Introduction
The Legend panel is displayed in all scopes and views and provides an interactive list of various different types of information about the objects/nodes in the current view. The view is restyled in 2.17.
≥ 2.20.0
The toggle button for each line on “Object Types” and “Relationships" helps to hide or show the nodes or/and edges on the canvas.
The sticky notes (annotations) and tags associated to the selected object is displayed under Characteristics (properties panel).
Advanced properties are displayed under the section "Additional Details".
≥ 2.19.0
By default, the Legend is in "expand mode" with the View tab selected and the Legend panel open, showing information about the objects in the current View:
In ≥ 2.19.0,
- If you select a node in the canvas then the properties panel of the selected node is opened.
- If you select a link between the nodes then the link panel of the selected node is opened.
- If you click on the canvas then the Legends panel is opened.
- AipId of the node is moved to advanced properties.
≥ 2.17.0
By default, the Legend is in "expand mode" with the View tab selected and the Objects panel open, showing information about the objects in the current View:
Interface
1 | View / Object / Link tabs | The Legends panel distinguishes between items that are displayed in the View, the specific selected Object and the Link which displays the Properties of a link selected in the view. Click the required tab to switch. The contents of each tab differs depending on the active tab: View: Object: Link: |
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1 | Collapse | This option collapses the legend to the right. Re-click to display the legend at full size. |
3 | Sections | Contains the information either about items in the View, or a specific selected objects, depending on whether View or Object is selected (see above). |
4 | Search mechanism | This option provides a search mechanism on the item name and is available in:
In the following example, a search string has been entered to search for a specific object name. Only those items matching the search string are shown in the legend panel and the number of items (the count) is updated: You can then use the Hide All/Show All toggle to remove from or re-display those matching items in the view. With the matching items shown in the view: With the matching items hidden from the view: |
5 | Hide All / Show All | This option allows you to hide/unhide specific items. For example if you want to display only a specific type of object, click Hide All - this will hide all objects from the view: Now click the specific object type you want to see, for example, Cobol Copybook: Click to expand |
6 | Resize | This option allows the legend panel to be resized as required. Click the icon and drag the pointer to the required size. |
Sections
View > Objects
Lists items displayed in the current view:
Object Types | Lists all the object types/node types currently visible in the view (available at all levels): |
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External Objects | External objects are the "third-party" frameworks and libraries present in the view, for example: |
Relationships | Relationships are the links between items present in the view. In ≥ 2.14, sub-links (e.g Use > Insert) are also displayed: |
Object Identifiers | Highlights all the selected object types/node types of the selected badge type in the current view. |
View > Annotations
Displays a list of View and Object annotations that are available in the current view. Clicking them will display the corresponding Annotation - see also User Guide - Using the Annotate / Sticky notes feature.
View > Insights
Functions at All Levels (including Object level) and provides information about Structural Flaws, CloudReady Blockers/Boosters, Containerization Blockers, and Open Source Safety that are present in items in the current view:
In Imaging ≥ 2.19, you can filter Insights using the categories listed for the given Insight. Filtering the Insight will update the highlighted nodes in the graph accordingly. The filter list shows the unavailable list of filters as disabled and are not clickable. Nodes will be highlighted on selecting Insight lists from right panel. Selected filter is added as Title of the list by grouping them.
What are insights?
Item | Description |
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Structural Flaws | These insights are flaws found during a snapshot of your application (i.e. critical violations of rules, displayed in the CAST Engineering Dashboard). These flaws indicate that the object's code violates a specific programming practice and would need refactoring or updating to ensure the flaw is no longer present. |
CloudReady Blockers/Boosters and Containerization Blockers | These insights provide information about how well prepared your application is for cloud migration, i.e. moving from an on premises deployment to a cloud scenario, i.e. a list of items or behaviour found in the application that could either hinder a move to the cloud (a blocker) or that already conform to cloud best-practices (a booster). This information is provided by CAST Highlight. Note that CloudReady Blockers/Boosters and Containerization Blockers can also be accessed via the Welcome Page - see User Guide - GUI - Welcome Page - Cloud Migration information. |
Open Source Safety | These insights provide information about vulnerable, out-of-date or obsolete third-party components and can help plan upgrades. This information is provided by CAST Highlight. Note that Open Source Safety insights can also be accessed via the Welcome Page - see the Third Party Components tile in User Guide - GUI - Welcome Page - Modernizing Applications. |
Prerequisites
To view insights, some prerequisites exist (the most obvious being that the application in question needs to have some "issues" in it). In addition you will need to ensure the following:
Structural Flaws |
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CloudReady Blockers/Boosters and Containerization Blockers | This information is provided by CAST Highlight, therefore the application must be:
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Open Source Safety | This information is provided by CAST Highlight, therefore the application must be:
|
All types | In all cases, in order to view Insights, the application must be re-imported to CAST Imaging after an upgrade to ≥ 2.15. |
Viewing an insight
Enable the type of insight you would like to view (1) - all objects with that specific type of insight will be highlighted with a flashing animation (2). By default, all the insights are listed (3).
