Starting from CAST AIP 8.3.23, CAST Architecture Checker will no longer be installed as part of the CAST AIP setup, whether installing CAST AIP from scratch or on a server where a previous release of CAST AIP exists. CAST Architecture Checker has evolved into a standalone component where all feature requests and bug fixes are now managed. This standalone component can be downloaded from CAST Extend (https://extendng.castsoftware.com/#/search-results?q=archichecker).
Up-to-date documentation can be found here: CAST Architecture Checker.
Define Layers, Sets and Dependencies
Once you have created your initial model (see Define a new Architecture Model) you need to define your Layers, Sets and Dependencies - i.e. the actual structure (architecture) of the application you are targeting. This section explains the how to get started.
See the Glossary for a description of Layers, Sets etc.
Create a Layer or Set
To create a new layer or set:
- Right click in white space in the Main window (Model tab) and select the New layer or new set option as appropriate.
- A Properties dialog box will be displayed enabling you to enter a name for the layer/set. Ensure the Data set type drop down list is set correctly:
- Click OK
- The new layer or set will appear in the Main window (Model tab):
- To begin configuring your layer, see Define Layer or Set Contents
Create a dependency
To create a dependency between two layers:
- Click on a Layer in the Main window (Model tab)
- When the Layer is highlighted, you can then drag the mouse to the destination Layer and drop to create the dependency, as shown on the screenshot below:
Note that dependencies will be coloured as follows:
- for dependencies between Layers or Sets when you have chosen an "authorized" Architecture Model type - for dependencies between Layers or Sets when you have chosen a "forbidden" Architecture Model type See Define a new Architecture Model for more information about the model type.
- Once the dependency is created you can further configure it by defining the type of links between the two layers that are authorized/forbidden (depending on your model type - see Define a new Architecture Model):
- Right click the dependency (i.e. the red or green arrow) and select Properties
- A dialog box will then be displayed enabling you to choose the link types that are relevant (you can choose more than one):
- Click OK to complete the configuration.
- The link types will be displayed together with the dependency:
Notes
- Dependency direction is indicated by the arrow head.
- Layers can depend on each other, therefore you can define dependencies in both directions between two layers.
- You can delete Dependencies by right clicking the dependency and selecting Remove.
- The definition of a link type is useful if you specifically want to check that links between objects don't violate your model. For example if your model type is checking "Authorized" dependencies (see Define a new Architecture Model) and you define a dependency between two layers with a Read link type, this means that any other link types that exist between the two layers will be flagged as a violation when you use the Check model option.
- It is not mandatory to define a link type for a dependency. In this case any dependency between objects in the two layers will be considered.
- You can allow a layer to call any layer and be called by any layer - see Using the calls any or called by any layer option.
