6.3 Rendering and Exploring Relationships

6.3.1 Understanding Relationships

The Relationship browser distinguishes between standard parent/child relationships and linked relationships that can occur between elements. For more information on linked relationships. see Copying, Moving and Linking Elements.

Figure 6-2 Relationship browser

Relationships between elements (called nodes) display in the Relationship browser using different connector styles. Table 6-2 describes the connector styles and the corresponding relationship types.

Table 6-2 Relationship Connector Styles

Connector Type

Definition

Basic parent-child connector. One element is a natural child of the other element, meaning it was created directly under its parent. This occurs most often in relationships between elements under the Elements root element.

Linked parent-child connector. One element is a linked child of the other element. This occurs in the Services hierarchy when a child element is linked using the Link option. It contributes to the condition of the linked parent.

Dependency connector. One element is dependent on the other element. This occurs when dependency relationship information is available, mostly through the use of Discovery Tools.

For information about the discovery tools that Operations Center supports, see the Operations Center 5.6 Adapter and Integration Guide.

6.3.2 Viewing Additional Relationships

To view additional relationships in the Relationship browser:

  1. Double-click an element to open the following menu:

    Menu options for the Relationship Browser window: Open (under Element heading), Partial and Full (under Isolate heading), Explore (under Relationships heading), and the Expand Children check box (also under Relationships heading).

    Use this menu to expand your view of an element’s relationships.

  2. Select the relationship type to display:

    • Open: Select to display only the selected element and its children.

    • Isolate: Select Full to display only the element and its parent. Select Partial to display the entire branch leading to the element.

    • Explore: Opens the Explore Dependencies dialog box so you can view an element’s dependencies on other elements.

    • Expand Children: Select this check box to display the element’s children in the Relationship browser.

    The diagram expands to display additional elements. Based on the relationship types selected, connectors and nodes display to depict the additional relationships.

    Dependency relationships connectors display in blue with labels to show the relationship type, as shown in the previous table and illustration.

    HINT:Use the element right-click Navigate Relationships option to quickly view an element’s dependency relationships and navigate to one of the end-point elements named in a relationship. For more information, see Analyzing Dependencies.

6.3.3 Exploring Dependency Relationships

A minimum of View security privileges to both the origin and end point elements in a relationship is required, or else the relationship is not displayed in the Explore Dependencies dialog box. For more information on element security privileges, see the Operations Center 5.6 Security Management Guide.

To explore dependency relationships:

  1. In the Relationship browser, do one of the following to open the Explore Dependencies dialog box:

    • In the Relationship browser, right-click the element node, then select Explore Dependencies.

    • Double-click an element, then when the menu shown above displays, click the Explore link.

  2. In the Explore Dependencies dialog box, select a dependency.

    Dependency information displays in the right pane:

    Explore Dependencies Dialog Box
  3. Click Close when finished viewing dependencies.