Sample Lesson: Reference Lookup Lists

What are Reference Lookup Lists?

Lookup lists are used to populate user interface elements like Lists, Combo box and Select boxes. When a list is made up of referenced objects, the list is called reference lookup list. Therefore, this list is implemented only in a reference relationship.

Example: Object A refers to object B. In this case, one can view all instances of object B while sitting on object A using a reference relationship.

 

Creating a Reference Lookup List

Step 1: Add the reference relationship

Make sure than an entry for the reference relationship has been made in the OBJECT_RELATIONSHIP metadata table.

For example: If the object Ticket refers to object Passenger, the relevant entry should be made in the OBJECT_RELATIONSHIP table.

 

Step 2: Make the relationship constrained

Reference relationship needs to be constrained to refer only to referenced objects that have the same parent as the referencing object.

For example: Ticket object should only refer to the passengers that have the same parent airlines as the ticket.

To make the relationship constrained, make appropriate entries in the following columns of the BUSINESS_VARIABLE metadata table:

Reference - Constraint Type: Constrained

Reference - Constraint Object Type: The parent object based on which the relationship is constrained. The parent object must be common to both the referenced and referring object. In this case, the parent is Airlines.

Reference - Constraint Path: The path to the parent object that constrains this relationship. The path must begin from the referencing object type. In this case, the path must begin from ticket and end with Airlines.

 

 

 Step 3: Add a label rule

How can the reference objects be displayed as a list? A label rule is used to provide a label to an object instance. Without a label rule, your referenced objects will not be visible in the list. In this case, the Ticket holder field on the UI that displays the passenger objects will appear as shown below without the label rule.

 The label rule for an object is provided in the OBJECT_TYPE metadata table.

·         Locate the entry for Object in the OBJECT_TYPE metadata table. In this case, the object is Passenger.

·         Provide the label rule in the Label Rule column.

Given below is screenshot that shows a very simple label rule. This label rule is used to display the passenger's first name.

Note that Passenger is a type of Person. Hence, we are using the attribute of the object Person. Also, note that the result type is String because the rule returns a label.

The reference list lookup for the passenger object looks like this after applying the label rule.

 Step 4: Display the Reference Lookup List

Whenever a reference relationship is defined in the OBJECT_RELATIONSHIP metadata table, Dragon automatically creates a Business Variable of type xReference to hold the referenced object. This is variable that should be used for the reference lookup list.

To display the reference lookup list, make an entry in the metadata table PAGE_LAYOUT_CELL. The data type should be xReference and the Cell BV Path should point to the reference variable.

 

 

Sorting and Filtering Reference Lookup Lists

Sorting a Reference Lookup List

The Reference List - Sort BV column of the OBJECT_RELATIONSHIP business variable table is used to reference lookup list.

Given below is the sorted lookup list for the Passenger object.

Filtering a Reference Lookup List

A rule can be placed on the reference list to filter the list based on a given criteria. The object type for the rule will be the list object, i.e., the object mentioned in the Related Object column of the OBJECT_RELATIONSHIP metadata table.

The rule to filter objects should be written in the Reference - Constraint Rule column of the OBJECT_RELATIONSHIP metadata table.

 

The above rule displays only passenger objects where the attribute Person Name First is not null. Without the rule, the passenger list would appear as given below:

Troubleshooting Reference Lookup Lists

 

Reference Lookup does not contain values

Possible reasons:

·         The reference relationship is not constrained.

·         There are no objects created of the referenced object type.

·         No label rule has been defined for the referenced object.

 

Reference Lookup displays object IDs

Possible reasons:

·         There is no label rule for the referenced object.

·         Label rule uses business variables that contain no values.

 

 

 

 

Sample Blog: Smartphone Meets Big Data

 

The amount of information that is circulated every day and that is made easily available via smartphones has created an augmented reality that has in turn created a very different way of living from the beginning of the 21^st Century. We ae blessed and cursed at the same time because we have access to more information than we can consume. New services are aggregating the photos and videos shot by thousands at a major event to create a better record of that event than any one user could create on their smartphone by themselves. 

