What Is Meridium APM?

Production facilities often face problems related to recurring equipment failures,

including:

• Unplanned downtime.
• The inability to maintain planned production rates.

• High costs of fixing problems that result from equipment failures.

• Threats to employee and environmental safety.

Data related to equipment failures and the impact that they have on a facility can be
recorded using a data collection tool. Collecting failure data alone, however, cannot
prevent the same problems from occurring in the future. What production facilities need
is a tool that will analyze the failure data to help decrease the number of equipment
failures, which will in turn increase profit margins.

The Meridium APM system fulfills this need.

Meridium APM provides tools that let you analyze and process data that is collected in
and transferred from an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system. After the data
exists in Meridium APM, it can be analyzed to determine the state of your equipment and
the reliability, trends, potential risks, and probability of failures associated with that
equipment. Based on the gathered data and associated analyses, you can map out the
impact of projected changes and then make recommendations and suggest strategies for
future equipment maintenance. D

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of the Meridium APM Work

Processes
A work process is a collection of sequential, structured activities that are designed to
achieve a particular goal. The Meridium APM product consists of five work processes,
which are referred to throughout this documentation as the Meridium APM Work
Processes. Each Meridium APM Work Process is designed to achieve a specific goal
related to improving performance or managing risk.

The following image illustrates the five Meridium APM Work Processes.
The following table lists the goal of each Meridium APM Work Process, as well as a
summarized tag line for each one.

Work Process Goal Tag Line

APM
Foundation Assess Risk,
Provide the context for evaluating performance. Improve
Performance
Failure
Elimination
Fix today's problems, become less reactive, and
Find it, Fix it
eliminate repetitive problems.

Asset Strategy
Become more proactive with the most effective
Improve the plan
maintenance plans based on risk.
Mechanical
Integrity
Manage the risk of loss of containment events.1 Keep it contained

Asset Safety
Ensure that your instrumented safety and
protective functions are properly designed and Keep it safe
managed.1

1. This work process is focused primarily on process industries.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Meridium APM Best Practice vs. a

Custom Solution
When you license the Meridium APM product, you will have two options for how to
implement it. You can choose to implement it:
 • According to the Meridium APM Best Practice. This option allows you to use the
Meridium APM product as it delivered, with minimal customization. As a general
rule, the Meridium APM Best Practice should support about 80% of most
customers' needs. Roughly 20% customization may still be required. This option
is recommended.

-or-

• As a custom solution. This option allows you to customize the baseline product to
implement custom workflows that support your specific company needs. As a
general rule, customers who choose this option will use only about 20% of the
baseline product; roughly 80% of their implementation will be custom.

Note: Some customers will choose to implement certain modules using the Meridium
APM Best Practice and other modules using a custom solution.

A best practice is a suggestion for how to do something. The Meridium APM Best
Practice, therefore, is simply a recommendation for how to use and configure the
Meridium APM product. If you use and configure the Meridium APM product according
to the Meridium APM Best Practice, you will still have some flexibility for how you can
customize certain features. Generally, however, you will not stray far from the guidelines
that are outlined in the Meridium APM Best Practice.

You can think of the Meridium APM Best Practice versus a custom solution as a model
home versus a custom home. This concept is further explained in the following
illustration.

IMPORTANT: Throughout the Meridium APM documentation, we assume that you

have implemented the Meridium APM Best Practice. This means that we assume that you
are using baseline functionality, families, and rules. We understand, however, that you
will still make some custom choices, as you would when dealing with a model home.
Where customization is allowed, therefore, and the workflow for customizing the feature
does not require extensive custom rule changes, the documentation sometimes provides
examples of how you might customize that feature.

A Model Home: The Meridium APM Best Practice

Model homes are typically less expensive than custom homes, require less time to
finalize a contract, offer few unique features, and present the buyer with little risk of
potential changes or unforeseen challenges.

The Meridium APM Best Practice mirrors a model home, where the buyer accepts the
baseline functionality, entity family and relationship family hierarchy, and rules. While
you might need to make some decisions about how to make the product best fit your
needs, you will not need to build an entirely unique product. You will be able to use most
of the baseline functionality while making minimal changes.

As an example, the baseline Meridium APM database contains the following families:

• Equipment
• Functional Location

When you implement the Meridium APM Best Practice, rather than creating your own
custom families, you will use these baseline families as they are delivered to store all
records representing the pieces of equipment and functional locations that you want to
track and analyze.

Implementing the Meridium APM Best Practice allows you to save money on purchasing
and configuring the product, minimizes the time between implementing the product and
rolling it out into production, and reduces the risk of custom features failing to meet your
exact needs. The Meridium APM Best Practice is typically used by customers who know
they want to use the Meridium APM product but need experience with it to understand
the extent to which its baseline functionality fits their needs.

Throughout this documentation, we assume that you have implemented the Meridium
APM product as a model home.

A Custom Home: A Custom Solution

Custom homes typically cost more than model homes because they offer more lavish
features, including custom woodwork, high-end finishes, and distinctive architecture.
Because of the unique features included in a custom home, it takes more time to plan,
build, and move into a custom home than a model home. In addition, because custom
homes can include features that have not been implemented in many other homes, the
buyer incurs the risk that the features might be more expensive or take longer to create
than originally planned. There is also the potential risk that unpredicted changes will need
to be made to accommodate the custom features, where the changes could not have been
foreseen during the initial design phase.

Custom solutions mirror custom homes. If desired, you can implement a custom solution,
where you work with a team to design and build a product that differs significantly from
the baseline product.

For example, rather than using the baseline Equipment and Functional Location families,
you can create your own customer-defined families to store records representing pieces of
equipment and functional locations, and you can name these families however you like.
For example, you could create a family hierarchy that looks like the one shown in the
following image.
Custom solutions are typically used by advanced companies who know exactly what they
want to implement and how it differs from the baseline Meridium APM implementation.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to the Basic Meridium

APM Software Applications
The Meridium APM solution includes various software applications that can be installed
on workstations within your system. Within the basic Meridium APM architecture, each
physical computer is defined largely by the software components that are installed on it.
Therefore, to understand our description of the Meridium APM architecture, it helps to
know which software applications are available.

• Meridium APM Application Server Software: The main Meridium APM software
that includes all the Meridium APM files, code, and business objects. The
Application Server machine serves as the central Meridium APM file warehouse,
from which files are distributed automatically to Meridium APM Framework
workstations as needed.
• Meridium APM Framework Application: Serves as the primary user interface for
connecting to the Meridium APM Application Server and interacting with data
using the Meridium APM modules.

• Meridium APM Administrative Applications:

 •
o Configuration Manager: Lets you perform administrative tasks, such as
setting up families, fields, relationships, datasheets, Security Groups, and
users.

o Data Source Manager: Lets you register database connections on a given

Meridium APM Application Server.

o Schedule Manager: Lets you schedule Meridium APM events, such as the
execution of strategies and sending of notifications.

o URL Manager: Lets you register URLs, manage URLs, and construct links
for the Associated Pages menu.

o Database Upgrade Manager: Lets you perform upgrades of the Meridium

APM database.

o Meridium APM Adapter for SSRS: Provides integration between the

Meridium APM Framework and SQL Server Business Intelligence
Development Studio so that you can design reports on the Meridium APM
Framework workstation.

o VSTA for Strategy: Allows you to use Visual Studio Tools for
Applications in the Meridium APM Framework application to write
Strategy rules. Note that this installation option does not install VSTA.

Note: The administrative applications can be installed on a Meridium APM Framework

workstation and are installed automatically on the Application Server with a few
exceptions. For more details see the Installation, Upgrade, and System Administration
section of the Meridium APM Help system.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing a Meridium APM Application

The following instructions provide details on launching and logging in to a Meridium
APM application. Note that Meridium APM provides the auto-login feature, whereby you
will be logged in to Meridium APM automatically when you launch the application (i.e.,
you will not be required to provide your Meridium APM user ID or password). Because
the auto-login feature may increase the time it takes to log in on some systems, you can
override this feature by holding down the Shift key when you launch the application.
The following instructions provide the full procedure for logging in to a Meridium APM
application. Note that in the case of an auto-login, the Meridium APM Login dialog box
will not appear when you launch the application, as described in the instructions. Instead,
the application will open, and you will be logged in automatically.

These instructions assume that you are using Windows 7. If you are using another
operating system, then the step for selecting an application to launch may be slightly
different.

Note: Only Super Users and members of the MI Configuration Role, MI Power User
Role, and MI Security Role Security Groups can log in to the Configuration Manager.

To log in to the Meridium APM Framework application or a Meridium APM

administrative application:

1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, point to Programs, click Meridium APM
Applications, and then click one of the following options, depending upon which
application you want to launch:

• APM Framework

• Configuration Manager

• Data Source Manager

• Schedule Manager

• URL Manager

The Meridium APM splash screen appears. After a few moments, the Meridium APM
Login dialog box appears.

2. In the User ID text box, type your Meridium APM user ID.
3. In the Password text box, type your password.

4. Click the Show Advanced Options link.

The dialog box expands to display additional options.

A data source should be selected in the Data Source list. This is either the default data
source defined in Data Source Manager, or it is the data source that you selected when
you last logged in to a Meridium APM application on this computer.
 5. If necessary, in the Data Source list, select a different data source. Keep in mind
that you need to select the data source that contains the Security User account
with the User ID and Password that you specified in steps 2 and 3.
6. Click the Login link.

The application appears. Note that if Content Validation has been enabled, a warning
message may appear before the application opens.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing a Meridium APM Application

When Content Validation is Enabled
When you launch a Meridium APM application and log in to a database in which Content
Validation has been enabled, the Meridium APM system will scan the database for invalid
content. If invalid content in detected, the following warning message will be displayed.

When this warning message is displayed, you have two options for how to proceed:

• You can choose the Export Error and Close option. This option is recommended.
When you select this option and click OK, the Select export location dialog box
will appear, where you can specify a file name and location of an export file that
will contain a list of invalid content. After the export file has been created, a
 confirmation message will appear, and you will not be logged in to the
application.

After the export file has been created, you should contact your Meridium APM
administrator for instructions on how to correct the invalid content.

• You can choose the Ignore option to bypass the warning and log in to the
application anyway. Using a system that contains invalid content is not
recommended.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Automatic Login Feature

Meridium APM offers an automatic login feature that allows users to launch a Meridium
APM application and be logged in automatically without having to supply a Meridium
APM user ID and password. The Meridium APM default automatic login feature
authenticates users using the information that they provide when logging in to their local
Windows operating systems. Meridium APM also offers optional LDAP integration,
which also supports automatic login but authenticates users against their Microsoft Active
Directory credentials. If your Meridium APM system has been set up to support either of
these features, you will be logged in to Meridium APM automatically when you launch a
Meridium APM application.

On some systems with slower networks, logging in to Meridium APM manually may be
faster than using automatic login. Therefore, an option is provided that lets you override
automatic login and display the Meridium APM Login dialog box, where you can specify
a user ID and password. You can use this option any time you want to log in to Meridium
APM manually on a system where automatic login has been enabled.

To override automatic login and force a manual login:

• Hold down the Shift key when you launch the application.

The instructions in this documentation provide the full procedure for launching a
Meridium APM application and logging in. Note, however, that when you launch an
application, you may or may not be logged in automatically, depending on how your
system has been configured. If you are not logged in automatically, you can follow the
instructions for logging in. If you are logged in automatically, the application will appear
immediately after you complete the first step in the login procedure.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Choosing the Application Server

To log in to Meridium APM, you must define an Application Server. The Application
Server is defined when the Meridium APM Framework application or an administrative
application (e.g., Configuration Manager) is first installed. In general, you should change
the Application Server only if you are instructed to do so by your System Administrator

To select a different Application Server, click the Change APM Application Server link
on the Meridium APM Login dialog box. This link is disabled by default. To enable the
link, you must hold down the Shift key when you launch the Meridium APM Framework.
These instructions assume that you have already accessed the Meridium APM Login
dialog box.

Note: To log in to Meridium APM, you must also define a communication type, which is
set to Remoting at installation. You should always use a Remoting connection when
logging in to the Meridium APM Framework application, even if you are running the
Meridium APM Framework application on the Application Server itself. You never need
to change the communication type. If you are logging in to the Configuration Manager
from a remote Meridium APM Framework workstation or on the Application Server to
perform any task other than to debug rules, you should accept the default connection
method. If you are logging in to the Configuration Manager on the Application Server to
debug rules, you will need to use a local connection.

To change the Meridium APM Application Server:

1. On the Meridium APM Login dialog box, click the Show Advanced Options link.

The dialog box expands to display additional options.

2. Click the Change APM Application Server link.

The APM Application Server dialog box appears.

3. In the Enter the name of an APM Application Server text box, type the name of
the Application Server to which you want to connect. Type only the name of the
 server machine, as shown in the preceding image. Do not type the server name
using the UNC format.

Note: As long as the Local Machine check box is not selected, the Meridium APM
Framework will connect to the Meridium APM Application Server via a Remoting
connection.

4. Click OK.

The APM Application Server dialog box closes, revealing the Meridium APM Login
dialog box. At this point, you can log in or close the Meridium APM Login dialog box.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Selecting a Data Source

Before you can log in to Meridium APM, you must select a data source. System
Administrators can designate a default data source so that you do not have to select one
before you can log in. But you can use these instructions if you want to choose a data
source other than the default. Note that these instructions assume that you have already
accessed the Meridium APM Login dialog box and have entered your user ID and
password.

To choose a data source for login:

1. On the Meridium APM Login dialog box, click the Show Advanced Options link.

The dialog box expands to display additional options.

2. In the Data Source list, click the down arrow and choose the desired data source.
The available data sources are specific to the selected Application Server.

3. Click the Login link.

You are connected to the selected data source, and the Meridium APM application
appears.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Launching Meridium APM from a URL

Note: The Meridium APM Web Framework URLs do not support the use of user ID,
password, and data source as described in the following information.

You can use any Meridium APM URL to launch the Meridium APM Framework
application and go directly to that page or item. For example, the URL
meridium://Inspection will take you directly to the Inspection Start Page. When you
create a desktop shortcut to a page in Meridium APM, Meridium APM creates a URL and
stores it in the shortcut Properties. By double-clicking the desktop shortcut, you can open
Meridium APM directly to that page. Similarly, you can type any Meridium APM URL in
the address field of Internet Explorer to launch Meridium APM and take you to the
appropriate page.

When you launch Meridium APM from a URL, either via a desktop shortcut or Internet
Explorer, you can optionally specify a user name, password, and data source. Omitting
these values will cause Meridium APM to display the Meridium APM Login dialog box,
where you can manually specify your user name and password and select a data source. If
you specify these values, however, the Meridium APM Login dialog box will not be
displayed, and you will be logged in using the authentication information defined in the
URL.

To specify a user name, password, and data source in a URL, use the following syntax:

meridium://<user ID>:<password>@<DATA SOURCE>/path

...where:

• <user ID> is the user ID of the Meridium APM Security User that you want to use
for logging in.
• <password> is the password associated with the specified user ID. A password is
required for this URL to work properly. This feature cannot be used with users
who have a blank password.

• <DATA SOURCE> is the name of the desired Meridium APM data source. For
the URL to work properly, the data source name must be specified in the URL
exactly as it appears in the Data Source Manager and should not contain any
spaces or special characters.

For example, consider the following URL:

meridium://RCMAdmin:RCMAdmin@MERIDIUM_DB/RCM/EXPLORER?
EntityKey=1234567&FamilyKey=2345678
This URL will log you in to the MERIDIUM_DB database as the user RCMAdmin and
opens the analysis with the Entity Key 1234567 on the RCM Explorer page. Note that the
path portion of the URL can be as detailed as necessary to take you to the desired
location.

Note that you can also omit the user ID and password in the URL and only specify the
data source. For example, if a user clicked the following link, the URL would open the
Meridium APM Login dialog box with the specified data source selected in the Data
Source list:

meridium://@MERIDIUM_DB/RCM/EXPLORER?
EntityKey=1234567&FamilyKey=2345678

Note: Attempting to open certain pages in Meridium APM via Internet Explorer will
cause a page not found error to appear because Internet Explorer automatically appends
an additional forward slash to some URLs.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to the Configuration

Manager
The Configuration Manager is the application that you will use for configuring how data
will be stored in the Meridium APM database and displayed in Meridium APM
applications.

Note: To perform all the tasks in the Configuration Manager, you will need to log in to
the Configuration Manager as a Super User. If you are granted a less permissive
administrative role (i.e., the MI Configuration Role, MI Power User Role, or MI Security
Role), you will be allowed to perform only certain tasks in the Configuration Manager.
Note that throughout the Configuration Manager documentation, we assume that you are
logged in to the Configuration Manager as a Super User.

Using the Configuration Manager, you can perform a wide range of tasks, all of which
are related in some way to determining how data will be stored in your database and
presented to end users. Depending on your role as an administrative user and where you
are in your implementation process, you may need to perform all or only some of the
tasks that can be completed in the Configuration Manager. Additionally, some
Configuration Manager tasks need to be performed once or very rarely, usually when you
first set up your system, while others need to be performed periodically over the life of
your system, either to support upgrades or to fine-tune your existing system.
Whatever your role is and wherever you are in the process of setting up your system, a
general understanding of the Configuration Manager's features and how they relate to one
another will help you decide how and when to leverage the Configuration Manager
functionality to set up and maintain your system. The following list provides an overview
of the tasks that you can perform in the Configuration Manager.

Note that the organization of this list is not meant to imply a recommended workflow.
While the completion of some tasks requires the completion of others, the order in which
you complete the full range of Configuration Manager tasks is largely up to you. In
determining what tasks you need to complete, you will need to take into account the
current state of your system (e.g., are you starting with a baseline Meridium APM
database? or does your database already contain some of your own metadata?) and the
desired result.

In the Configuration Manager, you can:

• Import and export Meridium APM metadata. The Import/Export Metadata tool
has many applications but can be especially useful for manipulating large amounts
of metadata. It can also be useful if you need to make changes to metadata in
multiple Meridium APM data sources. The Import/Export Metadata tool allows
you to export the metadata from one data source, make the necessary changes,
and then import the modified metadata into one or more other data sources.
• Create and manage entity families, including:

 Adding new families to the entity family hierarchy.

 Managing family fields.

 Working with field rules and family rules.

 Managing the physical database tables for each family.

 Managing the datasheets for each family.

 Managing the privileges associated with each family.

• Manage relationship families and definitions, which define the connections

between the entity families in your database.

• Manage system security, including defining Security Users and Security Groups
and assigning privileges to them. The Security User accounts that you set up
determine who can log into your system and what each user can and cannot access
after logging in.
 • Manage System Codes and tables.

• Work with the Meridium APM Rules Library, which serves as a repository of rule
code that can be referenced from within family rules to provide you with an
orderly and efficient mechanism for managing family rule logic.

