About Operations

This topic provides you with information concerning operations. Operations are building blocks put together by the expert user to create a process. They enable expert users to capture sequences of tasks that are manually performed, and enable end users to use the knowledge contained in the operations to perform tasks and procedures related to the technological object.

This page discusses:

See Also
Assigning Operations to Types
Defining the Data Flow

Operation Concept

An operation is a set of tasks performed on a type. It can be Know-how Apps Components operations, commands, or an external script (CAA, VB, VBA, C++, libraries and executables). There are two different types of operations: The sequences that can be considered as "container" operations that contain the second type of operations, the basic ones.

An operation is made up of the following components:



A name and an optional comment

Name displayed in the end user app. The comment associated with this name can help the end user understand the operation function.

A set of variables

Inputs: Data entered by the user or coming from a technological object or from other operations. Outputs: Result produced by the operation Internals: Defined for internal use as storage of intermediate results

A set of properties

Icons, Execution mode...

Basic Operations

Operations are broken down into different categories:

  • Structure Operations: Operations used to aggregate other ones: Sequence, Loop, Call , and Sub-Process. They contain a set of coherent basic operations.
  • Query Operations: Operations used to access data in the database: Query Component, and catalog.
  • Bind Operations: Operations used to navigate on resources not yet present at the definition stage. Its consists in a logical reference to a resource in the Structure (Bind Representation, Bind Parameter, Bind Publication, Bind Component, Bind Type).
  • Design Operations: Operations used to instantiate data (usually retrieved through Query, Catalog or resource tables) in the Structure: Instantiate Template, Engineering Template, KML Template, Manage Component, Copy/Paste and Create External Reference.
  • Knowledge Operations: Operations that use the standard knowledge tools: EKL Operation, Knowledge Certify (to execute rule bases), Knowlege relations (to locally define Knowledge relations) and Knowledge Dialogs.
  • Openness Operations: Operations that uses external code: VB/VBA, URL/ActiveX (to launch html page), CAA command (to use any command or a CAA coded command), Run a Process or a Library (function call and executable).
  • Event-based Operations: Operations used to react to other operations event and trigger specific operations.
  • Other Operations: General operations used for specific tasks: Synchronize Parameters, Display in Window, Launch Update Operation, Information.

Operations Assignment

You must follow a given method to assign operations to a type.

  1. Double-click the type with which you want to associate an operation in Know-how Apps Components to set it as current.
  2. Click one of the operations icon. The operation appears in the Operations View.
  3. To see operations, double-click the operation. The Operations tab is now available.
  4. Double-click the type node displayed in the Operations tab to expand it and click one of the operations icon. The operation appears below the object name.
Important:
  • When you create an operation, it becomes the current one and is underlined in both trees.
  • If you add a new operation, it is located next to the current one. There is one exception: if the current operation is sequence or a loop, the new operation is inserted into this operation. To add a new Main Sequence to a type, the type must be set as current in the right tree.