Note that KB Explorer:

is specifically for internal use only
should not be used by customers without express permission from CAST
is not officially supported and therefore CAST will not fix any issues that are found, nor make any feature updates or improvements

Introduction

KB Explorer is an internal tool that can be used to explore the content of any CAST analysis schema (*_local) stored on a local or remote CAST Storage Service/PostrgreSQL instance:

Objects within the schema can be accessed as projects, modules, transactions, or metrics via the Object Tree, and directly through a dedicated search dialog box.
Links are also accessible through dedicated search dialog boxes.

Objects/links within the schema can be organized in a Graphical View:

properties are displayed in a specific table
the associated code is displayed in a dedicated code viewer

Click to enlarge

Current release

Current version is 0.9.4 (02 August 2023). See KB Explorer - Release Notes.

First run

Find the CAST-KBExplorer.exe and double click it.
A new file called KBExplorer.preferences will be created in the same folder:

The tool will then load (you may need to resize the main window to fit your display):

You should start by connecting to your target CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance using the Connection dialog box, then put some objects onto the Graphical View.
You can also open the Preferences dialog box (from the menu bar: Edit/Edit Preferences...) and change some global preferences.

Connection dialog box

The Connection dialog box allows you to configure a connection to the required schema. You can access it using the F2 key, or by selecting the following icon:

You can create a new connection, by inputting the URL and user credentials, then either input the schema name, or select it from the drop down list (to fill in the list, click Look Up Schemas). You can also select a previous connection from the list:

URL	This is the JDBC url for the CAST Storage Service/PostgreSQL instance where the target schema (*_local) is stored. The syntax is as follows: jdbc:postgresql://<ip_address_or_hostname>:<port>/postgres Change `/postgres` if the target schema is not stored in the default `postgres` database.
User / Password	Enter the credentials that have permission to access the target schema. For the vast majority of CAST Storage Service / PostgreSQL instances, this will be `operator/CastAIP`.
Schema	Enter the name of the target schema you want to access, for example `myschema_local`.
Look Up Schemas	Click this button to view a list of all schemas on the target CAST Storage Service / PostgreSQL instance, and then select the one you want: Note that all schemas will be listed, but KB Explorer is only able to connect and explore schemas with the suffix `_local`.

Search dialog box

The Search dialog box allows you to retrieve objects from the target schema, using various search criteria. You can access it using CTRL+F key combination, or by selecting the following icon:

Click to enlarge

Left hand panel

Configure the search string and other options in this panel:

Search KB	Enter the string you want to search for.
Match field	Choose where the string will be searched: ID - the object's ID (this is determined when the item is saved in the schema during an analysis) Name (default) - the item's short name Full Name - the item's full name (typically this includes the full path or the full SQL component name) Click Go! to perform the search. Results are displayed in the right hand panel. Previous searches are stored and can be accessed using the drop down:
Match mode	Choose the mode used to perform the search: Contains (default) - will match the string on a part of the target field Starts With - will match the string on the start of the target field Ends With - will match the string on the end of the target field Exact Match - must match the string exactly
Case sensitive	Select this option if you want to match the case of the search string. For instance, if you enter "SyS" and check the option, all instances of "SYS" will be ignored.

Right hand panel

Search results are displayed in this panel:

Clear results	Clears the results from the panel.
Add to view	Adds the selected item or items (i.e. in the list of results) to the Graphical View. Multiple items can be selected using CTRL/SHIFT + mouse.
Add all to view	Adds all the items in the results panel to the Graphical View.

Object Tree

The Object Tree is used to hierarchically navigate the items in the target schema, starting from a project, from a module, from a transaction, or from a metric (rule/measure/distribution):

Right clicking a node will give you access to a contextual menu, that allows you to add/remove the node to the Graphical View (you can also drag and drop the node onto the Graphical View):

Note that Add Node without links will place the selected item on the Graphical View but no links will be created between any other items that are present in the Graphical View, even if the items are in fact linked in reality.

