Publishing and Managing Registry Objects

Publishing Objects

Publishing objects to the registry is a two-step process:

  1. Create the object.
  2. Save the object. The object does not appear in the Registry until after you save it.

At this release, ignore the Create User Account menu item. You can publish objects to the registry without performing any authentication steps.

To create and save a new registry object, follow these steps:

  1. In the menu area, click Create a New Registry Object.
  2. In the Registry Objects area, choose an object type from the drop-down list and click Add.
  3. A Details form for the object appears in the Details area.
  4. Type a name and description in the fields of the Details form. Type values for other fields that appear in the Details form.
  5. Click Save to save the object.

    6. A status message appears, indicating whether the save was successful.

Either before or after you save the object, you can edit it by adding other objects to it. Table 7-4 lists the objects you can add. The following sections describe how to add these objects.

Adding a Classification to an Object

To create a classification, you use an internal classification scheme. An internal classification scheme contains a set of concepts whose values are known to the Registry.

To add a Classification to an object, search for the appropriate classification scheme, then choose a concept within that classification scheme. Follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the object, click the Classifications button.

    2. The Classifications table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Type a name and description for the classification.
  4. Click the Select ClassificationScheme or Concept button.

    5. A ClassificationScheme/Concept Selector window opens.

  5. Expand the ClassificationSchemes node, then expand concept nodes until you have selected the leaf node you want to use.
  6. Click OK to close the ClassificationScheme/Concept Selector window.

    7. The classification scheme and concept appear in the Details Panel window.

  7. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    8. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  8. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding an External Identifier to an Object

To create an external identifier, you use an external classification scheme, one whose values are not known to the Registry because the classification scheme has no concepts.

To add an external identifier to an object, search for the appropriate classification scheme, then enter a value. Follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the object, click the ExternalIdentifiers tab.

    2. The ExternalIdentifiers table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Type a name and description for the external identifier.
  4. Click the Select ClassificationScheme button.

    5. A ClassificationScheme/Concept Selector window opens.

  5. Expand the ClassificationSchemes node, then expand concept nodes until you have selected the leaf node you want to use.
  6. Click OK to close the ClassificationScheme/Concept Selector window.

    7. The classification scheme and concept appear in the Details Panel window.

  7. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    8. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  8. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding an External Link to an Object

An external link allows you to associate a URI with a registry object.

To add an external link to an object, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the object, click the ExternalLinks tab.

    2. The ExternalLinks table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Type a name for the external link.
  4. Type the URL for the external link in the External URI field.
  5. Optionally, click the Select Concept for Object Type button if you want to specify the type of content to which the URL points.

    6. Expand the ClassificationSchemes node and locate the content type by expanding the ObjectType, RegistryObject, and ExtrinsicObject nodes. Select the concept, then click OK. If you do not find a suitable type, click Cancel. You can create a new concept for ExtrinsicObjects if you wish.

  6. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    7. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  7. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding Custom Information to an Object Using Slots

A slot contains extra information that would otherwise not be stored in the Registry. Slots provide a way to add arbitrary attributes to objects.

To add a slot to an object, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the object, click the Slots tab.

    2. The Slots table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Type a name for the Slot.
  4. Optionally, type a value in the Slot Type field. You may use this field to specify a data type for the slot or to provide a way to group slots together.
  5. Type a value in the Values field.
  6. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    7. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  7. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a Postal Address to an Organization or User

An Organization or User can have one or more postal addresses. To add a postal address to either an Organization or a User, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the Organization or User, click the PostalAddresses tab.

    2. The PostalAddresses table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Type values in the fields. All fields except Street are optional.
    • Street Number
    • Street (required)
    • City
    • State or Province
    • Country
    • Postal Code
  4. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    5. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  5. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a Telephone Number to an Organization or User

An Organization or User can have one or more telephone numbers. To add a telephone number to either an Organization or a User, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the Organization or User, click the TelephoneNumbers tab.

    2. The TelephoneNumbers table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Select a value from the Type combo box (Beeper, FAX, HomePhone, MobilePhone, or OfficePhone).
  4. Type values in the fields. All fields except Phone Number are optional.
    • Country Code
    • Area Code
    • Phone Number (required)
    • Extension
  5. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    6. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  6. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding an Email Address to an Organization or User

An Organization or User can have one or more email addresses. To add an email address to either an Organization or a User, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the Organization or User, click the EmailAddresses tab.

    2. The EmailAddresses table (which may be empty) appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. Select a value from the Type combo box (HomeEmail or OfficeEmail).
  4. Type a value in the Email Address field.
  5. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    6. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  6. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a User to an Organization

An Organization can have one or more users. One user is the primary contact, which is normally the user that created the organization. To create a new user and add it to an Organization, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the Organization, click the Users tab.