 People can forget things now because it is so easy for technology to remind you later. The glory that was once credited to memory is stolen because technology makes a hero of everyone’s memory. People who can search and locate things stored in various clouds are far more productive than people who rely on their good memory. Given the abundant availability of information as smartphones meet big data, how will innovation drive productivity?

 Big data to help us learn from mistakes

 People say that they learn from mistakes but most people don’t. Memory tricks most of us when it comes to our mistakes. With our smartphones big data collects millions of digital artefacts. The texts we send , the photos we take and from where we take them is all scattered around the Internet. How can we build software applications that utilizes these digital artefacts to help us to learn from our mistakes by highlighting patterns and delivering up to the evidence so that we focus our time and attention on the most valuable options we have before us?

The massive amount of data that can be fed, extracted, circulated and evaluated using smartphones, allows big data to be used effectively to create algorithms that aid decision making at strategic levels by avoiding past mistakes and following the most productive precedents.

 The wisdom of crowds

 As we use online calendars, to do lists and contacts, the wisdom of crowds could remind us that the last time we did what we are about to do it did not turn out well or when other people followed this particular path their project faltered. Can the Wisdom of the Crowd help us as it helped Amazon by telling us  that the people who bought this book also bought these other books. Can the data from millions of people doing much the same things be shared to help each of us achieve more valuable outcomes; can LinkedIn monitor who we are dealing with on this current project and inform you that they have the connections, track record and capability to achieve your objective. We have until now had to make these decisions by ourselves or with the help of our manager but in the emergent order, applications on smartphones connected to these technologies and data sets can use patterns and relationships to significantly improve our choices as to how we spend our time and allocate our precious resources.

 How smart is a smartphone when it meets big data?

Innovative smartphone technology combined with big data is beginning to radically change business in many sectors such as healthcare, insurance, food and infrastructure. A cardiologist can now see the cardiogram of a patient who is sitting in a different part of the world on his smartphone. Eric Topol says that the technology (called airstrip technology) that allows a person to check all vital signs such as rhythm, blood pressure, oxygen etc. on the smartphone just like checking emails is already available.

 Think about the GPS on your phone. It dynamically collects data as you travel and at the click of a button can return you home. Maxwell Smart only used his shoe phone to talk to 99. How else can your mobile devices collect valuable data and turn it into valuable guidance to improve how we work, learn and live?

 The human factor

 The wise and conscientious will trump the smartest as machines augment human capacity. A combination of human and computer teams can still beat Watson. With smartphone technology enabling access to all the needed data, Tyler Cowen predicts that a person who is successful in the future is not the one who knows more but the one who is conscientious enough to listen and complement the machine by asking the right questions.  The person who is able to complement artificial intelligence through innovation and take advantage of current market trends to drive productivity will be the person who is looking into the future.                                                                                           

Sample Whitepaper: Taking convergence to the next level

 

With the telecommunication industry evolving at a rapid pace and competition between service providers getting stiffer, companies have been finding ways to add value and improve revenue. In the light of these developments, the concept of convergence has gained immense value. Convergence can be viewed at different levels; usage of the same network for voice and data transmission, integration of various services like mobile and internet into one package, partnership between network operators and service providers to simplify operation for customers, and so on.

Having achieved convergence at multiple levels, the challenge that lies ahead is combating the complexities caused by convergence to the network architecture. To get a clear understanding of the technical problem that we are trying to address, we have introduced the following concepts:  

Service: A service is a platform from which a customer can receive one or more functional outcomes. An example of a service could be internet or a virtual private LAN or a virtual private network.

Access: An access or access platform provides the connectivity from the customer’s equipment to the service. An example could be a mobile network, an ADSL connection, or a fibre connection.

Product: A product is a customized package of one or more services and accesses. A product is priced and the price varies based on the services and accesses chosen.

Organic network growth caused by convergence has led to inconsistencies and complexities in the interaction between the service and the access platforms. Some of the complexities encountered are:

• Discrete network instances which provide singular access and service combinations. For example: A service that provides internet for DSL customers. 
• Discrete network instances which provide services for one customer segment. For example: Services that provide internet for business customers or internet for consumer customers.
• Variation in the service or access platform used for the same customer. This variation can be due to factors like time lapse, better performance of a new network design etc. For example: a customer is connected to a new network design today; whereas the same customer was connected to an old customer design a year ago.

