different ways in which a ClassificationScheme can assign the value of the code attribute for its ClassificationNode (Concept) objects.
NotificationOptionType	Rarely	Defines the different ways in which a client can be notified by the registry of an event within a Subscription.
ObjectType	Occasionally	Defines the different types of RegistryObjects a registry may support.
PhoneType	Rarely	Defines the types of telephone numbers.
QueryLanguage	Rarely	Defines the query languages supported by the Registry.
ResponseStatusType	Rarely	Defines the different types of status for a RegistryResponse.
StatusType	Occasionally	Defines the different types of status for a RegistryResponse.
SubjectGroup	Rarely	Defines the groups that a user can belong to for access control purposes.
SubjectRole	Rarely	Defines the roles that can be assigned to a user for access control purposes.

In the menu area, the root of the ClassificationSchemes tree is below the Description field.

To Search by Classification

Steps

1. Expand the root node to view the full list of classification schemes.

   The number in parentheses after each entry indicates how many concepts (ClassificationNode objects) the parent contains.

2. Expand the node for the classification scheme you want to use.

3. Expand concept nodes beneath the classification scheme until you find the leaf node by which you want to search. A leaf node is a node with no concepts beneath it.

4. Select the leaf node.

5. (Optional) Restrict the search by choosing an object type or specifying a name or description string.

6. Click the Search button.

Viewing Search Results

Objects found by a search appear in the Registry Objects area.

The Registry Objects area consists of the following:

• Buttons that are labeled Apply, Approve, Deprecate, Undeprecate, Relate, and Delete, which allow you to perform actions on objects. You must be the object’s creator or a registry administrator to perform any of these actions.

• A found objects display consisting of a search results table. For most objects, the table contains the following columns:

  • Pick checkbox. Select any two objects to activate the Relate button. See Creating Relationships Between Objects for details.

  • Details link. Click this link to open the Details area directly below the Registry Objects area (see Viewing Object Details).

  • Object Type field.

  • Name field.

  • Description field.

  • Version field.

  • VersionComment field.

  • Pin checkbox. See To Use the Pin Feature for details.

For ExtrinsicObject objects, the display has two additional columns: Content Version and Content Version Comment. These columns apply to the repository item for the ExtrinsicObject.

For two kinds of objects, the Version and VersionComment columns are replaced by other content:

• ExternalLink objects: External URI

• ServiceBinding objects: Endpoint

To Use the Pin Feature

The Pin feature of the user interface allows you to hold one or more objects in the Registry Objects area while you search for other objects. You can then create a relationship between two objects. See Creating Relationships Between Objects for details on how to perform this task.

Steps

1. Click Search and execute a query.

2. In the Registry Objects area, select the Pin checkbox for the object or objects that you want to hold there.

3. Execute another query.

   The pinned object(s) and the search results for the second query all appear in the Registry Objects area.

Next Steps

When you have finished using a pinned object, deselect the Pin checkbox for the object. When you execute another query, the object will not appear in the Registry Objects area.

Viewing Object Details

In the search results table, click the Details link for an object to open the Details area immediately below the Registry Objects area.

This section has a row of buttons and a row of tabs:

• The buttons are Apply, Save, Cancel, Approve, Deprecate, Undeprecate, and Delete. The buttons represent actions that you can perform on the object.

• The tabs represent the object’s attributes. The tabs vary depending on the object type.Table 1–4 describes the tabs and the objects they apply to.

Table 1–4 Attribute Tabs in the Details Area

Tab Name	Applies To
Object_Type Detail	All objects (Object_Type is the object type name)
Slots	All objects
Classifications	All objects
External Identifiers	All objects
Associations	All objects
External Links	All objects
Audit Trail	All objects
Postal Addresses	Organization, User
Telephone Numbers	Organization, User
Email Addresses	Organization, User
Users	Organization
Organizations	Organization
Service Bindings	Service
Specification Links	ServiceBinding
Concepts	ClassificationScheme, ClassificationNode
Registry Objects	RegistryPackage
Affected Objects	AuditableEvent

Click a tab to find out if the object has any values for the attribute. If it does, click the Details link for the attribute value to open a web browser window with the details for the attribute value.

The Audit Trail tab does not produce a table with a Details link. Instead, this tab produces a table that contains the following information:

• The event type

• The date and time of the event

• The name of the User that caused the event

For most objects, the Details area fields are as follows:

• Unique Identifier. For every object, the Unique Identifier is an active link. Click this link to view the XML for the object in a web browser window. All registry objects are stored in XML format.

