Dynamic Link Manager


The CAST Management Studio has a feature (the Dynamic Link Manager) that enables you to review "dynamic links" between objects following an analysis (as part of a Snapshot or as a standalone analysis). Dynamic links are links that have been identified between objects (usually based on search strings) and saved to the Analysis Service but their authenticity cannot be absolutely determined by CAST.

Using the Dynamic Link Manager you can consult the code that constitutes the link between the objects and you can then choose to either:

  • ignore these links (if they prove to be incorrect or false) and thus save them as irrelevant in the Analysis Service.
  • validate these links (if they prove to be correct) and thus save them as legitimate in the Analysis Service.

Notes - You can also open the Dynamic Link Manager in the CAST Management Studio.

- The Dynamic Link Manager displays the unverified links in "batches" of 5000 - use the drop down list box in the top right hand corner of the dialog box to move through the links:



- The Dynamic Link Manager will retrieve ALL "dynamic links" that exist in the current Application.

- You can close the Dynamic Links Manager in the middle of a review session and changes will persist.

Accessing the Dynamic Link Manager
  1. Click Tools > Dynamic Link Manager located on the menu bar.

The Dynamic Link Manager contains three distinct sections:

Upper Section

This section contains a drop down list. Use this list to select the job result you want to work with. This list only contains job results that the Dynamic Link Manager has determined contain unverified links.

Middle Section

This section contains the list of unverified links for the job results you selected in the upper section. Column headings (Calling Name and Called Name etc.) will help you to identify the unverified links.

Column Headers

You can click each column header to sort the list of links - it is also possible to sort on two columns simultaneously: consecutively click the two columns you want to sort on.

Check boxes

The check boxes to the immediate left of an unverified link enable you to permanently Ignore the link i.e. it is an erroneous link that you do not want to be displayed in CAST Enlighten or taken into account by quality rules.

Reset Filter/Filter Selection

The Filter Selection button will list only those entries in the list that you have selected (marked in blue) - all other entries are hidden temporarily. This can help "declutter" the list if you need to specifically work on one particular entry. Note that you can incrementally hide entries:

  • select multiple entries you wish to display
  • click Filter Selection to display only the selected entries
  • repeat to hide further entries

To reset the list (i.e. to display all entries), use the Reset Filter button

Hide Parametrized Links

By default this option is already activated when you launch the Dynamic Link Manager. If this is the first time you have used this dialog box, then clicking this button will make no difference, i.e. all unverified links will be displayed in the Upper Section.

This button will only hide unverified links for which you have already created a parametrization rule (see Lower Section). When you create a parametrization rule, all links created from a source code line that refer to the same method will automatically be hidden to facilitate this process progression. Note that this does not take into account all cases - as such you may find that in some case a link will appears while an existing parametrization rule will automatically remove it.

Hide Reviewed Links

By default this option is already activated when you launch the Dynamic Link Manager. If this is the first time you have used this dialog box, then clicking this button will make no difference, i.e. all unverified links will be displayed in the Upper Section.

When activated, this button will hide any links that you have already reviewed (a message will be displayed when you close the dialog box asking whether you want to mark all entries as "Reviewed"), i.e. from a previous analysis.

Selecting unverified links

If you select a link, the code that forms this link (i.e. the calling object's code) will be displayed in the Lower Section.

Lower Section

This section has two main uses:

Profile for Parametrization drop down list

This drop down list enables you to select a J2EE Environment Profile that will be used to store the Parameterization rules you create. By default no Environment Profile will be available when you first launch this dialog box. As such, if you want to create Parametrization rules, you need to select an existing Environment Profile, or first create a new blank J2EE Environment Profile, which involves launching CAST Analysis Manager and then usingĀ Tools > Manage Environment Profiles (see the J2EE section of this page for more information).

When you have created your new blank J2EE Environment Profile, re-open the Dynamic Link Manager. You should now see the profile listed in the drop down list:

Select the profile - you are now ready to create Parametrization rules for the unverified links listed in the Middle Section.

Source Code window

The Source Code window displays the source code that creates an unverified link listed in the Upper Section (select the link to display the source code). Within the source code, Bookmarks and Links are highlighted as follows:

  • Bookmarks:
  • Links:

- You can use the Prev. Bookmark and Next Bookmark buttons to jump between bookmarks.

- You can use hyperlinks to see the source code of a method and decide which is the best method to parametrize (the method that appears when you select the link or a deeper called method).

- You can use the right-click Find option to search for the method which uses the String from which the link has been created: select the String, use right-click Copy, then select right-click Find and paste in the copied String.

Creating parametrization rules

To create a Parametrization rule for an unverified link that has been detected by the analyzer:

  • First select the link in the Upper Section.
  • Then select the Profile you want to add the rules to in the drop down list box
  • In the displayed code, scroll through until you find the hyperlink:
  • Right click the hyper link and select either Set as No Link (i.e. ignore) or Set as Link (i.e. verify) depending on the what you want to do for this particular link type.
  • Regardless of what you want to do, the Parametrization Add Rule dialog box will be displayed and part of the rule information will be automatically entered. This dialog box is explained in more detail in the Parametrization page (see the on-line Help for CAST Analysis Manager).
  • You will then need to add an indexed parameter to specify which method parameter index uses the String from which the link has been created.
  • Repeat this process for all links in the Upper Section.
  • Now that you have parametrized all possible unverified links for your job, CAST recommends that you rerun the associated job (ensuring that the J2EE Environment Profile containing your Parametrization rules is added to your job using the Environment Profiles page (see in the on-line Help for CAST Analysis Manager), this will force the analyzer to either create the link or discard the link as defined in your parametrization rules. The links you parametrized will no longer be displayed in the Dynamic Link Manager (i.e. they will either be verified as links and stored in the Knowledge Base or they will be removed from the Knowledge Base).
  • Finally you may have to verify links that cannot be handled via Parametrization.

Notes

  • Please remember that although the list of unverified links is updated when you create a new Parametrization rule (i.e. when the Hide Parametrized Links button is activated the link that you created a Parametrization rule for will no longer be visible); however, when you remove a Parametrization rule, the link will NOT be re-displayed automatically in the Dynamic Link Manager. You can either deactivate the Hide Parametrized Links button, or rerun the associated job to ensure that the link is once again displayed in the Dynamic Link Manager.
See Also

Ignoring Links | Launching the Dynamic Link Manager


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