EDL Editor

Enterprise Definition Language › Using EDL with CA SRM › EDL Editor

EDL Editor

You can open the EDL editor from service definition dialogs or from the class definition dialog. The following shows you an example of the EDL Editor dialog:

The EDL editor opens with slight variations, depending on the dialog from which you call it. The EDL editor provides access to the following functions:

Function	Description
OK	Exits the editor and inserts the EDL expression into the service definition dialog from which the editor was called.
Cancel	Exits the editor without saving anything.
Save*	Saves the class definition.
Clear	Deletes the entire statement.
Syntax*	Checks the validity of the EDL statement and issues a message indicating whether the syntax is correct.
Assistant	Provides help with the formulation of EDL conditional statements in class definitions, filter definitions, and in supplying sources to services in EDL format.
Context	Provides context-sensitive help (brief description with example) for the selected item in a secondary dialog.

* Only in the Class definition dialog.

The EDL editor dialog offers several building blocks to help you write EDL statements. Double-click any building block to transfer the element to the Expression text box at the bottom of the dialog.

The following EDL building blocks appear in the editor:

Objects—Drop-down list of objects included in the CA SRM database and recognized by EDL (computers, classes, users, and so on). For more information, see the online help.
Attributes—The object attributes listed are those that correspond to the object selected in the Object drop-down list. If you double-click an attribute, the object name is concatenated to the object name with the selected attribute and transferred to the Expression text box.
CA SRM associates each attribute with a data type. When used in comparisons, the expressions on the right must match the attribute type.

If you select the object COMPUTER from the Object list and double-click the attribute FREE_SPACE, the string COMPUTER_FREE_SPACE is transferred to the Expression text box.

Attributes can assume values of different types, as shown in the following examples:
```
FILE_SIZE = 2 MB (size), USER_NAME = "JDOE" (string)
```
```
FILE_HAS_VALID_OWNER = TRUE (Boolean)
```
```
VOLUME_TYPE = "FAT"  (Enum string)
```
The attribute can assume any value from a finite list of values. For more information, see the online help.
Relationships—The relationships in this list correspond to the object selected in the Object drop-down list.
Some network objects are related to each other. Because computers can be part of domains, the relationships between these objects is expressed as follows:
- A computer BELONGS_TO a domain.
- A domain CONTAINS a computer.
- The system also identifies implied relationships between objects. An implied relationship is one that the system assumes between two objects if no relationship is specified explicitly. Using the implied relationship of IS_OWNED_BY between files and users, you can write a statement such as:
```
FILE WHERE USER_NAME = "JSMITH"
```
to replace the more explicit statement:
```
FILE WHERE FILE IS_OWNED_BY USER "JSMITH"
```
Similarly, using the implied relationship of IS_REGISTERED_ON between TSM nodes and TSM servers, you can write a statement such as:
```
TSM_NODE WHERE TSM_SERVER_NAME = "ATLANTA"
```
to replace the more explicit statement:
```
TSM_NODE WHERE TSM_NODE IS_REGISTERED_ON TSM_SERVER “ATLANTA"
```
Keywords—Predefined symbols and words that have special meaning in EDL. For a list of EDL keywords, see EDL Reference in this chapter.

EDL statements appear in the Expression text box at the bottom of the window. You can enter the statements directly or use the objects listed in the typing aid.