Validating Networks
The InfoAsset Manager validation options can be used to examine a network for missing values, errors and inconsistencies. Validation can be carried out on either the whole network, a zone or zone category, or just those network objects that are currently selected, and you can choose to validate the data at any time. It is also possible to have the network validated automatically when you are committing your changes to the database, if pre-commit validations have been defined.
In order to validate the network, a Validation Data object containing a set of validation rules must first be created. Once the validation data object has been created it can be reused every time a network is validated. Alternatively, a set of different validation objects matching different networks or to be used in particular circumstances may be created.
To view validation results for a network, a validation data object must be associated with the network. If the validation is part of a commit operation, then the validation data object must be associated with the network using the Pre-commit Validations dialog. For normal (i.e. non pre-commit) validations, a default validation data object , which will be automatically opened when the network is opened, may be assigned to the network. A validation object can also be dragged and dropped onto the GeoPlan from the tree view to associate it with the network.
The same validation data object can be used as part of a commit operation as well as in a normal validation operation.
Different validation data items are used for Collection, Distribution and Asset networks. Each validation data provides a number of default validation rules that can be:
- switched on or off
- have their parameters adjusted
- have their priority level changed
User defined validation rules can also be defined. See the Validation Editor section for further details.
Validation results in the output window
Validation can be carried out on either the whole network, a zone or zone category, or just those network objects that are currently selected. The results of the validation will be displayed in the Output Window.
To validate a network and display results in the output window:
- Open the network.
- Drag and drop a Validation Data object onto the GeoPlan for the network. This associates the validation object with the network.
- Choose Validate network from the Network menu or click the Validate button on the Validation Toolbar. This displays the Data Source dialog.
- Choose the data source type for the validation:
- the entire network
- the current selection
- a zone or zone category (if using the zone or zone category option select the zone or category name from the Data Source dropdown list)
- Click OK to continue.
InfoAsset Manager validates the objects selected above. The results of the validation are shown in the Output Window.
The results of a pre-commit validation are also displayed in the Output Window. See Committing Your Changes for information about how to validate the network during a commit operation.
Validation in the object properties window
When viewing network object properties in the Object Properties Window, validation errors are displayed against each field by default.
A coloured cell indicates if the object property has a validation error, warning or information message (if the cell is empty, there are no validation issues). Hovering over a validation icon with the mouse will display a tooltip with details about the validation error, such as the name of the network object where the anomaly occurred as well as the cause of the error.
It is possible to hide the validation messages on the property editor (See Object Properties Window Settings dialog for more details).
Validation in the tabbed property sheet
When viewing network object properties in the tabbed property sheet, validation messages are displayed in the Validation tab of the property sheet.
Fields in the property sheet with validation issues are also highlighted by the display of a coloured bar between the field name and the field cell. The colour of the bar corresponds to the priority of the validation issue.
Default validation rules
Network validation preferences can be set up via the Default Validation Rules dialog.
A default Validation Data for the network that will be automatically opened each time the network is subsequently opened can be set.
The dialog is also used to set a validation level for use when editing object properties in tabbed property sheets. When editing network object properties using tabbed property sheets, the OK and Apply buttons on the property sheet will not be enabled until all validation errors of the selected validation level and above have been corrected. This functionality is used to ensure that validation issues are resolved before further edits to an object can take place.
