Viewing an impact analysis topology
The impact analysis topology provides a graphical representation of the CIs that are defined as task targets and the related CIs that are impacted by the tasks. You can manipulate the topology in several ways to obtain information about task impacts.
About this task
To open a topology for a Change, ensure that the Change is open in the Changes application, and open the Impacts tab. Scroll to the area below the Summary and Manage Impacts sub-tabs. The topology is in the lower section of the Impacts view. Above the topology graph, a drop-down menu and a row of selection boxes enable you to determine what is displayed in the topology.
Tasks menu and selection boxes
About this task
- Implementation Tasks menu
- This drop-down menu provides a list of all of the implementation
tasks that are defined for the Change that you are working with. When
you initially open the topology, All Tasks is
selected, and the topology displays all of the target CIs and their
related CIs, for all tasks. To view targets and related CIs for a
particular task, select that task from the Implementation Tasks menu. Note: Selecting a task in the Implementation Tasks menu does not affect the view of impacted CIs in the topology graph. A CI that is marked as an impacted CI in the topology (impacted CIs are shown with double borders) might be impacted by any of the tasks in the Change, not just the task that you select in the Implementation Tasks menu.
- Task Target CIs box
- Lists the target CIs for the task that you have selected from the Implementation Tasks menu. If All Tasks is selected, lists all of the target CIs for all of the tasks in the Change. If a single task is selected, lists the target CIs for that task. You can select a target CI and click Refresh View to display a topology based on that target.
- Impacted CIs box
Lists all of the impacted CIs for all tasks, a selected task, or a task target. The impacted CIs in this list include those that have been identified by the automated analysis engine and those that you have identified manually for the task or task target. If a Warning icon (
) is beside the name of an impacted CI in the list, this CI
is not shown in the topology. For example, the box might contain three
impacted CIs, with only two shown in the topology. If an impacted
CI is not displayed in the topology, this indicates that it was added
manually, and the topology viewer was unable to connect this CI with
other CIs in the diagram.- Refresh View
- Click this button after you select a task or task target to update the topology contents based on your selection.
Topology graph
About this task
The impact analysis topology is a graphical representation of the target CI or CIs that you are viewing, based on your selections in the controls across the top of the graph, and the CIs that are related to the selected CIs. CI relationships are indicated by lines that connect the CI nodes. CIs of a common classification or classification group are divided into configurable colored and labeled bands, or swim lanes, in the topology view.
You can zoom in and out and perform other manipulations using the row of standard GUI controls at the top of the topology view.
The upper right portion of the screen contains a miniature view of the topology map. You can use it to control the larger view.
- Hover over a node to see the full name, description, and status of the CI. A status icon is also displayed in the upper left corner of each node.
- Right-click a node and select CI information to open a dialog that shows more CI properties. The dialog also shows tasks that are scheduled to affect this CI. For example, a scheduled task might have this CI as a target.
- Right-click a related CI node and select Move to to change the focus of the topology graph to the selected CI. You can use the Move to option to navigate to a topology view of any CI that is currently displayed in the graph.
- Hover over a link between two connected CI nodes to see the relationships that exist between the two connected CIs.
Topology filters
About this task
- Relationships
- The types of relationships to include in the view. The list shows all the relationship types that exist between nodes in the diagram. You can exclude relationship types if you want to see only certain types.
- Classifications
- The types of CIs to include in the view. The default is all types. You can choose to exclude some types if you do not want to see them. CIs of the excluded types are not displayed in the diagram.
- Breadth
- The number of levels of relationship to show in the view. The initial breadth and maximum breadth are contained in the system properties pmgui.citopology.depth and pmgui.citopology.init. An administrator can configure these system properties to change the initial and maximum breadth.
- Detail view
- This view shows all related CIs of all types.
- Business view
- This view shows a subset of all CI types. The CI types that are shown are designated for inclusion in this view by checking Show in Business View for the CI type in the Classifications application. By default, certain CI types are designated for the business view, such as application servers and services. CIs, such as NIC cards and storage devices, are not included in the business view. CI types that are set for the business view typically have a substantial impact when taken out of service.
Configuring topology swim lanes
About this task
By using the Configure CI Topology Swim Lanes action, you can choose:
- The classifications or classification groups that are displayed
- The order in which classification swim lanes are displayed
- The color of each classification's swim lane
Colors are defined using the standard HTML six-digit hexadecimal representation. However, you can choose a swim lane color from a list of predefined colors by clicking the Select Value button next to the Color field.
The order in which the swim lanes appear is determined by the number entered in the Order field for each swim lane row. In these fields, you enter a rising sequence of numbers, where the swim lane with the lowest number is the first band in the topology view.
Configuring classification groups
About this task
Using the option, you can specify that a selected classification type is part of a common group of classifications. For example, different models of PC can be grouped together under the Computer Systems group. You can select a group by using the detail menu of the Classification Group field.
The groups that are listed in the Classification Group detail menu are specified using the Configure CI Classification Groups action. By using this option, you can create, modify, and delete classification groups and add or remove classifications that are associated with individual classification groups.