• Define the units of measure that will be used in your system and configure the
conversions between them.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of the Meridium APM

Configuration Manager Main Window
The Meridium APM Configuration Manager main window serves as the starting point for
all tasks that you will perform in the Configuration Manager and gives you access to all
the Configuration Manager features.

The window is divided into two main areas:

• The pane on the left displays a hierarchy of all the families that exist in the
database.
• The area on the right displays information and functions associated with the
family that you select on the left. The area on the right is divided into three
sections: Family Information, Physical Storage, and Tasks.

A menu bar appears at the top of the window and gives you access to global
Configuration Manager functions. Four menus are available from the menu bar: File,
Tools, Security, and Help.

At the bottom of the window, the status bar displays the following information:

• Application Server: The name of the Meridium APM Application Server to which
you are currently connected.
• Data Source: The name of the data source to which you are currently logged in.
The database name is defined in the Data Source Manager via the Database Name
value.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

File Menu

The File menu offers the following options:

• Logon: Displays the Meridium APM Login dialog box, where you can log on to
the Configuration Manager. Note that this command is enabled only when you are
logged off.
• Logoff: Logs you off of the Configuration Manager after asking for confirmation.
Note that this option is enabled only when you are logged on.

• Exit: Closes the Configuration Manager application.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tools Menu

The Tools menu offers the following options:

• Manage Physical Tables: Displays the Script Builder, where you can build a script
to manage physical tables.
• Import/Export Meridium APM Metadata: Displays the Import/Export Metadata
window, where you can define settings for importing or exporting metadata.

• Remote Connection: Displays the Remote Connection dialog box, which you will
need to use if you are using Citrix and Terminal Services. In this case, you will
need to use this dialog box to specify the name of the Meridium APM Application
Server where the Remote Connection Utility has been configured.

• System Codes and Tables: Displays the System Codes and Tables dialog box,
where you can manage System Codes and tables.
• Units of Measure: Displays the Units of Measure window, where you can
configure unit of measure conversions.

• Unit of Measure Conversion Sets: Displays the UOM Conversion Sets window,
where you can configure UOM conversion sets.

• Manage Content Validation: Displays the Content Validation Wizard, where you
can enable or disable content validation.

• Manage Full Text Search: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
 Configure Search Fields: Displays the Configure Search Fields window,
where you can add fields to the Keyword Search index.

 Build Search Index: Displays the Search Index Builder, which you can use
to build the Keyword Search index.

• Manage State Roles: Displays the Roles window, where you can create, modify,
and delete State Configuration Roles.

• Manage Translations: Displays the Manage Translations window, where you can
manage translations for Meridium APM.

• Manage Rules Library: Displays the Rules Library window, where you can work
with rule projects in the Rules Library.

• Compile All Rules: Displays the Project Compilation dialog box, where you can
compile all entity families, relationship families, and Rules Library projects.

• Global Preferences: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
 LDAP Integration: Displays the LDAP Integration dialog box, where you
can enable or disable LDAP integration.

 Query Timeout Limit: Displays the Query Timeout Limit dialog box,
where you can specify the query time-out limit for Security Users who are
restricted by query time-outs.

 Required Field Back Color: Displays the Color dialog box, where you can
define the background color of required fields.

 Disabled Field Back Color: Displays the Color dialog box, where you can
define the background color of disabled fields.
  Multi-Value Field Back Color: Displays the Color dialog box, where you
can define the background color of multi-value fields.

 Formula Field Back Color: Displays the Color dialog box, where you can
define the background color of formula fields.

 Usage Metrics Tracking: Displays the Usage Metrics Tracking dialog box,
where you can enable or disable the logging of usage metrics.

 SQL Server Report Server: Displays the SQL Server Report Server dialog
box, where you can identify the SQL Server Report Server.

 Activate Licenses: Displays the Activate Licenses dialog box, where you
can activate licensed modules and products.

 Default Web Server: Displays the Default Web Server dialog box, where
you can identify the Meridium APM Web Server.

 Global Number and Date Format: Displays the Global Format Settings
dialog box, where you can define the format that will be used throughout
the product for number and date fields.

 Group Home Page Sharing: Displays the Share Home Page Sections
dialog box, where you can determine whether or not Group Home page
sections will be shared automatically with User and Sub-group Home
Pages.

 Hide Keyword Search: Gives you the option of hiding the Keyword
Search feature so that it will not be available to users.

 Asset Answers URL: Displays the Asset Answers URL dialog box, where
you can define the URL for Asset Answers. The default value is
https://answers.assetanswers.com. If you have configured single sign-on
for Asset Answers, you need to replace this default URL with the one
provided by Meridium, Inc. Failure Elimination users will be able to
access Asset Answers from the Go To menu in the Meridium APM
Framework.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Security Menu
The Security menu offers the following options:

• Users: Displays the Application Users window, where you can set up user
accounts for the Meridium APM system.
• Groups: Displays the Application Groups window, where you can configure
group accounts for the Meridium APM system.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Help Menu

The Help menu offers the following options:

• Meridium APM Help: Displays the Meridium APM Help system.

• About Meridium APM: Displays the About Meridium APM window, which
shows version information about the Meridium APM product that is currently
installed as well as information about your current login settings. The About
Meridium APM window also displays the version information for the database to
which you are currently connected.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Entity Family/Relationship

Family Pane
The Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, which appears on the left side of the
Meridium APM Configuration Manager main window, displays a hierarchy of all the
record and relationship families that currently exist in the Meridium APM database. You
can click the plus sign (+) to expand a family node or the minus sign (-) to collapse a
family node.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspects of the Entity Family/

Relationship Family Pane
At the top of the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, a drop-down list appears. You
can select a family from the list to find and expand it in the tree. Families appear in the
drop-down list in alphabetical order.

The display area is organized into two tabs:

• Entity Family: Displays a hierarchical view of all the entity families in the
database. The Root family is at the highest level and serves as the parent of all
families. Below the Root level, families may be organized into various sublevels.

• Relationship Family: Displays a list of all the relationship families that exist in the
database. Relationship families store relationship definitions, which define the
connections between entity families.

At the bottom of the pane, two buttons appear:

• Add: Depending on which tab is currently selected, displays the Add Entity
Family or Add Relationship Family dialog box, which lets you create a new an
entity or relationship family.
• Refresh: Reloads the hierarchal view so that it displays the most current
information.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Finding a Family in the Hierarchy

When you first access the Configuration Manager, the Root family is selected by default
at the top of the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane. Below the Root level, all of the
families in the hierarchy appear in alphabetical order. Note that you cannot change the
order of the families.

To find a family using the drop-down box:

 1. In the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, click the Entity Family tab.

2. In the list above the family hierarchy, scroll through the alphabetical list of
families, and click the desired family.

-or-

Type all or part of the name of the desired family until you locate the desired family, and
then click the family in the list.

The selected family becomes highlighted in the family hierarchy, and the family folder is
automatically expanded to display the subfamilies that belong to the selected family.
Additionally, the family's properties are displayed in the sections on the right side of the
Configuration Manager main window.

To find a family by navigating the hierarchy manually:

1. In the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, click the Entity Family tab.
2. Click the plus signs (+) to the left of each family name to expand the hierarchy.

3. Continue expanding the hierarchy until you locate the desired family.

4. Select the family to expand the family folder and display the family properties in
the sections on the right side of the Meridium APM Configuration Manager main
window.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Refreshing the Hierarchy

Whenever you make changes to the Entity Family or Relationship Family hierarchy, you
will want to refresh the display to show your changes.

To refresh the Entity Family or Relationship Family hierarchy:

• At the bottom of the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, click the Refresh
button.

The display reloads to show the most current information.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Family Information Section

When you select a family in the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, the data for that
family appears in the Family Information section on the right side of the Meridium APM
Configuration Manager main window.

The Family Information section displays the following items:

• ID text box: Contains the unique ID assigned to the selected family. This is how
the family is identified in the hierarchy and elsewhere in the database and is
required for each family.
• Description text box: Displays a description of the family.

• Caption text box: Contains the name of the family as it is labeled to users
throughout the system.

• Family Is Managed By Product Module check box: Specifies whether or not

records in the family can be modified only using the associated module and not
the Record Manager. If the check box is selected, records in the family can be
modified only using the associated module. If the check box is cleared, records in
the family can be modified using the module or the Record Manager. This check
box is enabled only if you select a family on the Entity Family tab. It is disabled if
you select a family on the Relationship Family tab.

• Module Navigation URL text box: Displays a URL that will be used to redirect
users from the Record Manager to the associated module when viewing a record
belonging to this family in the Record Manager. This text box is enabled only if
the Family Is Managed By Product Module check box is selected.

• Authentication Required to Insert or Update Records check box: Specifies

whether or not authentication is required to create or modify records in the family.
If this check box is selected, the password associated with the Security User who
is currently logged in is required each time you create or modify a record in that
family, and revision history is enabled automatically for that family. If this check
box is cleared, records in that family can be created or modified without requiring
a password. This check box is enabled only when a family is selected in the Entity
Family pane and is cleared by default.

• Active Status check box: Specifies the status of the family. If the check box is
selected, the family is active. If it is not selected, the family is inactive.
 • Audit Information link: Displays the Audit Information dialog box, which
contains the date on which the family was last modified and the name of the user
who modified it.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Physical Storage Section

When a family is selected in the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, the physical
table information is displayed in the Physical Storage section on the right side of the
Meridium APM Configuration Manager main window.

The Physical Storage section displays the following fields:

• Physical Table Name: Displays the name of the physical database table that exists
for the family.
• Physical Table Storage Location: Displays the specific tablespace location for the
family. If the table is generated by the Meridium APM system based on
parameters you enter, it is an internal table. If the table exists in another
application that Meridium APM points to, the table is external.

• Physical Table Storage Parameters: Displays the specific storage parameters for
the current database table.

• Database View Name: Specifies the name of the database view that will be used
by this family. Select the Auto Populate View Name check box to automatically
update the family view name when you make changes to the family ID.

If you make any changes to the values in this section, the Save link becomes enabled.
You can click the Save link to save your changes.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Tasks Section

When you select a family in the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane, the following
links become enabled in the Tasks section on the right side of the Configuration Manager
main window:
Note: The available tasks depend on whether you have selected an entity family or
relationship family in the Entity Family/Relationship Family pane.

• Manage Family Fields: Displays the Manage Family Fields window, where you
can define the fields for the selected family.
• Manage Datasheets: Displays the Datasheet Builder window, where you can
configure datasheets for the selected family.

• Manage Family Business Rules: Launches the Meridium APM Rules Editor,
which is the tool that you can use to define rules for the selected family.

• Manage Security Permissions: Displays the Family Privileges window, where you
can specify which users and groups can manage records belonging to the selected
family.

• Manage Data Filters: Displays the Family Filters window, where you can
configure the system to filter the data that appears in the Meridium APM
Framework application. You can select a root-level entity family and then apply a
Meta-SQL filter for each operation (Select, Insert, Update, or Delete) that
members of a selected Security Group will be allowed to perform in the Meridium
APM Framework application. By using data filters, you can implement site-level
security. Additionally, you can allow different Security Groups located at different
sites within a single organization to perform only assigned operations on records
belonging to specific sites.

• Manage Configured Explorer: Displays the Configured Explorer window, where

you can associate the selected family with a configured explorer or remove the
current configured explorer association.

• Manage State Configuration: Displays the State Configuration window, where

you can define State Configuration for the selected family.

Note: If State Configuration is not already defined for the selected family, clicking the
Manage State Configuration link will display a message asking if you are sure that you
want to define State Configuration for the selected family. If you click the Yes button,
another message appears, indicating the status of the creation of the State Configuration
fields. Clicking OK will display the State Configuration window, where you can define
State Configuration for the selected family.

• Manage ID Template: Displays the Manage ID Template window, where you can
manage the ID Template associated with the selected entity family.
• Manage Relationship Definitions: Displays the Relationship Definitions window,
where you can define the rules for a selected relationship family. This link is
enabled only when you select a family on the Relationship Family tab.
 • Delete Family: After asking for confirmation, deletes the selected entity or
relationship family from the database.

• Compile Family: Compiles the metadata for the selected family or relationship.
You will need to recompile the metadata whenever you make a change to the
structure of your information in the Configuration Manager. A change in the
metadata includes modifications such as a rule modification, an addition or
deletion of a field, or the addition or deletion of a family.

• Manage Family Reports: Displays the Family Reports window, where you can
manage the reports that are associated with the selected family.

• Sequence Family Fields: Displays the Family Fields Sequence Order window,
where you can view and modify the field sequence order for the selected family.

• Associate Search Query: Displays the Search Query dialog box, where you can
search for the Simple Search query that you want to associate with the selected
family.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Meridium APM Schedule

Manager
Note: To use the Schedule Manager application, you must be logged in as a Windows
user with an Administrator account to the machine where Schedule Manager is installed.

You can use the Meridium APM Schedule Manager to manage scheduled items. A
scheduled item is an object that contains the scheduling information for executing a
Meridium APM operation or procedure automatically. Scheduled items are stored in the
Meridium APM database. The Meridium APM Schedule Manager displays a list of all the
scheduled items that exist in the Meridium APM database.

In most cases, a Meridium APM Framework user will use the workflow defined within a
specific module to schedule a Meridium APM object for execution. For example, in the
Meridium APM Framework application, users can define schedules for reevaluating
RCM and FMEA Recommendation records. When you define a schedule in the Meridium
APM Framework in this way, a scheduled item will be created automatically. All the
scheduled items that are created through the Meridium APM Framework application
appear in the list of scheduled items in the Meridium APM Schedule Manager.
In other cases, however, scheduled items must be created in the Meridium APM Schedule
Manager manually. For example, in Root Cause Analysis, users can create RCA Tracking
Item records that contain criteria for when a piece of equipment requires reevaluation. In
this case, a scheduled item must be created manually via the Schedule Manager to
compare the criteria specified in the RCA Tracking Item records with the information in
the database. When you create a scheduled item in the Meridium APM Schedule
Manager, it appears in the list of scheduled items.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

How Scheduled Items Are Executed

After scheduled items have been created, they are executed automatically by the
Meridium APM system via the Meridium APM Scheduling Service, which is installed on
the Meridium APM Application Server machine. The Meridium APM Scheduling Service
checks periodically for items that need to be executed according to their scheduling
criteria. By default, the Meridium APM Scheduling Service checks for qualifying
scheduled items every 15 minutes, but you can change the default frequency if desired.

For example, assuming the default frequency of 15 minutes, suppose that according to the
criteria in a scheduled item, a Metrics cube qualifies for processing on 8/1/2012 at 12:05
P.M. If the Meridium APM Scheduling Service checks for scheduled items on 8/1/2012 at
12:00 P.M., the cube will not be processed. If it checks again at 12:15 P.M., the cube will
be processed because should have been executed at 12:05 P.M. (i.e., during the period of
time since the Meridium APM Scheduling Service last checked for qualifying scheduled
items).

When the Meridium APM Scheduling Service finds scheduled items that need to be
executed, a new process is launched to execute those tasks. A new process will be started
for each scheduled item that needs to be executed. It will run independently of other
processes until execution is complete, after which it will end. Therefore, at any given
time, if you view the list of processes in the Windows Task Manager on the Meridium
APM Application Server, you may see multiple processes related to the Meridium APM
Schedule Manager:

• Meridium.Core.Scheduling.Service.exe: This process is associated with the

Meridium APM Scheduling Service and runs continuously as long as the
Meridium APM Scheduling Service is running. This process is responsible for
checking periodically for scheduled items that are ready to be executed.
• ScheduleManagerProcess.exe: This process is responsible for actually executing
scheduled items. You will see one instance of this process for each operation that
is currently being executed.
Note the following details about scheduled item execution:

• For scheduled items to be executed, the Meridium APM Scheduling Service must
be running on the Meridium APM Application Server.
• Scheduled items are stored in the Meridium APM database. If your system
contains multiple Meridium APM Application Server machines that connect to the
same Meridium APM database, you will need to designate one of those Meridium
APM Application Server instances for executing scheduled items in that database.
You can configure this for each data source the Meridium APM Data Source
Manager.

• Scheduled items should not be scheduled to run any more frequently than the
Meridium APM Scheduling Service is configured to check for qualifying items.
For example, if you create a scheduled item to execute an operation every five
minutes but the Meridium Scheduling Service is configured to check for
qualifying items every 15 minutes, that scheduled item will be executed every 15
minutes rather than every five minutes. If more than one Meridium APM
Application Server is executing scheduled items in the same database, duplicate
operations may occur (e.g., duplicate email alerts may be sent to the same user).
You can designate the Meridium APM Application Server that should be used for
executing scheduled items in a given database via the Meridium APM Data
Source Manager.

• Only a single instance of a scheduled item can be running at any given time.
When the Meridium APM Scheduling Service identifies a scheduled item that
qualifies for execution, before executing the job, Meridium APM checks to make
sure that the scheduled item is not already running. If it is, the scheduled item will
not be executed again until the operation that is currently in progress is
completed. For instance, suppose you create a scheduled item and specify that it
should be executed every five minutes. If the operation defined within the
scheduled item actually takes nine minutes to complete, the item will not be
executed again five minutes after it has started. Instead, Meridium APM will wait
for the operation to complete before executing the scheduled item again. Note that
the Last Execution Date is updated when a scheduled item is executed
successfully, not when Meridium APM attempts to execute it.

For details on starting the Meridium APM Scheduling Service, see the Meridium APM
Installation, Upgrade, and System Administration Help.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Determining How Often the Schedule
Manager Checks for Scheduled Items
After scheduled items exist in the Schedule Manager, they are executed automatically by
Meridium APM via the Meridium APM Scheduling Service, which is installed on the
Meridium APM Application Server machine. The Meridium APM Scheduling Service
checks periodically for items that need to be executed according to their scheduling
criteria. For example, suppose that according to the criteria in a scheduled item, a cube
qualifies for processing on 8/1/09 at 12:05 P.M. If the Meridium APM Scheduling
Service checks for scheduled items on 8/1/09 at 12:00 P.M., the cube will not be
processed. If it checks again at 12:15 P.M., the cube will be processed because should
have been executed at 12:05 P.M. (i.e., during the period of time since the Meridium
APM Scheduling Service last checked for qualifying scheduled items).

By default, the Meridium APM Scheduling Service checks every 15 minutes for
qualifying scheduled items. If desired, you can specify a different frequency by
modifying the value for the SleepPeriod setting value in the file
Meridium.Core.Scheduling.Service.exe.config, which is installed to the folder
<root>\Application Server\Services on the Meridium APM Application Server machine.

The following text shows an example of the SleepPeriod setting set to the default value of
15 minutes:

<appSettings>

<add key="SleepPeriod" value="15" />

</appSettings>

To specify a different frequency, you would replace 15 with a number representing the
interval in minutes at which you want Meridium APM to check for qualifying scheduled
items. For example, the following text specifies a frequency of five minutes:

<appSettings>

<add key="SleepPeriod" value="5" />

</appSettings>

Note: After you modify the file Meridium.Core.Scheduling.Service.exe.config, you will

need to restart the Meridium APM Scheduling Service.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Specifying How to Log Information

about Execution of the Scheduling
Service
Note: These instructions assume that you are familiar with using nLog.

