Lobster SCM templates

When configuring profiles in Lobster_data, so-called 'mapping' (Phase 3) is of central importance for the function of the profiles, even though this step is basically optional and can therefore be skipped. The transfer of input data from a Source structure (left in image) to a specific Target structure (on the right but not yet created) defines more or less complex assignments, transformations and dependencies and can also include the lookup of data not present in the input data.

The Source structure and the Target structure follow the same construction principle, namely a tree structure that defines and clearly describes the strictly hierarchical relationships between 'nodes' ('folder' symbol) and 'fields' ('circle' symbol). Both element types are anchor points for further complex definitions and – the interrelationships between Source structure and Target structure that are decisive for the mapping.

In principle, the same data structure can be modelled or generated with this technique in many different ways. The construction can quickly become time-consuming with increasing complexity of the structures, if each element must be added and parameterized individually. For this reason, Lobster_data offers predefined Templates for structures, which can be included via the Menu at the bottom of the windows for the source and target structure using the context menu function Load template.

For the context of the integration with Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration, the corresponding submenu contains the category Lobster_SCM, which offers template structures for all data objects predefined by Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration.

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If you select the category Lobster SCM, the following dialog appears, which defines which template should be inserted how and where:

If the option Append structure as subnode is not set (default), the structure of the template replaces the entire previous contents of the source or target structure.
CAUTION All unsaved entries for the structure concerned are then irreversibly lost!
If the option Append structure as subnode is set, then the template is inserted into the existing structure taking into account the selection for the target node under api.scm.appendToNode. If no target node is specified, an additional node appears at the top level.
The selection for the entity determines which template is inserted. In addition to real 'entities', all other objects of Lobster Data Platform / Orchestration that can be serialized as XML are available here.
If the option Skip entity attributes is set, the template selected under Entity is inserted without the XML attributes (id, ownerID, creatorId, lastModified, etc.) automatically managed for entities and attributes. This results in a leaner, clearer structure and, especially for a Target structure, these features can often be omitted altogether, since they are either read-only or are filled automatically. If the ID(id_attr) is required for an update or if the owner (ownerId) is set, it may still be easier to specifically add these characteristics than to delete unnecessary ones.

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If the option Expand typed attributes is set, all theoretically usable values of typed attributes are defined as individual nodes for all attributes nodes contained in the structure, based on the current definition for the corresponding dynamic enumerations.
If the Expand typed attributes option is not set (default), the attributes node contains only one node for each type of typed attribute (text attribute, flag attribute, company and address attribute), with undefined type (type_attr).

►REMARKS◄ 'Expanding' the typed attributes always affects several levels in templates for business objects, since the entities contained in them, such as positions, companies, products, addresses, etc. also contain attributes nodes. Depending on the variety of values for the various typed attributes, the number of elements in the structure of a 'fully expanded' business object often reaches the five-digit range – even if the option Skip entity attributes is set to suppress the system-related 'overhead' that also affects each individual attribute node of the structure.

The input field Xml/Json to static structure appears only in the context of a Target structure. It concerns the separately documented functionality for Creating static target structures, which can be inserted as or within a Target structure in the same way as a template.

The Apply button immediately starts the insertion of a template structure with the settings entered. Since the generation of more extensive structures may require runtime, a progress bar appears until the action is completed.