Golden Nugget : Naming Standards Templates

by Dec 13, 2016

Howdy! 

Today we will be exploring a feature called Naming Standards Template.

In a Naming Standards Template you can define standards for character case, or add prefixes/suffixes to make the object types more easily recognizable. The Naming Standards Templates is comprised of an abbreviation list used to automatically convert logical to physical names and vice versa, and options for a given model that define case standards by object type, name length standards, and prefix/suffix standards. The Naming Standards Utility is used to apply the naming standards templates to a model or objects within a model.

A naming standards template can be created and stored either as either as part of a Naming Standards Template object in the Data Dictionary of a dm1 file or as XML data in an external file. Naming standard templates are supported in Enterprise Data Dictionaries as well as in local data dictionaries.

Once created and saved, the naming standards can be used when using other wizards within ER/Studio Data Architect, such as XML Schema Generation, Generate Physical Model, Compare and Merge, Model Validation, and Add New Physical Model. The naming standards templates can also be applied to domains, attributes/columns, and entities/tables through a Naming Standards tab in the object editors. When selected, the Freeze Namesoption in these editors prevents any naming standards applied from changing the name of the object selected.

 

Creating a Naming Standards Template

There are two implementations of the Naming Standards Template Editor; one for creating an external template that can be imported for use with any diagram, and another for creating a template that is bound to the active diagram. The Naming Standards Editor, used to bind objects in the diagram to a naming standards template includes two tabs not present in the external template editor, Attachment Bindings and Binding Information.

[Creating a Naming Standard Template]

 

To Create a naming standards template (NST)

  1. Choose one of the following options:
    • To create an external naming standards template and that is saved as an XML file, choose Tools > Naming Standards Editor.
    • To create a naming standards template that is saved as an object in the Data Dictionary of the active diagram, from the Data Model Explorer, Data Dictionary tab, right-click Naming Standards Templates node and then click New Naming Standards Template.
    Using either of the methods above launches the Naming Standard Template Editor.
  2. To save the new file and exit the utility, click OK.
    • If this template is an external file, a new naming standards template file is created in the Model directory. Naming standards templates have an extension of .nst.
    • If this template is a Data Dictionary object, the new naming standards template appears within the Data Model Explorer, Data Dictionary, Naming Standards Templates node.

Tip: Once created, you can edit the naming standards template by double-clicking its object on the Data Dictionary tab to launch the editor.

 

In the next Golden Nugget, we will be exploring Macros.

Stay tuned!!