To specify how to log information about execution of the Meridium APM Scheduling
Service:

1. On the Meridium APM Application Server, navigate to the folder

<root>\ApplicationServer\Services, where <root> is the root drive and folder in
which the Meridium APM Application Server was installed (e.g., C:\Program
Files\Meridium).
2. Open the file Meridium.Core.Scheduling.Service.exe in a text editor.

3. If you want to specify a different output location of the log file other than the
default location or change anything else about the log file, do so in the following
line:

<target name="file" type="File"

fileName="Meridium.Core.Scheduling.Service.log" layout="${date}|${stacktrace}|$
{event-context:ApplicationServer}|${event-context:DataSource}|${message}|$
{exception:format=ToString}" />

4. If you want to specify that the log should contain a different level of detail other
than Info, in the following line, replace Info with the desired value (e.g., Trace):

<logger name="Meridium.Core.*" minlevel="Info" writeTo="file" />

5. Save the file.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspects of the Meridium APM Schedule

Manager - Scheduled Items Window
The Meridium APM Schedule Manager - Scheduled Items window displays in a grid a
list of all items that have been scheduled.

The grid contains the following information for each scheduled item:

• Item Type: The default item type defined by Meridium APM when the scheduled
item was created. The grid is grouped by this field.
• ID: The ID of the scheduled item.

• Caption: The default caption that was defined by Meridium APM when the item
was created.

• Description: The default description defined by Meridium APM when the

scheduled item was created.

• Last Execution: The date and time the scheduled item was last executed.

• Next Execution: The date and time that Meridium APM will attempt to execute
the item again.

At the bottom of the window, the following links are displayed:

• View Properties: Displays the details of the currently selected scheduled item so
that you can review and modify the schedule parameters, if desired.
• Add New: Displays the Choose an Assembly dialog box, where you can select the
file associated with the type of scheduled item that you want to create.

• Remove: Deletes the currently selected scheduled item from the database.

• Help: Displays the Meridium APM Help window, showing a Help topic that is
specific to the Meridium APM Schedule Manager.

• Close: Closes the Meridium APM Schedule Manager application.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating a New Scheduled Item

The following instructions provide details on creating a scheduled item manually. In
some cases, you might need to create scheduled items manually to complete a module-
specific workflow in the Meridium APM Framework application.

To create a new schedule:

1. In the Schedule Manager, at the bottom of the Meridium APM Scheduler -

Scheduled Items window, click the Add New link.

The Choose a Meridium Assembly dialog box appears.

2. Open the .DLL file that corresponds to the type of schedule item that you want to
create.

Note: There must be existing code in the form of a .DLL file that was generated when the
object was created.

The Schedule <Item> dialog box appears, where <Item> is the name of the item that is
being scheduled. By default, the Task tab appears.
Note: The appearance and content of this dialog box may vary slightly from what is
shown in the image, depending upon which assembly you selected.

The Last Executed box lists the date on which the scheduled item was last executed. If
the scheduled item has never been executed, Never is listed in this box.

3. In the Next Execution text box, click the down arrow, and select the date from the
Calendar on which the scheduled item should be executed. The Next Execution
date is set by default to the current date.

4. If the scheduled item should be executed more than once, select the Recurring
Item check box.

The fields below the check box become enabled.

5. To select the frequency with which the scheduled item will be executed, click the
option button next to the desired pattern, and complete the fields as desired. The
following table describes the schedules by which you can configure an item to be
executed.

Frequency Example Default

Every thirty
Every x number of minutes. Every minute.
minutes.

Every two
Every x number of days. Every day.
days.

Every x day of every x Every Sunday

number of weeks, where you of every two Every Sunday of every week.
define the day of the week. weeks.

Every three
Every x month on day x of months on day
Every month on day 1 of the month.
that month. 10 of the
month.

Every two Every year on the current day of that

Every x year on x date, years on year. For example, if the current
where you define the date. March 15 of date is January 9, the default value
that year. will be every year on January 9.
 6. Click the User tab.
7. Type your Meridium APM User ID and password, and then click OK.

The system saves the scheduled item along with its execution schedule. The Meridium
APM Schedule Manager - Scheduled Items window appears again, and the new
scheduled item is listed in the grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modifying a Scheduled Item

To edit an existing schedule or view the properties of an existing schedule:

1. In the Schedule Manager, on the Meridium APM Schedule Manager - Scheduled

Items window:

• Click the ID of the scheduled item that you want to modify.

-or-

• Select the row containing the desired scheduled item, and click the View
Properties link.

The Schedule <Item> dialog box appears, where <Item> is the name of the item that you
want to modify. By default, the Task tab appears.
Note: The appearance and content of this dialog box may vary slightly from what is
shown in the image, depending upon which scheduled item you selected.

2. On the Task tab, update the schedule as desired.

3. Click the User tab.

4. Type your Meridium APM User ID and password, and then click OK.

The scheduled item is updated.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting a Scheduled Item

To delete a scheduled item:
 1. In the Schedule Manager, on the Meridium APM Schedule Manager - Scheduled
Items window, select the row containing the scheduled item that you want to
delete.

2. Click the Remove link.

A confirmation message appears, asking if you really want to delete the scheduled item.

3. Click the Yes button.

The scheduled item is deleted from the database and removed from the list on the
Scheduled Items screen.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of the Meridium APM URL

Manager Window
Note: To use the URL Manager application, you must be logged in as a Windows user
with an Administrator account to the machine where URL Manager is installed.

The Meridium APM URL Manager window provides access to all the features that are
available in the URL Manager.
The Meridium APM URL Manager window is divided into two tabs:

• Associate Families with URLs: Lets you create links on the Associated Pages
menu for Meridium APM families.

• Manage Registered URLs: Lets you view a list of URLs that are currently
registered, register new URLs that are not yet registered, and unregister URLs that
are currently registered.

At the bottom of the main window, a label appears, indicating the name of the user who is
currently logged in and the data source to which the URL Manager is connected.

Hint: It is possible to open multiple instances of the Meridium APM URL Manager. The
data source name at the bottom of the page can help you distinguish between separate
instances if you are logged in to more than one database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Overview of the Manage Registered
URLs Tab
The Manage Registered URLs tab is where you can view and manage all the URLs that
are registered in your system.

A registered URL is a URL path that is associated with a specific feature or location in
the Meridium APM Framework application or the Meridium APM Web Framework.
After a URL has been registered, that URL can be used to create a link that takes users
directly to the location specified by the URL. Meridium APM is shipped with many
URLs that have already been registered. Therefore, in most cases, you will not need to
register Meridium APM assemblies manually before you can create links to the
associated functionality.

The list on the Manage Registered URLs tab displays all the URLs that are currently
registered in the Meridium APM system. For each URL, the list displays the properties
that are defined for the URL. Below the list of URLs, the following buttons appear:

• Register New URL: Displays the URL Registration dialog box, where you can
register a new URL.
• Edit Selected URL: Displays the URL Registration dialog box, where you can
modify the properties of the selected URL.

• Edit Web Settings: Displays the Web Settings dialog box, where you can view and
modify the web settings that are defined for the selected URL.

Note: Registered URLs included in the baseline Meridium APM product that have no
web settings defined by default represent areas of Meridium APM that are currently not
available in the Meridium APM Web Framework.

• Delete Selected URLs: After asking for confirmation, deletes the selected
registered URLs.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of the Associate Families with

URLs Tab
The Associate Families with URLs tab is where you can view and manage all the
Associated Pages that have been configured for your database.
When you select a family from the list at the top of the tab, the main display area shows
all the Associated Pages that have been configured for that family. The items will appear
in the Meridium APM Framework and the Meridium APM Web Framework applications
in the same order that they appear in the list. You can use the arrow buttons to the right of
the list to reorganize the list. Below the main display area, the following buttons appear:

• New Menu Item: Displays the Menu Item Information dialog box, where you can
create a new Associated Page for the selected family. This button is enabled only
when a family is selected in the list at the top of the window.
• Edit Selection: Displays the Menu Item Information dialog box, where you can
modify the selected Associated Page for the selected family. This button is
enabled only when you select an existing item in the list in the main display area.

• Deleted Selection(s): After asking for confirmation, deletes the selected item. This
button is enabled only when you select an existing item in the list in the main
display area.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Exiting the Meridium APM URL

Manager
To close the Meridium APM URL Manager and log out:

• In the upper-right corner of the Meridium APM URL Manager window, click the
X button.

The Meridium APM URL Manager window closes, and you are logged out of Meridium
APM.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Properties of a Registered URL

When you register a URL, you can define certain properties for that URL. The properties
that are associated with a registered URL are displayed in columns in the grid on the
Manage Registered URLs tab of the Meridium APM URL Manager window. For each
URL, you can define the following properties:

• ID: The unique, alphanumeric value that identifies the URL.

• URL: The resource identifier that will be used for constructing links to the
specified feature in Meridium APM.

• Windows Assembly Name: The name of the Meridium APM file that corresponds
to the feature that will appear when a user clicks a Meridium APM Framework
link constructed from the URL.

• Windows Controller: A value that further identifies the assembly associated with
the Meridium APM Framework feature. The appropriate Windows Controller is
assigned automatically when the assembly is selected for a registered URL.

• Web Assembly Name: The name of the Meridium APM file that corresponds to
the feature that will appear when a user clicks a link in the Meridium APM Web
Framework that has been constructed from the URL. URLs for features that are
not available via the Meridium APM Web Framework do not have a Web
Assembly Name defined.
 • Web Controller: A value that further identifies the assembly associated with the
Meridium APM Web Framework URL. A Web Controller will be defined only if a
Web Assembly Name has also been defined.

• Key: The unique, system-assigned value that is used to identify the registered
URL internally.

• Entity Based: A flag that specifies whether or not the URL is based on entities.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Registering a New URL

Before you can use a URL to create a link to a feature in Meridium APM, the URL must
be registered via the URL Manager. Registering a URL associates that URL with a
particular Meridium APM assembly. In this way, when you construct a link using that
URL, the link will navigate to the feature associated with the assembly.

To register a new URL:

1. In the URL Manager, on the Meridium APM URL Manager window, click the
Manage Registered URLs tab.
2. Click the Register New URL button.

The URL Registration dialog box appears.

 3. In the URL (Resource Identifier) text box, type the URL that you want to use for
linking to the specified location in Meridium APM, omitting the scheme portion
of the URL.

For example, the URL for linking to the Search page in the Meridium APM framework is
meridium://registry/finder. In the URL (Resource Identifier) text box, however, you
would omit meridium:// and type just registry/finder.

4. In the ID text box, type a descriptive name for the URL. Note that the ID must be
unique with respect to other URLs that are already defined.

5. To the right of the Windows Assembly Name text box, click the Browse button.

The Select a Launcher Assembly dialog box appears.

6. Navigate to and select the assembly that you want to associate with this URL.
This assembly corresponds to the feature that will appear when a user clicks a link
constructed from this URL. Note that the selected assembly must implement the
IMeridium APMUrlLaunchable interface; otherwise the system will return an
error when you select the assembly.

7. Click the Open button.

The Windows Assembly Name and Windows Controller fields on the URL Registration
dialog box are populated with the name of the selected assembly.

8. Click the Save button.

The specified URL is registered and is added to the list on the Manage Registered URLs
tab.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modifying Registered URLs

To modify the properties of a URL that has already been registered:

1. In the URL Manager, on the Manage Registered URLs tab, select the URL that
you want to modify.
2. Click the Edit Selected URL button.

The URL Registration dialog box appears, displaying the properties that are currently
associated with the selected URL.

3. Modify the properties as desired.

4. Click the Save button.

Your changes are saved, the URL Registration dialog box closes, and the list on the
Manage Registered URLs tab is updated to reflect your changes.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring Web Settings

The web settings that are defined for a registered URL define the web assembly and
controller that make the feature available in the Meridium APM Web Framework. If web
settings are not defined for a baseline registered URL, it means that the associated feature
is currently not supported by the Meridium APM Web Framework. If you modify the web
settings for a URL that is included in the baseline Meridium APM product, the feature
may not work properly in the Meridium APM Web Framework. Therefore, we
recommend that you not modify any web settings that are provided by default.

To configure the web settings for a URL:

1. In the URL Manager, on the Manage Registered URLs tab, select the URL that
you want to modify.
2. Click the Edit Web Settings button.

The Web Settings dialog box appears, displaying the properties that are currently
associated with the selected URL.

The URL (Resource Identifier) and ID fields are disabled and display values that are
defined in the properties of the registered URL. You can modify these properties by
modifying the registered URL itself.
 3. Modify the Web Assembly Name and Web Controller values as desired. Note that
you can remove both values to make the associated feature unavailable via the
Meridium APM Web Framework.
4. Click the Save button.

Your changes are saved, and the Manage Registered URLs tab is updated to reflect your
changes.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting Registered URLs

If you no longer want to provide access to a feature through the currently registered URL,
you can delete the URL. Note that deleting a registered URL deletes both the URL and
the associated settings.

To delete a registered URL:

1. In the URL Manager, on the Manage Registered URLs tab, select the URL that
you want to delete.

2. Click the Delete Selected URLs button.

A confirmation message appears, asking if you really want to delete the selected URL.

3. Click the Yes button.

The selected URL is deleted from the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to the Meridium APM

Framework
The Meridium APM Framework application serves as the primary user interface for the
Meridium APM System. It provides access to functionality in all licensed modules, along
with the following basic features:
 • Home Page
• Start Page

• Catalog

• Send To Feature

• Printing

• Spell Check

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Basic Layout and Features of the

Main Window
The Meridium APM Framework main window serves as the framework for all the
features that are available in the Meridium APM Framework application. It is important
to become familiar with the features that are available from the main window framework
because they will be available to you at all times, no matter where you are in the
application.

At the very top of the window, just below the title bar, the main menu bar appears, as
outlined in red in the following image.

The menu bar contains drop-down menus that provide access to various features. The
following menus are available: File, Edit, Go To, Tools, and Help.

Just below the menu bar, a toolbar appears. The toolbar contains buttons that provide
access to operations you will need to perform throughout the application.

Note: The specific function of the options that are available on the main menus and
toolbar may vary slightly, depending on where you are in the application.

The left side of the main window will almost always contain at least one task menu.
While the location of the task menus will not change, the options that are available on the
menus will vary, depending on which page you are viewing. To the right of the task
menus is the workspace, which contains the main features of a given page.
The very bottom of the window contains a status bar with two fields:

• User: The name of the Meridium APM user who is currently logged in, displayed
in the format [last name], [first name].
• Application Server: The name of the Meridium APM Application Server to which
the Meridium APM Framework application is currently connected.

• Data Source: The name of the data source to which you are currently connected.
The field displays the Data Source Name that is defined for the data source via the
Data Source Manager.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

File Menu

The File menu contains the following options:

• New (Ctrl+N): Displays the Select Family dialog box, where you can choose the
family of the record that you want to create.
• Catalog (Ctrl+O): Opens the Meridium APM Catalog.

• Save (Ctrl+S): Saves the information that is currently displayed. If the item has
already been saved at least once before, your changes will be saved using the
current file name and location. If the item is new and has not yet been saved, the
Save [Item Type] dialog box appears.

• Save As: Displays the Save As dialog box, which lets you save the current item
with a new name or to a new location.

• Print (Ctrl+P): Displays the Print dialog box or the Preview window, where you
can print the information that is currently displayed.
 • Change Password: Displays the Change your password dialog box, which lets you
choose a new Meridium APM password for the current user account.

• Exit and Log Off (Alt+F4): Closes the current page and logs you out of Meridium
APM.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Edit Menu

The Edit menu contains the following options:

• Undo (Ctrl+Z): Undoes the previous operation.

• Cut (Ctrl+X): Executes the standard Windows Cut function.

• Copy (Ctrl+C): Executes the standard Windows Copy function.

• Paste (Ctrl+V): Executes the standard Windows Paste function.

• Search: Opens the Search page, where you can begin a search of the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Go To Menu
The Go To menu serves as an access point for each Meridium APM Work Process and its
modules, tools, and features. This menu will contain the names of the modules that you
have licensed to use in your Meridium APM system. Each option on the menu will appear
only if the associated module has been licensed and activated via the Meridium APM
Configuration Manager application.

The Go To menu contains the following options:

• APM Foundation: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Dashboard: Displays the APM Foundation dashboard.

• Asset Criticality Analysis: Displays the Asset Criticality Analysis Start

Page, where you can access functions specific to Asset Criticality
Analysis.

• Recommendation Management: Displays the Recommendation

Management page, where you can manage Recommendation records.

• Asset Health Manager: Displays the AHM Start Page, where you can
access functions specific to Asset Health Manager.

• Policy Manager: Displays the Dashboard - Policy Manager Start Page,

from which you can manage policies.

• AMS Analytics: Displays the AMS Analytics Start Page, where you can
access functions specific to AMS Analytics.

• Operator Rounds: Displays the Operator Rounds Start Page, where you
can access functions related to Operator Rounds.

• Lubrication Management: Displays the Lubrication Management Start

Page, where you can access functions related to Lubrication Management.

• Failure Elimination: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Dashboard: Displays the Failure Elimination dashboard.

• Metrics and Scorecards: Displays the Metrics and Scorecards Start Page,
which displays a list of functions specific to Metrics and Scorecards.

• Production Loss Accounting: Displays the PLA Start Page, which contains
a list of functions specific to Production Loss Accounting (PLA).
 • Root Cause Analysis: Displays the Root Cause Analysis Start Page, which
contains a list of functions specific to Root Cause Analysis (RCA).

• Reliability Analytics: Displays the Reliability Analytics Start Page, which

displays a list of functions specific to Reliability Analytics.

• Asset Answers: Launches Asset Answers using the URL that is defined in
the Configuration Manager. If single sign-on has been configured in Asset
Answers, you will be logged in automatically. If, however, single sign-on
has not been configured, you will see the Asset Answers login page, where
you will need to enter your Asset Answers login credentials.

• Asset Strategy: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Dashboard: Displays the Asset Strategy dashboard.

• Reliability Centered Maintenance: Displays the RCM Start Page, which

displays a list of functions specific to Reliability Centered Maintenance
(RCM).

• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis: Displays the FMEA Start Page,
which displays a list of functions specific to Failure Modes and Effects
Analysis (FMEA).

• Asset Strategy Management: Displays the ASM - Start Page, where you
can view and manage Asset Strategies, System Strategies, and Unit
Strategies.

• Asset Strategy Implementation: Displays the Asset Strategy

Implementation Start Page, which displays a list of functions specific to
Asset Strategy Implementation.

• Mechanical Integrity: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Dashboard: Displays the Mechanical Integrity dashboard. This option is
displayed only when the license for at least one Mechanical Integrity
module is active.