• Logical Unique Identifier. The Logical Unique Identifier is usually the same as the Unique Identifier. If you turn versioning on, the Logical Unique Identifier remains the same for all versions of the object, while the Unique Identifier for the new version receives a suffix that indicates the version number.

• Name

• Description

• Status (usually Submitted, meaning that the object has been published to the Registry)

• Version

• VersionComment

For many objects, the fields are largely self-explanatory (the postal addresses for an Organization, for example). For some objects, the fields require some explanation. The following sections describe these fields.

• Viewing Association Details

• Viewing Classification Scheme Details

• Viewing Extrinsic Object Details

• Viewing External Link Details

Viewing Association Details

The Details area for an Association object contains the following additional fields:

• Source Object ID and Target Object ID. For the source and target objects of the association, the panel shows both the unique identifier and the logical identifier. The Confirmed By Source Owner checkbox indicates whether or not the association was confirmed or approved by the source object owner. The Confirmed By Target Owner checkbox indicates whether or not the association was confirmed or approved by the target object owner. These checkboxes are always selected for intramural associations.

• Association Type. The menu displays the selected type of the Association.

• Is Extramural. This checkbox is selected if at least one of the two associated objects is owned by a User other than the User who created the Association. Otherwise, the Association is defined as intramural.

Viewing Classification Scheme Details

The Details area for a ClassificationScheme object contains the following additional fields:

• External Classification Scheme checkbox. This checkbox is selected if the classification scheme is defined outside the Registry (that is, if it has no concepts). An internal classification scheme is a classification scheme whose concept hierarchy is defined within the Registry.

• The Value Type menu, which contains one of the following selections:

  • Unique: This value indicates that each node of the taxonomy has a unique code assigned to it. This value is the default when you create a classification scheme in Service Registry.

  • EmbeddedPath: This value indicates that the unique code assigned to each node of the taxonomy also encodes its path.

  • NonUnique: In some cases nodes are not unique, and it is necessary to use the full path (from the ClassificationScheme to the node of interest) to identify the node. For example, in a geography taxonomy, Moscow could be under both Russia and the USA, where five states have cities that are named Moscow.

Viewing Extrinsic Object Details

The Details area for an ExtrinsicObject object contains the following additional fields:

• Content Version and Content Version Comment. The Details area shows the version and optional comment for the repository item associated with the extrinsic object.

• MimeType. This field contains the MIME type of the extrinsic object.

• Is Opaque checkbox. This checkbox is selected if the repository item content is not readable by the Registry (for example, if it is encrypted).

• Object Type. This field contains the subconcept within the ObjectType/ExtrinsicObject tree.

• View Repository Item Content link. Click this link to view the repository item in a web browser window.

Viewing External Link Details

The Details area for an ExternalLink object contains a Display Content link under the External URI field. Click this link to view the contents of the URI in a browser window.

Using the Explore Menu

The Explore menu allows you to navigate through Registry and Repository content by using the metaphor of a hierarchy of file folders. The root folder, which is named root, contains all Registry content.

To Use the Explore Menu

Steps

1. Click the Explore link.

2. Expand the folder root. This folder contains two subfolders: userData, where all user content is placed, and ClassificationSchemes.

3. Click a folder to view the registry objects of that type. Expand a node to view the object types at the next level.

Next Steps

When you have finished, click Hide Explorer to close the Explore menu and to clear the results area.

To Explore the Classification Schemes

Steps

1. Click the ClassificationSchemes folder (not the node symbol).

   All the ClassificationScheme objects appear in the Registry Objects area. Follow the instructions in Viewing Search Results to view the objects.

2. Expand the ClassificationSchemes node to open the ClassificationSchemes tree hierarchy in the menu area.

3. Click any file icon to view that classification scheme in the Registry Objects area.

4. Expand a classification scheme node to see the Concept folders beneath it.

   Not all classification schemes have concepts that are viewable in the Explore menu.

5. Click a Concept folder to view that concept in the Registry Objects area.

To Explore the UserData Folder

Steps

1. Expand the userData node.

2. Expand the RegistryObject node. Do not click the folder unless you want to view all registry objects.

   The folder1 node has no content.

3. Click a folder to view the registry objects of that type. Expand a node to view the object types at the next level.