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3.2 MetaEdit+ System Administration

In this section we examine the tools for administrating the Object Repository. To use the system administrator tools, you must start MetaEdit+ and login as sysadmin to a database. If you will be working solely with database data such as users and areas, there is no need to open any projects. If you will be deleting metamodel information with the Type Manager tool, you should open all projects.

In the main Launcher select Repository | Options and choose the Repository page of the notebook that opens. All system administrator functions are accessed from here. This page allows also the user to check the completeness of method specifications, and view settings concerning the repository.

Figure 7. Repository Options page.

3.2.1 Check Repository

Check Repository reports on types which do not have complete specifications, e.g. do not have an identifying property or symbol. The incomplete types are reported in a list dialog, from which they can be selected for editing.

3.2.2 Metamodellers

The system administrator specifies which users have the right to metamodel (Metamodellers). This includes not only using the features of the Method Workbench version of MetaEdit+ to create and modify types, but also the metamodelling features of the standard version of MetaEdit+: changing symbols, property dialogs, and saving reports.
It is possible to write and run reports without saving them in the repository: this does not require metamodelling rights.

Enforcement of metamodelling security level and metamodeller rights is by means of locks. The lock is only taken at the time the changes are saved: users can open metamodelling tools without acquiring any locks or having metamodelling rights, but they will be unable to save any changes they make. In the standard version of MetaEdit+, the metamodelling tools exist, but all save options are greyed out, i.e. unavailable.

3.2.3 Metamodel security

MetaEdit+ allows you to modify methods, even while you or other users are using them, constantly making sure that the repository is kept consistent. However, it can be rather unsettling to users to find the methods they are using changing under their feet! To control this situation, the system administrator can define the metamodel security level: are other users allowed to be logged in while someone is metamodelling. Currently there are two settings, exclusive: the metamodeller must be the only user in the database, and single: there can be only one metamodeller in the whole database at a time, but any number of simultaneous non-metamodelling users.

3.2.4 Garbage Collect

This option will condense the database by removing all old versions of objects, and perform a global database garbage collect, removing all objects from the database that are no longer used, e.g. all deleted objects. The net result is a smaller, faster database. Because of the amount of data that must be read and maintained in memory, this is both a time consuming and memory intensive operation. We advise taking a backup of your repository before performing garbage collect.

3.2.5 File in Patches

There are two types of patches in MetaEdit+: image patches update the MetaEdit+ program itself and repository patches import methods and models and thus update the Object Repository. All users can file in image patches, but only the system administrator can file in repository patches.

The process of filing in patches is described in the MetaEdit+ User’s Guide. The use of repository patches is described in detail in Section 3.4.1.

3.2.6 Admin Launcher

Press the Admin Launcher button, and an ArtBase System Administration Launcher will open, from which you can add and edit the users and areas in the repository. This is described in detail in the next section.

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