• Risk Based Inspection: Displays the RBI Start Page, which displays a list
of functions specific to Risk Based Inspection (RBI).

• Inspection Management: Displays the Inspection Management Start Page,

where you can access functions related to Inspection Management.
 • Thickness Monitoring: Displays the Thickness Monitoring Functions
page, which serves as the start page for Thickness Monitoring.

• Asset Safety: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Dashboard: Displays the Asset Safety dashboard.

• Hazards Analysis: Displays the Hazards Analysis Start Page, where you
can access functions specific to Hazards Analysis.

• SIS Management: Displays the SIS Management Start Page, where you
can access functions specific to SIS Management.

• Calibration Management: Displays the Calibration Management Functions

page, which serves as the start page for Calibration Management.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tools Menu

The Tools menu contains the following options:

• Browser: Opens the Meridium APM Browser.

• Catalog (CRL+O): Opens the Meridium APM Catalog.

• Dashboard: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Build New: Displays the Save Dashboard dialog box, where you can
specify a location to which to save a new dashboard.

• Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Dashboard dialog box,

where you can open an existing dashboard.

• Dataset: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
 • Build New: Displays the Dataset Builder, which you can use to create a
new dataset.

• Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Dataset dialog box, where
you can open a saved dataset.

• Explorer: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Build New: Displays the Definable Explorer Wizard, which you can use to
create a configured explorer.

• Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Explorer dialog box, where
you can open an existing configured explorer.

• Graph: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Build New: Displays the Choose a Query or Dataset for Graph dialog box,
where you can choose a query or dataset from which to create a new
graph.

• Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Graph dialog box, where
you can open a saved graph.

• My Start Page (Ctrl+H): Displays your start page. You can also click the right
arrow to display a submenu with the following options:

•
• Set this page as my start page: Sets the current page to your start page.

• Go to Home Page: Displays the Home Page that you were last viewing.

• Reset to Home Page: Resets your start page to the Home Page.

• Query: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
• Build New: Displays the New Query dialog box, where you can choose to
create a new query using either the Query Builder or the query design.

• Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Query dialog box, where
you can open a saved query.

• Report: Displays a submenu with the following options:

 •
• Build New: Displays the Create New Report dialog box, where you can
choose to create a report based on a query, dataset, or external template.

• Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Report dialog box, where
you can open a saved report.

• State Role Assignment: Displays the Assign Users to a Role window, where you
can assign and remove Security Users to and from State Configuration roles.

• Search: Opens the Search page.

• Strategy Rules: Displays the Strategy Start Page, which displays a list of functions
specific to Strategy Rules.

• Tasks: Displays the Task Management Start Page, which displays a list of
functions specific to Task Management.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Help Menu

The Help menu contains the following options:

• Meridium APM Help: Displays the Meridium APM Help system.

• About Meridium APM: Displays the About Meridium APM dialog box, which
shows version information about the Meridium APM product that is currently
installed, including details about the build number and any service packs or hot
fixes that have been installed. The About Meridium APM dialog box also displays
information about the database to which you are currently connected.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Site Map

When you navigate to most pages within the Meridium APM Framework, the Site Map
appears below the toolbar at the top of the page. The Site Map displays a navigational
trail that identifies the current page and the context of how you arrived at that page. Each
item on the Site Map is a hyperlink, which you can click to access the page that it
represents.

The following image shows the Site Map as it appears on the Reliability Analytics Start
Page. A red border has been added to the image.

In this image, you can see that the Site Map contains only one hyperlink, Reliability,
which identifies the current page. In this case, the Reliability Analytics Start Page is the
first page that you see when you access the Reliability Analytics module.

The following example walks through what the Site Map would look like if you were to
navigate from the Reliability Analytics Start Page to the Spares Analysis page.

As shown in the previous image, the Site Map on the Reliability Analytics Start Page
looks like this:

If you were to click the Spares Analysis link on this page, the Select a Spares Analysis
from the List page would appear. The following image shows what the Site Map looks
like on the Select a Spares Analysis from the List page.

Notice that the Spares Analysis hyperlink now appears on the Site Map to identify the
current page, and the Reliability hyperlink is still available to indicate that you accessed
the current page from the Reliability Analytics Start Page. If desired, you could click the
Reliability hyperlink to access the Reliability Analytics Start Page.

Continuing with the example, if you were to click a hyperlinked Analysis ID in the grid,
the Spares Analysis page would appear. The following image shows what the Site Map
looks like on the Spares Analysis page.

Notice that the Oil Pump Analysis hyperlink now appears on the Site Map to identify the
analysis that is displayed on the current page, and the Reliability and Spares Analysis
hyperlinks are still available to indicate the path that you took to access the current page.
If desired, you could click:

• The Reliability hyperlink to access the Reliability Analytics Start Page.

-or-

• The Spares Analysis hyperlink to access the Spares Analysis page.

In each module, the Site Map contains slightly different data, but the general concept is
the same. The Site Map identifies the page that you are currently viewing, and it provides
context in the form of hyperlinks to indicate how you got to the current page. You can
click any hyperlink on the Site Map to navigate quickly to the corresponding page.

Throughout this documentation, we assume that you are familiar with how the Site Map
works. For any modules whose Site Map works differently, the documentation for that
module explains the differences.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Task Menus

Task menus appear on the left side of the screen on almost every page in Meridium APM.
While the location of the task menus will not change, the options that are available on the
menus will vary, depending on which page you are viewing. In addition, the number of
available tasks menus will vary, depending on how many options are available on the
current page. For example, the Home Page contains three task menus with options that
are specific to the Home Page, as highlighted in red in the following image: Home Page
Tasks, Common Tasks, and Other Tasks.

The following image, however, shows the task menus on the Scorecards page. The names
of the two menus and the options that appear on them are appropriate for the Scorecards
page.
Hint: Throughout the Meridium APM Framework documentation, we use task menu
descriptions as the starting point for describing the features that are available on most
screens in Meridium APM. In the Help system, most task menu descriptions are linked to
topics that provide additional detail about each screen. Reviewing task menu topics in the
Help system is a good way to become familiar with and navigate the features of the
various screens in Meridium APM.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Workspace

On each page in the Meridium APM Framework, to the right of the task menus is the
workspace. The content of the workspace will vary, depending on which page you are
viewing. The workspace can contain data, grids, query results, links, sections, graphs,
charts, and other features that allow you to view, enter, and analyze data. The content of
the workspace will be appropriate for the features and functions of the screen. For
example, in the following image, the Home Page workspace is highlighted in red.

As with the content, the label of the workspace will change, depending on which page
you are viewing.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Options Available on the Meridium

APM Framework Toolbar
The Meridium APM Framework toolbar offers quick access to common features and
functions.

The toolbar offers the following options:

• Back: Displays a list of previously visited pages. The Back feature saves up to 10
previously visited pages.
• Forward: Displays a list of previously visited pages. The Forward feature saves up
to 10 previously visited pages.

• Refresh: Refreshes the current page with updated data from the Meridium APM
Application Server. The Refresh option is available only on certain pages.

• My Start Page: Displays your start page. You can also click the down arrow to
display a submenu with the following options:

•
o Set This Page as My Start Page: Sets the current page to your start page.

o Go to Home Page: Displays the Home Page that you were last viewing.

o Reset to Home Page: Resets your start page to the Home Page.

• New: Displays the Select Family dialog box, where you can choose the family for
the record that you want to create.

• Search: Opens the Search page, where you can search for records within the
database.

• Catalog: Opens the Meridium APM Catalog.

• Query: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
 o Build New: Displays the New Query dialog box, where you can choose to
create a new query using either the Query Builder or the Query Designer.

o Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Query dialog box, where
you can open a saved query.

• Report: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
o Build New: Displays the Create New Report dialog box, where you can
choose to create a report based on a query, dataset, or external template.
This option is enabled only if you have the Microsoft SQL Server
Business Intelligence Development Studio installed on the Meridium APM
Framework workstation.

o Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Report dialog box, where
you can open a saved report.

• Graph: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
o Build New: Displays the Choose a Query or Dataset for Graph dialog box,
where you can choose a query or dataset from which to create a new
graph.

o Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Graph dialog box, where
you can open a saved graph.

• Dataset: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
o Build New: Displays the Dataset Builder, which you can use to create a
new dataset.

o Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Dataset dialog box, where
you can open a saved dataset.

• Dashboard: Displays a submenu with the following options:

•
o Build New: Displays the Save Dashboard dialog box, where you can
specify a location to which to save a new dashboard.

o Open Existing: Displays the Open an existing Dashboard dialog box,

where you can open an existing dashboard.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pages that Include the Refresh Option

The Refresh option on the Meridium APM Framework toolbar is available only on the
following pages in the Meridium APM Framework:

• Dashboard page
• Asset Health Manager page

• Policy page

The Refresh option can be used to populate these pages with updated data from the
Meridium APM Application Server. For example, suppose that you are viewing the Asset
Health Manager page for a particular piece of equipment. If you suspect that data on the
Meridium APM Application Server has been updated for this piece of equipment since
you accessed the Asset Health Manager page, you can use the Refresh option to ensure
that you are seeing the most up-to-date data for the piece of equipment.

In cases where navigating away from one of these pages (via the Back button on the
toolbar) results in a confirmation message being displayed that asks if you are sure you
want to navigate away from the current page, the same message is displayed when you
use the Refresh option on these pages.

For example, on the Policy page, when you have unsaved changes to a policy and you
click the Back button on the toolbar, the following confirmation message appears.

Similarly, in this scenario, when you click the Refresh button on the toolbar, the same
confirmation message appears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Moving Panes to Different Locations on

the Page
Panes appear in various locations throughout the Meridium APM Framework application.
The contents of a pane will vary depending on where it appears. For example, in the
Record Manager, the Record Explorer pane contains the contents of the record hierarchy.
In PROACT® for Meridium APM, the Options pane on the Logic Tree page contains
various tabs that contain options that let you perform tasks related to the Logic Tree.

On a given page, a pane can be positioned to the left, right, or below the workspace by
default. If desired, you can move a pane to a different location on the page.

Note: The option to move a pane to a different location on the page may not be available
on some pages in the Meridium APM Framework application. Additionally, if alternate
methods are available for moving a pane on a given page, the instructions for doing so
will be available in the section of the help where that page is explained.

To move a pane to a different location on the screen:

1. Click the title bar of the pane, and drag it until you see arrows that indicate the
areas to which you can move it. You can move it to the left, to the right, or below
the workspace.

2. Point to the arrow that corresponds to the desired location.

A shaded area appears on the screen where the pane will be positioned after you release
the mouse button.

3. Release the mouse button.

The pane is moved to the selected location.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Exiting the Meridium APM Framework

To exit the Meridium APM Framework and log off:

• On the File menu, click Exit and Logoff.

-or-

• On your keyboard, press Alt+F4.

-or-
 • Click the Meridium APM icon in the upper-left corner of the title bar , and then
click Close.

-or-

• Double-click the Meridium APM icon in the upper-left corner of the title bar.

-or-

• Click the X button, which appears in the upper-right corner of the Meridium APM
title bar.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing Your Password

After you have logged in to the Meridium APM Framework, you can change your
password if desired. To help maintain the security of your system, you should change
your password every several months. Note that while the change password feature is
available in the Meridium APM Framework application, your new password will be
saved with your Security User account and will apply to every Meridium APM
application that uses a secured login.

Note: Since you must log in to change your password, you must know your old password
in order to choose a new one. If you have forgotten your password, contact your System
Administrator.

To change your password:

1. Log in to the Meridium APM Framework application.

2. On the File menu, click Change Password.

The Change your password dialog box appears.

 3. In the Current password text box, type your current password.
4. In the New password text box, type your new password.

5. In the Verify new password text box, retype your new password.

6. If you prefer to log in without a password, leave the three text boxes empty, and
select the Use blank password check box. Doing so will allow you to log in to
Meridium APM with just your user ID. Note, however, that this may compromise
your system security as anyone who knows your user ID will be able to log in to
your system.

7. Click the Save button.

Your new password is saved to the database. If scheduled items are associated with this
Security User account, after the new password has been saved, a message will appear,
indicating that all scheduled items associated with this security account have been
updated with the new password.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overriding the Auto-Login Feature

Important: While the auto-login feature is also available with other Meridium APM
applications (e.g., Configuration Manager), the modification described in this section
should be made only to the shortcuts that launch the Meridium APM Framework
application.

Meridium APM offers a feature called auto-login, where if a user's Meridium APM user
ID is the same as that user's Windows username, when the user launches Meridium APM,
he or she will not have to supply a user ID or password and will instead be logged in
automatically to Meridium APM.

The Meridium APM Framework, however, offers an option that allows you to override
the auto-login feature and force users to supply a user ID and password, even when their
Meridium APM user ID and Windows user name are the same. You can enable this option
by making a change to the Meridium APM Framework application shortcut on each
Meridium APM Framework workstation.

Note: After you modify the shortcut properties, you will need to instruct your users to use
the shortcuts for launching Meridium APM. The change that you make will apply only to
that specific shortcut and will not be applied when the application is launched through
another means (e.g., via the Windows Start menu).

These instructions assume that you have already created a shortcut to the Meridium APM
Framework application.

To modify the Meridium APM shortcut properties to override the auto-login feature:

1. Right-click the Meridium APM Framework shortcut, and then click Properties.

The Meridium APM Properties dialog box appears.

2. In the Target text box, place your cursor at the end of the existing text.
3. Insert a space, and then type -forcelogin.

The text in the Target field should match the following:

"C:\Program Files\Meridium\MeridiumStart.exe" -forcelogin

4. Click OK.

Your changes to the shortcut are saved. Now, whenever a user launches the Meridium
APM Framework application using this shortcut, the auto-login feature will be
overridden, and the user will be forced to supply a Meridium APM user ID and password.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overriding the Default Login Location

By default, when you launch the Meridium APM Framework application and log in, the
system displays the last Meridium APM Home Page that you viewed the last time you
logged in to the Meridium APM Framework. If desired, by modifying the Meridium
APM shortcut, you can override the default login location and display by default any
page in Meridium APM that is URL addressable.

Note: Changes made to the shortcut properties will be applied only when Meridium APM
is launched from that shortcut.

To modify the Meridium APM shortcut properties to override the default login location:

1. Right-click the Meridium APM Framework shortcut, and then click Properties.

The Meridium APM Properties dialog box appears.

2. In the Target text box, place your cursor at the end of the existing text.
3. Type a space, and then type the URL that corresponds to the location that you
want to use as the default login location. For example, if you want Meridium
APM to go to the Inspection Start Page when you log in, type:

meridium://Inspection

4. Click OK.

Your changes to the shortcut are saved. Now, whenever users launch the Meridium APM
Framework application using this shortcut, they will be taken to the location specified by
the URL.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of Home Pages

When you log in to the Meridium APM Framework application for the first time, your
Personal Home Page is the first page you see.

Note: If are returning to the Meridium APM Framework application after logging out at
least once, the page that you will see upon logging in depends upon whether or not you
have configured a start page.
If desired, you can view the Group Home Page for any Security Group of which you are a
member. If you have used the Meridium PM Framework application before, when you
log in to the Meridium APM Framework application, assuming that you have not
configured a start page, you will see the Home Page that you last viewed before you
logged out.

A Home Page is meant to provide you with quick access in the form of hyperlinks to
favorite or frequently used features and documents. You can customize the appearance
and organization of these links to suit your needs.

By default, your Personal Home Page is empty, but you can customize the appearance
and content of your Home Page as needed. Group Home Pages are configured and
maintained by Super Users, members of the MI Power User Role Security Group, or
Group Home Page Administrators, but they can be viewed by any user who belongs to
the Security Group.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personal Home Pages

A Personal Home Page belongs to the Security User who is currently logged in to the
Meridium APM Framework application. Your Personal Home Page is associated with
your user name and password. When you log in to the Meridium APM Framework
application for the very first time, your Personal Home Page may be empty, but you can
customize it to include links to features and documents that you use frequently.

Note that if you are a Super User or a member of the MI Power User Role Security
Group, you will be able to access User Home Pages. If not, you will be able to access
only your own Personal Home Page and the Group Home Pages of the Security Groups
of which you are a member.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

User Home Pages

A User Home Page is a Home Page that is associated with a Security User other than the
user who is currently logged in to the Meridium APM Framework application. If you are
a Super User or a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group, you will be able to
access User Home Pages. If you are not a Super User or a member of the MI Power User
Role Security Group, you will be able to access only your Personal Home Page and the
Group Home Pages of the Security Groups of which you are a member.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Group Home Pages

Each Security User can belong to one or more Security Groups (as defined via the
Configuration Manager), which are intended to help organize users according to their
roles and responsibilities in your company. Each Security Group has its own Home Page,
which can be viewed by the members of that group. Group Home Pages help facilitate the
sharing of information (e.g., graphs, queries, and reports) with your colleagues.

If a Security Group contains sub-groups, each sub-group will have its own Home Page.
Throughout this documentation, we refer to these as Sub-group Home Pages.

You can display on a Personal Home Page, User Home Page, or Sub-Group Home Page
the Home Page information for any Security Group of which you are a member. This
"shared" information will be updated automatically based on changes made to that Group
Home Page.

Note: Only Super Users, members of the MI Power User Role Security Group, and
Group Home Page Administrators can modify the content of Group Home Pages. Other
users are allowed only to view the information that has been configured by another user.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of Sections
Home Page sections serve as organizational tools, which let you group links on a Home
Page. Each section can have its own name and color scheme and can contain a list of
hyperlinks to internal and external locations. By customizing sections on your Home
Page, you can organize information in a way that is meaningful to you.
For example, you might create a section that contains links to frequently used reports, as
shown in the following image.

Or, you might create a section with links to external websites, such as manufacturers'
websites.

A Home Page can contain both local and shared sections.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Types of Sections
A Home Page contains the following types of sections:

• Local: A section that exists on a single Home Page whose contents are not shared
to other Home Pages. You can add the same local section to multiple Home Pages,
but updating one of those sections (e.g., adding hyperlinks) will not result in
automatic updates to the other similar sections on other Home Pages.
• Shared: A section that exists on a Group Home Page and is available to be added
to the Home Page of:

•
o Users who are a member of that Security Group.

o Sub-groups of that Security Group.

In some cases, shared sections appear automatically on a user's or sub-groups Home

Page. In other cases, the shared section will need to be added manually before it will
actually appear on the Home Page of a user or sub-group.

You cannot modify a shared section from a User or Sub-group Home Page. To modify a
shared section, you must access it from the Group Home Page.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing a Group Home Page From

Your Personal Home Page
You can use these instructions to access the Group Home Page associated with any
Security Group of which you are a member.

To access a Group Home Page from your Personal Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on your Personal Home Page, on the Home
Page Tasks menu, click the Group Pages link.

A submenu appears, displaying a list of the Group Home Pages associated with the active
Security Groups of which you are a member and for which a Home Page has been
configured.

