Templates and Perspectives

A template is a reusable pattern view with defined parameters. You use templates to build template-based views, setting the values of the parameters for each specific view. Any changes made to a template affect all existing views based on that template.

Template-based views can be opened in IT Universe Manager, like pattern views. You can also open the template itself in IT Universe Manager to view the results for various parameter values. If you want to save the results, you must save it as a template-based view. You define templates, template-based views, and pattern views in the Pattern View Editor.

Perspectives are a type of template designed to be applied to a specific collection of CIs, similar to the pattern in a pattern view. For example, a perspective could comprise a node containing an IP Address. In that case, the resulting perspective-based view would include all the CIs from among the CIs in the CI selection, along with the IP Addresses contained in the node CIs.

The most basic perspective is known as the Content Only perspective and consists of only the query node itself. If you apply the Content Only perspective to a CI collection, the resulting view contains only the selected CIs themselves.

Perspectives are also created and edited in the Pattern View Editor. You can have multiple views, templates, and perspectives open in the Pattern View Editor simultaneously, each with its own tab.

Perspectives do not appear in the list of views in the IT Universe Manager; however, perspective-based views can be opened in the IT Universe Manager, like all other views. For details, see Building a Perspective-based View.

In summary, the Views tree in the Resources tab of the CI Selector in the Modeling Studio can include the following distinct entities:

• pattern views

• templates

• template based views

• perspectives

• perspective-based views

You can filter the tree to select the types of views or templates to display.

The following table summarizes the types of views and where they are created and viewed:

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