Created by James Hurrell, last modified on Sep 01, 2020

Summary: this section provides a detailed description of the contents of the Main window within the CAST Architecture Checker. 

Model tab

This tab is where you define the Architecture Model and then work with it to investigate violations to the model. More information about how to work with it can be found in the How to... section.

Log tab

The Log tab lists messages and errors that may occur when the CAST Architecture Checker is in use.

The messages in the Log tab are also recorded in a log file on disk:

  • the file will be named "AC-<date>-<time>.log.txt", where <date> is of the form "YYYYMMDD", and <time> of the form "HHMMSS"
  • the file will by default be located in %PROGRAMDATA%/CAST/CAST/Logs/ArchiChecker, or in a folder named ArchiChecker in the location specified by the CAST_LOG_ROOT_PATH if that variable has been defined and activated in the CastGlobalSettings.ini file.

The following headings are displayed in the Log tab:

Record typeDisplays the type of message:
  • Message > General information: does not indicate a problem.
  • Error > This is usually a functional error linked to how the Architecture Model is defined. For example, an error can occur if you create a circular dependency (a Layer A with a member-of property that relies on a Layer B and a Layer B with a member-of property that relies on a Layer A).
  • Exception > This is usually an SQL error. For example the target RDBMS may not be functioning correctly or may be offline.
  • Report > This type of message relates to information about the execution of "larger" features such as Check model.
Message
Describes the message.

You can also use the Filter icon to sort and filter the messages according to their content:

  • Choose the filter type in the drop down list
  • Choose whether the criteria will be applied using case sensitive text or not.
  • Enter the filter text.

Only messages that match the chosen criteria will be displayed.

DateDate and time the message was generated.

You can also use the options to filter and clear the messages:

Show allThis option will list all messages, regardless of their type.
Show errors onlyThis option will list only Errors and Exceptions
Show reports onlyThis option will only list Reports.
Clear logUse this option to clear the list of messages.

Source Code tab

This tab is used to display the source code of links that have been identified (via the use of the Check model, Check content or Check overlapping layers options) between two layers in the model:

Click to enlarge

Key:

This colour highlights the link between the two objects that are violating the currently selected dependency (i.e. between two specific layers) in your model.
This colour highlights any other links in the current source code that are violating the currently selected dependency (i.e. between two specific layers) in your model.
This colour highlights any other links in the current source code that are violating a different dependency (i.e. between two specific layers) in your model.