Using Views

After you create views, you use them in specific tools. In the Activity Dependency Diagram, you associate views of a process with an external object. In the Dialog Design, you automatically invoke view synthesis during process-to-procedure implementation. You also conduct view matching to match views passed between Procedure Steps.

In the Action Diagram, you conduct view matching to match views between processes and Procedure Steps and the action blocks they call.

Downstream Effects: The following discussion describes how views are used throughout all stages of Information Engineering, starting with their creation in Analysis and ending with application generation in Construction.

During Analysis, view creation actually starts when you add entity types and subtypes, and their attributes to the data model with the Data Model tool. These entity types and subtypes with their attributes are then assigned to import and export views with the Activity Hierarchy and Activity Dependency Diagram tools. The Process Action Diagram automatically reflects the import and export views you defined for elementary processes with the Activity Hierarchy and Activity Dependency Diagram. If needed, you can add any missing import and export views using the Action Diagramming tool. You can also add entity action and local views.

During Design, you specify procedures with the Dialog Design tool. You implement one or more elementary processes in procedures. During transformation, CA Gen automatically synthesizes a set of views based on the combined views of the processes being implemented and places the views in a Process Action Diagram.

The Process Action Diagram uses the following views:

Synthesized import and export views from elementary processes
Views from any Analysis and Design action blocks the Process Action Diagram calls
Any new views (such as local views)

You map views to fields on screens with Screen Design or Window Design.

During the code generation phase of Construction, you generate a system that consists of screens populated with the fields you initially defined with views. CA Gen bases the generated program logic on the manipulation of views in the Process Action Diagrams.