Understanding Entity Groups

Entity Groups are used to define groups of entities, such as devices (including meters or items, as well as controllable devices used with Digital Asset Cloud Service and Digital Asset Management) or service points.

An entity can belong to more than one group if they have different Group Categories. For example, a controllable device associated with a specific program and rate could belong to a group category based on the specific program as well as a group category based on the specific rate.

Entity group processing uses dynamic SQL queries to identify entities that belong to a entity group. These dynamic queries are based on configuration of the Group Category (which defines Template SQL that contains tokens) and Criteria Values (which define specific values for the tokens in the Template SQL). These queries are used by "Eligible <Entity>s for this Group" zones that identify entities eligible for but not currently assigned to a group, as well as <Entity> Group Evaluation batch processes (see Batch Processing in Configuring Entity Groups for more information).

Entity Groups are defined by the following:

  • Status: The current status of the entity group
  • Group Category: The category to which the entity group belongs. Group categories are defined using the Entity Group Category (D1-EntityGrpCodeCategoryLookup) extendable lookup. See below for more information.
  • Group Deactivation Option: A flag that defines what happens to the relationship (captured in the Device Entity Group or Service Point Entity Group table, as appropriate) between the group and entities belonging to the group if or when the group is deactivated. Options include "Expire" and "Do not Expire".
  • Group Assignment Option: A flag indicating the manner in which groups are assigned to entities. Options include System (via batch process), User (manually), System and User (either).
  • Criteria Value: One or more criteria values used for selecting entities for the group, based on a Criteria Source and Criteria Value.
    • Criteria Source: Defines the source for criteria used for selecting entities for the group (such as a Specification, Rate, or Program). Criteria sources are defined using the Entity Group Criteria Source (D1-EntityGrpCriteriaSrcLookup) extendable lookup. See below for more information.
    • Criteria Value: Defines specific values for the criteria that are used when selecting entities for the group. For instance, values for a Criteria Source of "Rate" could be rates defined in an extendable lookup.

System Data

Entity Groups are based on the following system data:

Data Type Description
Maintenance Object Entity Group (D1-ENTGRP)
Business Object(s) Entity Group (D1-EntityGroup)

Entity Group Category Extendable Lookup

The Entity Group Category (D1-EntityGrpCodeCategoryLookup) extendable lookup defines categories of entity groups. These are used to define groups of entities (either devices or service points) that share the criteria and template SQL for identifying and retrieving entities but that may have different criteria values. For example, two device entity groups, "Device Group A" and "Device Group B" can reference the same "Specification and Rate" category, which uses Specification and Rate Schedule criteria to identify and retrieve devices (devices in group A are those with a unique combination of Specification and Rate Schedule, while those in group B have a different unique Specification and Rate combination). The category also defines template SQL that uses the "Specification" and "Rate" criteria when identifying and retrieving devices. The Entity Group Category Template SQL contains tokens, and an Entity Groups Criteria Values define specific values for the tokens in the Template SQL.

Values for this extendable lookup are defined by the following:

  • Status: The current status of the entity group category.
  • Target Maintenance Object: The maintenance object of the entities that belong to entity groups of this category. Valid options include Device (D1-DEVICE) or Service Point - MDM (D1-SP).
  • Template SQL: The template SQL used to identify and retrieve entities for entity groups of this category.
  • Entity Group Algorithm: An algorithm that executes the template SQL, inserting the criteria values from the entity group, to identify and retrieve entities for entity groups of this category.
  • Criteria Sources: The criteria sources used by the template SQL when identifying and retrieving entities for entity groups of this category. Criteria sources are defined using the Entity Group Criteria Source (D1-EntityGrpCriteriaSrcLookup) extendable lookup. See below for more information. Each criteria source is defined by the following:
    • Criteria Source: The name of the criteria source (from the Entity Group Criteria Source (D1-EntityGrpCriteriaSrcLookup) extendable lookup)
    • Is Required: A flag that indicates if a value is required for the criteria source (Required or Optional)
    • Marker: The token used in the template SQL for the criteria source and value, in the format of "#xxx". For example, the marker for a Specification criteria source might be "#SPEC".
    • Condition Operator: The operator used in WHERE clauses in the template SQL to filter data based on the criteria source. Values are defined in the Condition Operator (CONDITION_​OPR_​FLG) lookup.

The base package includes a sample value for this extendable lookup.

Criteria Source Extendable Lookup

The Entity Group Criteria Source (D1-EntityGrpCriteriaSrcLookup) extendable lookup defines the criteria that can be configured for an entity group. Each value defines a single criteria source, such as Specification, Rate, or Program, as well as how the user will enter criteria values for the criteria source, and the source of criteria values for the criteria source. This configuration is used in the Criteria Value section of an Entity Group.

Values for this extendable lookup are defined by the following:

  • Status: The current status of the entity group criteria source
  • Presentation: The presentation used for the criteria source. Options include:
    • Drop down: The user selects a the criteria value from a drop-down list.
    • Input Text: The user enters text.
    • Input Text with Date Picker: The user selects a date.
    • Input Text with Date Time Picker: The user selects a date and time.
  • Value Source: The source of values for the criteria source. Options include:
    • Characteristic Type (Pre-Defined): Values are from a list of pre-defined values for a characteristic type
    • Extendable Lookup: Values are from an extendable lookup
    • Service Script: Values are retrieved by a service script
    • Standard Lookup: Values are from a standard lookup
  • Value Retriever: The specific value source used for the criteria source, based on the Value Source. For example, if the Value Source is "Standard Lookup", this would be the lookup code.

Example: A "Rate" criteria source where values are derived from the Customer Rate Schedule (D2-CCBRateScheduleLookup) extendable lookup could be defined as follows:

  • Criteria Source: Rate
  • Description: Rate
  • Status: Active
  • Presentation: Drop down
  • Value Source: Extendable Lookup
  • Value Retriever: D2-CCBRateScheduleLookup