Table of Contents

SectionDefinition object

A SectionDefinition object uses FieldDescriptor objects to define the fields a DomInstance should have. The Jobs module also uses this same SectionDefinition object.

The main class is an abstract implementation, as it allows the existence of two types:

  • StaticSectionDefinition: Currently not used by DOM managers, but used by the Jobs module.

  • CustomSectionDefinition: Used with DOM managers. When SectionDefinitions are discussed below, it is always this custom type that is meant.

When you work with SectionDefinitions in a script, you need to typecast them to the custom type, since you will otherwise not be able to set some properties.

var sectionDefinition = new CustomSectionDefinition()
{
    Name = "ThisIsACustomSectionDefinition"
};

// When saving the SectionDefinition using the helper, you need to typecast it back to the custom type
sectionDefinition = domHelper.SectionDefinitions.Create(sectionDefinition) as CustomSectionDefinition;

DOM object relations

FieldDescriptor

A FieldDescriptor object defines what a field of a DomInstance should look like. To define the type of the field, you need to set the FieldType property. The following types are supported:

  • string
  • double
  • long
  • DateTime
  • TimeSpan
  • bool

Below is an overview of all other important properties:

Property Type Description
ID FieldDescriptorID The ID of the FieldDescriptor.
Name string The name of the FieldDescriptor.
IsOptional bool Determines whether a FieldValue must be present for this descriptor or if it is optional.
IsHidden bool Determines whether this descriptor is hidden from the UI.
IsReadonly bool Determines whether this descriptor can only be manipulated from scripts/API and not from the UI.
Tooltip string Short description of the field that will be available as a tooltip in the UI.
DefaultValue IValueWrapper The default value that will be used to pre-fill the field in the UI.
IsSoftDeleted bool Determines whether this descriptor is soft-deleted. See soft-deletable objects.
Available from DataMiner 10.3.9/10.4.0 onwards.

There are also special types of FieldDescriptors that are purpose-made to store a special value. These include:

  • AutoIncrementFieldDescriptor: Defines a field that will automatically get an incremented value assigned. When a DomInstance does not have a value for this field yet, it will get assigned the next time the instance is updated.

  • GenericEnumFieldDescriptor: Defines a field that has a list of possible pre-determined values.

  • ReservationFieldDescriptor: Defines a field that has the ID of an SRM (Service)ReservationInstance.

  • ResourceFieldDescriptor: Defines a field that has the ID of an SRM resource. The descriptor has a ResourcePoolIds property that can be used to define from which resource pools the user can select a resource.

  • ServiceDefinitionFieldDescriptor: Defines a field that has the ID of an SRM service definition. It contains a ServiceDefinitionFilter property that has a FilterElement that can be used to determine which service definitions will be presented to the user.

  • StaticTextFieldDescriptor: Defines a field that should always have the same static value, defined by the StaticText property.

  • DomInstanceFieldDescriptor: Available from DataMiner 10.1.10/10.2.0 onwards. Can be used to define that a field should contain the ID of a DomInstance.

  • ElementFieldDescriptor: Available from DataMiner 10.1.10/10.2.0 onwards. Can be used to define that a field should contain the ID of an element.

  • DomInstanceValueFieldDescriptor: Available from DataMiner 10.2.3/10.3.0 onwards. Can be used to define that a field should contain the ID of a DomInstance. However, compared to the DomInstanceFieldDescriptor, this one also references a specific value of that DomInstance.

  • GroupFieldDescriptor: Available from DataMiner 10.3.3/10.4.0 onwards. Can be used to define that a field should contain the name of a DataMiner user group.

  • UserFieldDescriptor: Available from DataMiner 10.3.3/10.4.0 onwards. Can be used to define that a field should contain the name of a DataMiner user. There is a GroupNames property that can be used to define which groups the user can be a part of.

Important

The ID of a FieldDescriptor should be unique within a DOM module.

Currently, the uniqueness of the ID does not get enforced when a SectionDefinition is added or updated.

Using FieldDescriptors that have the same ID in multiple SectionDefinitions might result in inconsistent behavior. When a FieldDescriptor with the same ID is used in a name definition, the name of the DomInstance might differ depending on the first section available in the DomInstance that has a value assigned for the FieldDescriptor with that ID. During the validation of changes to the FieldDescriptor, this might result in DataMiner incorrectly detecting that a FieldDescriptor is no longer in use, which may cause the removal of a descriptor that is actually still in use.