Hotkeys/Accelerators

<CTRL+P> - selects the Projects tab
<CTRL+M> - selects the Modules tab
<CTRL+T> - selects the Transactions tab
<CTRL+E> - selects the Metrics tab

Information Tabs

When a node is selected in the Object Tree, or some nodes/links/transactions/metrics are selected in the Graphical View, the associated pieces of information about the item are displayed in the Information Tabs located below the Graphical View:

Hotkeys/Accelerators

<F9> - selects the Identity tab
<F12> -selects the Properties tab
<F11> - selects the Code tab
<F10> - selects the Links tab
<F7> - selects the Violations tab

Identity

The Identity tab displays all pieces of information that could be used to identify a selected item:

It can also display similar pieces of information for a selected link:

It can also display similar pieces of information for a selected metric:

Properties

The Properties tab displays all properties associated to a selected item:

It can also display similar pieces of information for a selected link:

Code

The Code tab displays the source code associated with the most recently selected object (it currently does not support multi-selection on objects):

It can also display the code bookmarks of the most recently selected object (it currently does not support multi-selection on links):

Links

The Links tab list the links associated to the selected objects:

It can also list links for a selected link:

Violations

The Violations tab list the violations (of rules) associated to a selected object (either in the Object Tree, or in the Graphical View):

It is also possible to select a metric in the Object Tree and view all objects that violate that rule:

Graphical View

The Graphical View displays objects and links selected (or dragged/dropped) from the Object Tree, or from the search dialog boxes: each node/item corresponds to one object in the target schema, and each link to one link in the target schema (either physical - i.e., stored in the Acc table, or logical - i.e., stored in another table: KeyPar, ObjPro, ...). It is also possible to associate comments to a node:

Commands toolbar

The toolbar contains commands that apply to the whole graph:

Auto Layout Objects Graph - to reposition nodes for a better display.
Fit Graph to Screen -to display all the nodes, by shifting/rescaling the graph.
Layout graph on selected objects only - when checked, the scope for the two commands above is limited to selected nodes.
Restore View from XML File - to load a Graphical View from a previously saved .kbviewxml file
Save View to XML File - to save the Graphical View to a .kbviewxml file
Change graph origin X - to change/display the horizontal graph origin
Change graph origin Y - to change/display the vertical graph origin
Change graph scale - to change/display the graph scale
Select adjustment unit - to activate the auto adjustment of nodes
Select after Adding to View - to select (automatically) all newly added nodes

Hotkeys/Accelerators

<Shift-Left> - shift the Graphical View one digit left
<Shift-Right> - shift the Graphical View one digit right
<Shift-Up> - shift the Graphical View one digit up
<Shift-Down> - shift the Graphical View one digit down
<CTRL-Left> -shift the Graphical View ten digits left
<CTRL-Right> - shift the Graphical View ten digits right
<CTRL-Up> - shift the Graphical View ten digits up
<CTRL-Down> - shift the Graphical View ten digits down
<CTRL-F> - search for an object
<CTRL-O> - opens a graph from a .kbviewxml file
<CTRL-S> - saves the current graph as a .kbviewxml file
<Shift-Delete> - removes the selected nodes/edges from the Graphical View
<+> - inflate the selected nodes/edges
<-> - deflate the selected nodes/edges
<space> - toggle selection on the node/edge holding the focus
<C> - opens the color selection dialog box on the node/edge holding the focus
<Q> - toggle the grid on/off

Contextual menus

Right clicking on a node, an edge, a comment, or the background will display a contextual menu.

