Working with Places and Property Locations

10 Working with Places and Property Locations

In Oracle Communications Unified Inventory Management (UIM), Place and Property Location entities represent the and geographic dimensions of your inventory. Place entities describe where your inventory is located. Property Location entities represent specific locations where connectivity is hosted or where services are delivered.

See the following topics for more information about working with Place and Property Location entities:

Working with Places and Place Configurations

Place entities and Place configurations represent items that can be located on a map, such as states, cities, streets, postal addresses, campuses, or buildings.

You can associate other inventory entities (such as subscribers, services, equipment, service terminations, and so on) to Place entities. This association can imply that the entity is located at the place or that there is some kind of relationship between the entities. You can use roles to specify the nature of the relationship. See "Working with Roles" for more information about roles.

See the following topics for more information about working with Place entities and Place configurations:

About Place Entities

There are four types of Place entities. The type is determined by the entity's specification.

Locations are defined by geographic references.
Addresses are defined by textual information.
Address ranges represent groups of addresses that are created as a block, such as a range of street addresses.
Sites represent places that do not have a single, precise location. Sites can have configurations. See "Working with Entity Configurations" for more information.

When you create a Place entity, you can specify its geographic coordinates. These coordinates are required if the place (or a network node associated with it) is to appear on a network map. See "Using the Map View" for more information.

You can use one of these two formats:

The universal geographic coordinate system based on latitude and longitude.
The North American V & H (vertical and horizontal) coordinate system.

See UIM Concepts for more information about geographic coordinates.

You can associate Place entities to other entities to define those entities' geographic locations. For example, you can associate a place with a service to specify the location where the service is delivered. See "Associating Places to Entities" for more information.

You can assign roles to Place entities. For example, you could assign the role of Headquarters to a site.

Places entities can include hierarchies of other places. For example, there could be a Location entity called State that includes a hierarchy of counties and cities. Place hierarchies can also include Property Location entities. For example, the hierarchy of a Place entity that a represents a city could include all the property locations in that city.

Places are topology-enabled, so you can search for them in the inventory topology. See "Searching in Topology" for more information.

Associating Places to Entities

You can associate places to entities to locate them geographically. The location can be very precise, as with an address, or more general, as with a site.

To associate a place to an entity:

Open the Summary page of an entity.
Click the Groups and Infrastructure tab.
In the Places section, click Associate.

The Associate Place dialog box appears.
Search for or create a Place entity.
In the Search Results section, select a Place entity.
Click OK.

The Places section in the Summary page refreshes to include the entity.
(Optional) In the Places section Role list, select a role that describes the association of the original entity and the place. For Service entities, you can create a new role if necessary.

The Role field is empty if no roles are valid for this association.

Related Topics

About Place Entities

Removing Place Associations

Creating a Role While Associating a Place to a Service

Removing Place Associations

To remove a place association:

Open the Summary page of the entity from which you want to remove a place association.
Click the Groups and Infrastructure tab.
In the Places section, select the place to delete and click Delete.

The place is removed from the list.

Related Topics

About Place Entities

Associating Places to Entities

Place - New Page

You use the Place - New page to create new Place entities.

Note:

The fields that appear on this page are determined by the specification used to create the entity. The specification is created in Design Studio. The fields in the following table are common to most specifications of this type.

Field	Description
Place Type	Select the type of Place entity to create (Location, Address, Address Range, or Site). This selection here determines which values are available in the Specifications field. See "About Place Entities" for more information about Place entity types.
Specification	Select a Place specification. The types of specifications that appear as valid values are determined by the Place Type you select.
ID	If the entity specification requires a manually entered ID, enter a unique ID for the entity. Most entity specifications are defined in Design Studio so that IDs are generated automatically. The ID field for these specifications contains the text AUTOGENERATE.
Name	Enter a name for the place.
Description	Enter a description of the place.
Latitude	Enter a value between -90.0 and 90.0 decimal degrees. Latitude and longitude are required are required if the place (or a network node associated with it) is to appear on a network map. See "Using the Map View" for more information.
Longitude	Enter a value between -180.0 and 180.0 decimal degrees. Latitude and longitude are required if the place (or a network node associated with it) is to appear on a network map. See "Using the Map View" for more information.
Vertical	Enter a North American V & H system vertical coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value.
Horizontal	Enter a North American V & H system horizontal coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value.