2. Click the name of the Group Home Page you want to view.

The selected Group Home Page appears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing Your Personal Home Page

From a Group Home Page
To access your Personal Home Page from a Group Home Page:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Group Home Page, on the Home Page
Tasks menu, click the My Home Page link.

Your Personal Home Page appears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Accessing a User Home Page
If you are a Super User or a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group, you can
access the Home Page associated with any Security User.

To access a User Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Users link.

A submenu appears, displaying a list of all active Security Users in the database.

2. Click the link associated with the Security User whose Home Page you want to
view.

The User Home Page for the selected Security User appears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Returning to a Home Page From Any

Location in the Meridium APM
Framework
The following instructions provide details on accessing the Home Page from any location
in the Meridium APM Framework application. This procedure will always display the
Home Page that you last viewed.

To return to the Home Page from any location in the Meridium APM Framework
application:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Meridium APM Framework toolbar,

click the down arrow on the My Start Page button, and then click Go to Home
Page.

-or-

• On the Meridium APM Framework main menu, click Tools, then click My Start
Page, and then click Go to Home Page.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is Automatic Sharing?

A shared section is a Home Page section that is defined on a Group Home Page and
inherited by a User Home Page. By default, User Home Pages will automatically inherit
ALL sections defined on ALL the Group Home Pages associated with the Security
Groups to which they belong. Automatic sharing occurs when a User Home Page is first
created. Sections added to Group Home Pages after a User Home Page exists must be
added manually to User Home Pages.

For example, suppose John Smith is a member of the Everyone Security Group. If the
section Metrics and Scorecards exists on the Everyone Home Page before John Smith's
Home Page is created (i.e., accessed for the first time by John Smith or any other user
who has access to his Home Page), the Metrics and Scorecards section will be shared
automatically so that it appears on John Smith's Home Page. If the Reliability Analytics
Links section is later added to the Everyone Home Page, it will be available in the list of
sections available to John Smith for sharing but will not be added to John Smith's Home
Page automatically.

Likewise, if you add a section to a Group Home Page, that section will be shared
automatically with any Sub-group Home Page that is created after the section exists.

If desired, you can disable the default automatic sharing feature via an option in the
Configuration Manager.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Disabling Automatic Sharing

By default, sections that exist on Group Home Pages will be shared automatically with
User Home Pages and Sub-Group Home pages when they are created. If desired, you can
disable this behavior via an option in the Configuration Manager. When this feature is
disabled, Group Home Page sections will be available for sharing on User and Sub-
groups Home Pages, but they will not be shared automatically.

To disable automatic Group Home Page section sharing:

 1. In the Configuration Manager, on the Configuration Manager main menu, click
Tools, point to Global Preferences, and then click Group Home Page Sharing.

The Share Home Page Sections dialog box appears.

2. Clear the Share Group Home Page sections automatically with new User Home
Pages and Sub-group Home Pages check box.

3. Click OK.

The setting is saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sharing Group Home Page Sections

Manually
If you access a User, Personal, or Sub-group Home Page, then add a section to a Group
Home Page, and then access the User, Personal, or Sub-group Home Page again, the
shared section will not appear automatically. It will, however, be available to add to the
User, Personal, or Sub-group Home Page via the Add Shared Section dialog box.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Group Home Page

Administrators
A Group Home Page Administrator is a Security User who is responsible for maintaining
and managing the content of a specific Group Home Page. You can specify a Group
Home Page Administrator for any Group Home Page if you are a Super User or a
member of the MI Power User Role Security Group. The Group Home Page
Administrator can customize the Home Page for the Security Group as desired. Note that
to customize the content of a Group Home Page for which you are not the Group Home
Page Administrator, you must be either a Super User or a member of the MI Power User
Role Security Group.

When a Group Home Page has been assigned an Administrator, the Administrator's name
appears in the top right corner of the page, preceded by the text Group Home Page
Administrator. If a Group Home Page does not yet have an assigned Administrator,
nothing will appear next to the text Group Home Page Administrator.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Specifying a Group Home Page

Administrator
To specify a Group Home Page Administrator:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Group Home Page for which you want
to specify a Group Home Page Administrator, on the Home Page Tasks menu,
click the Customize link.

The Customize Home Page window appears.

2. In the Group Home Page Administrator box, click the down arrow, and select a
Security User from the list. This list contains only Active Security Users that are
members of the Security Group to which the current Group Home Page belongs.

Note: The Group Home Page Administrator list appears only when you access the
Customize Home Page window while viewing a Group Home Page. This text box does
not appear if you working with a User or Personal Home Page.

3. Click the Close button.

The Group Home Page displays the selected Security User in the top right section of the
page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Removing the Group Home Page

Administrator
These instructions explain how to remove the Group Home Page Administrator from a
Group Home Page via the Meridium APM Framework application. You can also remove
a Group Home Page Administrator via the Configuration Manager by removing the
Security User from the associated Security Group or by making the Security User
Inactive.

To remove the Group Home Page Administrator from a Group Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Group Home Page from which you
want to remove the Group Home Page Administrator, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Customize link.

The Customize Home Page window appears.

2. In the Group Home Page Administrator box, click the down arrow, and select a
different Security User from the list, or select the blank row to indicate that the
Group Home Page will not have an Administrator. The list contains only Active
Security Users that are members of the Security Group to which the current
Group Home Page belongs. For example, if you are specifying a Group Home
Page Administrator for the MI Inspection Home Page, you will see only the
Active Security Users that are members of the MI Inspection Security Group.
3. Click the Close button.

If you selected a new Group Home Page Administrator, the Group Home Page displays
the selected Security User in the top right section of the page. Alternatively, if you did not
specify a Group Home Page Administrator, nothing is displayed after the Group Home
Page Administrator label in the top right section of the page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defining the Name for a Home Page

To define the name of a Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, go to the Personal or Group Home Page

whose name you want to define.
2. On the Home Page Tasks menu, click the Customize link.
Note: If you are a Super User or a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group,
this link will be available on both Personal Home Pages and on Group Home Pages.
Otherwise, this link is enabled only on your Personal Home Page.

The Customize Home Page window appears.

3. In the What name do you want to use to identify your Home Page text box, type
the name that you want to assign to the Home Page.

4. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.

5. Click the Close button.

The name is saved and appears at the top of the Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Home Page Tasks Menu

The Home Page Tasks menu, which appears on the left side of the Home Page screen,
contains links to tasks related to the Home Page.

The Home Page Tasks menu contains the following links:

 • Customize: Displays the Customize Home Page window, where you can add,
remove, and modify Home Page sections.
• Edit Sections: Displays the Customize Home Page Sections window, where you
can modify your Home Page sections.

• Edit Tasks: Displays the Customize Home Page Tasks window, where you can
modify the contents of the Common Tasks and Other Tasks menus.

• Groups: Displays a submenu of active Security Groups defined in the Meridium

APM database. This link appears only to Super Users and members of the MI
Power User Role Security Group. You can click any link to view that Security
Group's Home Page.

• Users: Displays a submenu of active Security Users. This link appears only to
Super Users and members of the MI Power User Role Security Group. You can
click any user in the list to view the associated Home Page.

• Group Pages: Displays a submenu of active Security Groups to which you belong.
You can click any group in the list to view the associated Home Page.

• My Home Page: Displays your Personal Home Page.

• Send To: Displays a submenu with options that let you provide a link to the
current page on your desktop (create shortcut), in an email message, or on a Home
Page.

• Help: Displays context-sensitive Help topic for the Home Page.

Each of these commands is also available from a menu that drops down from the Home
Page title. To see the menu, click the down arrow to the left of the Home Page title.

Below the Home Page Tasks menu, the following menus appear: Common Tasks and
Other Tasks. These menus are empty by default, but you can customize them with links to
the tasks of your choice.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Common Tasks Menu

The Common Tasks menu is customizable, which means that you can add hyperlinks to it
to provide quick access to frequently used features and functions.
The Common Tasks menu appears directly below the Home Page Tasks menu on the left
side of the Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Other Tasks Menu

The Other Tasks menu is customizable, which means that you can add hyperlinks to it to
provide quick access to frequently used features and functions.

The Other Tasks menu appears directly below the Common Tasks menu on the left side
of the Home Page.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a New Link

To add a link to the Common Tasks or Other Tasks menu:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Tasks link.

The Customize Home Page Tasks window appears.

 2. In the drop-down list at the top of the window, select the menu to which you want
to add the task. You can select either the Common Tasks menu or the Other Tasks
menu.
3. Click the Add new task link.

The New Task dialog box appears.

4. In the first text box, type a name for the link. This label will appear in the task
menu.

5. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.

6. In the URL text box, type the URL for the link, or click the button to build
your URL using the URL Builder.
 7. Click OK.

The New Task dialog box closes, revealing the Customize Home Page Tasks window.

8. Click the Close button.

The new link appears in the appropriate task menu.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Editing a Link
For any hyperlink on the Common Tasks menu or Other Tasks menu, you can modify
either the label or the URL.

To modify a hyperlink on the Common Tasks menu or Other Tasks menu:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Tasks link.

The Customize Home Page Tasks window appears.

2. In the drop-down list at the top of the window, select the task menu in which the
hyperlink exists, either Common Tasks or Other Tasks.
 3. Select the task that you want to edit.

4. Click the Edit selected task link.

The Edit Task dialog box appears.

5. Edit the label and URL as desired.

6. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.

7. Click OK.

8. On the Customize Home Page Tasks window, click the Close button.

Your changes appear on the Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reorganizing Links
Links appear by default in the order in which you add them to the task menu, but you can
reorder them if you prefer.

To change the order of links in a task menu:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Tasks link.

The Customize Home Page Tasks window appears.

 2. In the drop-down list at the top of the Customize Home Page Tasks window,
select the menu in which the link exists, either Common Tasks or Other Tasks.
3. Select the link that you want to move.

4. Using the arrow buttons that appear to the left of the list, move the link up or
down as desired.

5. If desired, move other links in the list.

6. When you are satisfied with the order of the links, click the Close button.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Expanding and Collapsing Task Menus

Sometimes you might prefer to collapse the Common Tasks and Other Tasks menus to
hide the links.

To collapse the task menus:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the task menu that you
want to collapse, click the up arrow.

To expand the task menus:

 • In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the task menu that you
want to expand, click the down arrow.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting a Link
To delete a link from the Common Tasks menu or Other Tasks menu:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Tasks link.

The Customize Home Page Tasks window appears.

2. In the drop-down list at the top of the Customize Home Page Tasks window,
select the menu that contains the link that you want to delete, either Common
Tasks or Other Tasks.
3. Select the link that you want to delete.

4. Click the Delete selected task link.

A confirmation message appears, asking if you are sure that you want to delete the task.

5. Click the Yes button.

 6. On the Customize Home Page Tasks window, click the Close button.

The link no longer appears in the list.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Local Section to a Home Page

Each Personal Home Page can contain local, user-defined sections with links to internal
and external documents. Likewise, each Group Home Page can contain group-specific
sections of links that might be useful to the members of that group.

Sections defined on a user's Personal Home Page can be viewed and edited only from that
user's Home Page. Sections defined for a Group Home Page can be viewed and edited
from that group's Home Page. Additionally, group sections can be shared on the Personal
Home Pages of that group's members.

To add a section to a Personal or Group Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Sections link.

The Customize Home Page Sections window appears.

If sections have already been defined for the Home Page, they appear in the list on the
window.

2. Click the Add New Section link.

The Add New Home Page Section window appears.

3. In the What default name do you want to use to identify this section text box, type
a name for the new section.

Hint: To create a section heading that contains an & character, type the & character twice
where you want it to appear. For example, if you want to label the section Reports &
Graphs, type Reports && Graphs. If you type the & character only once, it will be
omitted from the display on the Home Page.
 4. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.
5. If desired, change the background color and text color for the section header.

6. Choose the layout for your section by selecting either the Full or Columnar
option.

7. If you want to add a hyperlink to the section, click the Add new hyperlink link.
On the dialog box that appears, specify the name and URL for the link.

8. Click OK.

The Add New Home Page Section window closes, revealing the Customize Home Page
Sections window.

9. Click the Close button.

The new section appears on the Home Page.

Note: If the full name of the section has been truncated in the section header because of
its length, rest the mouse over the section title to display the full name.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Shared Section to a Home

Page
Each Personal Home Page, User Home Page, or Sub-group Home Page can contain one
or more shared sections, which are sections that have been defined for a Group Home
Page but are available for display on the Home Pages of its members. Shared sections are
automatically updated at the user level based on changes made at the group level. This
means that if you choose to display a shared section on a Home Page, it will always
reflect the most current information.

Shared sections can be added manually only to Personal, User, and Sub-group Home
Pages. They cannot be added manually to Group Home Pages.

To add a shared section to a Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Sections link.
The Customize Home Page Sections window appears.

2. Click the Add Shared Section link.

The Add Shared Section dialog box appears.

The Add Shared Section dialog box displays a list of sections that have been defined for
any Security Group of which the user is a member (if you are adding the section to a User
or Personal Home Page) or to which the sub-group belongs (if you are adding the section
to a Sub-group Home Page).

3. Select the section that you want to add, and click OK.

The section is added to the Home Page, and the term Shared appears in parentheses next
to the title in the section header.

Note: If the full name of the section has been truncated in the section header because of
its length, rest the mouse over the title to display the full name.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing the Text and Background

Color of a Section Header
The text and background color of section headers can help you distinguish one section
from another. Additionally, using the same color scheme for multiple sections can help
you group similar sections together.

To change the text and background color of a section:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page, right
click the section header that you want to modify, and click Edit Section.

The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

 2. To change the text color, click the Change text color hyperlink.

-or-

To change the background color, click the Change background color hyperlink.

The Color dialog box appears.

 3. Select the color that you want to apply to the text or background. You can create a
custom color by clicking the Define Custom Colors link. The palette that appears
represents the full range of colors that are available. You can select the desired
hue and click the Add to Custom Colors button to use that color.

Note: If you close the Edit Home Page Section window and reopen it, all custom colors
will be removed. If you want to save a custom color for future use, make sure to write
down the numbers that define the color (available on the Color dialog box). In addition,
the default color is not one of the basic colors. If you change the default color and want to
return to it, you will need to add the color using the numbers that define it: Hue 50, Sat
46, Lum 134, Red 153, Green 164, and Blue 121.

4. On the Color dialog box, click OK.

5. On the Edit Home Page Section window, click OK.

The text or background color changes on the Home Page as appropriate.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing the Column Width of a

Section
Each section can either:

• Span the full width of the Home Page.

-or-

• Be divided into columns, depending on how many Home Page sections exist.

To change the column width of a section:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the section
header that you want to modify, and click Edit Section.

Note: You can also right-click the section header that you want to modify and select Full
or Columnar from the shortcut menu. The section width will change accordingly.

The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

 2. Select the option that you want to apply to the section: Full or Columnar. If you
select Full, the section will span the width of the Home Page. If you select
Columnar, the section will have a set width so that three sections can fit within the
width of the Home Page (section widths cannot be changed).

3. Click OK.

The column layout changes as appropriate.

Full
Columnar

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reordering Sections
By default, sections appear on the Home Page in the order in which you create them. You
can, however, reposition sections as needed.

To modify the arrangement of sections on the Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Sections link.
The Customize Home Page Sections window appears.

2. Select the section that you want to move.

3. Using the arrow buttons, which appear on the left side of the window, move the
section up or down in the list as desired.

4. If desired, move other sections.

5. When you are satisfied with the new arrangement, click the Close button.

The Home Page refreshes to reflect your changes.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Renaming Sections
You can use the following instructions to rename a personal section of your Home Page.
Note that you cannot rename a shared section unless you have the appropriate privileges.

To rename a Home Page section:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right click the section
header that you want to modify, and click Edit Section.
The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

2. In the text box where the current name appears, delete the old name, and type the
new name.

Hint: To create a section heading that contains an & character, type the & character twice
where you want it to appear. For example, if you want to label the section Reports &
Graphs, type Reports && Graphs. If you type the & character only once, it will be
omitted from the display on the Home Page.

3. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.

4. Click OK.
The Home Page refreshes to display the new section name.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hiding and Displaying Sections

You can hide a section of your Home Page temporarily without deleting it altogether.

To hide a section of your Home Page:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, click the X button in the
section header.

Note that when you rest your mouse pointer over the X button, a tool tip appears
reminding you that clicking the X button only hides the section; the section will not be
deleted.

To make the section reappear:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Sections link.

The Customize Home Page Sections window appears.

 2. In the list of sections, select the check box for the section that you want to make
appear.

3. Click the Close button.

The section reappears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting Home Page Sections

To delete a section from the Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, on the Home Page Tasks
menu, click the Edit Sections link.

The Customize Home Page Sections window appears.

 2. Highlight the section that you want to remove, and click the Delete selected
section link.

Note: A selected check box in front of a section name only determines whether the
section will appear or not appear on the Home Page. You can delete sections that have
selected or cleared check boxes. To delete a section, you must highlight the section name
and click the Delete selected section link.

A confirmation message appears, asking if you are sure that you want to delete the
section.

3. Click the Yes button to delete the section and its associated hyperlinks.

The section is removed from the Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Hyperlinks in Sections

A hyperlink is a shortcut to an internal or external location. By adding hyperlinks to
Home Pages, you can provide quick access to any external webpage or any feature in the
Meridium APM Framework application. In the following sections, we provide
instructions for adding, modifying, and deleting hyperlinks on your Home Page.
Each section can contain as many hyperlinks as you prefer. Each hyperlink must be
assigned to a specific section, so before you can add a hyperlink, your Home Page must
already contain one or more sections.

After links exist on a Home Page, you can:

• Open the associated item.

• Manage translations for the hyperlink name.

• Send the link to someone via email.

• Create a desktop shortcut for the link.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Hyperlink Directly from the

Home Page
This section contains instructions for adding a hyperlink directly from the Home Page.
You can also add a hyperlink to a Catalog item from another location in the Meridium
APM Framework application.

To add a hyperlink to a section directly from the Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the column
header of the section to which you want to add a hyperlink, and click Add New
Hyperlink.

The New Hyperlink dialog box appears.

 2. In the What default name do you want to use to identify this hyperlink text box,
type a name for the link. This name is what will appear on the Home Page.

Note that to create a hyperlink label that contains an & character, you must type the &
character twice where you want it to appear. For example, if you want to label the
hyperlink Tasks Assigned to John & Mary, type Tasks Assigned to John &&
Mary. If you type the & character only once, it will be omitted from the display on the
Home Page.

Note: If you try to add multiple hyperlinks with the same name within the same section, a
message will be displayed, prompting you to enter a different name for the second
hyperlink. You can, however, add multiple hyperlinks of the same name to different
sections.

3. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.

4. In the URL text box, type the URL of the hyperlink.

-or-

Click the button to use the URL Builder to construct the link.

Note: The URL can be for either an internal or external document. It must be the full
URL, including the protocol portion (e.g., http://www.meridium.com, not just
www.meridium.com).

