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Every project that is created within the studio will make use of a number of asset files. These could include WSDL or Schema files for remote services, XML fragments defining particular request structures, or XSLT transformation files that the application will use. The logicsheet files define the rules that will be executed by each component within your project. These logicsheets will also be catalogued with the other assets. The asset management area of the studio can be accessed by selecting the Assets top level tab from any studio page. This will show a screen like the example below. This same type of screen will be shown throughout the studio whenever an asset file needs to be selected. For example, selecting a WSDL file to import. Screen shot of XDE asset management page.
To help organise our assets, they are grouped into different categories. There are five different asset categories:
Logicsheets: Use this category to store logicsheets for the project. These files should get automatically created as you add the required runtime patterns to your project. Messages: Use this category to store examples of messages that will be passed between nodes in the application or remote services being called. These messages can be used as helper documents during rules construction and data bindings. XSDs: Use this category to store any schemas or WSDL files that may be needed in the application. XSLs: Use this category to store any stylesheets needed by the project. These could be used to transform the factbase into a different XML format, for example. If this is an MVC project, all the screens created with FormMaker will generate XSLs within this category that render the required HTML content. Other Resources: Use this category to store any other XML resources that may be needed by the project, such as files that may be parsed into the factbase.
The Assets screen shows all of the available categories on the left hand side. The files within a particular category can be shown by clicking on the category name. The screen will initially be shown with the Messages category selected.
There are a number of functions available that allow us to manipulate the contents of the category.
To upload a file from the file system into the current category, the Browse... button should be used to select the file to upload. Once the file has been selected, the File Name: box will be populated accordingly, but his can be changed if required to upload the file to a different name. clicking the Upload button will then upload the selected file into the category, and update the list of assets accordingly. If the document being uploaded contains imports of other files, then these will automatically be imported if possible. For example, a WSDL document may import a separate schema file for the actual message definitions. To create a new asset, type the new name in the File Name: box and click the New button. This will create a new document in this category, and update the list to show the new details. To copy an existing asset, provide a name for the new version of the asset, and select the original asset to copy by clicking on the radio button to the left of the asset. Click on Copy to copy the selected asset. Renaming an asset is achieved by providing a new name (in the File Name: box), and selecting the asset we wish to rename by clicking on the appropriate radio button. Clicking the Rename button will then change the name of the selected document as required and update the displayed list accordingly. We can delete an asset by selecting it with the radio buttons, and then clicking on the Delete button. This function cannot be undone so use it with caution.
We cannot have more than one asset with the same name in a particular category, and the system will prevent duplicate names from occurring.
This screen provides two different ways to edit an existing asset:
To edit an existing asset within the browser, select it using the appropriate radio button, and click the Edit button. this will show the edit screen described in the next section, Editing Assets. Alternatively, each asset can be edited in an external editor such as Altova XMLSpy. This is done by selecting the radio button for the asset to edit, and then clicking the Edit in XMLSpy button. This will load the editor and then open the selected file within it. Once the changes have been made, the file can then be saved directly within the editor to store any changes made.
Using external editors such as XMLSpy are recommended for editing more complex XML files, as this is easier than the standard web based editor, and it also provides advanced schema/WSDL editing capabilities. XDE is configured to use XMLSpy by default, but if you would like to use a different editor for the external editing capabilities, please refer to the Hyfinity FAQ.
The system behaviour upon clicking the asset name will vary depending on the type of the asset category, and how the screen is being used:
If the asset category is of type Logicsheet, clicking the name of a file will load the logicsheet within RuleMaker ready for editing. See the Hyfinity® RuleMaker User Guide for information on how to construct logicsheets with RuleMaker. For every other type of asset, clicking the filename will have the same effect as using the edit function described above. If the Assets screen is being used to select a file from elsewhere in the studio (ie not via the Assets tab) then clicking on the asset file name will return the details of the selected asset to the appropriate studio screen and close down the window. In order to view the contents of an asset, you will need to use the edit option described above.
Project Publication Editing Assets