Working with Database Items

To create a Group or Asset group:

1. Right-click on the database icon in the Explorer Window.
2. Select New from the popup menu.
3. Click on the type of group you want to add from the list of available group types. A New name dialog is displayed.
4. Type a name for the group.
5. Click OK.

To create a database item:

1. Right-click on a Group or Asset group in the Explorer Window.
2. Select the new database item you require from the New section of the popup menu.
3. A New name dialog is displayed.
4. Type a name for the item.
5. Click OK.

You can open an item either by right clicking and using the popup menu, or by drag and drop.

Popup menu

1. Right-click on the item to display the popup menu.
2. Click Open.

Drag and drop

1. Click on the item and hold the mouse button down.
2. Drag the item onto the main window background. The mouse cursor will change from to if you are in a valid location for the drop operation.
3. Release the mouse button to open the item.

Some items, such as a selection list, need to be dropped onto an existing item (usually a GeoPlan View of a network) to ensure that they are associated with the correct item.

Many database items can be imported from external files.

To import an item:

1. Right-click on the Asset group of interest.
2. On the popup menu, select Import then the type of database item to import. If import is not possible for a given database item, that particular database item will not be available from the menu.
3. There may be additional import options available from a subsequent context menu. These are generally related to the source format for the data. Select the desired option. 

InfoAsset Manager will import the item, and give it a name based on the source filename. If this name clashes with an existing database item of the same type, InfoAsset Manager adds successive '!' characters until a unique name is created. You have the option of changing this name after the import process.

Many database items can be exported to external files. Depending on the number of file formats to which the data can be exported, there may be more than one menu option available.

To export a database item to a file:

1. Right-click on the database item and choose Export (or Export | To destination file) from the popup menu.
2. Browse to the location where you want to save the file. InfoAsset Manager suggests a filename based on the database item name. You can change this if you wish.
3. Click Save to export the data.

To change the name of any item in the database:

1. Right-click on the item in the database tree.
2. Select Rename from the popup menu.
3. The Rename dialog is displayed. Type a new name for the item.
4. Click OK.

You can make a copy of any item in the database except a version controlled item Version controlled items have an extra level of management within the database. Changes to these items can be committed to create a series of versions of the same item. You can also create branches from any version. Only the differences between versions are stored in the database. Version controlled items can be locked to prevent accidental deletion.. For more information about version control, see Managing Version Controlled Items.

To copy an item from the database (except for a version controlled item):

1. Right-click on the item in the database tree.
2. Select Copy from the popup menu.
3. Right-click on the item under which you would like to paste the copy.
4. Select Paste : with children from the popup menu. If Paste is unavailable, you are trying to paste the item into an inappropriate place in the database.
5. If necessary, rename the new item. (Where the new item has the same name as an existing item in the same location, an exclamation mark (!) is added to the new item's name).

To delete an item from the explorer window:

1. Select an item for deletion:
   • Right-click on it in the database tree and select Delete from the popup menu or
   • Click on it using the left mouse button and press the DELETE key
2. If the selected object is being used by other objects a warning message is displayed, informing the user that these other objects may become unusable if the selected object is deleted. Click Yes on the message to proceed.
3. If the selected object is not being used by other objects, a confirmation message of the type Are you sure you want to delete this object? is displayed. Click Yes to confirm deletion.

   The database item is sent to the Recycle Bin and will remain there until the Recycle Bin is emptied or the item restored.

If deleting a group (such as Group, Asset Group or any user-defined group) please bear in mind that all items within the group will also be deleted. A warning message will be displayed to the user if some of the objects selected for deletion (or their children) are used by other objects in the database. The message warns users about these dependencies and informs them that these other objects may become unusable as a result of the deletion. Click OK on the dialog to complete the deletion process or Cancel to abort it. The Confirm Deletion dialog is displayed regardless of the existence of dependencies. It lists all the objects that are about to be deleted. Click Yes on that dialog to confirm deletion.

It is possible to delete multiple Database Items at the same time. To simultaneously delete several items from the explorer window:

1. Select multiple items in the database tree. Select an item then:
   • with the SHIFT key held down, click on another item to select contiguous items, or
   • with the CTRL key held down to select non-contiguous items
Tip

The deletion of multiple database items is not permitted for selections including the top-level database or the Recycle Bin.

2. Then do one of the following:
   • Right-click one of the selected objects and select Delete from the popup menu, or
   • Press the DELETE key
3. If some of the selected objects or their children are being used by other objects in the database a warning message is displayed, informing the user that these other objects may become unusable if the selected objects are deleted. Click Yes on the message to proceed.
4. The Confirm Deletion dialog is displayed. It lists the database items about to be deleted.
5. Click Yes to confirm deletion.

   The database item are sent to the Recycle Bin and will remain there until the Recycle Bin is emptied or the items restored.

If deleting, amongst other items, a group (such as Group, Asset Group or any user-defined group) please bear in mind that all items within the group will also be deleted. A warning message will be displayed to the user if some of the objects selected for deletion (or their children) are used by other objects in the database. The message warns users about these dependencies and informs them that these other objects may become unusable as a result of the deletion. Click OK on the dialog to complete the deletion process or Cancel to abort it. The Confirm Deletion dialog is displayed regardless of the existence of dependencies. It lists all the objects that are about to be deleted. Click Yes on that dialog to confirm deletion.

Every item in the database has some basic properties associated with it. These include:

• user comments - these can be made at any time as long as the item is not read only. They are especially useful for adding notes to a version controlled item Version controlled items have an extra level of management within the database. Changes to these items can be committed to create a series of versions of the same item. You can also create branches from any version. Only the differences between versions are stored in the database. Version controlled items can be locked to prevent accidental deletion..
• hyperlinks - these allow you to associate external files or internet addresses with any item in the database. See the Using Hyperlinks section.

To open the property sheet for a database item:

1. On the Explorer Window, right-click on the item.
2. Choose Properties from the popup menu. This opens the Properties dialog.

Database items displayed in the Explorer View can be flagged as 'Hidden'.

1. Right-click on the item in the database tree and select Advanced | Hide from the popup menu.
2. The icon of the item will be faded. To remove the Hidden flag from an item, right- click on the item and select the Advanced | Hide option again.

Right-click in the Explorer View and select Show Hidden Items to turn the display of objects flagged as Hidden on and off.

The Find Window that can be started from the Explorer Window toolbar can be used to search the database tree.

1. Click Find ( ) on the toolbar. The Find in Database dialog is displayed.
2. Type in the text to be searched for and the item property to be searched (e.g. name, type, user and description).
3. The Find Window displays the results of searches carried out on the database tree.
4. A context menu with different options is available for each search result:
   1. Open
   2. Select in Tree
   3. Properties

See the Find Window section of the Explorer Window topic for detailed information on each of these options.

Note

The Selected Hidden Object dialog will be displayed if the Select in Tree option is selected for a database item that is currently hidden. This dialog allows you to select an option to view the database item.

For some database items, the data that describes them is contained in a grid window. The topic, Editing Data in Grid Windows, describes the basic operations that can be used when editing data in these type of windows.