Related Topics

Creating Entities

Place Summary Page

Working with Places and Place Configurations

Place - Information Page

You use the Place - Information page to edit the information that appears in the Summary page Information section. Some data elements, such as the ID, cannot be changed after the entity is created.

Note:

Field	Description
Place Type	Displays the type of Place entity—Location, Address, Address Range, or Site. This field is read only. See "About Place Entities" for more information about Place entity types.
Specification	Displays the specification used to define the place. This field is read only.
ID	Displays the ID generated or entered when the entity was created. This field is read only.
Name	Edit the name for the place.
Description	Edit the description of the place.
Latitude	Enter a value between -90.0 and 90.0 decimal degrees. Latitude and longitude are required if the place (or a network node associated with it) is to appear on a network map. See "Using the Map View" for more information.
Longitude	Enter a value between -180.0 and 180.0 decimal degrees. Latitude and longitude are required if the place (or a network node associated with it) is to appear on a network map. See "Using the Map View" for more information.
Vertical	Enter a North American V & H system vertical coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value.
Horizontal	Enter a North American V & H system horizontal coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value.

Related Topics

Creating Entities

Place Summary Page

Working with Places and Place Configurations

Place Summary Page

You use the Place Summary page to define the content for a Place entity. The page is arranged into tabs, each of which is used for a different purpose:

See "Entity Summary Page" and "Related Pages Menu" for information about Summary page fields that are common among all entities.

Related Topics

Creating Entities

Place - New Page

Working with Places and Place Configurations

General Information Tab

You use the General Information tab to view basic information about the Place entity and to view and maintain the Place hierarchy.

Section	Description
Place Information	Displays basic information about the entity, most of which was defined when you created the entity. Click Edit to change this information. Some data elements, such as the ID, cannot be changed after the entity is created. See "Creating Entities" and "Place - New Page" for more information.
Place Hierarchy	Displays a tree view of the Place entity and any child Place entities. Place entities can include hierarchies of other places and property locations. For example, there could be a Location entity called California that includes a hierarchy of counties and cities. A Location entity called San Francisco could include property locations with addresses in that city. Right-click on a Place entity in the Place Hierarchy section to add a Place or Property Location entity to the hierarchy. Options available in the View and Format menus enable you to control how the entities appear in this section. See "Entity Summary Page" for information about toolbar menu actions common to all entities.

Section

Description

Place Information

Displays basic information about the entity, most of which was defined when you created the entity. Click Edit to change this information. Some data elements, such as the ID, cannot be changed after the entity is created. See "Creating Entities" and "Place - New Page" for more information.

Place Hierarchy

Displays a tree view of the Place entity and any child Place entities.

Place entities can include hierarchies of other places and property locations. For example, there could be a Location entity called California that includes a hierarchy of counties and cities. A Location entity called San Francisco could include property locations with addresses in that city. Right-click on a Place entity in the Place Hierarchy section to add a Place or Property Location entity to the hierarchy.

Options available in the View and Format menus enable you to control how the entities appear in this section. See "Entity Summary Page" for information about toolbar menu actions common to all entities.

Configurations Tab

Displays any place configurations created for the entity. You can create configurations for Place entities that have the type Site. Using configurations enables you to create new versions as a site evolves over time.

This section is available only when the specification on which the place is based includes a reference to a Place Configuration specification.

The fields that appear in the Configurations section are common among multiple entities. See "Entity Summary Page" for more information. See "Adding the First Version of a Configuration to an Entity" and "Adding Additional Configuration Versions" for information about creating configurations.

Associated Resources Tab

Use the Associated Resources tab to view information about the network nodes and custom involvements of the place.

Section	Description
Network Nodes	Displays networks nodes that represent the place. The name of the network is included for each node as a link to its Summary page.
Custom Involvements	Displays any custom associations defined for the place with entities that are not otherwise associated. See "Working with Custom Involvements" for more information.

Groups and Infrastructure Tab

You use the Groups and Infrastructure tab to view information about any roles that are associated with the Place entity.

You can associate roles with entities to define the functions they perform in your inventory. An entity can have multiple roles simultaneously, and its roles can change over time. See "Assigning a Role in an Entity Summary Page" for more information.

Place Configuration Information - New Version Page

You use the Place Configuration Information - New Version page to create new service configurations.

