An AWM tool descriptor describes how a tool provided by a function package is called at run time.
Tool descriptors can only be referenced by action descriptors where they are defined in a fixed sequence.
The return code of a tool is checked against the maximum allowed return code defined under Application Options. If the return is high this prevents the execution of all following tools defined in the action descriptor.
Output parameters of tools can be used as input parameters for subsequent tools.
The basic requirement for the implementation of a tool is an implementation of a tool interface. The function package to which the tool descriptor belongs defines the connection between tool descriptors and the communication interfaces. The function package has to implement the AWM model extension point. See the function package topics for details about all provided AWM tool descriptors.
Any tool making changes to one or more elements in the attached application should be specified in the tool descriptor in such a way that AWM can react to such operations. This is modeled using the ResourceProcessing attribute.
All configurable resource operations are based on the following rules:
The following resource operations can be modeled for a tool descriptor:
| Resource Operation | Description |
|---|---|
| COPY | Creates a new element based on the selected element. All the property values are copied first. Property values returned by the tool are assigned to the copied resource. The copied element is inserted into the Team Developer Tree or Table view. In the tree view the element is inserted on the same hierarchical level as the selected element. |
| DELETE | Removes the selected elements from all lists. It does not necessarily mean that the elements are deleted in the attached application system. This depends on the modeled tool. |
| INSERT | Inserts a new element into the Team Developer Tree or Table view. In the tree view the element is inserted on the same hierarchical level as the selected element. |
| INSERT-CHILD | Inserts a new element as a child of the current selection. Works only if the selected resource is able to have children, such as an element that has a Get Childrenaction and is only relevant for the Team Developer Tree view. |
| MOVE | Creates a new element based on the selected element. All the property values are copied first. Property values returned by the tool are assigned to the copied resource. Then it removes the selected element from all lists. It does not necessarily mean that the element is deleted in the attached application system. This depends on the modeled tool. The new element is inserted into the Team Developer Tree or Table view. In the tree view the element is inserted on the same hierarchical level as the selected element. |
| READ | Standard value. Does not make any changes to elements. |
| REFRESH | Updates all property values of the selected element by means of the GetAllProperties action assigned to the element type. If you want to refresh an element directly after inserting an element, you should use the Refresh Resource attribute of the tool descriptor instead. |
| UPDATE | Updates the selected element with the values returned by the tool. Key property values cannot be updated. |
| TOOL_DEFINED | The rules about which element operations are to be used for this tool descriptor are set in the attached tools and not in the model. This makes dynamic implementation of resource operations possible. It also allows for dealing with more than one resource. See Tool-defined Resource Operations for more information. |
The attributes which are displayed for a tool descriptor in the model editor may depend on function package provider. The function package specific tool attributes are documented in the function package topics (see also Extending the AWM Meta Model for more information).
In the table below, the general attributes which are valid for all tool descriptors are listed.