In IRM, Location objects have the following characteristics:
A Location object is used to define a specific position within an Area.
A Location object is in one or more Categories.
A Location object is associated with a point (x,y coordinate) in an Area. An Area can contain any number of Location objects.
A location object can be linked to Users, Faceplates, Views and Other Areas via the Destination field.
The primary use of locations in IRM is to define the position of something, which ranges from:
buildings on an outside plant map
geo-spatial datum positions on a map or floorplan
riser positions on a floorplan
telecom rooms within a floorplan
cubicle positions within a floorplan
carrier clouds on WAN map
central offices on a map
Location objects are available from several places in IRM:
Location tab in the Object grid
Location Super Category in the C&T tree
A Location object uses a Block to specify how it's drawn in the Design World
Creating and Placing a Location object in the Design World
The Design World Toolbox is use to Add Location objects into an Area. Clicking on the Add Location button opens the Set Location Parameters dialog, which enables specifying the Name and the Alternative Name of the newly created Location object. After naming and saving the newly created object, the object is shown in the Design World with with the default Block visually representing the object and the default Label for the object included.
A Location's properties can be managed in the Location Properties dialog, which is a standard object Properties dialog, organized into several common tabs. It is accessed via the Object Grid, C&T tree or Design World either by clicking on the Location's name / hyperlink or selecting the Edit Properties... option from the Location's context menu.
The following images and text explain the Location Properties dialog in more detail, highlighting the most important fields / properties:
General tab
The General tab contains sets of (property) field name-value pairs, grouped into different accordion groups that can be expanded or collapsed.
The following are some of the more important properties that this tab displays:
Name field is the user-friendly name that identifies the object.
Latitude and Longitude fields are useful for reporting, as the application generates this based on the Location's area position
Footprint Width / Footprint Height - size in which to draw the Location footprint image
Users - list of users that can be assigned to a certain Location object. This is useful in cases where Location is used to refer to a cube or office.
Destinations - list of Views; a View that the user can jump to via this Location object by selecting the Links option from Location's context menu. This effectively makes Location objects into clickable hyperlinks. A destination can optionally simply be an Area rather than a View.
Note: the View objects added as Destinations must be public Views.
The Appearance tab allows the user to designate a Block to represent the Location object within the Design World. Before saving the Block, the user needs to press the Set button. Once a Block is saved within the Location (Blocks) Category in the Block Shape Properties dialog, it becomes available for any Location object to choose as a Block, alongside the Blocks listed in the Basic Shapes Category
From the dropdown menu, you can select between Show All, Show Used Only, and Show Unused Only to filter the visibility of the Location Blocks as shown below.
Note: the Block is used as to provide a graphical representation of the Location within an Areas Design World.
In this example, the suitable default Location Block has already been selected for the newly created Location object. To alter it at any subsequent time, simply select a different Block from this tab, or click on the + button to upload a new Block for the Location object.
Note: The Block Shape Properties dialog is available from the Design World toolbox, by clicking on the Create Block Shape icon
The Attachment tab is designed to facilitate the attachment of any file to the Location Object. It is advisable for users to utilize the "Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, and Slides" extension for Chrome to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Upon clicking the + icon, the Upload New Asset dialog will be prompted.
An Attachment signifies a file that resides on a local or network drive.
An External Asset attachment refers to any data object can only be accessed via a URL and upon clicking on the + icon the Edit External Asset dialog will be prompted as shown below.