Note:

Field	Description
Specification	Select a Place Configuration specification to use for the new configuration version. See UIM Concepts for more information about configuration specifications.
ID	Enter a unique ID for the configuration or accept the default. The default value is based on the ID of the parent place with an incremented version number.
Name	Enter a name for the configuration or accept the default. The default value is based on the name of the parent place with an incremented version number.
Previous Configuration	Displays the version number of the previous configuration, if any. If you are creating the first configuration version, this value is 0.
Version	Displays the sequential version number of the configuration you are creating.
Start Date	Enter the date on which the configuration will become active.

Place Configuration Information Page

You use the Place Configuration Information page to modify a place configuration. This page is available only before the configuration is completed.

Note:

Field	Description
Specification	Displays the name of the specification used to create the configuration. See UIM Concepts for more information about configuration specifications.
ID	Modify the ID for the configuration. The default value is based on the ID of the parent place with an incremented version number.
Name	Modify the name of the configuration. The default value is the same as the ID.
Previous Configuration	Displays the version number of the previous configuration, if any. If you are creating the first configuration version, this value is 0.
Version	Displays the sequential version number of the configuration you are creating.
Start Date	Modify the date on which the configuration will become active.

Place Configuration Page

You use the Place Configuration page to define the content for a place configuration.

See the following topics for more information about tasks you can complete in Place Configuration pages:

Note:

The sections listed in the following table are specific to the Place Configuration page. See "Entity Summary Page" for information about features that are common among all entities.

Section	Description
Information	Displays basic information about the configuration, most of which was defined when you created the entity. Click Edit to change this information. Some data elements, such as the ID, cannot be changed after the configuration is created. The Edit button is available only before the configuration is completed.
Configuration Items	Displays configuration items associated with the configuration. See "Adding Configuration Items" for information about adding new configuration items.

Working with Property Locations

Property Locations define where resources are located, where connectivity is terminated, and similar geographic aspects of your inventory. A Property Location entity represents a piece of land with defined legal boundaries. It is the lowest-level element in the natural hierarchy that identifies a location (country, state/province, municipality, property location).

Note:

Property Locations are similar to Place entities, but have different capabilities. Property Locations are used only to represent locations involved in connectivity scenarios.

You must define a Property Location as one or both of the following:

Network location. A network location hosts devices that transport services. For example, a service provider Central Office is a network location. Defining a property location as a network location requires the assignment of a network location code.
Service location. A service location is where a customer accesses a service. For example, an office where a customer accesses a Carrier Ethernet service is a service location.

See the following topics for more information about working with Property Location entities, see the following topics:

Creating Property Locations

To create a property location:

In the Inventory - Infrastructure group of the navigation section, click Property Locations.
In the Search Results section, click Create.
In the Location Type area, select Network Location, Service Location, Point of Presence, or all.

If you selected Network Location, the Network Location Code field at the bottom of the page becomes available.
In the Property Address area, enter or select information in the Street Address, City, and Country fields. Optionally enter information into the Apt/Room/Suite, State, Sub Area, and Postal Code fields. (The Sub Area field is available only when you select a country other than the US in the Country field.)

The Property Name field is automatically populated with a name made up of the street address, Apt/Room/Suite value, city, sub area, state, postal code, and country values.
(Optional) Overwrite this default name if desired.

If you overwrite the default name, UIM does not update the name when address details change. The Property Name value must be unique for service locations.
(Optional) If you do not intend to validate this property address, select the Accept Property Address As Is check box.
(Optional) Validate the property address.

If you choose to validate the address, the information you enter manually may be replaced. See "Validating Property Addresses" for more information.
(Optional) In the Geographic Coordinates area, enter either a latitude and longitude or a vertical and horizontal coordinate pair. When you enter coordinates in one system, the corresponding values in the other system are populated. For example, if you enter a latitude and longitude, the vertical and horizontal values are populated automatically.
(Optional) To lock the geographic coordinates so that they cannot be changed, even during address validation, click the Lock Coordinates button.
If you selected Network Location as the location type, enter a uniquely identifying code in the Network Location Code field. The network location code must be three to ten characters in length and can correspond to CLLI format. See UIM Concepts for more information.

When you enter a code that is unique in your inventory, the Unique Code label and check mark icon next to the Network Location Code field are highlighted.
(Optional) If you want the property name to include the network location code, select Use Network Location Code as Property Name.
(Optional) Enter values for any characteristics defined for the Property Location entity.
Click Save or Save and Close.