Node contextual menu

The following commands are available in the contextual menu accessed when right clicking a node:

Remove Node(s):to remove the selected nodes from the view
Find Children: to retrieve the children of the selected node (does not support the multi-selection)
Find Callers: to retrieve the callers of the selected node (does not support the multi-selection)
Find Callees: to retrieve the callees of the selected node (does not support the multi-selection)
Find Parents: to retrieve the parents of the selected node (does not support the multi-selection)
Find Links Between Selected Objects: to retrieve the links between the selected nodes
Change Color: to change the color of the selected nodes
Change Background Color: to change the background color of the selected nodes
Add Comment: to add a comment to the selected node:

Zoom in: to increase the size of the selected nodes
Zoom out: to decrease the size of the selected nodes
Horizontal Alignment: to align objects horizontally
Vertical Alignment: to align objects vertically
Horizontal Distribution: to evenly distribute objects horizontally
Vertical Distribution: to evenly distribute objects vertically

All the objects retrieved using one of the Find ... commands are displayed in dialog box similar to the Search dialog box, allowing the user to add a part of the results onto the Graphical View:

The links retrieved by the Find Links Between Selected Objects command are displayed in a dedicated dialog box, allowing the user to add a part of the results onto the Graphical View:

Edge/link contextual menu

The following commands are available in the contextual menu accessed when right clicking an edge or link:

Remove Edge(s) - to remove the selected edges from the view
Change Color - to change the color of the selected edges
Zoom in - to increase the width of the selected edges
Zoom out - to decrease the width of the selected edges

Comment contextual menu

The following commands are available in the contextual menu accessed when right clicking a comment in the view:

Remove Comment - removes the comment from the view
Change Text - to change the text of the comment
Change Font - to change the font of the comment: family (Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, ...), size (4 to 72), bold, italic
Increase Font Size - to increase the font size (up to 72)
Decrease Font Size - to decrease the font size (down to 4)
Toggle Font Italic - to toggle the italic style of the font
Toggle Font Bold - to toggle the bold style of the font
Change Color - to change the color of the selected comments
Change Background Color - to change the background color of the selected comments
Zoom in - to increase the width of the selected comments
Zoom out - to decrease the width of the selected comments

Background contextual menu

Following commands are available from the background contextual menu:

Show grid: to show/hide the view grid
Move left: to move the view to the left from one pixel
Move right: to move the view to the right from one pixel
Move up: to move the view up from one pixel
Move down: to move the view down from one pixel
Run left: to move the grid to the view from ten pixels
Run right: to move the view to the right from ten pixels
Run up: to move the view up from ten pixels
Run down: to move the view down from ten pixels

Saving/Restoring views into/from XML files

The views can be saved and restored using the Save View to XML File/Restore View from XML File commands.

Good to know

A view can be restored on a schema different from the one it has been created on, provided that some of the corresponding schema objects are present in the target schema. This allows you to compare the results between two versions of the same schema.

Preferences dialog box

Some global preferences can be set in this screen:

Product root path	The path to the installation location of AIP Core. This insures that the object type icons are correctly displayed in the Object Tree and in the Graphical View. For icons provided by extensions, the CastGlobalSettings.ini file is used to determine how KB Explorer should access the extension storage folder.
Select copy/paste format	The format of the data copied/pasted from the Information Tabs tables: CSV like JIRA wiki HTML table
Include column headers in copy/paste	When checked, the table headers are included in the data copied/pasted from the Information Tabs tables.
Auto format columns	When checked, the columns from the Information Tabs tables will be automatically formatted.
Syntax highlighting	When checked, the code viewer will use syntax highlighting.
Select newly added nodes	When checked, the nodes added to the Graphical View are automatically selected. Can be overridden using the same option available in the Graphical View toolbar.
Auto layout on selection only	When checked, only the selected nodes are relocated when using the Auto Layout Objects Graph command available in the Graphical View toolbar.
Debug mode	When checked, technical pieces of information are displayed in the Object Tree and in the Graphical View.

Page tree

KB Explorer

Introduction

Current release

Connection dialog box

Search dialog box

Object Tree

Hotkeys/Accelerators

Information Tabs

Hotkeys/Accelerators

Identity

Properties

Code

Links

Violations

Graphical View

Commands toolbar

Hotkeys/Accelerators

Contextual menus

Node contextual menu

Edge/link contextual menu

Comment contextual menu

Background contextual menu

Saving/Restoring views into/from XML files

Good to know

Preferences dialog box