20 Working with the Inventory Topology
Oracle Communications Unified Inventory Management (UIM) includes a Topological View page that shows how entities are interrelated to other entities. Connections between those nodes or entities are shown as edges. You can search for an entity by providing its corresponding Name, Technology, Rate Code, Role Name, or Hops in the Search section of the Topological View page. You can filter the search by providing the distance between entities. For any entity, you can view the Topology diagram only after you search by entering the search criteria.
See the following topics for more information about working with topological views:
About the Topological View
The Topological View page includes a canvas area where a diagram of your inventory appears. You can search for a topology diagram by entering a search criteria. The Topological View page includes various layouts and preferences that enable you to control the topological display. Many of these layouts and preferences are common to other features in UIM. See "Working with Visualizations and Diagrams" for more information about these general features.
The following types of entities are included in the topology:
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Equipment
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Logical Device
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Physical Device
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Pipe
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Connectivity
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Place
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Network Location
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Service Location
Searching in Topology
You can search for items in the topology. You can begin the search from the Topology page or from the Summary page of any entity that can be included in the topology.
If you start the search from a Summary page, you can drill down directly to the entity. If you start the search from the Topology page, you specify the entity you are looking for.
Entities in the topology include Equipment, Logical Device, Physical Device, Pipe, Connectivity, Place, Network Location, and Service Location. You can also search for the Place entities themselves. You search for entities by their IDs.
To search in topology:
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Open the Summary page of the entity for which you want to view the topology.
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From the Related Pages menu, select Topology.
The Topological View page appears. See "Topological View Page" for more information about the fields in this page.
To start a topology search from the Topology page:
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In the Inventory - Resources group of the navigation section, click Topology.
The Topological View page appears.
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In the Search section, from the Entity Type list, select the entity type for which you want the topology diagram.
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In the Entity field, enter the entity name.
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(Optional) Enter % in the Entity field to see the possible auto suggestions in an alphabetical order.
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(Optional) Add qualifications to the search:
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Click the Browse icon next to the text field to search.
The search page for the corresponding entity appears.
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Enter search criteria in the desired fields. Some fields require that you enter text while other fields allow you to select from lists.
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Click Search.
A table of search results appears in the Search Results section.
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Select the entity and click OK.
The selected entity name appears in the Entity field of the Topological View page.
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In the Technology field, enter the technology to search for all entities operating under the technology.
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In the Rate Code field, enter the rate code to search for all entities associated with it.
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In the Role Name field, enter the role name to search for all entities associated with it.
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In the Distance field, enter the distance to search for all the entities available within the given distance from the Network Location or Service Location that you entered in the Entity field.
Note:
You can enter distance only for Network Location and Service Location entity types. -
Select the distance units from the list beside the Distance field. You can select Meters, Kilometers, or Miles as distance units.
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In the Hops field, enter the number of hops to search for all the entities within that number.
Note:
You can enter the number of hops for all the entities except the entities with Network Location and Service Location entity types. -
Click Search.
The topology diagram based on the searched criteria, appears in the canvas area.
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(Optional) In the Find Entity section, search for entities within the displayed topology diagram as follows:
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From the Entity Type list, select an entity type that you want to search within the topology diagram.
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In the Name field, enter the name of the entity that you want to search.
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(Optional) Click the Browse icon next to the Name field to select the entity from the corresponding entity search page and click OK.
The topology diagram appears with the searched entity highlighted in a box.
Note:
The Find Entity section helps you to search for any specific entity within a large topology diagram that has multiple nodes. -
Isolating Nodes to View Connected Nodes
You isolate a node to view its connected nodes.
To isolate a node:
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In the Topological View page, select a node in the diagram.
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Click on the node.
The Isolate icon appears.
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Click Isolate icon.
The selected node isolates into a new diagram.
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Select the isolated node and click Additional Links icon.
All the connected nodes appear along with the connecting edges.
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To view hierarchy of any of the connected nodes, click on that node and click Additional Links icon.
Note:
The Additional Links icon appears only if it has any further connected nodes. -
(Optional) Click Restore icon on the top of the canvas to restore the diagram to its original level.
Topological View Page
Use the Topological View page to view how the entities are interrelated to other entities. The Topological View page includes layout buttons, search section, diagram pane, and editor section . When you click a predefined layout button, the topology changes to reflect the button you clicked.
A number of entities utilize visualizations or diagrams, each for a different purpose.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
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Search section |
You can search for an entity by entering the search criteria. The topology diagram appears according to the searched criteria. You can enter the following search criteria:
See "Searching in Topology" for more information. |
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Find Entity section |
You can search for entities within the Topology diagram using the following options:
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Control Panel |
Click to view Zoom In, Zoom Out, and Show All options. Click Control Panel icon again to close these options. |
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Zoom to Fit |
Click to refresh the topology diagram to the zoom level required to show all elements in the diagram. |
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Zoom In |
Click to enlarge the diagram on the current center point of the diagram. |
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Zoom Out |
Click to reduce the size of the diagram on the current center point of the diagram. |
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Expand Link |
Select a node or an edge in the topology diagram, right-click, and select Expand Link to view all the nodes and edges that are connected to the selected node, within the topology. |
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View Summary |
Select a node or an edge in the topology diagram, right-click, and select View Summary to view the summary page of the entity. |
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Force Directed Layout |
Click to arrange all nodes with very few edge crossings. This is the default layout. |
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Circular Layout |
Click to arrange all nodes in the form of a circle. |
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Grid Layout |
Click to arrange all nodes in the form of a grid. This layout has edge crossings. |
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Preferences |
Click to add the following preferences to the topology diagram:
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Editor section |
Displays information about the element or entity selected in the Topological View page Canvas area that includes Name, ID, Location, and characteristics. |