Metadata
Metadata can be provided for a number of declarations, describing the purpose of the declarations. Metadata attributes can be defined for the pattern module as a whole, and for individual patterns and identify tables in the module. Metadata declarations take the form:
metadata name := value1, value2, ...; ... end metadata;
When pattern modules are loaded into BMC Atrium Discovery, the metadata attributes are stored along with the pattern modules in the data store, allowing them to be searched for and used in reports. There is not a fixed set of metadata attributes - any attributes can be set as appropriate for the pattern. However, the following attributes are recommended for all patterns and pattern modules:
Name |
Description |
Expected? |
---|---|---|
products |
The names of the product(s) identified by the pattern |
expected |
product_synonyms |
Other names for the product(s) |
optional |
known_versions |
Versions of the product(s) that are known to exist |
optional |
publishers |
The publisher(s) or the product(s) at the time of pattern creation |
expected |
publisher_synonyms |
Other names the publishers are known by |
optional |
oem_publishers |
Any publishers that OEM the product(s) |
optional |
prior_publishers |
Publishers previously related to the product(s), in case the product or publisher has been bought |
optional |
product_families |
Publisher specific product families the product(s) belong to |
optional |
product_editions |
If the product is available in different editions, which ones the pattern covers |
optional |
categories |
The software categories the product is in |
expected |
urls |
Web URLs of relevance |
optional |
tkn_identity |
For patterns from the Technology Knowledge Network, the identity in the TKN database |
expected |
Note that all of the attributes are lists of strings (in TPL 1.4, numbers are also permitted) since it is possible for one single pattern or pattern module to be relevant to a number of different products.
Attributes are tagged as "expected" if well-written patterns would be expected to have them. All patterns available through TKN will have all of the expected attributes.
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