These complexities increase cost, as the variations and increase in the access and service permutations and combinations directly affect business process efficiency. Also, there is an increased reliance on qualifying tools to ensure that we deliver as per our customers’ needs.

 

 In some cases where the service platform and network platform are not compatible with each other, an appropriate interface needs to be installed on either of the platforms.  

Given the current operation scenario, the next logical step for the telecommunication industry is to take convergence to the next level by simplifying the network process while at the same time taking advantage of all the integrated benefits that technology convergence has to offer.

 

Access and Service Decoupling

Access and service decoupling is a concept of having an integration layer that acts as a mediation platform between the access platform and the service platform. This platform handles complexities, eliminates inconsistencies, enables compatibility and improves efficiency

 

 

The advantages of the access and service decoupling unit can be summarized within the following key points:

• Cost reduction in terms of configuration when a new access or service platform is introduced. All logic for communication resides within the mediation platform. Hence, any new communication protocol for a platform can be coded within this layer.
• Communication consistency can be maintained as both the services platform and the access platform communicate with the integration layer. All communication issues are resolved by the integration layer and smooth mediation is ensured.
• Improved performance when handling the network complexity caused by varied and numerous discreet network connections.
• Provision of more options for organizations while handling service requests.

With the consistent mediation platform in place, organizations will be more adept to handle market change, optimize convergence and continue to revolutionize customer experience in the telecommunication industry.

Planning a manual

As with every other project, planning is the most important stage in the lifecycle of a writing project. How does a writer plan a user manual or a training manual? What makes a user manual more acceptable, easily understood and successful? Given below are some of the planning steps that I have found useful:

How much does the expected reader already know on the subject? This is required to get a perspective of the technical level of the audience we are addressing and the amount of assumptions that we can make. Also, it might appear offensive and patronising if you are explaining the most obvious in great detail.

How much does the average reader want to know? Some readers are naturally satisfied with the basic information while others feel at control only when they have understood the topic at a great detail. It is essential to strike a balance such that the needs of both types of readers are met.

What are the hot topics in the subject? This refers to the topics that the reader would value the most in the entire subject. It also refers to topics that are a foundation for the other topics and are the most basic concepts required to understand the subject.

Is there any prerequisite information that the reader would need before understanding this subject? For example: If you are writing a manual on the topic 'Using Microsoft Word', it might be a good idea to explain the purpose of any authoring tool.

How deep are you planning to go in explaining each concept or topic? The depth you decide should be consistent throughout your manual. In addition, if you think that there would be readers who would be interested in more depth, you can provide alternatives like the ones given below:

•  Have two different manuals; one that would deal with the subject at a superficial level and the other at a deeper level.
• Provide links at required locations within chapters that would take the user to chapters where indepth information is available.
• Cover basic information in the initial chapters and detailed information later.

Writing for Technical Communication

How is technical writing different from other types of writing? Writing as such can be viewed from many perspectives. Some write to give expression to their thoughts. Few others write to debate and convince the readers about their ideas, and still few others write just for the sake of art - play with words and language. Well, all these types of writing are definitely creative and commendable. How is this writing different from what a technical writer has to offer?

All the other writers mentioned above more or less express self through their writing. This type of writing ceases to emerge without the display of personality. It is very grand indeed!!!

A technical writer on the other hand starts and ends with the audience in mind. For a technical writer, the success of her/his writing is measured by how easily the reader has understood the subject at hand. This is where 'empathy' and 'self-denial' plays an important role. A technical writer should constantly strive to understand the readers erudition and avoid assumptions throughout any writing project.

Personally, I will view writing for technical communication more as a skill than an art. It is a multi-faceted skill that requires a sharp intelligence to understand complex information, well-organised thought process to arrange information in a meaningful way, empathy to simplify each segment of the information and language to express the information in a lucid and consistent fashion.