Glossary

Extension file This is a special file that points the IBM Director Server and Console to the Java code for the Extension. The Extension file always ends with .TWGExt and it is always placed in the Director classes\extension directory.
Extension class This is the main class for an IBM Director extension. It must extens com.ticoli.twg.engine.TWGExtension.
Task A Task is an action that can be run from either the Director Console or it can be run automatically on the Server.
Task properties this is a set of Java Properties (keyword/value pairs which define how a task will work. The Properties can be either specified in a Properties File or built dynamically in a Task Properties object.
Engine This is the main IBM Director component. It has many jobs including loading and unloading your Extension code.
IBM Director extension Extensions are the main mechanism for adding new management functions to IBM Director.
Managed object A system being managed by the IBM Director. On the IBM Director Console, these objects are displayed under the heading "Systems". Inside the IBM Director Server Java code, these objects are instances of the TWGManagedObject class. Inside the IBM Director Condole Java code, these objects are represented as TWGConManagedObjects
activation, activated This is the process of running a task. Tasks can be activated in many ways:
- By the user on the IBM Director Console
- By the IBM Director Scheduler
- By an Event Action Plan
Filters Filters are used to organize Managed Objects into groups.
Associations Associations are another way to organize Managed Objects and other management data.
Persistent store The persistent store saves the state of all Managed Objects, Extensions, ysers, etc.
SQL database In IBM Director, the SQL Database is used for inventory data.
DataStores DataStores are indexed files used to save your extension's data.
Properties files Property files are used in IBM Director for reading or writing data in keyword-value pairs.
Inventory This is the IBM Director component that handles collecting inventory data and writing it to the SQL Database.
Inventory extensions You can create inventory extensions which will be called by the inventory component to collect and store additional inventory data.
Events This IBM Director component processes IBM Director Events but it also provides support for multilingual events, and for Event Action Plans.
Event action handlers Event action handlers are invoked by the events component when they are triggered in an event action plan.
Monitors This IBM Director component allows users of IBM Director to watch specific attributes on systems (such as "CPU Usage"). It also provides support for creating events if a threshold is exceeded and for recording.
Monitor APIs Monitor APIs allow you to create additional monitoring functions.
TWGObject The TWGObject class is the base class for all of the IBM Director Topology Engine core classes.  The class is very simple, primarily providing a common instance ID attribute in the form of a 32-bit integer.  Each instance is automatically assigned a new, unique 32-bit ID which will only persist for the life of the Topology Engine task (i.e. it is not a persistent ID).
TWGPersistObject The TWGPersistObject class is the base class for all persistent object classes in the IBM Director Topology Engine.  Each TWGPersistObject instance has a unique 32-bit persistent object ID,  which is maintained and stored by the TWGPersistObject class in an object storage file stored on the IBM Director Server.  Whenever a new TWGPersistObject instance is created, a new records is created and stored in the object storage file, along with a new and unique persistent object ID.  The records stored in the object storage file consist of a list of variable length fields, with each field containing a class ID, a length, and an opaque byte array. The class supports a method for generating a record, which is done by calling the SaveRecord() method for each class definition in a given objects inheritance tree, starting with TWGPersistObject and continuing to the specific class of the object.  Each class can provide its own SaveRecord() method (each is a class method which accepts a TWGPersistObject instance as a parameter).  A similar mechanism is used, based on the RestoreRecord() method, to restore a saved object record.
TWGExtension The TWGExtension interface is used to by an extension package to define the bootstrap class for the extension package.  When a package is registered, the IBM Director Topology Engine will dynamically load the class with the name which was provided.  This class, which must implement the TWGExtension interface, once loaded into the IBM Director Topology Engine, will have its various methods called to allow registration of the various classes provided by the extension, followed by creating the object instances associated with the extension package, followed by restoring the instances of the TWGPersistObject instances whose classes are provided by the extension package.  A similar sequence of methods are invoked to shutdown the IBM Director Topology Engine.
TWGManagedObject The TWGManagedObject class is the base class for all managed objects (that is, targets of management actions (tasks)).  Each TWGManagedObject subclass is associated with a corresponding TWGManagedObjectFactory class (which is used to aid in object creating, restoration, and dynamic object typing).  Each TWGManagedObject class supports a variety of methods for querying various attributes of the object, including a name string for the object, lists of TWGTask instances supported by the object (and the specific class, in general), the class ID for the Manager Console application to use for presenting the object (as well as the object data to pass to this class when the console is creating or updating an instance), and lists of TWGDatabaseTable instances associated with the class.  Any TWGManagedObject instance is a potential target for TWGTasks, can be referenced as part of a TWGRelationship, and can be part of a TWGManagedObjectSet. The TWGManagedObject class also includes methods for adding and removing TWGTask associations with TWGManagedObject subclasses and TWGManagedObject instances, as well as adding and removing TWGDatabaseTable associations with TWGManagedObject subclasses.
TWGManagedObjectFactory

The TWGManagedObjectFactory class is the base class for defining objects representing the TWGManagedObject subclasses.  This class is used to assist in a number of dynamic object typing processes, including the following:

