Expanding and finding related information in iBase

When iBase items are present on a chart, you can look for connected information in the database. You can also update the chart items to reflect any changes to the records in the database.

Procedure

  1. To access the Data Sources pane, click the Home tab, and then in the Data Sources group, select Connect > Datasources Pane.

  2. Optional: Set the item types that you are interested in retrieving from your database:

    1. At the top of the Charting section, click either Filter Entity Types or Filter Link Types. The lists display the entity or link types in the iBase database.

    2. Select the entity or link types that you to use on the chart.

    3. Click OK.

  3. Select the items on your chart that you would like to investigate and select an option:

    • Expand

      Expand one or more iBase entities on an Analyst's Notebook chart in order to chart their links and link end entities. The number of links and linked entities that are shown (the expansion levels), and the types that are shown, is determined by the current charting settings. By default, only the links from the selected entity and their link end entities are shown.

      Click Expand. This adds the entities and links to the current chart. The entities and links that are added are determined by the current charting settings.

    • Expand to New Chart

      Expand the selected items onto a new chart. The entities and links that are added are determined by the current charting settings.

    • Expand with Settings

      Expand with custom settings, such as specifying the entity and link types to use, the expansion level, and link styles.

    • Explore

      Interactively browse through your database, expanding from one entity to the next. While you are exploring, you can choose to concentrate on specific entity and link types and ignore others. This can help to simplify the information you are trying to understand at any given time.

    • Find Path

      Find the chain of intermediate links and entities that connect two entities on the chart, taking the link direction into account, and selecting the shortest path (depending how the charting settings are set). A path may not be found if the number of intermediate entities exceeds a preset maximum number.

      Note: If Follow direction is turned on, then select the entities in the correct order - the first entity you select is the 'from' entity, the second entity you select is the 'to' entity.

      If a path is found between the two entities, additional information regarding them is added to the chart. All the items are selected so you can tidy up the chart by dragging them to a new area of the chart.

    • Find Connecting Links

      Find all the links that connect two or more entities on the chart. The number to the right of the Find Connecting Links displays the number of items on the chart that are already connected.

    • Find Common Neighbors

      Find any entities that have connecting links to at least two of the selected chart items.

    • Find Common Neighbors Linked to All

      Finds any entities that have connecting links to all of the selected chart items.

    • Populate Cards

      Populate cards for items selected on the chart. For more information, see Populating cards.