CMS - Background Facts tab

Background Facts tab

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This tab governs the Background Facts part of the Assessment Model, i.e. it governs external facts that can be uploaded at Snapshot generation time to provide more context (formerly known as Productivity Metrics). These Background Facts are declared in an XML file, see: Configuring the Background Facts upload file for more information.

The tab is divided into two distinct parts:

• a list of Background Facts
• and a section to configure/edit each Background Fact with various sub tabs

List of Background Facts

This section simply lists the Background Facts. The below example is taken from the standard CAST supplied Assessment Model (see Assessment Models view):

To add a new Background Fact:

• Click the button, a new Background Fact called "My Background Fact" will be displayed in the list.
• Configure the item using the section below

To edit an existing Background Fact:

• Select the item in the list
• Edit the item using the section below

To remove an existing Background Fact:

• Select the item in the list
• Click the button - this action cannot be undone. Once removed, an item is no longer part of the Assessment Model and is no longer referenced anywhere (including in the CAST Engineering Dashboard).

Background Fact editor

This section allows you to configure/edit each selected Background Fact - it displays the details of a Background Fact selected in the above list. It is further divided into sub-tabs, each of which is explained below:

The editor is itself divided into several sub tabs, each is explained below:

Documentation tab

This tab governs what is displayed in the CAST Dashboard with regard to the selected Background Fact. There are various sub tabs:

• Name Translations > use this tab to define translations of the Background Fact name. You can configure translations for German, French and Italian - tick the check box to activate the configuration. Translations of the name will be displayed in the CAST Engineering Dashboard when a CAST Engineering Dashboard user is configured to use one of the above languages.
• Description > use this tab to define a description of the Background Fact - tick the check box to activate the description configuration. You can also define a translation of the description for German, French and Italian. Translations of the description will be displayed in the CAST Dashboard when a CAST Dashboard user is configured to use one of the above languages.

General tab

This tab governs the External ID of the current entity. The External ID is simply a numeric ID that uniquely identifies the entity. External IDs must be unique across all Business Criterion, Technical Criterion, Quality Rules, Quality Distributions, Quality Measures, Sizing Measures and Background Facts.

CAST recommends letting the CAST Management Studio manage the IDs for you:

• Existing ID > you should only update an existing ID if you need to resolve an ID conflict:
  • Click the Update URL and a dialog box will prompt you to enter the new External ID. If the chosen External ID is already assigned to another item, then the CAST Management Studio will suggest the next available increment and ask for confirmation.
  • Note that for in order for the change to be taken into account in correctly in the CAST Dashboard:
    • Business and Technical Criterion > you need to consolidate any existing snapshots via either the Dashboard Service editor or the Application editor.
    • For all other entities (such as Quality Rules, Quality Measures, Sizing Measures and Background Facts) > you need to generate a snapshot again.
• ID at 0 for new Business Criterion > if you leave the External IDs at 0, the CAST Management Studio will assign the IDs when the Assessment Model is synchronized with the Dashboard Service.

Note that IDs are reserved as follows:

Notes tab

The Notes tab is simply an area that you can use to make notes or remarks about the selected item.

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