Node properties

Attributes and References can be used to describe the properties of a Node, and their relationships to other Nodes. These properties provide the context that helps to describe the different parts of the model. For example, a Node called Floors might contain attributes such as floor number, and references such as the association between the Floors Node and the Building Node, or the association between Floors and Areas.

Attributes

The Attributes of a Node describe the properties of that Node, such as its name and characteristics. These Attributes could include the breaker rating of an electrical panel or contact information of a tenant. For example, a Node called Buildings that is part of a physical layout hierarchy could have an Attribute such as the building name.

Attributes are configurable by entering information into an Attribute field. To add Attribute content to a new Node instance, select a tab and click Add. To edit existing Attribute content, double-click a Node instance, or highlight it and click Edit. When the Properties dialog opens, select an attribute field by clicking in the applicable field and entering the necessary information. Click OK when you finish specifying all of the necessary attributes for the Node.

References

References describe how a Node in a hierarchy is associated with other Nodes. For example, in a hierarchy that describes the physical layout of a company's building, a Node called Floor could have a reference that describes its association with a Node called Areas. These references indicate which offices are part of each floor. In this example, since a Floor can contain many offices, it is considered a one-to-many association. Since an office can only be associated with a single floor, it is considered a one-to-one association. By making these connections between the Nodes, the hierarchy structure of the model begins to take shape.

Reference fields require clicking Add, Edit, or Delete. To add reference content to a Node instance, click Add for the reference, then select the appropriate entry from the list that appears. You can also enter dynamic hierarchy time ranges in this section.

To edit existing reference content, double-click the entry in the grid, or highlight it and click Edit, and then make the necessary changes. In most cases, this change would involve either the start or end dates of the particular reference.

To delete existing reference content, select an entry from the applicable reference type and click Delete.

NOTE: The Delete button should not be used to end an association with a particular Node instance. When a relationship between two Node instances ends after a certain date, the ideal solution is to edit the references and change the To field to a specific end date that defines the time range for the relationship. See Creating a hierarchy for more information.