Selecting an object highlights the associated insight/s:
The colour of the flashing animation in the view will reflect the colour of the insight you have chosen, for example, green for CloudReady Boosters:
Expanding an insight will provide more information about it:
- A warning message is displayed if no insights are present in any of the objects in the view, for example for Structural Flaws:
- A warning message is displayed if you attempt to access Structural Flaws for an application that does not have a snapshot:
- A warning message is displayed if the you attempt to access CloudReady Blockers/Boosters or Containerization Blockers for an application that has not been configured with CAST Highlight:
Cloudready Blockers/Boosters and Containerization Blockers: clickable documentation URL
For Cloudready Blockers/Boosters and Containerization Blockers, a clickable URL is available to obtain more information about the insight. This URL will lead to the documentation about the insight to help you understand why the item has been flagged:
Structural Flaws: Plan your Action
A Plan your Action button is available for Structural Flaws:
Clicking this button will open the CAST Engineering Dashboard on the specific flaw so that you can investigate it in more detail:
In ≥ 2.18,
- You get both Plan your Action and View source code buttons which helps you to view source code before planning your action.
- Multiple bookmarks are displayed for specific objects based on the selected Structural flaw rules.
- If there are no bookmark violation/s, source code is displayed based on the selected object.
Open Source Safety
Identifying the appropriate version to upgrade a vulnerable third-party component can be time-consuming, especially when multiple components have accumulated vulnerabilities due to delayed upgrades. As a technical lead or software engineer, gain insights into potentially vulnerable third-party components used in your application and examine their compatibility with other components. Additionally, plan updates by understanding the release frequency of these components, identifying gaps, and receiving recommendations for the closest or safest version to utilize.
For Open Source Safety insights selecting the insight lists the third-party components which are vulnerable and need an upgrade. Selecting a specific insight provides details about that specific component.
Clicking on any of the listed Open Source Safety component displays all the details associated with it.
View / Objects > Tags
Displays a list of tags associated with any of the objects in the view:
Tags fall into two categories:
- tags that have been manually added (these are listed under the Tags heading - in the image above, there is one Tag called "TEST") see User Guide - Working with tags.
- tags that have been automatically added by CAST, i.e. for Status (Added/Deleted/Unchanged) or for Properties (External Libraries) or for Modules/Services
In ≥ 2.18:
- The custom/user defined tags are listed under Custom Tags section.
- The status and properties are defined under a property Tags section.
- Multiple tag selection is supported to highlight nodes on the canvas.
- Tags has the following sections: Custom, Property and Badges. You may select and deselect (by clicking the selected tags or clicking on the canvas) multiple tags at once.
Object > Properties
Displays information about an item that has been selected in the view. Full details of the object are only available when working at Object level:
In ≥ 2.19 | |
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In ≤ 2.18 |
When working at other levels, limited detail is provided:
The Properties section can also be accessed:
- using the keyboard shortcut ALT+P on a selected object.
- using the right click contextual menu on a selected object:
Configure button
Only available to users with the ADMIN or SUPER ADMIN role.
The Configure option lets you add custom properties to the global search for an object (available at Object level). See Admin Center - Search panel for more information:
In ≥ 2.19 | Additional properties are shown under "Advanced properties" section. |
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In ≤ 2.18 |
Third-party and CVE information
This information is generated by CAST Highlight, therefore these tiles are only displayed if the application meets the following requirements:
- Analyzed with CAST Console ≥ 2.4 (and fields in Administration Center - Settings - Highlight Settings are populated)
- Analyzed with the extension com.castsoftware.highlight2mri ≥ 1.0.0-beta
- When using CAST Imaging in a Docker environment, this feature requires the ≥ 1.2.10-funcrel Docker Installer (Docker Installer) which will need to be installed prior to performing an in-place upgrade.
Specific object property information is displayed for external (i.e. third-party) objects such as Java Classes/Interfaces/JavaScript files etc.:
- name
- version
- age
- whether any CVEs are active against the component
Associated to
Additional associated information is available at Object level, for the selected object, where applicable:
- Associated Transaction(s) / Data Call Graph(s) / Module(s) / Service(s) / Subset(s) / Project(s)
- Saved views
The options are only visible where a corresponding item is available (i.e. if the selected object is not present in an existing Saved view (for example) then the option is not displayed). Selecting the item will navigate directly to that item:
Object > Source Code
Displays an objects source code (only available at Object level and if source code viewing has been configured, see Configure the source code viewer:
Object > Annotations
Displays a list of View and Object annotations that are available in the current view. Clicking them will display the corresponding Annotation - see also User Guide - Using the Annotate / Sticky notes feature.
Object > Tags
Displays a list of tags associated with the currently selected object:
Tags are divided into two categories:
- tags that have been manually added (these are listed under the Tags heading - in the image above, there is one Tag called "TEST") see User Guide - Working with tags.
- tags that have been automatically added by CAST, i.e. for Status (Added/Deleted/Unchanged) or for Properties (External Libraries) or for Modules/Services
Link > Link Properties
Available in ≥ 2.18, the Link tab displays the Properties of a link selected in the view:
The following alert messages are displayed based on the incorrect link selection or no link selection.
Single link (direct link)
Item | Description |
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Source | Displays the name of the source node. |
Target | Displays the name of the target node. |
Type | Displays the link type, for example:
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AipLinkType | Displays the link's sub-type, for example:
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Multi-link (References)
Item | Description |
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Link / Type | Displays only "References" indicating that there is one or more links between the nodes (groups of objects). |
Count | Displays the total number of links between the source and target nodes. |
Source | Displays the name of the source node. |
Target | Displays the name of the target node. |
System of System (SOS) links
System of System (SOS) links are visible only while using the Application to Application dependencies scope view. When you are using App to App view, along with other link properties, descriptions for the custom queries are also displayed.
Item | Description |
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Link / Type | Displays only SOS links |
Source | Displays the name of the source node. |
Target | Displays the name of the target node. |
Description | Displays the details description about the SOS link. |