Editing Property Locations

You can edit property locations after you create them.

To edit a property location:

In a Property Location page General Information tab, click the Edit button in the upper-right corner.

The fields in the page become available.

Validating Property Addresses

You can validate property addresses to ensure consistency and prevent duplication. UIM validates addresses by using a geocoder such as Oracle Spatial eLocation. See UIM Concepts and UIM System Administrator's Guide for more information about setting up geocoding features on UIM.

When you validate a property address, UIM presents you with one or more addresses that match the address information that has already been entered for the property. If you select one of the matches, UIM replaces the address details for the property with the information returned by the geocoder.

The Apt/Room/Suite field in the address is ignored during validation and is not changed if you select an address suggested by the validation process.

After a property address has been validated, a green check mark appears in the upper right corner of the page where you performed the validation. If you change the address details after validation, the property location is considered unvalidated and the check mark is removed. You can validate the address again.

To validate a property address:

In the Create Property Location page or in the General Information tab of a Property Location page, enter all required address information.
Click the Validate Address button.

UIM opens a dialog box containing one or more matching addresses.
Do one of the following:
- Select one of the addresses and then click OK.
  
  UIM marks the address as validated, displays a green check mark in the Property Address area, and updates the address fields if necessary. If you later edit any of the address fields, the address reverts to unvalidated state.
- Click the Accept Address As Is button.
  
  UIM closes the dialog box, selects the Accept Address As Is check box in the address area, and leaves the address information in its current state.
- Click the Cancel Validation button.
  
  UIM closes the dialog box, leaving the address unchanged and the address unvalidated.
Click Save or Save and Close.

Related Topics

Creating Property Locations

Editing Property Locations

Adding Network Entity Codes to Network Locations

Network locations can be associated with logical devices that terminate connectivity. Such logical devices are called network devices and they have network entity codes that uniquely identify them within the network location. See "Associating Logical Devices to Network Locations and Network Entity Locations" for more information.

To add a network entity code to a network location:

Navigate to the General Information tab of a Property Location Summary page.
(Optional) If you want the property name to include the network location code, select Use Network Location Code as Property Name.
Click the Network Entity Codes tab.
Do the following for each network entity code you want to add:
1. Click the Add button in the toolbar.
2. In the first empty row in the table, enter a network entity code for a logical device at this network location.

Adding Property Locations to Inventory Groups

You add property locations to inventory groups so that you can manage them more efficiently.

To add a property location to an inventory group:

Navigate to the Groups and Infrastructure tab of a Property Location Summary page.
Click the Associate button.

The Associate Inventory Group dialog box appears.
Search for or create an inventory group.
Click OK.

The dialog box closes and the inventory group appears in the table in the Inventory Groups tab.

Related Topics

Working with Inventory Groups

Property Location - New Page

You use the Property Location - New page to create new Property Location entities.

Field	Description
Network Location	Select to define the property location as a network location. You must enter a value in the Network Location Code field if you select this check box.
Service Location	Select to define the property location as a service location.
Point of Presence	Select to define the property location as a point of presence.
Accept Property Name As Is	Select if you do not intend to validate the property address and want to maintain the address details you have entered.
Validate Address	Click to validate the property address using a geocoder application such as Oracle eLocation. If you validate the property address, its values will be replaced with the values returned by the geocoder. See "Validating Property Addresses" for more information.
Street Address	Enter the street address.
Apt/Suite/Room	Enter an apartment, suite, room, or other value that more precisely identifies the location at the street address. UIM ignores this value during address validation, but includes it in the property name.
Sub Area	For non-US addresses, enter a neighborhood or region of the city.
City	Enter the city or municipality.
State/Province	Enter the state or province in ISO format.
Country	Select a country value.
Postal Code	Enter the postal code.
Property Name	The default property name is a concatenation of the street address; apartment, room, or suite number; sub area; city; state; and country values. The default property name is updated when these values change. If you overwrite the default name, the name you enter is maintained and is not updated when address values change.
Description	Enter a description of the property location.
Latitude	Enter a latitude value between -90.0000 and 90.0000 decimal degrees. For North American locations, this value is converted to a V & H value and displayed in the Vertical field.
Longitude	Enter a longitude value between -180.0000 and 180.0000 decimal degrees. For North American locations, this value is converted to a V & H value and displayed in the Horizontal field.
Vertical	Enter a North American V & H system vertical coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value. This value is converted to a latitude and displayed in the Latitude field.
Horizontal	Enter a North American V & H horizontal coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value. This value is converted to a longitude and displayed in the Longitude field.
Network Location Code	Enter a network location code. You can use a CLLI code, a code based on Oracle recommendations, or a code based on your own system. See "Adding Network Entity Codes to Network Locations" for more information. If you assign it a network location code, a property location is considered a network location and can be used in connectivity.
Use Network Location Code as Property Name	Select if you want the network location code to be included in the property name. This selection is available only if you have entered a network location code and is meaningful only if you are using the default property name.

