Creating a Custom Component › Understanding the Component XML Structure

Understanding the Component XML Structure

A device component defines a class of component items that are associated with a device. Many factory-defined components are provided, but a custom component is typically defined for a custom metric family. Components can define an optional ItemSyncDefinition, which synchronizes component items to CA Performance Center. You can then view the components in Inventory lists, groups, and context pages.

Here is an example of a component definition XML that supports our Frame-Relay PVC example. A new component, frPVC, has been added:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Auto-generated by the type catalog local manager.-->
<DataModel namespace="http://im.ca.com/inventory" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="ComponentFacet.xsd">
  <FacetType name="frPVC">
    <Documentation>A Frame Relay PVC</Documentation>
    <FacetOf namespace="http://im.ca.com/core" name="Item" />
    <Component>true</Component>
    <ItemSyncDefinition itemTypeName="component" itemSubtypeName="frpvc" itemTypeLabel="FrameRelayPVC" itemTypeLabelPlural="FrameRelayPVCs" categorize="false" groupBy="false" context="true">
    </ItemSyncDefinition>
  </FacetType>
</DataModel>

Set the context in the ItemSyncDefinition to “true” to enable a link to a custom context page. You can navigate to this page from the frPVC device component where it appears in the Inventory, Device Components list. Setting it to “true” also enables you to select the metric family as a “context,” which makes your custom metric family available in the Dynamic Trend chart type. For more information, see ItemSyncDefinition.