Introduction
When an analysis is run the authenticity of some links that have been identified between objects cannot be absolutely determined by CAST - these links are known as "dynamic links". Often these "unverified links" systematically occur or have no meaning for the specific technology you are working with. This screen displays:
- a summary of the dynamic links detected in the most recent analysis
- detailed information about each link
- the ability to manually review (see below) each unverified link to state whether the link is correct or false
Reviewing Dynamic Links forms an important part of the analysis validation process and is explained in more detail in Validate Dynamic Links.
Available options
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Summary
The Summary section provides a basic overview of the status of Dynamic Links in the Application as a result of the most recent source code analysis:
| Not Reviewed | Number of links that need to be reviewed manually (see below). This means that Console does not know whether the link is real or not and therefore you should review the code that creates the link to determine its status and then either validate or ignore it. |
|---|---|
| Ignored / Validated | Number of links that:
Validation/ignore can occur through a variety of methods:
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| Use this button to download the list of Dynamic Links in this section in CSV format. |
Clicking a row in the table will take you direct to the Manual Review section with a filter applied to match the contents of the row.
Details
The Details section provides more information about the links listed in the Summary section:
| Source Type | Lists the object type that contains the code for the "source" of the link. Typically these are Methods and Constructors, but can be others. |
|---|---|
| Target Type | Lists the object type that is the target of the source object. Typically these are database object types, but can be others. |
| Status | Indicates the status of the link as explained in the Summary section above.
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| Links | Indicates the total number of links that exist between the source and target object type. The total number of links reported in the Summary link (Not Reviewed + Validated) will equal the total number of links in this column. |
| Use this button to download the list of Dynamic Links in this section in CSV format. |
Clicking a row in the table will take you direct to the Manual Review section with a filter applied to match the contents of the row.
Manual Review
This button opens a new window where you can manually review each link. By default the window will show all links that need to be reviewed - i.e. all links that are still considered to be "unverified". The first link in the list will be selected and the source code that creates the link will be displayed automatically, along with the specific object highlighted (this is known as a bookmark) - this will help you decide whether the link is correct and needs to be marked as valid, or whether the link is invalid and needs to be marked as ignored:
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Sometimes, there may be more than one bookmark for a given link. If this is the case, you can move through the bookmarks using the navigation buttons as highlighted below:
Links can, however, be in one of three states, indicated in the Status column:
- Not reviewed: links displayed in this state when you open the Dynamic Link Manager after the completion of an analysis - these links must be reviewed.
- Validated: links are in this state when they have already been manually or automatically validated as correct or true. By default Validated links are not displayed in the GUI - you will need to specifically select the Validated check box to display them.
- Ignored: links are in this state they have already been manually or automatically reviewed as invalid or false. By default Ignored links are not displayed in the GUI - you will need to specifically select the Validated check box to display them.
By default Validated and Ignored links are not displayed in the GUI - you will need to specifically select the Validated / Ignored check box to display them:
Available options
| Allows you to apply the review status on your links. Note that this button is not active until a specific choice has been made either in the individual settings or in the global settings:
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| Filters the display of Dynamic Links. By default only To Review is selected, displaying only those links that are unverified and need to be manually reviewed. You can select a combination of any of the options to display the type of links you need. Note that the Reference Finder filter will display any links that have been created via a Reference Finder rule. |
This option is not available if at least one link is selected in the list. Instead radio buttons offering three choices are displayed - this is the action required to review the link:
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| The tick boxes enable you to perform review actions on single or multiple links at a time. You can also use the SHIFT key combined with mouse clicks to select multiple links. |
| Source Object | Lists the name of the object that contains the code for the "source" of the link. |
| Source Type | Lists the type of source object - i.e. Method, Constructor, table etc. |
| Target Object | Lists the name of the object that is the target of the link in the source object. |
| Target Type | Lists the type of source object - i.e. Method, Constructor, table etc. |
| Link | Lists the type of link between the two objects. |
| Status | Current status:
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Validate/Ignore/To Do radio buttons |
These radio buttons allow you to choose what to do with the link after reviewing its code. Select the appropriate option for the link and then click Apply in the top right corner to confirm the choice. You can use the check boxes to review multiple links: Click to enlarge
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Process of reviewing Dynamic Links
The process of reviewing Dynamic Links is as follows. Ensure that the filter is set to To Review:
Tick the link you want to review:
If there are multiple dynamic links that you want to Validate (as correct) or Ignore (as false) in one go, you can select multiple using the mouse or using the SHIFT key+mouse combination:
If necessary, check the source code to help you decided if the link is correct and needs to be marked as valid, or whether the link is invalid and needs to be marked as ignored:
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Click the appropriate radio button to either Validate (as correct) or Ignore (as false) the link)
Ignore Dynamic Links when:
- Source code uses a logger information message
- Basic text displayed in a message box or a frame
Validate Dynamic Links when:
code uses a manipulation of SQL queries
code uses a direct call from a business layer to a database table or function
code links a client part and a server part of an application
Finally click the Apply button to confirm the change in status of the link, then close the window:
The Summary/Details screen will then update to reflect your changes.
Changes made
Any changes made in the Summary of Dynamic Links page (e.g. reviewing Dynamic Links and applying the changes) will cause a banner to appear at the top:
This indicates that the changes you have made will impact your analysis results and therefore that the data that is used for the Architecture Studio, Transaction configuration and upload to CAST Imaging will not be up-to-date. Clicking the Update button in the banner will run a special step called Prepare analysis data that should complete relatively quickly (more quickly than a full analysis or snapshot) and ensures that the data used by the Architecture Studio, Transaction configuration and upload to CAST Imaging is up-to-date based on the changes you have made.
This step is always actioned when you either run an analysis (without a snapshot) or generate a new snapshot. When the Prepare analysis data step is complete, the banner will no longer be displayed.
