Defining Entities (2.4)

A key part of InterSystems TotalView™ For Asset Management is the ability to schedule automated processing, and these schedules generally need to align with relevant calendars. For example, a report may need to get run on every business day but not on holidays or weekends. However, not all regions and not all organizations necessarily use the same calendar.

To simplify the handling of calendars, the system provides the concept of entities. An entity defines a calendar; specifically, each entity has a time zone, a fiscal calendar, a business week, and a holiday schedule. An entity can be a child of another entity and can inherit some or all of that data from its parent.

In practice, an entity can represent a region, a subsidiary, or an organization. In any case, the entity defines a set of calendar information that you want to rely on, for scheduling purposes.

Defining an Entity

To create an entity:

Click the Entity Master icon in the application menu.
Click Create New Entity.
The system displays a dialog box where you can specify the details.
Enter the following information:
- Enable Entity—Select this if you want the entity to be available for use in scheduling.
- Entity Description—Enter the name of this entity, which must be unique at the top level.
- Time Zone—Select the time zone to which this entity belongs.
- Fiscal Year Start Month—Select the month that starts the fiscal year for this entity.
- Fiscal Year End Month—Select the month that ends the fiscal year for this entity.
- Business Week First Day—Select the first day of the business week for this entity.
- Business Week Last Day—Select the last day of the business week for this entity.
Click Submit.

Defining a Child Entity

To create a child entity:

Click the Entity Master icon in the application menu.
Select the entity to which you want to add a child.
Click Create Child of Current Entity.
The system displays a dialog box where you can specify the details.
Enter the following information:
- Enable Entity—Select this if you want the entity to be available for use in scheduling.
- Entity Description—Enter the name of this entity, which must be unique within the parent entity.
- Use Parent Time Zone?—Select this if you want the entity to use the time zone defined by the immediate parent entity.
- Time Zone—Select the time zone to which this entity belongs. (Not available if Use Parent Time Zone is selected.)
- Use Parent Fiscal Calendar?—Select this if you want the entity to use the fiscal year start and end month defined by the immediate parent entity.
- Fiscal Year Start Month—Select the month that starts the fiscal year for this entity. (Not available if Use Parent Fiscal Calendar is selected.)
- Fiscal Year End Month—Select the month that ends the fiscal year for this entity. (Not available if Use Parent Fiscal Calendar is selected.)
- Use Parent Business Week?—Select this if you want the entity to use the business week start and end days defined by the immediate parent entity.
- Business Week First Day—Select the first day of the business week for this entity. (Not available if Use Parent Business Week? is selected.)
- Business Week Last Day—Select the last day of the business week for this entity. (Not available if Use Parent Business Week? is selected.)
Click Submit.

Editing an Entity

To edit an entity:

Click the Entity Master icon in the application menu.
Select the entity you want to edit.
Make changes as needed. For details on the fields, see the previous sections.
Click Submit.

Note:

Changes to an entity do not affect any tasks that are currently running, because the entity for a task is checked at the start of the task run.

Editing a Holiday Calendar

To edit the holiday calendar for an entity:

Click the Entity Master icon in the application menu.
Select the entity (expanding the entity tree if necessary).
Click Edit Holiday Calendar.

The system then shows the applicable holiday calendar. Here you can do the following:

To add an entry:
1. Click Add.
2. For Holiday Description, enter a short holiday name.
3. For Holiday Date, select a date.
4. Click Submit.
To remove an entry:
1. Click Remove in the row for that entry.
2. Click Remove Holiday to confirm.
To deactivate an inherited entry:
1. Click Deactivate in the row for that entry.
2. Click Deactivate Holiday to confirm.
To reactivate a previously deactivated inherited entry:
1. Click Activate in the row for that entry.
2. Click Activate Holiday to confirm.

Note:

Calendar changes do not affect any tasks that are currently running, because the entity for a task is checked at the start of the task run.

Deleting an Entity

To delete an entity:

Click the Entity Master icon in the application menu.
Select the entity (expanding the entity tree if necessary).
Click Delete.
Click Delete Entity to confirm.