Common elements of hierarchy templates

The components that make up Hierarchy Manager can appear differently depending on the hierarchy template installed in the system. Although these different hierarchy templates can have different tab and property names, and the relationships between the Nodes differ, the method used to modify the hierarchy is similar for most templates. This section provides information regarding the basic steps to modifying a hierarchy, regardless of the template used.

Hierarchy Manager has a series of tabs across the top of the page. These tabs are the representation of the Nodes. Clicking on any of these tabs displays the instances of the Node types in a grid format.

The process involved with creating an instance of a Node type is the same for most hierarchy templates. To create a new instance, select the applicable tab and click Add. The Properties window opens, containing fields that represent the properties for that particular Node instance. Any required fields are identified with a Required message. Click in the attribute fields and enter the necessary information. Reference fields are selected from a grid and can also have a time dimension associated with them (see Dynamic hierarchy for additional information). Click Add to open the Select dialog and select the applicable item from the grid. If there are no items to choose from, you might need to create a new instance for that Node type.

To edit an instance of a Node type, click the applicable tab, double-click an instance in the grid, or select it and click Edit. Make the changes to the applicable fields in the Properties dialog and click OK.

To delete an existing instance of a Node type, select the applicable tab, select an instance on that tab and click Delete. After you confirm the delete action, the instance disappears from the grid, and any reference information regarding the deleted instance is removed from all affected Node instances.

Tree View

Displaying the views of a template is also similar for most template types. You can see the view of a hierarchy by clicking the Show Views link. The view shows the different levels of the hierarchy, and the date range for each entry of the hierarchy.

Date Range: Use the To and From fields to select the date range to display the hierarchy.

Available Views: Use this section to switch between different views if there is more than one view available. The available views are determined by the hierarchy template. Click Update when you change the date range, the scale, or view.

Scale: Select Days or Months to provide the appropriate scale to the hierarchy view.

Beside each hierarchy level is a bar that indicates when in the date range the Node was part of the hierarchy. If the bar has a rounded edge, the Node reference has an end date within the date range. If the bar has a square edge, the Node reference continues beyond the date range.

You can click the pencil (edit) icon to the left of the bars to open and edit the properties for the related item.

If you do not see a node in the hierarchy view, make sure the date range includes the date that Node was part of the hierarchy. You can view the date range for a hierarchy entry by hovering the pointer on it.