Related Topics

Creating Property Locations

Property Location Page

You use the Property Location page to enter and view information about Property Location entities. The page is arranged into several tabs, each of which is used for a different purpose:

General Information Tab

You use the General Information tab to view and maintain information about Property Location entities. When you click the Edit button, the fields in the page become available for editing.

Field	Description
Network Location	Select to define the property location as a network location. You must enter a value in the Network Location Code field if you select this check box.
Service Location	Select to define the property location as a service location.
Point of Presence	Select to define the property location as a point of presence.
Accept Property Name As Is	Select if you do not intend to validate the property address and want to maintain the address details you have entered.
Validate Address	Click to validate the property address using a geocoder application such as Oracle eLocation. If you validate the property address, its values will be replaced with the values returned by the geocoder. See "Validating Property Addresses" for more information.
Street Address	Enter the street address.
Apt/Suite/Room	Enter an apartment, suite, room, or other value that more precisely identifies the location at the street address. UIM ignores this value during address validation, but includes it in the property name.
Sub Area	For non-US addresses, enter a neighborhood or region of the city.
City	Enter the city or municipality.
State/Province	Enter the state or province in ISO format.
Country	Select a country value.
Postal Code	Enter the postal code.
Property Name	The default property name is a concatenation of the street address; apartment, room, or suite number; sub area; city; state; and country values. The default property name is updated when these values change. If you overwrite the default name, the name you enter is maintained and is not updated when address values change.
Description	Enter a description of the property location.
Latitude	Enter a latitude value between -90.0000 and 90.0000 decimal degrees. For North American locations, this value is converted to a V & H value and displayed in the Vertical field.
Longitude	Enter a longitude value between -180.0000 and 180.0000 decimal degrees. For North American locations, this value is converted to a V & H value and displayed in the Horizontal field.
Vertical	Enter a North American V & H system vertical coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value. This value is converted to a latitude and displayed in the Latitude field.
Horizontal	Enter a North American V & H system horizontal coordinate with a positive or negative numeric value. This value is converted to a longitude and displayed in the Longitude field.
Network Location Code	Enter a network location code. You can use a CLLI code, a code based on Oracle recommendations, or a code based on your own system. See "Adding Network Entity Codes to Network Locations" for more information. If you assign it a network location code, a property location is considered a network location and can be used in connectivity.
Use Network Location Code as Property Name	Select if you want the network location code to be included in the property name. This selection is available only if you have entered a network location code and is meaningful only if you are using the default property name.

Related Topics

Creating Property Locations

Network Entity Codes Tab

You use the Network Entity Codes tab to enter and maintain information about network entities associated with a property location that has been designated a network location.

Column	Description
Network Entity Code	Enter the network entity code of a logical device at this property location.
Device Identifier	Displays the device identifier of the logical device associated with the network entity code.
Connectivity	Displays an icon when the network device (logical device) is assigned to a connectivity.

Groups and Infrastructure Tab

You use the Groups and Infrastructure tab to enter and maintain information about the inventory groups to which a property location belongs.

Column	Description
Specification	Displays the specification used to define the inventory group. This field is read only.
Name	The name of the inventory group.
Description	The description of the inventory group.
Start Date	The date on which the inventory group becomes active.
End Date	The last date on which the inventory group is active.
Inventory Group Type	Determines which entities can be included in inventory groups of this type. Inventory groups with inventory group types are called resource pools.

Related Topics

Working with Inventory Groups

Associated Resources

You use the Associated Resources tab to view and maintain an custom involvements defined for the property location with entities that are not otherwise associated.

Column	Description
Involvement Specification	The specification that defines the involvement.
Entity Role	Role of the entity relevant to the involvement.
Involved Entity	Displays the type, specification, ID, name, and the role of the involved entity.