Extending Technology Packs and Cartridges by Adding Content

You can extend technology packs and cartridges by creating new, related content in a separate project. When you install the technology pack or cartridge into UIM and then install your supplemental cartridge, the additional content becomes available.

There are several ways to add content:

By creating new specifications to represent additional resources in the model. For example, if the technology pack or cartridge does not include specifications for all of the specific types of equipment and physical devices you use, you can create specifications for them. If the new specifications are similar to specifications in the technology pack or cartridge, you can copy the existing specifications into your project and make any necessary modifications. Design Studio forces you to rename the copies. See "Copying Specifications" for more information.
By creating new specifications that are upwardly related to specifications in the technology pack or cartridge. Three types of upward relationships are possible:
- From an entity specification to another entity specification in a technology pack or cartridge. For example, you can create an upward relationship from a Device Interface specification you create to a Logical Device specification in a technology pack or cartridge.
- From an entity specification to a configuration item in the technology pack or cartridge. For example, you can create an upward relationship from a Telephone Number specification you create to a configuration item in a configuration specification that is part of a technology pack or cartridge. See "Defining Configuration Specification Usage" for more information.
- From an configuration specification to a parent entity specification in a technology pack cartridge. For example, you can create an ADSL2Plus Service Configuration specification and relate it to a DSL Service specification in a technology pack.
See "Defining Specification Relationships" for more information about relating specifications.
By creating new entity-level characteristics for a Managed Project Extension, Channelized Connectivity Extension, or a Property Location Extension entity. When you define entity-level characteristics for these extension entities, those characteristics apply to all instances of the entity in the run-time environment. See "Extending Design Studio for Inventory Entities" for more information.

When you create a dependency between a specification in your own cartridge and a specification in a technology pack or cartridge, both cartridges must exist in the same workspace. Additionally, you must import into the workspace all cartridges on which the technology pack or cartridge depends.