Working with the OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench

The OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench window includes these parts:

Menu

Pull-down menus for each OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench function. Some objects also contain context-sensitive pop-up menus. See "Using the Menus" for more information.
Toolbars

Shortcuts to specific functions. See "Using the Toolbars" for more information.
Navigator pane

The project tree for all open projects (see "Using the Navigator Pane"). Click the plus or minus ( +/– ) next to an object (or double-click the object) to expand/collapse the tree. When you select an object in the Navigator pane, its properties appear in the Editor pane.
Editor pane

Specific property sheets and option tabs for the currently selected object. See "Using the Editor Pane" for more information.
Status bar

Provides instant information regarding the status of projects, descriptors, and mappings.

Figure 1-2 OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench

Description of the illustration mw.gif

Figure 1–2 calls out the following user-interface components.

Menu bar
Toolbars
Navigator pane
Editor pane
Status bar

Using the Menus

The OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench contains two types of menus:

Menu Bar Menus
Pop-Up Menus

Menu Bar Menus

The menu bar provides pull-down menus for each OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench function. Some menus (such as Selected) are context-sensitive — the available options may vary, depending on the currently selected object.

Figure 1-3 Sample Menu Bar Menu

Description of the illustration menubar.gif

Pop-Up Menus

When you right-click objects in the Navigator pane, a pop-up menu appears with functions specific to the selected object.

Figure 1-4 Sample Pop-up Menu

Description of the illustration popup.gif

Using the Toolbars

The OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench contains two types of toolbars:

Standard Toolbar
Mapping Toolbar
OracleAS TopLink Sessions Editor Navigator Toolbar

Use these toolbars to select options and functions.

Standard Toolbar

The standard toolbar furnishes quick access to the standard (File, Edit, Selected, and so on) menu options.

Button	Description
Description of the illustration exitbtn.gif	Exit
Description of the illustration prefbtn.gif	Preferences
Description of the illustration newprjt.gif	New project
Description of the illustration openbtn.gif	Open project
Description of the illustration savebtn.gif	Save
Description of the illustration saveall.gif	Save all
Description of the illustration saveasbt.gif	Save as
Description of the illustration closbtn.gif	Close
Description of the illustration clsalbtn.gif	Close all
Description of the illustration expjava.gif	Export Java source
Description of the illustration expxml.gif	Export deployment XML
Description of the illustration addclbt.gif	Add or refresh classes
Description of the illustration remclass.gif	Remove class
Description of the illustration addtable.gif	Add table
Description of the illustration addtbldb.gif	Add or update existing tables from database
Description of the illustration remtable.gif	Remove table
Description of the illustration loginbtn.gif	Login to database
Description of the illustration logotbtn.gif	Logout of database
Description of the illustration helpbtn.gif	Online help

Mapping Toolbar

The mapping toolbar provides quick access to create mapping and descriptor types. You can specify a mapping or descriptor type by selecting the object in the Navigator pane, then clicking the appropriate button on the mapping toolbar.

You can also right-click the object and choose the appropriate mapping from the pop-up menu.

Button	Description
Description of the illustration dtfmpbtn.gif	Direct-to-Field mapping
Description of the illustration 11mapbtn.gif	One-to-One mapping
Description of the illustration v11mapbt.gif	Variable One-to-One mapping
Description of the illustration 1mmapbtn.gif	One-to-Many mapping
Description of the illustration mmmapbtn.gif	Many-to-Many mapping
Description of the illustration obmapbtn.gif	Object Type mapping
Description of the illustration agmapbtn.gif	Aggregate mapping
Description of the illustration dcmapbtn.gif	Direct Collection mapping
Description of the illustration trmapbtn.gif	Transformation mapping
Description of the illustration tcmapbtn.gif	Type conversion mapping
Description of the illustration srmapbtn.gif	Serialized mapping
Description of the illustration unmapbtn.gif	Unmap
Description of the illustration agdesbtn.gif	Aggregate descriptor
Description of the illustration cldesbtn.gif	Class descriptor
Description of the illustration ejbbtn.gif	EJB descriptor

OracleAS TopLink Sessions Editor Navigator Toolbar

The OracleAS TopLink Sessions Editor contains a toolbar that appears in the Navigator pane and offers quick access to create and modify configurations, sessions, and connection pools.

Button	Description
Description of the illustration cachbtn.gif	Caching
Description of the illustration loginbtn.gif	Login
Description of the illustration conpolbt.gif	Connection Pool
Description of the illustration renambtn.gif	Rename
Description of the illustration sessbtn.gif	Session
Description of the illustration sesbkbtn.gif	Session Broker

Using the Navigator Pane

OracleAS TopLink displays each project's descriptors, mappings, and database tables in the Navigator pane on the left side of the workbench.

Figure 1-5 Sample Navigator Pane

Description of the illustration city.gif

Figure 1–5 identifies the following user-interface components:ProjectDescriptorAttribute/mappingDatabaseDatabase tableClick the +/– symbol next to the item, or double-click the item name to expand and collapse the item.

When you select an item in the Navigator pane, its properties appear in the Editor pane (see "Using the Editor Pane"). You can perform specific functions for an item by selecting the item in the Navigator pane and:

Right-clicking on the object and selecting the function from the pop-up menu (see "Pop-Up Menus").
Choosing a function from the Selected menu (see "Menu Bar Menus").

Inactive descriptors appear dimmed in the Navigator pane. Inactive descriptors are not registered with the session when the project is loaded into Java. This feature allows you to define and test subsets of descriptors. To activate or inactivate a descriptor, right-click the descriptor and select Activate/Deactivate Descriptor from the pop-up menu.

Figure 1-6 Sample Active/inactive Descriptors

Description of the illustration inactive.gif

Figure 1–6 shows the following user-interface components.

Inactive descriptor
Active descriptor

Description of the illustration catnicon.gif

If an element in the project (such as a descriptor mapping), contains an error or deficiency (sometimes called neediness), a warning icon appears beside the element icon in the Navigator pane, and a message displays in the status bar detailing the error. Appendix C, "Troubleshooting" contains complete information on each OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench error message.

Using the Editor Pane

The Editor pane, on the right side of the OracleAS TopLink Mapping Workbench (see Figure 1–2), displays the property sheet associated with the currently selected item in the Navigator pane.