Multiple values

Some FieldDescriptors offer the capability to store multiple values rather than a single one. Refer to the respective descriptor documentation to check if a specific descriptor provides this functionality and from which DataMiner version onwards it is supported.

When configuring a FieldDescriptor to accommodate multiple values, adjust the type property to match the list variant of the underlying base type. For instance, change Guid to List<Guid>. When assigning values to a DomInstance, utilize the AddOrUpdateListFieldValue extension method to easily add a list of values to the instance.

var fieldDescriptor = new ResourceFieldDescriptor
{
    FieldType = typeof(List<Guid>)
};

var multipleValues = new List<Guid> { Guid.NewGuid(), Guid.NewGuid() };
domInstance.AddOrUpdateListFieldValue(sectionDefinitionId, fieldDescriptorId, multipleValues);
Note
  • From DataMiner 10.4.2/10.5.0 onwards, it is no longer possible to pass empty lists as value for a FieldDescriptor that allows multiple values if that field is required. A FieldDescriptor that is not required will still allow empty lists as value, but note that it is best practice to not pass values for FieldDescriptors if the value is empty or an empty list.
  • Fields with multiple values are not available in GQI queries.

CustomSectionDefinition properties

In the table below, you can find the properties of the CustomSectionDefinition object (the base SectionDefinition object only exposes its ID). The table also indicates whether a property can be used for filtering using the SectionDefinitionExposers.

Note

From DataMiner 10.3.2/10.4.0 onwards, the CustomSectionDefinition object also has the ITrackBase properties.

Property Type Filterable Description
ID SectionDefinitionID Yes The ID of the SectionDefinition.
Name string Yes The name of the SectionDefinition.
Note

Adding and removing FieldDescriptors must be done using the AddOrReplaceFieldDescriptor() and RemoveFieldDescriptor() methods. You can also filter on the FieldDescriptors using the FieldDescriptorIDs or FieldDescriptorNames exposers (found on SectionDefinitionExposers).

Requirements

  • To create or update a SectionDefinition, it must define FieldDescriptors with types that are actually supported by the relevant FieldDescriptor.

  • When you update a SectionDefinition:

    • Prior to DataMiner 10.3.12/10.4.0, you cannot remove FieldDescriptors from a SectionDefinition when a DomInstance already uses that definition.

      From DataMiner 10.3.12/10.4.0 onwards, removing FieldDescriptors is not possible in the following cases only:

      • When they have a value set on a section, for that SectionDefinition, on a DomInstance.
      • When they are still used on the DomManagerSettings of the DOM manager. Either in the DomInstanceNameDefinition, or in one of the FieldAliases.
      • When they are still used in a DomInstanceNameDefinition set on a DomDefinition.
      • When they are still used in a DomStatusSectionDefinitionLink for that SectionDefinition on a DomBehaviorDefinition.

    • During an update, the properties of the previous and updated version of the FieldDescriptor are checked. The behavior of this check depends on the type of FieldDescriptor, but by default, the following properties can be changed freely:

      • Name
      • IsHidden
      • Tooltip
      • IsOptional
      • IsReadonly

    • There is a special case for GenericEnumFieldDescriptors: you can only update and delete GenericEnumEntries that are not in use by DomInstances.

  • You can only delete a SectionDefinition if it is not linked by a DomDefinition and it is not used by DomInstances.

Errors

When something goes wrong during the CRUD actions, the TraceData can contain one or more SectionDefinitionErrors. Below, you can find a list of all possible ErrorReasons (this list does not contain the errors that are only used by the Jobs module).

Reason Description
FieldTypeNotSupported A type was defined on a FieldDescriptor that is not supported by that descriptor.
Available properties: NotSupportedType, SupportedTypes.
SectionDefinitionInUseByDomInstances The SectionDefinition could not be updated because it is being used by at least one DomInstance.
Available properties: SectionDefinition, OriginalSectionDefinition, DomInstanceIds.
SectionDefinitionInUseByDomDefinitions The SectionDefinition could not be deleted because it is being used by at least one DomDefinition. Set the FieldDecriptor.IsSoftDeleted boolean for the FieldDescriptor you want to delete instead.
Available properties: SectionDefinition, DomDefinitionIds.
GenericEnumEntryInUseByDomInstances The GenericEnumEntry could not be deleted or updated because it is being used by at least one DomInstance.
Available properties: GenericEnumEntry, DomInstanceIds.
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