On this page:

Target audience:

CAST Administrators

Summary: This page provides information about using the Universal Importer to import an additional technology not supported by CAST.

Introduction

The Universal Importer is an API that provides the means for data to be imported into the CAST Analysis Service that can be exploited by relevant CAST AIP applications (Health Dashboard, Engineering Dashboard, CAST Enlighten etc.).

Use case: Import an additional technology not supported by CAST

Consider a situation where you have:

a technology that is not supported "out of the box" by CAST, such as GraphTalk, Smalltalk, Informatica etc. and an external analyzer that is capable of being configured to produce results from this type of source code that can be understood by CAST (i.e. that conform to the Creating or modifying a custom extension using the CAST Universal Analyzer framework)
PeopleSoft or Siebel source code that can be analyzed by the Universal Analyzer using a dedicated Language Pack

And you would like to be able to import the results of these analyses and (optionally) source code into the Analysis Service and exploit it with the Health Dashboard, Engineering Dashboard, CAST Enlighten etc. The Universal Importer can do this for you.

In this situation:

the Universal Importer requires .UAX files that correspond to a pre-defined format that includes the notion of a "project" (this is explained later in the guide)
if you are optionally importing source code for analysis, the Universal Importer requires that the source code is available in .SRC files

Note that a Universal Analyzer framework Language Pack for the technology you want to import must be created and installed so that CAST can understand it.

The package containing the .UAX and (optionally) .SRC files is deployed in the CAST Management Studio and a Universal Importer Analysis Unit is created. Analysis and snapshot generation then proceeds exactly as with other standard CAST analyzers - in this situation, no analysis takes place, it is simply an import of data defined in the .UAX/.SRC files that occurs.

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > UI_AU.jpg

Process

If the data to be imported is generated by an external analyzer but it relates to a technology that is not supported "out of the box" by CAST, then you need to use the CAST Delivery Manager Tool to package the UAX files and optionally .SRC files. A Universal Importer type Analysis Unit will be created for you and this will be analzyed in the traditional way, thus importing the results into the CAST Analysis Service.

There are two ways to proceed:

Run the external analyzer as part of a CAST Delivery Manager Tool custom plugin

Install your custom CAST Delivery Manager Tool plugin for Universal Importer

Before you can proceed with this method, you must install a custom CAST Delivery Manager Tool plugin that will be able to package your .UAX and optionally .SRC files correctly and allow the CAST Management Studio to create a Universal Importer type Analysis Unit. Please contact CAST Support to acquire this plugin and bundle your external analyzer

CAST Delivery Manager Tool

In the CAST Delivery Manager Tool, import the Application and create a new Version. Then:

Add a new Package
Select the name of the custom CAST Delivery Manager Tool plugin in the Add Package wizard - it will be located in the Select a vendor specific repository section as shown below for Siebel:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > UI4.jpg

Enter the details for accessing your vendor specific repository where the .UAX and optionally .SRC files are stored.
Run the Package action and then the Deliver action - options located on the toolbar.
See the CAST Management Studio section below for more information.

Run the external analyzer as a standalone tool

In the CAST Delivery Manager Tool, import the Application and create a new Version. Then:

Add a new Package
Select the Generic extraction option in the Add Package wizard - it will be located in the Select a vendor specific repository section as shown below:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > UI2.jpg

In the Package Configuration tab enter the following details:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > generic_extraction.jpg

Enter the location of the .uaxdirectory file that describes the associated .UAX and .SRC files - see Configuring UAX - UAXDIRECTORY - project files for more information about this file.
Enter the project type as defined in the .uaxdirectory file and the xxx_project. file - see Configuring UAX - UAXDIRECTORY - project files for more information about these files. For example:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > project2.jpg

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > project1.jpg

Run the Package action and then the Deliver action - options located on the toolbar.
See the CAST Management Studio section below for more information.

CAST Management Studio

Open the Application editor
In the Delivery tab, Accept the Version that has been delivered and then set it as the current version
In the Current Version tab, ensure that you can see the Universal Importer Analysis Unit:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Appendix - Importing an additional technology not supported by CAST AIP > UI_CMS.jpg

You can then use the Test Analysis option in the Execute tab of the Application editor to check that the analysis completes without error.
Once the test has passed, you can then generate a snapshot (that includes the analysis).