5. Click OK.

The new hyperlink appears on the Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Hyperlink from the Edit Home

Page Section Window
To add a hyperlink to a section from the Edit Home Page Section dialog box:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the header of
the section in which you want to add the link, and click Edit Section.

The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

 2. Click the Add new hyperlink link.

The New Hyperlink dialog box appears.

3. In the What default name do you want to use to identify this hyperlink text box,
type a name for the link. This name is what will appear on the Home Page.

Note that to create a hyperlink label that contains an & character, you must type the &
character twice where you want it to appear. For example, if you want to label the
hyperlink Tasks Assigned to John & Mary, type Tasks Assigned to John &&
Mary. If you type the & character only once, it will be omitted from the display on the
Home Page.

Note: If you try to add multiple hyperlinks with the same name within the same section,
you will receive a message prompting you to enter a different name for the second
hyperlink. You can, however, add multiple hyperlinks of the same name to different
sections.

4. In the URL text box, type the URL of the hyperlink.

-or-

Click the button to use the URL Builder to construct the link.

Note: The URL can be for either an internal or external document. It must be the full
URL, including the protocol portion (e.g., http://www.meridium.com, not just
www.meridium.com).

5. Click OK.

The new hyperlink appears on the Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Link from Internet Explorer

To add a link from Internet Explorer:

1. Locate the link in Internet Explorer that you want to add to the Home Page.
2. Right-click the link in Internet Explorer, and click Copy Shortcut.

3. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the section
header of the section in which you want to add the hyperlink, and click Add new
hyperlink.

The New Hyperlink dialog box appears.

4. In the What default name do you want to use to identify this hyperlink text box,
type the desired name of the hyperlink.

Note that to create a hyperlink label that contains an & character, you must type the &
character twice where you want it to appear. For example, if you want to label the
hyperlink Tasks Assigned to John & Mary, type Tasks Assigned to John &&
Mary. If you type the & character only once, it will be omitted from the display on the
Home Page.

5. Right-click the URL text box, and click Paste.

The URL you copied from Internet Explorer appears in the text box.

6. Click OK.
The link appears in the selected section.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reorganizing Hyperlinks Within a

Section
Hyperlinks appear by default in the order in which you create them. But you can reorder
the links as desired. For example, you might prefer to arrange them alphabetically or
according to frequency of use.

To reorganize hyperlinks in a section:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the header of
the section whose hyperlinks you want to reorder, and click Edit Section.

The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

 2. In the Hyperlinks section, click the link that you want to move.
3. Using the arrow buttons that appear on the left side of the hyperlinks list, move
the link up or down as desired.

4. If desired, reorganize additional links.

5. When you are satisfied with the new arrangement, click OK.

The Home Page displays the links in the new order.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Editing a Hyperlink
To edit a hyperlink in a section:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the header of
the section that contains the link, and click Edit Section.

The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

2. In the Hyperlinks section, click the link that you want to edit.
3. Click the Edit Selected Hyperlink link.

The Edit Hyperlink dialog box appears.

 4. Modify the label and URL as desired, and click OK.

5. If desired, click the button to manage translations for that string.

The Home Page refreshes to reflect your changes.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Opening the Item Associated with a

Link
To open an item from a Home Page:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, click the link associated
with the item that you would like to open.

-or-

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the desired link,
and then click Open or Open in New Window. Choosing Open will open the item
in the current window, while Open in New Window displays the item in another
window. You may prefer to choose Open in New Window if you want to compare
several different items at the same time.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copying a Link From a Home Page

To copy a link from a Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the link, and
click Copy Shortcut.

2. In any location that accepts URLs within the Meridium APM Framework
application, such as the New Hyperlink dialog box, use the right-click option, and
select Paste from the menu that appears.

The copied URL appears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sending a Link to Someone via Email

To send a Home Page link to someone via email:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the desired link,
point to Send To, and then click Mail Recipient.

The Email Message dialog box appears.

 2. In the To text box, type the email address of the desired recipient.
3. Modify the CC and Subject fields if desired.

4. Modify the message if desired. The link is already included in the message by
default.

5. Click the Send button.

The message is sent to the specified recipient.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sending a Shortcut to the Desktop from

the Home Page
If you like, you can send to your desktop a shortcut to a Home Page link. If the link is an
internal Meridium APM link, when you launch the link from your desktop, you will be
prompted to log in to the Meridium APM Framework application, after which you will be
taken directly to that page.

To create a desktop shortcut to a Home Page item:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the link for
which you want to create a desktop shortcut.

2. On the shortcut menu, point to Send, and then click Desktop (Create Shortcut).

A shortcut is created on your desktop.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting a Hyperlink from a Section

To delete a hyperlink from a section:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Home Page, right-click the header of
the section that contains the link, and click Edit Section.

The Edit Home Page Section window appears.

 2. In the Hyperlinks section, click the link that you want to delete.

3. Click the Delete Selected Hyperlink link.

A confirmation message appears, asking you to confirm the deletion.

4. Click the Yes button.

5. On the Edit Home Page Section window, click OK.

The Home Page no longer displays the link.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is a Start Page?

A start page is any page in the Meridium APM Framework that you have configured to
appear automatically when you first log in. For example, if you use the Production Loss
Accounting (PLA) module frequently, you might want to set the PLA Start Page as your
start page so that it would appear automatically as soon as you logged in.

After you set a start page, you can access it from any page in the application by clicking
the My Start Page button the Meridium APM Framework toolbar.

Note that a start page is not the same thing as the Meridium APM Framework Home
Page. Until you set a custom start page, the Home Page will be set automatically as your
start page, but you can change your start page to any other page at any time. You can then
navigate back to that start page or the Home Page as needed.

If desired, you can reset your start page to the Home Page so that whenever you click the
My Start Page button, the Home Page will appear.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Setting Your Start Page

Most pages throughout the Meridium APM Framework application can be set as your
start page. In some cases, particularly in cases where you are viewing unsaved data or
objects (i.e., a new, unsaved query), the Set This Page as My Start Page option may not
be available. If you attempt to set a page as your start page and are unable to do so,
simply navigate to a different page, and try again.

When you set a page as your start page, accessing the page through the My Start Page
button will exhibit the same behavior as if you accessed the page through some other
access point. The behavior may not be exactly the same as when you set the page as your
start page. For example, when you access the Search page, the search type is set by
default to the last search that you used. If you set the Search page as your start page,
when you access it via the My Start Page button, it will have the same behavior (i.e., the
search type is set by default to the last search that you used). This may or may not be the
same search type that you were using when you set the Search page as your start pages.

To set any page as your start page:

 1. While viewing the page that you want to set as your start page, on the Meridium
APM Framework toolbar, click the down arrow on the My Start Page button, and
then click Set This Page as My Start Page.

A message appears, asking if you want to set the current page as your start page.

2. Click the Yes button.

The current page is set as your start page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing Your Start Page from Another

Page
To access your start page from another page:

• On the Meridium APM Framework toolbar, click the My Start Page button.

-or-

• In the Meridium APM Framework, press the Ctrl+H keys on your keyboard.

Your start page appears.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Resetting Your Start Page to the Home

Page
If you have set a start page, you can remove that start page setting by:

• Setting a different start page. To do so, on the desired page, you would simply
need to complete the same steps that you completed for setting the current start
page.
-or-

• Resetting your start page to the Home Page.

The following instructions explain how to reset your start page to the Home Page.

To remove your start page setting:

• On the Meridium APM Framework toolbar, click the down arrow on the My Start
Page button, and then click Reset to Home Page.

A message appears, indicating that your start page has been reset to the Meridium APM
Home Page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to the Catalog

The Catalog serves as the warehouse for storing items that you create and save to the
Meridium APM database. The Catalog is organized as a hierarchy of folders that contain
items such as queries, graphs, reports, searches, and datasets. You can open any item in
the Catalog by navigating through the hierarchy and opening the file.

Within the Catalog, items are grouped into the following types of folders:

• Personal folders: Contain items belonging to specific users. When you create an
item for your own personal use, you should store it in your Personal folder.
• Public folders: Contain items that can be accessed by any users with the necessary
folder permissions. When you create items that you want to share with other
users, you should save it to a Public folder.

• Baseline folders: Contain items that are provided as baseline Meridium APM
content. Baseline folders and items are visible only to Super Users, members of
the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group, and members of the MI Power
User Role Security Group. Items in Baseline folders are read-only, and you cannot
add items to or delete items from these folders. The Baseline folders are meant to
provide a static view of the Catalog items that were shipped with the baseline
product. If you ever need to revert to the baseline Catalog folder structure, you
can copy items from the Baseline folder to Public folders.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing the Catalog

The Catalog is accessible via the File menu, the Tools menu, and the Meridium APM
Framework toolbar.

To access the Catalog:

• On the Meridium APM Framework main menu, click File, and then click Catalog.

-or-

• On the Meridium APM Framework main menu, click Tools, and then click
Catalog.

-or-

• On the Meridium APM Framework toolbar, click the Catalog button.

The Catalog page appears.

The Catalog is also accessible through other, less direct methods, such as when you need
to select a Catalog item to complete a certain workflow. For example, the Catalog appears
when you save items and when you open certain items, such as queries. In most cases, if
you access the Catalog through a less direct method, the folder that you last accessed via
the Catalog page will be selected by default.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of the Catalog and Catalog

Hierarchy
When you first open the Catalog, you will see at least your Personal folder, which is
expanded by default.
 • If you are a Super User, a member of the MI Catalog Administrator Security
Group, or a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group, you will see
Personal folders belonging to other users.
• If you are a Super User, a member of the MI Catalog Administrator Security
Group, a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group, or a non-Super
User who has been given explicit permissions to the Public folder, you will see
the Public folder and its subfolders.

• If you are a Super User, a member of the MI Catalog Administrator Security

Group, or a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group, you will see the
Baseline folder and its subfolders.

The Catalog hierarchy appears in the left pane of the Catalog page. You can expand and
collapse the hierarchy by double-clicking the folders or by clicking the plus (+) and
minus (-) signs that appear to the left of the folder names. A plus sign means that a folder
is not expanded and contains subfolders. A minus sign indicates that a folder is fully
expanded. The absence of a plus or minus sign indicates that a folder does not contain
any subfolders. When you select a folder, the items in that folder appear in the right pane
of the page.

Catalog items are objects such as queries, reports, graphs, and datasets that are stored in
the Meridium APM database. Catalog items are displayed on the right side of the screen
when you select a folder on left. For each item, the following columns of information
appears:

• Name
• Caption

• Description

• Type

• Owner

• Last Update By

• Last Update Date

• Created By

• Created Date
This information is stored in and can be managed via the Catalog item properties. Catalog
items are sorted alphanumerically by default. You can sort the items by a different
column as desired.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Shortcut Menu

The shortcut menu in the Catalog provides options that you can use to perform tasks
related to Catalog folders and Catalog items. You can access the shortcut menu by right-
clicking:

• A folder in the Catalog hierarchy.

• A Catalog item in the right pane.

• Anywhere other than a specific Catalog item in the right pane. Only one option,
Search, is enabled when you access the shortcut menu in this way.

The following options are available on the shortcut menu in the Catalog:

• Create: Displays the Create Folder dialog box, where you can create a new folder
in the Catalog hierarchy. This option appears only when you right-click a folder in
the Catalog hierarchy.
• Open: Opens the selected folder or Catalog item. This option appears only when
you right-click a Catalog item.

• Search: Displays the Catalog Search dialog box, where you can search for items
in the Catalog. This option is available to you regardless of how you access the
shortcut menu in the Catalog.

• Copy: Copies the selected folder or Catalog item. This option is available when
you right-click a folder or Catalog item.

• Paste: Pastes a copy of the selected folder or Catalog item. This option is available
when you right-click a folder or Catalog item.

• Delete: Displays a confirmation message and then deletes the selected folder or
Catalog item. This option is available when you right-click a folder or Catalog
item.

• Rename: Displays the folder or Catalog item name in a text box, where you can
modify it. This option is available when you right-click a folder or Catalog item.
Note: The Rename option allows you to change the name of Catalog items only. If you
want to modify a Catalog item caption, including any translations defined for it, you can
do so via the Catalog Item Properties dialog box.

• Send To: Displays a submenu of options that let you provide a link to the current
page, on your desktop (create shortcut), in an email message, or on a Home Page.
This option only appears only when you right-click a Catalog item.
• Properties: Displays the Folder Properties dialog box (if you selected a Catalog
folder) or the Catalog Item Properties dialog box (if you selected a Catalog item),
where you can view and modify the properties of the selected item.

If you select multiple items using the Ctrl or Shift key, while all options that apply to a
single item appear on the shortcut menu, only the Copy, Paste, Delete, and Send To
options can be applied to multiple items.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personal Folders
Each Security User has a Personal folder, which can be viewed by that user, Super Users,
members of the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group, and members of the MI Power
User Role Security Group. By default, each Personal folder contains the following
subfolders:

• Datasets
• Graphs

• Queries

• Reports

• Searches

When you first access the Catalog, you will see at least your Personal folder. If you have
been given permission to access other folders, those folders will also be displayed in the
hierarchy.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Public Folder
The Catalog contains a Public folder, which contains items that can be shared with
multiple users. The Public folder and its subfolders have their own permission settings,
which determine who can view and modify their contents. If you do not have explicit
permissions to access the Public folder, it will be unavailable when you access the
Catalog. If you have been granted explicit permissions to access the Public folder, you
will be able to select and expand it to view one or more of the folders and items that are
stored within it, as shown in the following image.

Only the subfolders that you have been granted permission to access will be enabled. All
other folders will be disabled.

Note: While you may not be able to access the Public folder through the Catalog itself, all
users will be able to open and execute Catalog items that are stored within the Public
folder and that are used within module-specific workflows or accessible through
hyperlinks. In other words, even if a folder appears disabled when you view it in the
Catalog, you may be able to access the items within that folder if they are involved in a
workflow or hyperlink.

Note that the Public folder contains a Rules Library folder, which mimics the Rules
Library folder and contents as it is set up in the Configuration Manager. Only
administrative users should be allowed to view this folder in the Catalog. Be sure to set
up the Catalog folder permissions to restrict access to the Rules Library folder, as
appropriate.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Baseline Folder
The Catalog contains a Baseline folder, which contains the baseline Catalog items that are
provided by Meridium, Inc.. Baseline Catalog items are items that are included in the
baseline Meridium APM database. In other words, baseline items are those that will exist
in your system before any customization has been performed. In some cases, the baseline
items must be modified before they can be used effectively within your system. In other
cases, you can simply use the Catalog item as it is delivered without modifying it at all.
Note: The Rules Library folder exists in the Public folder but not the Baseline folder. The
Baseline folder is visible only to Super Users, members of the MI Catalog Administrator
Security Group, and members of the MI Power User Role Security Group.

Whenever new baseline items are added to the Catalog as part of a first-time installation,
an upgrade, or the addition of an add-on package, the items are added in two places: a
subfolder within the Baseline folder and a corresponding subfolder in the Public folder.
Wherever Meridium APM rules references the Catalog item, the rules reference the copy
in the Public folder.

This means that if you need to customize any of the baseline content, you will need to
modify the item in the Public folder. Items in a Baseline folder can be copied to Personal
or Public folders and modified there but cannot be modified within the Baseline folder
itself. If you ever need to restore the original, baseline functionality, you can simply copy
the item from the Baseline folder and paste it into the Public folder.

Whenever you upgrade to a new version of Meridium APM, new baseline Catalog items
will be delivered both to the Baseline folder and to the Public folder. If the new version of
Meridium APM includes baseline Catalog items that have been modified by Meridium,
Inc., the items in the Baseline folder will be overwritten with the modified content. If you
have customized the corresponding item in the Public folder, Meridium APM rule logic
will not modify the Public folder item. To use the new, baseline functionality, you will
need to copy the updated item from the Baseline folder to the Public folder manually.

Note: If you have customized an item in the Public folder and the item is removed from
the Baseline folder during an upgrade, your customized item will also get removed from
the Public folder if it has the same name as the Baseline item. This means that if you want
to retain changes to customized content that Meridium, Inc. has removed in a newer
version, before you upgrade to that version, you should export the item so that you can
import it after the upgrade is complete.

For example, assume that you have customized the Enterprise Analysis List query in the
Catalog folder \\Public\Meridium\Modules\RCM. Now assume that you are upgrading to
a new version of Meridium APM in which we provide an updated version of the baseline
Enterprise Analysis List query. When you upgrade, the old baseline Enterprise Analysis
List query in the Catalog folder \\Baseline\Meridium\Modules\RCM will be overwritten
with the updated Enterprise Analysis List query. Your customized query in the Catalog
folder \\Public\Meridium\Modules\RCM will, however, not be updated.

Note: A deletion is interpreted by Meridium APM rule logic as a form of customization.

This means that if you delete a Catalog item from the Public folder, that item will not be
added back to the Public folder by an upgrade.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Viewing and Modifying Folder

Properties
Folder properties store information about a folder, such as the date the folder was created,
the name of the user who created it, and information about when the folder was last
modified. Any user who has at least View/Execute permissions to a Public folder or
subfolder can view the folder properties. Only Super Users, members of the MI Catalog
Administrator Security Group, and members of the MI Power User Role Security Group
can modify Public folder properties.

To view or modify the properties of a folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog hierarchy, navigate to the folder
whose properties you want to view.
2. Right-click the folder, and click Properties.

The Folder Properties dialog box appears, displaying also a Permissions tab so that you
can view and modify the user permissions for that folder. This tab is visible only to Super
Users, members of the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group, and members of the MI
Power User Role Security Group.
The Permissions tab does not appear on the Folder Properties dialog box for Personal
folders.

3. If desired, modify the Name and Description. The Last Updated fields are read-
only and are updated automatically when changes are made to the folder.

Note: You cannot modify the name and description of Baseline folders.

4. Click OK.

Your changes are saved, and the Folder Properties dialog box closes.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Public Folder

Permissions
Security permissions for the Public folder and its subfolders determine who has the
ability to view and modify those folders and their contents. You can set permissions for
the Public folder on the Permissions tab of the Folder Properties window.

Only Super Users, members of the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group, and
members of the MI Power User Role Security Group can see the Permissions tab and,
therefore, manage the permissions for the Public folder and subfolders.
The list on the Permissions tab shows which Security Users and Security Groups already
have access to a given Public folder. It does not, however, list Super Users, members of
the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group, or members of the MI Power User Role
Security Group because permission to Public folders is implied for those users. In
addition, all Security Users are granted inherent execute permissions on the Public folder
and subfolders. These permissions are not displayed on the Permissions tab. All other
folder permissions must be set explicitly for ALL other Security Users.

Public folder permissions can be set at any level and optionally spread to the subfolders
that exist within that folder using the Spread check box for the appropriate permission
level. Permissions that have been spread from a higher-level folder will not appear in the
Select a User or Group list when you access the Folder Properties window for the
subfolder.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Automatic Public Folder

Permissions
All Security Users automatically have inherent execute permissions for all Public Catalog
folders and its subfolders. This means that all users can execute Public Catalog items as
part of module-specific workflows and through hyperlinks without being granted explicit
permissions to the Public folder and subfolders.

