Summary: this section provides information about the range of IDs that are reserved for the following items for use with custom extensions;:

Extensions
Objects
Quality Rules

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:

ID	Target clients	xxxmetamodel.xml file_level attribute
ID above 2,000,000	Reserved for CAST User Community and CAST Labs extensions	client
ID above 1,500,000 and below 2,000,000	reserved for field consultants (legacy use only)	prepackaged
ID above 1,000,000 and below 1,500,000	reserved for built-in packages created by CAST (official CAST AIP extensions)	builtin
ID above 0 and below 1,000,000	reserved for CAST R&D and products (core CAST AIP range)	core

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.

Note that if you upload an extension without pre-reserving the ID ranges you have defined and the ranges have already been allocated to another extension, the extension will be rejected at the end of the upload process. In this situation, you will need to reserve a new range of IDs, modify your extension to use this new range, then upload the extension again.

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:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Managing ID ranges for custom extensions > id_ranges.jpg

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)

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Managing ID ranges for custom extensions > selection.jpg

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

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Managing ID ranges for custom extensions > reserve.jpg

The following window will be displayed:

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Managing ID ranges for custom extensions > range_box.jpg

Enter the required information as follows:

Extension ID

if you are reserving an ID range for an extension:

Enter the ID of your extension in the form com.castsoftware.uc.<name> / com.castsoftware.labs.<name> depending on the type of extension you are uploading. When you upload your extension, you need to ensure that the Extension ID you are using is identical to the Extension ID you enter here.

If you are reserving an ID range for an Architecture Checker model:

Enter the ID of your extension in the form com.castsoftware.uc.<free-form text>. Where <free-form text> can be any string that describes your initiative or your project.

Range amount

Choose a number between 1 and 10. 1 corresponds to a range of 1000 IDs, therefore if you enter 3, you will be granted 3000 IDs.

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

CAST Extend - CAST AIP extension ecosystem > Managing ID ranges for custom extensions > range_reserved.jpg

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">