Maintaining the semantic type library

All i2 products and databases at your site should use the same Semantic Type Library. The best way to achieve this is to define any custom semantic types centrally in one database, and treat this library as the central Semantic Type Library for your organization. You can then distribute them to other iBase databases by using a custom semantic type (MTC) file. See below Saving the Semantic Type Library to file for details.

You can edit and delete custom semantic types but not ones from the standard Semantic Type Library. You should always do this in the database that holds the Semantic Type Library for your organization. All work on custom semantic types should be done in one central place because a semantic type is uniquely identified by the database in which it was created rather than by its name.

It is important to control how custom semantic types are created and edited--- lack of control may result in duplicate names for semantic types in one or more of your databases. One possible method of resolving duplicate semantic types when there are several iBase databases involved is described below.

Saving the Semantic Type Library to file

Custom semantic type files store details of the semantic types defined in the database from which they are saved. They do not store any details of how the semantic types are assigned; you need to use the Database Design report to obtain this information.

You should save your Semantic Type Library to file whenever you add, edit, or delete semantic types to the database that holds the central Semantic Type Library for your organization:

  • In the Semantic Types dialog, click Save and select a folder for the Semantic Type Library file. The semantic types are saved in a file with a .mtc file extension.

Editing custom semantic types

You can edit the name, description, and synonyms of a custom semantic type, but not of a standard type from the Semantic Type Library. You cannot add additional notes to custom semantic types.

Note: Do not alter the name or description for a custom semantic type in a manner that changes the original meaning of its usage. Different instances of the same custom semantic type will be aligned (matched) regardless of the name or description of the custom semantic type.

To edit a custom semantic type:

  1. Select Tools > Database Design > Semantic Types.

  2. Right-click on the semantic type and select Edit. The Edit Custom Semantic Type dialog is displayed.

  3. Click Save and save a new custom semantic type file to record your changes.

  4. Click OK to save your changes.

Deleting custom semantic types

To delete an unassigned custom semantic type, and any children that it may have:

  1. In the Semantic Types dialog, unassign the custom semantic type if required. For details, see Assigning Semantic Types to your data.

  2. Right-click on the semantic type and from the shortcut menu, select Delete. The custom semantic type is deleted immediately.

  3. Click Save and save a new custom semantic type file to record your changes.

  4. Click OK to save your changes.

Note: If you inadvertently delete the wrong custom semantic type, reload the semantic types from file. Do not recreate it.

How semantic types with duplicate names can occur

Duplicate names for semantic types may occur when you:

  • Copy and paste entity types, link types, and fields between databases that define their own Semantic Type Libraries rather than make use of one centrally-defined library.

  • When you load a Semantic Type Library into a database where similarly named semantic types already exist.

Duplicate semantic types are renamed so that they can be displayed in the tree view of the Semantic Types dialog.