Introduction

When:

• creating custom extensions that create objects to be saved in the CAST Analysis Service schema or use custom Quality Rules
• or when defining Architecture Checker models

you will need to manage the range of IDs that you assign to these items. For example:

IDs for Objects

For objects, you will have configured items in the XXXMetaModel.xml file as follows:

<type name="CAST_AngularJS_ModelVariable" id="1020010">
	<description>AngularJS Model variable</description>
	<inheritedCategory name="CAST_AngularJS_Scope" />
	<inheritedCategory name="UAObject" />
	<inheritedCategory name="METRICABLE" />
	<inheritedCategory name="HTML5" />
	<attribute name="AUTO_FOLDER_THRESHOLD" intValue="1"/>
	<tree parent="CAST_HTML5_Enlighten" category="EnlightenTree" />
</type>
<type name="CAST_AngularJS_ModelFunction" id="1020011">
	<description>AngularJS Model function</description>
	<inheritedCategory name="CAST_AngularJS_Scope" />
	<inheritedCategory name="UAObject" />
	<inheritedCategory name="METRICABLE" />
	<inheritedCategory name="HTML5" />
	<attribute name="AUTO_FOLDER_THRESHOLD" intValue="1"/>
	<tree parent="CAST_HTML5_Enlighten" category="EnlightenTree" />
</type>

IDs for Quality Rules

For objects, you will have configured items as follows:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<root>
  <metric id='1020500' type='quality-rule' originalName='Avoid the use of the default JavaScript implementation [].forEach in AngularJS web app' active='true' detached='false' ignored='false' />
  <metric id='1020502' type='quality-rule' originalName='Avoid the use of JSON.parse and JSON.stringify in AngularJS web app' active='true' detached='false' ignored='false' />
  <metric id='1020504' type='quality-rule' originalName='Avoid using the call of web service with AngularJS $http inside a loop' active='true' detached='false' ignored='false' />
</root>

IDs for Architecture Checker models

Starting from CAST AIP 8.3.2, a unique identifier for your Architecture Model must now be defined in the CAST Architecture Checker GUI for all models assigned to Applications. This ID is used to identify the Architecture Model throughout the CAST Management Studio and the CAST dashboards (the ID will be saved to a table in the CAST Management Service schema).

A positive and even number above 2,000,000 can be assigned as an ID for an Architecture Checker model and you should reserve an ID using the Quality Range Reservation option.

ID ranges available for use

The following ID ranges are available for use. As a very general rule you will need to configure IDs above 1,500,000:

How are ID ranges allocated?

• ID ranges are automatically allocated on a first come, first served basis.
• IDs are allocated in groups of 1000, up to a total of 10,000 per extension.
• IDs can be reserved for Objects or Quality Rules, or you can reserve ranges of both types.

What happens if you have already defined the IDs in your extension?

It is not possible to reserve a specific range of IDs if you have already created an extension and defined the range of IDs for objects and/or Quality Rules in that extension - as stated above they are allocated on a first come, first served basis. However, if the range you have defined in the extension has not already been allocated (sign in to the CAST Extend website and click the ID Ranges option in the menu bar to view reserved IDs) it is possible to upload your extension and the ranges you are using will be automatically reserved for you.

Reserving ID ranges

Before uploading your custom extension to share with the wider community, you must ensure that you reserve a range of IDs for use in your extension. To do so:

• Sign in to the CAST Extend website.
• Click the ID Ranges option in the menu bar:

• A new page will be displayed containing two sections:
  • One to reserve Object ID ranges
  • One to reserve Quality Rule ID ranges (to be used for Architecture Checker models also)

• To reserve an ID range click either Reserve Object ID Range or Reserve Rule ID Range, depending on the IDs you require:

• The following window will be displayed:

• Enter the required information as follows:

• Click Reserve to reserve the selected range of IDs. They will now be shown in the relevant list:

Using the IDs in your extension

Once your ID range has been reserved, you can then use the allocated IDs when creating your extension. In essence this means assigning them in your xxxMetaModel.xml file. Take the example above where we have been allocated a range of 1,000 IDs between 2,007,000 and 2,007,999:

file_level and file_no

You need to declare the file_level and file_no attributes at the start of your xxxMetaModel.xml file (after the XML declaration):

<metaModel file_level="client" file_no="XXX">

They should always be set as follows:

• file_level="client" > for customers creating CAST User Community and CAST Labs extensions
• file_no > for a range of 1,000 IDs between 2,007,000 and 2,007,999, file_no should be set as follows (with file_level set to client (above 2,000,000)):

<metaModel file_level="client" file_no="7">