Note that explicit View/Execute permissions must be granted to any Security User who
should be allowed to access a Public folder and its items through the Catalog itself. The
Public folder will not be accessible to users who have only inherent execute permissions.
In other words, while the user may be able to open an item using a hyperlink or other
interface control, that user will not be able to open the item through the Catalog.

Note: Inherent execute permissions are not displayed on the Permissions tab of the Folder
Properties window.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Setting Folder Permissions

Besides inherent execute permissions and permissions that are granted Super Users,
members of the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group, or members of the MI Power
User Role Security Group, all other Public Catalog folder permissions must be granted
explicitly to Security Users and Security Groups. The following permissions levels are
available and correspond to options that appear on the Permissions tab of the Folder
Properties window:

• Create: Allows a Security User or Security Group to create items in the folder.

Note: Granting Create permissions will allow a Security User or Security Group to create
only Catalog items, not Catalog folders. Only Super Users or members of the MI Catalog
Administrator Security Group can create subfolders within the Public folder.

• View/Execute: Allows a Security User or Security Group to view or execute items

within the folder.
• Edit Items section: Determines a Security User or Security Group's ability to
modify items within a given folder. The following options are available for this
permission level:

•
o None: Restricts a Security User or Security Group from modifying any
items within the folder.

o Own: Lets a Security User or Security Group modify only the items they
own.

Hint: By default, the Security User who first saved a Catalog item owns it. Ownership
can be transferred to another user after the item is saved.

•
o All: Lets a Security User or Security Group modify all items within a
folder, regardless of ownership.

• Delete Items sections: Determines a Security User or Security Group's ability to

delete items within a given folder. The following options are available for this
permission level:

•
o None: Restricts a Security User or Security Group from deleting any items
within the folder.

o Own: Lets a Security User or Security Group delete only the items they
own.

o All: Lets a Security User or Security Group delete all item within the
folder, regardless of ownership.
Each permission level is represented by options in the Permissions area on the
Permissions tab of the Folder Properties window. You will notice that for each set of
options, the Spread check box is available. Selecting this check box will cause the
associated permissions to be inherited by all subfolders of the current folder.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Granting a User Permission to Access

the Public Folder
You can use the following instructions to grant a Security User permission to access a
Public folder or subfolder. Note that if you want to grant permissions to a subfolder, the
Security User must also have permissions on the folder to which that subfolder belongs.
For example, a Security User who has View permissions on a subfolder will be able to
view that folder only if View permissions have also been granted on the folder in which
the subfolder is stored.

To allow a Security User access to the Public folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the Public folder for
which you want to set permissions, and click Properties.

The Folder Properties window appears.

2. Click the Permissions tab.

3. Click the Add User button.

The Users dialog box appears.

 4. Click the User ID of the user to whom you want to grant access to the Public
folder.

The user is added to the list on the Folder Properties dialog box.

5. Set the desired permissions for the user, and click OK.

The permission settings are saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Granting a Group Permission to Access
the Public Folder
You can use the following instructions to grant a Security Group permission to access a
Public folder or subfolder. Note that if you want to grant permissions to a subfolder, the
Security Group must also have permissions on the main folder. For example, a Security
Group who has View permissions on a subfolder will be able to view that folder only if
View permissions have also been granted on the folder in which the subfolder is stored.

To allow a Security Group access to the Public folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the Public folder for
which you want to set permissions, and click Properties.

The Folder Properties dialog box appears.

2. Click the Permissions tab.

3. Click the Add Group button.

The Select a Group dialog box appears.

Note: This list displays ALL Security Groups that exist in the database, including inactive
groups.

4. Select the check box next to the group(s) to which you want to grant access to the
Public folder, and click OK.

The groups appear in the list on the Folder Properties dialog box.

5. Set the permissions for the group(s), and click OK.

The permission settings are saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modifying Permissions for a User or

Group That Already Has Access to a
Folder
To modify the permissions for a Security User or Security Group that already has access
to a Public folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the Public folder for
which you want to set permissions, and click Properties.

The Folder Properties window appears.

2. Click the Permissions tab.

3. In the Select a User or Group list, highlight the Security User or Security Group
whose permissions you want to modify.

4. In the Permissions section, select the options which you want to apply to the
selected Security User or Security Group.

5. Click OK.

The permission settings are saved.

Note: If you selected the Spread check box for any of the permissions, those permissions
are spread to the subfolders in the selected folder, however, when you view the Folder
Properties dialog box for a subfolder of the selected folder, the name of the user or group
whose permissions were spread will not appear in the list.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Revoking Access to the Public Folder

Note: You can remove a Security User or Group from the list of Public folder permissions
only if you are a Super User, a member of the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group,
or a member of the MI Power User Role Security Group.

To remove a Security User or Security Group from the list of Public folder permissions:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the Public folder for
which you want to set permissions, and click Properties.

The Folder Properties dialog box appears.

2. Click the Permissions tab.

3. Highlight the Security User or Security Group that you want to remove, and click
the Remove button.

The Security User or Security Group is removed from the list.

4. Click OK.

The deletion is saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating Folders in the Catalog

Your privileges determine your ability to create new folders. With the lowest level of
privileges, you will be able to create a folder only in your own Personal folder. With the
appropriate permissions and user status (e.g., Super User), you can also create new
folders in other Personal folders and in the Public folder. Note that you cannot create
folders in the Baseline folder.
To create a folder in the Catalog:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog hierarchy, navigate to the folder
under which you want to add the new folder.
2. Right-click the folder, and then click Create.

The Create Folder dialog box appears.

3. In the Name text box, type a name for the folder.

Note: Catalog folder names must be unique. Additionally, Catalog folder names are case
insensitive. This means that you would not be able to create a new subfolder within your
Personal folder named MY QUERIES if another subfolder named My queries already
existed within your Personal folder.

4. In the Description text box, type a description of the new folder.

5. Click OK.

The new folder is saved and appears in the Catalog.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Moving Folders
You can reorganize folders in the Catalog as desired. Note that when you move a folder,
all the subfolders will be moved with it. Note, however, that you cannot move folders in
the Baseline folder.

To move a folder in the Catalog:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog hierarchy, navigate to the folder
that you want to move.

2. Click the folder, drag it to the desired destination, and then release the mouse
button.

The Catalog folder appears in the new location.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copying Folders
If desired, you can copy a folder and its contents and paste it under another folder. Note
that subfolders can be copied and pasted only within the same Personal or Public folder.
Folders cannot be copied and pasted between Personal and Public folders. Baseline
folders cannot be copied, but individual items within the Baseline folders can be copied.

Note: Folder names must be unique within the root folder. To copy a folder with the same
name of one that already exists in the destination folder, you must first rename one of the
folders.

To copy a folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog hierarchy, navigate to the folder
that you want to copy.
2. Right-click the folder, and click Copy.

3. Navigate to the folder in which you want to paste the copied folder.

4. Right-click the folder, and click Paste.

The copied folder and its contents are pasted to the selected folder.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Renaming Folders
Note that you can rename Personal or Public folders only. You cannot rename Baseline
folders.

To change the name of a folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog hierarchy, right-click the folder
that you want to rename, and click Rename.

The folder name becomes editable.

2. Edit the name as desired. The folder name is case-insensitive and must be unique
within the root folder. This means that you would not be able to rename a
subfolder within your Personal folder as MY QUERIES if another subfolder
named My queries already existed within your Personal folder.

3. Press Enter, or click anywhere else on the screen.

Your changes are saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting Folders
Deleting a folder will remove the folder and its sub-folders from the Catalog. You can
delete Personal and Public folders only. You cannot delete Baseline folders.

To delete a folder from the Catalog:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog hierarchy, right-click the folder
that you want to delete, and click Delete.

A message appears, asking you to confirm the deletion.

2. Click the Yes button.

The folder and all its subfolders are deleted from the Catalog.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Are Catalog Items?

Catalog items are objects that are stored in the Meridium APM Catalog and can be
accessed through various interfaces in the Meridium APM Framework. For example,
when you create a query and save it, it is stored as a Meridium APM Catalog item so that
you can open it again later to view the results or modify the query design.

The following table provides a list of the item types that are supported in the Meridium
APM Catalog. Each item type has a corresponding icon, which is used to identify items
of that type on the Catalog page.

Ico
Item Type
n

Dashboard

Dataset

Explorer

Graph

Metric
View

Query

Report

Rule
Project

Search

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 About Saving Items to the Catalog
In the Meridium APM Framework application, you can create various types of items,
such as queries, graphs, reports, searches, and datasets. As you create and modify these
items, you can save them to the Catalog.

You will know that you are allowed to save an item to the Catalog when the Save and
Save As options becomes enabled on a task menu. For example, the following figure
shows the Common Tasks menu for a graph, where the Save and Save As commands are
enabled.

In addition, when you are allowed to save the current item, the Save and Save As
commands will become enabled on the File menu.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Opening Catalog Items

To open an item in the Catalog:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, expand the available folders
until you find the folder in which the item is stored.

2. Click the folder.

The items stored in that folder appear in the right pane of the page.

3. Double-click the item that you want to open.

-or-

Right-click the item, and click Open.

The item opens.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Copying Items
You can copy any item in the Catalog to another folder in the Catalog. Note that within a
Catalog folder, all the item names must be unique. If you want to copy to one Catalog
folder an item with the same name as an item that already exists in that folder, you will
need to rename the item. Note that you can copy items from the Baseline folder and paste
them into Personal and Public folders, but you cannot paste items into the Baseline folder.

Note: You should not copy and paste items to or from the Rules Library folder. This
folder is meant for viewing purposes only.

To copy an item from one folder to another:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, expand the Catalog hierarchy
until you find the item that you want to copy.
2. Right-click the item, and click Copy.

3. In the Catalog hierarchy, navigate to the folder in which you want to paste the
item.

4. Right-click the folder, and click Paste.

A copy of the item is pasted into the folder.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Moving Catalog Items

Note: You cannot move an item to a Baseline folder.
To move a Catalog item:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, click the item that you want to
move, drag it to the desired location, and then release the mouse button.

The Catalog item appears in the new location.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Renaming Items
You can rename any item in a Personal or Public folder in the Catalog. Note that within a
Catalog folder, item names must be unique. If you rename an item, you must choose a
name that is not already being used by another item in the same folder. If an item name
uses one case construction, you cannot rename another item within the same folder using
the same name with a different case construction.

The instructions in this topic provide information on changing the name of a Catalog item
only. If you want to modify the caption of a Catalog item, you can do so via the Catalog
Item Properties dialog box, where you can also modify the Catalog item name.

Note: Renaming an item from the Catalog will cause any hyperlinks that use the old
name to be non-functional. You will need to modify these links manually to use the new
name.

To rename an item:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the item that you
want to rename, and click Rename.

The item name becomes editable.

2. Edit the name as desired. The name must be unique within the folder.

3. Press Enter, or click anywhere else on the screen.

Your changes are saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Searching for Items with the Catalog
Search Feature
To find an item in the Catalog:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the folder that you
want to search, and click Search.

The Catalog Search dialog box appears.

2. In the Search for items named text box, type the string that you want to find. The
results will include items that contain the search string anywhere in their name.
For example, if you type heat, your results will include items such as Heat
Exchanger Query and Air Cooled Heat Exchanger Query. This field does not
search Catalog item captions.

Hint: You can use wild card characters * (asterisk) and % (percent sign) to find your term
at the beginning (e.g., heat*) or end (e.g., *heat) of the item name. Both wild cards work
the same way.

3. If you want to include additional folders in your search, click the Browse button.
The Select Folders dialog box will appear where you can select additional folders
for your search. Select the check boxes next to the folders that you want to
include, and click OK.
Note: Subfolders will be searched automatically unless you click the Browse button and
clear the Search subfolders check box on the Select Folders dialog box.

4. Click the Find Now button.

Your search results are appended to the Catalog Search dialog box.

5. Double-click any item to open it.

The item appears on the appropriate interface. For example, if you opened a query, it will
appear on the Query Builder page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Executing a Catalog Search Using a
URL
A link constructed from a Catalog Search URL will execute a search of the Catalog and
return a list of items that meet the specified search criteria. You can use a Catalog Search
URL to return a list of all items that may reside in various folders instead of having to
navigate to or search for them manually. For example, you might configure a URL that
searches the Catalog and returns a list of Catalog items that reside in specific folders,
providing you with quick access to a set of Catalog items.

Additionally, the Catalog Search URL provides a customized view of the items retrieved
by the search. For example, if you use the manual Catalog search feature to find and open
a saved query, the query will open on the Query Builder page, where it can be modified.
If you use the Catalog Search URL to return a list of queries, however, instead of opening
in a modifiable mode, any query listed in the output will execute in a view-only mode,
where the results will be displayed but the query cannot be modified.

Note that when the query is accessed using the Catalog Search URL, the Common Tasks
menu allows you only to print the results. You do not have the same options that are
available on the standard Query Builder page.

You can also use the Catalog Search URL to customize various Meridium APM product
pages and the results that appear on them. For example, if you want to create a link on
your Home Page that takes you to the Inspection Manage Documents page but you want
that page to return only saved searches and queries within a certain Personal folder
instead of returning all saved searches and queries (as the page is configured to do by
Meridium APM), you can configure the link using the
Meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search URL.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Properties Defined for Each Catalog

Item
The following properties exist for each Catalog item. Some of these properties can be
defined when you create a new Catalog item. Others can be managed via the Catalog
Item Properties dialog box.
 • Name: The name of the item. Catalog item names are required, must be unique
within a given folder, and should not contain the following characters:
•
 % (percent sign) followed by two hexadecimal digits (0-9, a-f)

 [ ] (square brackets) - applies to queries only

If you create a Catalog item that contains any of these characters and then try to create a
hyperlink to that item, when you try to open the item using the link, an error message will
be displayed.

• Caption: The translatable value that will be displayed to identify the Catalog item
in most areas of the Meridium APM products. A default caption is required for all

Catalog items. You can click the button to translate the Catalog item caption
for other languages.
• Description: A description of the Catalog item.

• Type: The type of Catalog item, which is also identified by an icon that appears to
the left of the name when you are viewing the item on the Catalog page.

• Owner: The name of the user who first saved the item. Item ownership is useful
for items stored in the Public folder, which can be viewed and modified by
multiple users.

• Last Update By: The name of the user who last modified the item.

• Last Update Date: The date the item was last modified. You can sort the values in
this column in descending or ascending chronological order by clicking the
column header.

• Created By: The name of the user who created the item.

• Created Date: The date the item was created. You can sort the values in this
column in descending or ascending chronological order by clicking the column
header.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Viewing and Modifying the Properties of

an Item
You can view the properties of any Catalog item in any folder. If you have the necessary
permissions, you can modify the name, caption, and description of any Catalog item. All
other properties are read-only and are updated when various actions are performed
against the Catalog item. Additionally, via the Catalog Item Properties dialog box, you
can transfer ownership of Catalog items.

To view or edit the properties of an item:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the item whose
properties you want to view or update, and then click Properties.

The Catalog Item Properties dialog box appears.

2. Modify the properties as desired.

3. Click OK.

Your changes are saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transferring Ownership of an Item

All Catalog items have a designated owner. In Personal folders, all items are owned by
the user to whom the folder belongs. In the Public folder, which can be viewed and
modified by multiple users, you can specify the owner of each item.

To transfer ownership of an item in the Public folder, the permissions for the folder in
which the item is stored must be set to Own (to transfer ownership of your own items) or
All (to transfer ownership of anyone's items).

To transfer ownership of an item in the Public folder:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, right-click the item whose
ownership you want to modify, and click Properties.

The Catalog Item Properties dialog box appears.

 2. Click the Transfer button.

The Users dialog box appears.

3. Click the User ID of the user who you want to assign as the owner.

The Users dialog box closes, and the Item Properties dialog box is updated to
reflect the ownership change.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting Items from the Catalog

You can permanently remove an item from the database by deleting it from the Catalog.

When deleting Catalog items, note that:

• You cannot delete items in the Baseline folder.

• You cannot delete items that are being used by other items. This means, for
example, that if a graph is based on a query, you can delete that query only if you
first delete the graph. Similarly, if a report is associated with a specific family in
the Configuration Manager, you must first remove the association to the family
via the Configuration Manager application.

Note: Deleting an item from the Catalog does not delete any corresponding hyperlinks.
You must delete all hyperlinks manually. Links that are not deleted will be non-
functional.

To delete an item from the Catalog:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Catalog, navigate to the item that you
want to delete.

2. Right-click the item, and click Delete.

A message appears, asking you to confirm the deletion.

3. Click the Yes button.

The item is deleted from the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Specifying Catalog Folder Paths Within

URLs
In some URLs, you can use parameters to specify Catalog folder paths, which indicate
what will be opened by the URL when someone clicks the link. For example, in a query
URL, for the QueryPath parameter, you can define a Catalog folder path to specify which
query will be opened when a user clicks the link.

For any URL parameter that accepts a Catalog folder path as a value, you can specify the
path to any item for which you know the full path. To specify the Catalog folder path to a
Personal folder, you must know the User ID of the Security User to whom the Personal
folder belongs. Note that User IDs are not displayed in the Catalog. Instead, Personal
folders are labeled using the first and last name of the Security User.

To specify the path to a Public Catalog folder, you would use a construction similar to the
following example:

• \\Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Reports\Finding Report

This path points to the Finding Report in the hierarchy represented by the following
image.
To specify the path to a Personal folder, you would use a construction similar to the
following example:

\\Personal [AJDuncan]\Queries\Work Order

In this example, the path points to the Work Order query in the Personal folder that
belongs to the Security User whose User ID is AJDuncan. In the following image, you
can see that the Personal folder belongs to the Security User Duncan, Amy.

Note: We recommend that you not construct URLs that point to items in the Baseline
folder. Only a limited number of users will have access to this folder (i.e., only Super
Users and members of the MI Catalog Administrator Security Group).

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Using the URL Builder to Create a Link

to a Catalog Item
These instructions assume that you have already accessed the URL Builder and have
chosen to create an internal Meridium APM URL.

To complete the steps in the URL Builder to create a link to an item in the Catalog:

1. In the URL Builder, on the Select URL screen, select Registry Catalog, and click
the Next button.

The Catalog Item screen appears.

2. Click the Browse button.

The Open Catalog Item dialog box appears.

3. Navigate to the desired item, select it, and click the Open button.

The selected search appears in the field on the Catalog Item screen.

4. In the URL Builder, click the Finish button.

The hyperlink is created.

 V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Parameters for the Catalog Search URL

The URL for opening the Catalog is meridium://Registry/Catalog. The URL path
Registry/Catalog accepts no parameters. A second address related to the Catalog is
meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search. It allows you to perform a search of the Catalog and
view a list of items retrieved by the search. In the following table, we list and describe the
parameters that are accepted by the meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search path. With no
parameters, the path will launch the Catalog Search page, displaying a link to the Search
page.

