Layer Varieties

 

The following is a detailed explanation of different Layer Variety, along with appropriate screenshot examples.

 

 

Type layers are the simplest variety of layers, and they apply only to the typed graphical objects: Equipment, Cables and Pathways. For example, for the following two sample Equipment Types, Cisco 892 and TP Link 5 Port Switch, there would be two Equipment layers of the Type variety. Each of Type layer has its own attributes such as background color, line thickness, font size, etc. Importantly, since each typed object has exactly one Type Layer.

 

The following screenshot displays a list of Type Layers for the Equipment Super Category:

 

 

Category layers are also relatively simple and apply to all Managed Objects.  For example, let’s say that for Equipment we have three Categories: Switches, Routers, and Desktops. This means that there are three implicit layers: Switches Layer, Routers Layer, and Desktops Layer. Each Category layers has its own attributes like background color, line thickness, etc.

 

The following screenshot displays a list of Category Layers for the Space Super Category:

 

 

In the above example, if a space is assigned to both Telecom Room and Datacenter categories; as Telecom Room is higher in the Layer list, the Space will be displayed using the Telecom Room Layer settings. If the user wants the Datacenter layer settings to take precedence over Telecom room then, the Datacenter Layer must be moved above the Telecom Layer entry.

 IRM has the following sub-features that control which layer is used:

Both of these settings (precedence and the enabled flag) are not in the Layer objects themselves, but are rather part of the View, which enables different users to have these properties set to custom values. 

 

 

 

 A Grouping is a collection of Managed Objects. A single Grouping can contain objects from more than one Super Category.
For example, a single Grouping “Big Data Department” can represent a department in a company, and all Equipment, Cables, Pathways, Locations, Spaces and Maintenance Holes managed by that department can be placed into that Grouping. 

For each Grouping there is an implicit Layer. Therefore, in the example mentioned above, we would have a “Big Data Department” Layer.
 

 

It is possible when layering by Grouping that there are objects that are not associated with any of the Groupings. This scenario will occur, for example, when a Managed object has been created, but not assigned to a Grouping.

For purpose of handling this use case scenario and in order to simplify the design of Grouping Layers, IRM has a default layer for objects which are not in any Grouping - the Not In Any Grouping Layer.

 

Since a single object can be in more than one Grouping, the exact same Layer precedence and enabled flag sub-features are used for Grouping Layers.

 

The following screenshot displays a list of Grouping Variety Layers for the Equipment Super Category:

 

 

 

 

The final and most complex variety of layers are the Field Value Layers. For each List field in the applicable Super Category, there is the option of designating the field as one that implicitly creates layers via the is Layer property of the Field Specification.

 

The "is Layer" value is normally set to “false”, but if it is set to “true”, then a separate Layer is created for each potential value of the underlying data item. For this to work, the potential set of values must be reasonably small, and in practice this means that is Layer can only be set to “true” for fields of type List. The applicable Layers are created or deleted at the time when the Field Specification is edited.

 

Field Value Layers can be used to visually denote objects differently based on any field that has a small fixed set of values, which gives a lot of flexibility. For example, a non-semantic field called Security Level Required could be created for Equipment with values like "General Access", "Secret", and "Top Secret" and have a different background color drawn for each piece of Equipment, depending on the value of "Security Level Required".
 

As another example, Pathways could be given a non-semantic field Material, which indicates the type of material the Pathway is constructed from. Valid values could be "PVC", "steel", "aluminum", and "concrete". The Material field could be used to draw different Pathways in different line styles, making it more obvious what kind of tools are needed to work with different Pathways (steel, concrete and PVC all require different drill bits, for example).

 

Basically, the Field Value Layers feature enables drawing objects differently based on a specific data value without the need of creating additional Groupings or Categories.

 

Tip: when you select a Design World object, the applicable Layer is highlighted or displayed in the Layer Manager. This enhancement aims to provide instant clarity on the current drawing Layer, making it easier for users to navigate and understand their designs. This feature is recommended for single selections to streamline your workflow.