HP Netsight manual Creating Network Maps

Creating Network Maps

(termed a “compound” document) — in this case, your network maps. You can use OLE to link or embed documents created via word processors, spreadsheets, databases, an audio application — or any other OLE server application — into your maps.

A linked or embedded data structure is generically termed an Object, since the data can be created by any OLE supporting application. From the NetSight Element Manager map interface, there is no apparent difference between a linked or embedded object — each appears on your map as an icon (or picture) within a border from which you can access the object data. The difference between an embedded or a linked object is in how its data is stored and updated with respect to the map data. Whether you choose to link or embed an object will generally depend on the circumstances in which people are going to access and use its information.

An object that is embedded accesses data that was created via an external application, but inserted within the map file data; the map becomes a container for the embedded data, which does not exist as an independent file. The benefit of embedding data is that when it is updated and saved, it is done within the confines of the map file data. For instance, you could embed voice annotations created via Microsoft Sound Recorder to describe each subnetwork map used by a single management station, and update them as necessary to reflect changes to your network. However, since the data is constrained to the map in which the object is embedded, it cannot be edited by its native application outside of the map file or shared (like linked data), and the size of the map file will increase correspondingly to the amount of embedded information.

An object that has been linked references data created from a source document that was created and saved external to the map. The object icon is a link or pointer to that source file. Clicking on the icon will open up the source document via the link, and any edits made to the data and saved will update the original. The advantage of linked information is that you can maintain a single source file and share its data via multiple links — for example, if you had multiple management stations running NetSight Element Manager, you could create and maintain a statistics database as a document on a central file server, then use a linked object in a map on each management station to reference that file. Each management station could copy statistics to that file that were applicable to their own subnetwork. However, since a source document is only maintained in one location, you must be careful that the links do not become corrupted by unintentionally deleting or renaming the source file. Objects are embedded by default; you must select a special option to create a linked object.

A separate means of linking and embedding information is to embed an Object Package into a map file. A “package” is a special type of embedded object — created via the Microsoft Object Packager — that itself contains an embedded or linked document, or part of that document, or an MS-DOS command line to be carried out from within the map file. You access the package contents by double-clicking on its icon, just as with other embedded or linked data. However, packaging data has some advantages over strictly linking or embedding data, since you can use the command line within a package to run a batch program or start another application from directly within a map.

6-48 Customizing Your Map