  When a TWGManagedObject class is created or restored, the instance might not be that of a base class for which a suitable subclass for the given object exists.  For example, if an SNMP device is discovered, an instance of TWGSNMPDevice would be created (by default), but a more specialized subclass might exist which supports the object (if the device were a router, the TWGSNMPRouter subclass would be a better match).  The TWGManagedObjectFactory classes are used to resolve this object specialization

TWGTask The TWGTask class is the base class for all management task types. Each TWGTask subclass, and their associated instances, define the characteristics to allow the task to be selected and invoked, as well as the methods used to actually invoke the task’s subtasks
TWGDatabaseTable

The TWGDatabaseTable class is the base class for all classes representing tables in the IBM Director Server database which are associated with TWGPersistObject instances.  Each subclass provides a variety of information about the given table, including display strings for the table and its columns, data types for all columns, and methods for assisting in the creation of queries and interpreting results. All database tables are accessed using JDBC.  All tables represented by the TWGDatabaseTable subclasses must include a field named MANAGED_OBJ_ID (a 32-bit integer) which is part of the table’s primary key.   This field corresponds to the persistent object ID (from TWGPersistObject) of the object which a given row in the table is associated with.  Each TWGManagedObject subclass maintains a list of TWGDatabaseTable instances which might contain records associated with instances of that subclass (or its subclasses).   This information is used to intelligently scrub the database tables when an TWGManagedObject is deleted, as well as allowing the set of TWGDatabaseQuery instances presented by the Inventory service to be intelligently limited to those which might return data (based on the types of TWGManagedObject instances which have been targeted by the Inventory Query service, the TWGDatabaseTables which are supported by the classes of these instances, and the TWGDatabaseTables providing the data returned from each TWGDatabaseQuery instance.

TWGDatabaseQuery The TWGDatabaseQuery class is used to define both the default query instances for the Inventory Query console, as well as supporting the creation and storage of user-defined queries.  Each query instance is associated with one or more TWGDatabaseTable instances, and includes support for  storing all of the details of the SQL query defined associated with the TWGDatabaseQuery, as well as the name and graphic for the query (for presentation in the Inventory Query console).  Any query defined by a TWGDatabaseQuery can be issued globally on the IBM Director Server Database, or can be further restricted to only return data for rows of tables which have specific MANAGED_OBJ_ID values (so that only data for a given subset of all managed objects might be returned).
TWGFilter The TWGFilter class is used to record and process a specific set of selection criteria (used for defining a TWGManagedObjectSet from the set of all TWGManagedObject instances).  Each TWGFilter defines a set of SQL queries to be issued on the IBM Director Server database in order to return a set of TWGManagedObject instances (via a returned set of MANAGED_OBJ_ID values).  Each filter also stores the specific selection inputs for each TWGFilterFactory used to define the query in the TWGFilter (for any TWGFilterFactory instances used when defining the TWGFilter).  To generate the object and relationship data for a topology, a TWGFilter instance and a TWGAssociation instance are selected, the TWGFilter is used to create a TWGManagedObjectSet, which is then passed to the TWGAssociation to create a TWGRelationshipSet.  The TWGRelationshipSet and all console object data from the TWGManagedObject instances in the TWGManagedObjectSet are then sent to the console for formatting and presentation.
TWGTaskActivation The TWGTaskActivation class is used for tracking the details of a specific request to execute a TWGTask.  Besides providing a collection point for the inputs for a given task request, the TWGTaskActivation method is passed to the TWGTask, where it is used for providing feedback on the state of the task.  The TWGTaskActivation class includes methods for reporting the completion of the requested task, the status of that completion, and support for logging the details of the task processing.
TWGRelationship

The TWGRelationship class is used to represent a link of one or more TWGManagedObject instances and/or other TWGRelationship instances.  Each TWGRelationship instance has a display name, as well as a list of links.  Each TWGRelationship can also (optionally) have a reference to a TWGManagedObject which the is the TWGRelationship (for example, if a TWGRelationship represents the set of clients under a given server, the TWGManagedObject for the server is the TWGRelationship, so the reference should be set to it).  Otherwise, if the TWGRelationship represents a purely logical relationship (such as a grouping based on shared network characteristics), then the reference will be null.   Each link contains a reference to either a TWGRelationship instance or a TWGManagedObject instance, plus a set of attributes describing the nature of the given link (relative to the TWGRelationship).  These attributes include:

Link orientation - this indicates whether the relationship between the TWGRelationship and the referenced object has the referenced object below or above the TWGRelationship.  In a tree view with the tree rooted at the top of panel, each layer of the tree would have one link to the TWGRelationship above it and one or more links to the TWGRelationships and/or TWGManagedObjects located below it.

Is primary link - this is used to mark an above link as also being the main above link.  This means that the given above link is the only one which should be used when a set of TWGRelationship instances are used to describe a tree (since a tree only supports one parent for each set of children ).  The same attribute is used for marking below links corresponding to primary above links in child TWGRelationship instances.  Note that below links to TWGManagedObject instances are always primary.