Usage of Match Name

If you develop a new model from scratch, you have to identify the element types used in the model.

In the model, you can provide an element type with a certain icon. An element type can be associated with a set of properties and a set of actions. When an AWM element is selected during run time, all the element type's property values show in the property views. The context menu that opens by right-clicking an element type's element shows all the actions modeled for the element type.

Use the following criteria to decide the element types in the model:
  • Grouping elements with common attributes.
  • Grouping elements on which common actions are allowed.
In the PDS Explorer model, the following elements are identified based on this distinction:
  • Project
  • Data set
  • Editable element
  • Non-Editable element
  • Unknown element
  • Search Result

Example: Element type match name

In AWM, new elements can be created by a tool that provides a list of the element's property values by means of a structured file descriptor. The file descriptor describes the file's line position where each property is delivered. For AWM to create a new element, the tool must at least deliver all the key properties of the element.

Because different element types can have the same or overlapping key properties, providing the key properties is not sufficient to identify the element type of the element to be created.

AWM needs an Element Type property to define the element type of the element. The Element Type property is a property of the AWM special Property Type Element_Type:


PDSSAMP Match Name 1

The AWM administrator must define distinct match names in the model for every element type. The value defined here is the value a tool has to return in the Element Type property when a new element should be created.

To further explain this, consider the tool providing all projects in the PDS Explorer. This is the tool PDSSAMP_TOOL_ISPF_REX_GetProjects which has as output parameter the file descriptor PDSSAMP_FILE_ProjList:


PDSSAMP Match Name 2

The file descriptor contains the following properties:


PDSSAMP Match Name 3

The ID Definition of the element type PDSSAMP_ELE_Project contains only the property PDSSAMP_PROP_ELE_Project:


PDSSAMP Match Name 4

PDSSAMP_PROP_ELE_Project is returned in the first position of the file descriptor. The second position of the file descriptor contains the Element Type property. The tool must return the match name defined for the element type PDSSAMP_ELE_Project in this position, which is the value PROJ:


PDSSAMP Match Name 5