    2. The Users table appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. In the Name field, type the last name of the user to the left of the comma and (optionally) the first and middle names to the right of the comma.
  4. Optionally, type a description of the user in the Description field.
  5. In the First Name, Middle Name, and Last Name fields, type the first name, middle name, and surname of the user. (All fields are optional.)
  6. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    7. The new version of the organization appears in the Registry Objects area, and the user is created.

  7. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a Child Organization to an Organization

An Organization can have one or more child organizations. To add a child organization to an Organization, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the Organization, click the Organizations tab.

    2. The Organizations table appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. In the Name field, type a name for the new organization.
  4. Optionally, type a description in the Description field.
  5. Type values in the address fields. All fields except Street are optional.
    • Street Number
    • Street (required)
    • City
    • State or Province
    • Country
    • Postal Code
  6. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    7. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area, and the new Organization is created.

  7. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a Service Binding to a Service

A Service normally has one or more service bindings. To add a service binding to a Service, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the Service, click the ServiceBindings tab.

    2. The ServiceBindings table appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. In the Name field, type a name for the service binding.
  4. Optionally, type a description of the service binding in the Description field.
  5. In the Access URI field, type the URL for the service binding.
  6. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    7. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  7. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a Specification Link to a Service Binding

A ServiceBinding normally has a SpecificationLink object. To add a SpecificationLink to a ServiceBinding, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the ServiceBinding, click the SpecificationLinks tab.

    2. The SpecificationLinks table appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. In the Name field, type a name for the SpecificationLink.
  4. Optionally, type a description of the SpecificationLink in the Description field.
  5. In the Usage Description field, type a usage description for the usage parameters, if there are any.
  6. In the Usage Parameters field, type the usage parameters, if there are any.
  7. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    8. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  8. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Adding a Child Concept to a Classification Scheme or Concept

A ClassificationScheme normally has numerous child concepts (which can in turn have child concepts). To add a child concept to a ClassificationScheme, follow these steps:

  1. In the Details area for the ClassificationScheme, click the Concepts tab.

    2. The Concepts table appears.

  2. Click Add.

    3. A Details Panel window opens.

  3. In the Name field, type a name for the concept.
  4. Optionally, type a description of the concept in the Description field.
  5. In the Value field, type a value for the concept.
  6. Click Add to close the Details Panel window.

    7. The new version of the object appears in the Registry Objects area.

  7. Click Save in the Details area for the object.

Changing the State of Objects

In addition to saving, editing, and removing objects, you can perform the following actions on them if you are the owner or are otherwise authorized to do so:

These features are useful in a production environment if you want to establish a version control policy for registry objects. For example, you can approve a version of an object for general use and deprecate an obsolete version before you remove it. If you change your mind after deprecating an object, you can undeprecate it.

You perform all these actions in the Search Results area.

Removing Objects

To remove an object you own from the Registry, select the object and click the Delete button.

If the object is an extrinsic object, you have two choices.

The Deletion Options menu is meaningful only for extrinsic objects.

Creating Relationships Between Objects

There are two kinds of relationships between objects: references and associations. They are both unidirectional. That is, each has a source object and a target object.

The Registry supports references, called ObjectRefs, between certain types of objects. For example, if you create a Service and a ServiceBinding, you can create a ServiceBinding reference from the Service to the ServiceBinding. However, you cannot create a reference from the ServiceBinding to the Service. A Reference is not a registry object.

An Association is a registry object, and you can create an Association from any registry object to any other. The Registry supports an AssociationType classification scheme that includes a number of predefined association types: OffersService, RelatedTo, HasMember, and so on. You can also create new association types. Associations between registry objects that you own are called intramural associations. Associations in which you do not own one or both of the objects are called extramural associations. If you create an Organization and add a Service to it, an Association of type OffersService is automatically created from the Organization to the Service.

If no valid reference exists for the source and target objects, you cannot create a reference.

You use the Relate button in the Registry Objects area to relate two objects. This button becomes active when you select two objects in the search results table.

If the two objects are not both visible in the search results table, select the Pin checkbox to hold one object in the search results table while you find the object to which you want to relate it.

Creating References

To create a Reference, follow these steps:

  1. In the Registry Objects area, select two objects and click Relate.
  2. In the Create Relationship area, select the source object if it is not already selected.

    3. The other object becomes the target object.

  3. If a valid reference exists for the source and target objects, the Reference option is selected by default, and the valid reference attribute appears. If no valid reference exists for the source and target objects, the Reference radio button is grayed out.
  4. Click Save to save the Reference.

Creating Associations

To create an Association, follow these steps:

  1. In the Registry Objects area, select two objects and click Relate.
  2. In the Create Relationship area, select the source object if it is not already selected.

    3. The other object becomes the target object.

  3. Select the Association radio button, if it is not already selected.
  4. Type a name and description for the Association in the Details area.

    5. The source and target object ID values are already filled in.

  5. Choose a type value from the Association Type menu.
  6. Click Save to save the Association.