Defining types The Types page allows you to define and review and link types. to view the Types page, select View > Types Page. Defining an entity typeAn entity type definition allows you to set the database fields that map to entity type properties.Defining a link typeA link type definition sets the database fields that map to link type properties.Defining the structure of a typeWhen you select the New Entity Type or New Link Type command to define a new type, the Type Structure dialog appears. The Structure page of this dialog initially contains any tables that were selected on the Database page when you selected the New Entity Type or New Link Type command.Defining the label of a typeThe label of an enitiy or link is the main text that is displayed. You define a label for an entity or link type using any combination of :the fields of the type, free text, and the special characters (Space, NewLine and Tab).Defining the properties of a typeWhen you have defined all of the entity and link type structures and defined the ends of the link types, you can then define the properties of the types in the Entity or Link Type Properties dialogs. There are different settings on the dialogs depending on whether you are defining an entity type or a link type.Defining and editing attribute classesIf you want some of the fields of a record to be represented as attributes in an entity or link type, you must define the attribute classes.Defining and editing code listsIf you want some of the fields of a record to use code lists to interpret field values in an entity or link type, you must define the code lists. For example, you may want to interpret a number representing a hair color as the text name of that hair color.Defining the ends of a link typeIf you want some of the fields of a record to use code lists to interpret field values in an entity or link type, you must define the code lists. For example, you may want to interpret a number representing a hair color as the text name of that hair color.Defining link end conditionsWhen you define the ends of the link types on the Types Page, if the end of a link can be more than one entity type, you must define the conditions for which end it is associated with.Defining the order of types in the Find dialogYou can define the order in which entity and link types are displayed in the Find dialog by dragging and dropping the entity or link type in the tree view in the Types page. Entity and link types are displayed in the tree view in the order in which they are created.Defining filters on a typeIf you have defined the structure of an entity or link type but only a subset of records in the tables are applicable to the type, you must define the conditions for when a record will be used in the type. For example, in the Accounts Example 3 database, if you want to define three account types all originating in the Account table, you will need to set the conditions to distinguish each type.Defining all fields of a typeThe All Fields page of the Type Properties dialog allows shared properties to be set that apply to all fields of an item type.Representing a field as a filenameA field can be charted as a picture and configured as a hyperlink depending on its data type. The various options available for a selected field are shown in the Field represents a filename area or Binary field details area on the Entity Type Properties and Link Type Properties pages.Entering conditions on a fieldThe Field Condition dialog allows you to enter conditions for a specific field.Defining general properties of an entity typeThe general properties of an entity type include the name, and details about how it gets displayed on a chart.Defining general properties of a link typeThe general properties of a link type include the name, color, and default direction.Defining and editing abstract typesYou can define an abstract entity or link type to be a collection of entity or link types respectively. These abstract types can be useful to an analyst when they want to perform queries against items whose type they do not know. Defining the description of a typeAn item's description in Analyst's Notebook is usually a more detailed explanation of the information represented by the item. You can define a description for an entity or link type in iBridge Designer in exactly the same way as defining the type label.Defining the identity of a typeIf you intend to chart your data onto a chart that already contains entities pertinent to your investigation, you may wish to define the chart identity for the entity types. This may allow entities to merge with those that already exist on your chart. Defining the date and time of a typeAll entity and link types on a chart can contain date and time information. Date and times are only handled if they are contained in an appropriate database date, time, or date and time data type field. Dates and times within text fields are not mapped.Defining the description of date & timeAn item may have a textual description of when it occurred rather than a specific date and time, or dates and time may be stored in text fields. This may be useful when no date or time is known, or if a date and time is specified to give more information regarding it. Defining the grades of a typeUse the Grades page of the Type Properties dialog to define the grade.Defining attribute class propertiesAttribute classes are used to define the attribute types that can be added to chart items. The general properties include the name, type and symbol to use when displaying the attribute on the chart surface.Defining conditional directions for a link typeWhen you have set up the structure of a link type, you set a default direction. If you do not specify any other directions this default direction is used for all links of this type. Use the Conditional Directions page of the Properties dialog to specify conditions for using different directions for different records. Defining field properties of a typeAs part of the property definition you must indicate how you want to use the fields of the entity or link type within Analyst's Notebook.Defining fields of a typeUse the Fields pages of the Type Properties dialog to set properties for fields in an entity or link type table in the Types Page.Defining sub types for an entity typeUse the Sub Types Page of the Type Properties dialog to specify conditions for using different icons depending on the content of records.Defining the source of a typeUse the Source/Grades Source page of the Properties dialog to define the Source of a Type.Defining the source/grades of a typeAll items in an Analyst's Notebook chart are given grading and source information. The grading and source can be derived from a field, a constant, or not used.Defining type conditionsYou can define different icons for entity types depending on the value of a specific field. In a similar way, you can define different directions for a link type, depending upon the value of a field.Parent topic: iBridge Designer