Note that whenever you use the meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search URL to open an

existing query, if the query contains one or more prompts, you can pass values in for the
prompts via the URL.

Parameter
Description Accepted Value(s) Notes
Name

By default, four columns are

displayed in the grid on the
n,n,n,n,
Catalog Search page in the
Determines
following order: ID,
which Where each n is 1 or
Description, Path, and Type. The
ColumnIndicies columns you -1 (negative 1),
ColumnIndicies parameter lets
want to depending on
you specify which of these
display in the whether you want
columns should be hidden. You
grid on the the corresponding
should use this parameter only if
Catalog column to display
you want to hide one or more
Search page. (1) or not (-1).
columns. If you omit this
parameter, all columns will be
displayed.

FolderPaths Searches for The path(s) to the When you use the FolderPaths
items in a folder in which you parameter, you should also use
specified want to search. the ItemTypes parameter to
folder. specify which items you want to
retrieve from the specified
folder. You can use multiple
instances of the FolderPaths
parameter, but each occurrence
 should be used in conjunction
with an ItemTypes parameter.
QERY (queries)

SRCH (searches)

DSET (dataset) The ItemsTypes parameter

should be used in combination
ItemTypes Returns items REPT (report) with the FolderPaths parameter
of the to return items of a given type
specified GRPH (graph) from the specified folder. You
type. can specify multiple values for
MMVW (Metric the ItemTypes parameter, each
View) separated by a comma.

EXPL (configured
explorers)

Specifies the
This feature allows you to
text that you
construct a link and make it
want to
appear to be integrated with a
display under
particular Meridium APM
the Meridium The text that you
Module module. For example, specify
APM logo in want to appear.
Metrics to make the Catalog
the side bar
Search page appear to be
of the
integrated with other Metrics
Catalog
features.
Search page.

Automaticall
The path and file
y executes Use this parameter when
name of the item
Open the specified ItemType=QERY or when
that you want to
search or ItemType=SRCH.
open.
query.
EntityData • EntityData: Opens a
QueryMode Returns the saved, formatted query in
specified type EntityFormattedDat unformatted mode.
of data for all a
queries. • EntityFormattedData:
RawData Opens an unformatted query
in formatted mode.

• RawData: Opens a query

in unformatted mode,
regardless of how it was
 saved.

QueryName Displays the The name you specify will

The name of the
query name appear on the Catalog Search
query as you want it
in the user page in the text that appears
to appear.
help text. above the results grid.

This parameter will also accept

the value Y to show the Finder
link. If you want to include the
Lets you hide N
link to the Search page,
the Finder
ShowFinder however, simply omit this
link in the
parameter altogether. If you do
results set.
not include this parameter, the
Finder link will be displayed by
default.

The Site Map will be

constructed using the links that
you specify. You can specify
multiple links, if desired, each
Displays the
<link separated with a comma. You
SiteMap site map that
label>+<URL> can insert a + (plus sign) at the
you specify.
end of the URL to disable the
last item in the site map (i.e., the
portion of the site map that
shows the current location).

Forces the
hyperlink IDs
of all
The URL to which
returned
each item in the
URLTemplate results to None
results should be
direct the
linked.
user to a
specified
location.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples of the Catalog Search URL

 • meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search?
Open=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\InspectionQuery

Automatically executes the queries in the Catalog folder

\\Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\InspectionQuery.

• meridium://registry/catalog/search?
Open=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document Queries\All Equipment
That Can Have Inspections&Module=Inspection Manager

Displays the text Inspection Manager under the Meridium APM logo in the side bar of
the results.

• meridium://registry/catalog/search?
Open=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document Queries\All Equipment
That Can Have Inspections&QueryMode=RawData

Returns the specified query in a raw data mode with no formatting.

• meridium://registry/catalog/search?
Open=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document Queries\All Equipment
That Can Have Inspections&QueryName=All Equipment That Can Have
Inspections

Displays the query name All Equipment That Can Have Inspections in the text below the
page name.

• meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search?
FolderPaths=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document
Queries&ItemTypes=QERY,SRCH

Returns all queries and searches in the Catalog folder

\\Public\Meridium\Modules\InspectionDocument Queries.

• meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search?
FolderPaths=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document
Queries&ItemTypes=QERY&SiteMap=Inspection+meridium://Inspection,Search
UI+meridium://Registry/Catalog/Search

Displays a Site Map with two links: Inspection, which opens the Inspection Start Page,
and SearchUI, which opens the Catalog Search page.

• meridium://registry/catalog/search?
FolderPaths=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document
Queries&ItemTypes=QERY&ColumnIndicies=1,1,-1,1
Returns all queries in the Catalog folder
\\Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document Queries and hides the third column on
the Catalog Search page, Path.

• meridium://registry/catalog/search?
FolderPaths=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document
Queries&ItemTypes=QERY&UrlTemplate=meridium://Inspection/Administration

Forces the returned hyperlink IDs of all queries in the Catalog folder
\\Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document Queries to launch the Inspection
Administration page.

• meridium://registry/catalog/search?
FolderPaths=Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document
Queries&ItemTypes=QERY&ShowFinder=N

Displays in the results all the queries that are stored in the Catalog folder
\\Public\Meridium\Modules\Inspection\Document Queries but does not display the
Finder link.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Send To Feature

The Send To feature allows you to easily generate a link that provides direct access to any
page in the Meridium APM Framework application. Nearly every page in the Meridium
APM Framework provides access to the Send To feature. You can use this feature to
generate a link to the current page and put it on to a Meridium APM Home Page, send it
to someone in an email message, or create a desktop shortcut.

Wherever this feature is available, it is accessible via the Send To link on a task menu
(typically the Common Tasks menu). When you click the Send To link, a submenu
appears, displaying three options: Home Page, Mail Recipient, and Desktop (create
shortcut). For example, the following figure shows the Send To options for queries.

When you use the Send To feature, the Meridium APM system will construct a URL that
references the current page and send it to the location that you specific. The content and
syntax of the URL will vary, depending upon the page that you are viewing and will
uniquely identify that page and the associated entity or object within the system so that it
can be accessed again through the link that is created.

Note: While this feature is available on most pages in the Meridium APM Framework
application, wherever you are viewing Catalog items or entities, those objects must be
saved before the Send To feature will be available. The Send To link will typically be
disabled if you are viewing a page that contains an unsaved entity or Catalog item.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sending a Link to a Home Page

The following instructions provide details on sending a link to a page in the Meridium
APM Framework to a Personal or Group Home Page. If you are a Super User, you can
send a link to your Personal Home Page, another user's Personal Home Page, or a Group
Home Page. If you are not a Super User, you can send a link only to your Personal Home
Page.

Note: The following instructions assume that you are a Super User or a member of the MI
Power User Role Security Group. If you are not a Super User or a member of the MI
Power User Role Security Group, skip Steps 2 and 3 and go directly to Step 4.

To send a link to a Home Page:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the appropriate task menu, click Send To,
and then click Home Page.

The Send To Home Page - Select Home Page dialog box appears.

2. Choose one of the three option buttons:

•
• Personal Home Page: Sends the link to your Personal Home Page.

• Groups: Sends the link to the Home Page of the group that you select in
the Groups list.

• Users: Sends the link to the Personal Home Page of the user that you
select in the Users list.

3. Click OK.
The Send To Home Page: Select Section dialog box appears.

Note the following:

• If there are currently no sections available on the selected Home Page, you will
receive a message indicating that the Home Page must have at least one section,
and the message will prompt you to create a personal section.

Click the Yes button to create a personal section. The Customize Home Page Sections
dialog box appears, allowing you to create a local or shared section.

-or-

If there is currently no Home Page available (if you selected to send the link to a specific
user's Home Page), you will receive a message indicating that a Home Page does not
exist for the user, and the message will ask if you want the system to create a Home Page
for that user.

Click OK to create a Home Page for that user.

4. Click the down arrow and select the section where you want to send the link.

5. Click OK.

The link is sent to the Home Page section that you selected.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sending a Link to Someone Via Email

When you use the Send To feature to send a link to someone via email, the URL for the
current page will be sent to the specified email recipient through email. For the recipient
to access the page referenced by the URL, that person must have access to the Meridium
APM Framework application and must have a valid Meridium APM Security User
account in order to log in.

To send a link to an item via email message:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the appropriate task menu, click Send To,
and then click Mail Recipient.

The Email Message dialog box appears.

Note: The name of the data source to which you are currently logged in appears in the
URL by default.

2. In the To text box, type the email address of the desired recipient.
3. Modify the CC and Subject fields if desired.

4. Add to the message if desired. The link is already included in the message by
default.

5. Click the Send button.

The message is sent to the specified recipient.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating a Desktop Shortcut to a Page

You can use the Send To feature to create a desktop shortcut to any page in the Meridium
APM Framework. When you open the shortcut:

• If you are not logged in already, you will be prompted to log in to the Meridium
APM Framework application, and then the page will appear.

• If you are already logged in, the current page will be refreshed to display the page
referenced by the shortcut.

Note that the URL that is created for the desktop shortcut will include the name of the
data source that was in use at the time the shortcut was created. This will cause that data
source to be selected by default when you launch the Meridium APM Framework using
that shortcut. If, while you are currently logged in to the Meridium APM Framework, you
access a shortcut that was created using a data source other than the one you are currently
using, the shortcut may or may not work properly.

When you use the Send To feature to create a desktop shortcut, information about the
page that you are currently viewing is passed from the Meridium APM Framework
application to the Microsoft Windows operating system to create the shortcut. In addition
to passing the URL to the shortcut, values that identify the page are also used to create
the file name and description for the shortcut. The specific values that are passed to the
shortcut vary, depending upon the page that you are viewing. For example, when you
create a shortcut to record in the Record Manager, the Record ID is passed to the shortcut
and included in the description. The following special characters are not supported in
Windows file names and will be replaced with an underscore if they are passed into the
file name or description of the desktop shortcut:

• \
• /

• :

• *

• ?

• "

• <

• >

• |
Therefore, when you view the shortcut after it has been created, the value that is used to
identify it on your desktop may vary slightly from the value that you saw in the Meridium
APM Framework.

To create a desktop shortcut to a page in the Meridium APM Framework application:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the appropriate task menu, click Send To,
and then click Desktop (create shortcut).

A shortcut is created on your desktop.


 If the shortcut was created successfully, a confirmation message will not
appear.

 If the Meridium APM system encountered an error while attempting to

create the shortcut, an error message should appear.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Printing Information

Throughout the Meridium APM Framework application, you can print various
information, such as the results of a search or a query. Whenever you are allowed to print
the current page, the Print link will be enabled on a task menu. For example, the
following figure shows the Common Tasks menu for the Query Builder, where the Print
Query link is enabled.
Additionally, whenever you are allowed to print the current page, the Print command will
be enabled on the File menu.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Printing Information
To print the information you are currently viewing:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the appropriate task menu, click the Print
link.

-or-

On the File menu, click Print.

1.

o If you are viewing information that has already been formatted for printing
and should not require adjustments (e.g., a report or a graph), the Print
dialog box appears.

-or-

1.
o If you are viewing information that you can adjust prior to printing (e.g.,
query or search results), the Preview window appears. Format the
information as needed, and then click the Print icon to display the Print
dialog box.

2. In the Name list, select the printer to which you want to print.

3. If desired, click the Properties button to adjust the settings of the selected printer.

4. Specify the desired Print range, and choose the Number of copies.

5. Click OK.

The information prints to the selected printer.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Preview Window

The Preview window displays a preview of how information will look when it is printed.

Generally, the Preview window appears when you print information that has not been
pre-formatted for printing. For example, the Preview window will appear when you print
query results (which are not formatted) but not when you print a report (which are
formatted according to the selected template).

At the top of the window, a toolbar appears, offering you various options. The following
table lists and describes each of the toolbar buttons.

Image Label Description

Displays the Find dialog box, where you can search for
Search
specific words or phrases within the Preview window.

Displays the Open dialog box, where you can browse for and
Open open the file that you want to view in the Preview window.
Note that you can open only files with the .prnx extension.

Displays the Save As dialog box, where you can save the
Save
content of the Preview window.

Displays the Print dialog box, where you can specify printing
Print...
options and print the current information.

Prints the current information using the default print settings

Print
(i.e., bypasses the Print dialog box).

Displays the Page Setup dialog box, where you can choose
Page Setup
various aspects of the page formatting.

Header and Displays the Header and Footer dialog box, where you can
Footer define various aspects of the header and footer.

Displays the Scaling dialog box, where you can adjust the
Scale
scale of the content of the Preview window.

Hand Tool Displays the hand hand pointer, which lets you drag the
 content of the Preview window.

Changes your mouse pointer to a magnifying glass. Click the

Magnifier
desired area to zoom in or out.

Zoom Out Decreases the magnification of the preview.

Displays a submenu of magnification options. Click an option

Zoom
to zoom in or our as desired.

Zoom In Increases the magnification of the preview.

First Page Takes you to the first page.

Previous
Takes you to the previous page.
Page

Next Page Takes you to the next page.

Last Page Takes you to the last page.

Multiple Displays a submenu, which you can use to select the number
Pages of pages that you want to view at once.

Displays a submenu, where you can choose a background

Color
color for the printed information.

Displays the Watermark window, where you can select the

Watermark watermark that you want to add to the content of the Preview
window.

Displays a submenu that lets you export the content of the

Export
Preview window to an external location as a PDF file or an
Document
image file.

Displays a submenu that lets you send an attachment

Send Via E-
containing the content of the Preview window to an email
Mail
recipient.

Exit Closes the Preview window.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Formatting the Print Style

To modify the appearance of the printed material:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Preview window toolbar, click the
Property Builder button.

The Printable Component Editor dialog box appears.

Each tab of the MainView (Options, Behavior, and Styles) displays the various properties
assigned to the printed information.

2. Select or clear the check boxes as appropriate to set the desired options, and then
click OK.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Modifying the Header and Footer

To modify the header and footer:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Preview window toolbar, click the
Header and Footer button.

The Page Content Editor dialog box appears.

2. In the Header section, click the Align Tops button, Align Middles button, or Align
Bottoms button to choose the vertical alignment for the header.
3. Click the Font button to choose the font style and size of the header.

4. In one of the three text boxes, type the desired header(s), depending on the desired
horizontal alignment (left box for left-aligned, middle box for centered, or right
box for right-aligned). Use the toolbar icons at the bottom of the dialog box to
insert the associated information:

•
• Page number

• Number of pages
 • Date printed

• Time printed

• User name (i.e., printed by)

• Image

5. Complete steps 2-4 for the Footer section.

6. Click OK to save your settings.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Spell Check Feature

The Spell Check feature appears in various places throughout the Meridium APM
Framework application and lets you search text for misspelled words. You can access the
Spell Check feature from the text editor window or as an option on task menus in various
Meridium APM modules. The Spell Check feature is not available in all Meridium APM
modules or in all text fields on every datasheet.

When you use the Spell Check feature to check for misspelled words, the Meridium APM
system searches the dictionary file corresponding to the current language for the words in
the text that you are searching. If a word does not exist in this file, the Meridium APM
system then searches your custom dictionary, which is created by your Windows
operating system. If a word is not found in either place, or if a word does not exist in the
Meridium APM dictionary and you do not have a custom Windows dictionary, the
Meridium APM system considers the word misspelled and displays the Word Not Found
dialog box and a list of suggested alternatives, where possible.
You can use the Word Not Found dialog box to:

• Ignore the misspelling.

• Replace your typed word with a provided suggestion.

• Add your typed word to the dictionary.

• Replace the misspelled word with a word that you provide.

After you select any of these options for the misspelled word, the Spell Check feature
will proceed searching for any other misspelled words. The language selection is English
by default. You can change the language setting so that the Meridium APM system will
search a dictionary file other than the default.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Replacing Your Typed Word With a

Provided Alternative
The following instructions provide details on replacing the misspelled word with a
provided alternative. These instructions assume that you are viewing the Word Not Found
dialog box.

To replace your typed word with a provided alternative:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, at the bottom of the Word Not Found dialog
box, click the word that you want to use instead of the misspelled word.
The Change and Change all buttons become enabled.

2. To replace only this instance of the misspelled word with the selected alternative,
click the Change button.

-or-

To replace the misspelled word with the selected alternative everywhere it appears in the
text you are currently modifying, click the Change All button.

The Meridium APM system replaces the misspelled word with the word that you selected
and the Spell Check feature continues searching for spelling errors.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Replacing the Misspelled Word With a

Word that You Provide
The following instructions provide details on replacing the misspelled word with a word
that you provide. These instructions assume that you are viewing the Word Not Found
dialog box.

To replace a misspelled word with a word that you provide:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, in the Word Not Found dialog box, in the
Possible Alternative text box, type the word that you want to use to replace the
misspelled word.
 2. If you want to replace only this instance of the misspelled word, click the Change
button.

-or-

If you want to replace the misspelled word everywhere that it appears in the text you are
currently modifying, click the Change All button.

The Meridium APM system replaces the misspelled word with the word that you
provided and the Spell Check feature continues searching for spelling errors.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ignoring a Misspelling
The following instructions provide details on ignoring a misspelled word and leaving it as
it appears. These instructions assume that you are viewing the Word Not Found dialog
box.

To ignore a misspelling:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Word Not Found dialog box, click the
Ignore button.

-or-

To ignore the misspelled word everywhere it appears in the text you are currently
modifying, click the Ignore All button.
Note: Using the Ignore all option will not add the word to the dictionary but will cause all
occurrences of a given word to be ignored for the current instance of the text that you are
searching for spelling errors. If you no longer want the word to be ignored, you need to
close the Spell Check feature and access it again.

If the word that you typed is correctly spelled and is a standard term used frequently
within your industry, you may want to add it to the dictionary.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Misspelled Word to the

Dictionary
If the Spell Check feature does not recognize a word that is spelled correctly, you may
want to add it to the dictionary. After you add the word to the dictionary, the Spell Check
feature will not identify the word as misspelled in the future.

When you attempt to add a word to the dictionary, the Meridium APM system will first
try to add the word to the custom dictionary defined by your Windows operating system.
If this dictionary does not exist or if your Windows settings do not specify where this file
should be created, the Meridium APM system will create the file Custom.dic in the folder
C:\ProgramData\Meridium and add the new word to that file.

Note: If you later want to remove a word from the dictionary, you can delete it manually
from the Custom.dic file.

The following instructions provide details on adding a word to the dictionary and assume
that you are viewing the Word Not Found dialog box.

To add the misspelled word to the dictionary:

• In the Meridium APM Framework, on the Word Not Found dialog box, click the
Add button.

The word is added to the appropriate dictionary file.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Changing the Language Setting
The language settings that are available in the Spell Check feature correspond to the
dictionary files that are installed with the Meridium APM Framework application. If
desired, you can change the language setting. When you do so, you are specifying that the
Spell Check feature use the dictionary file that corresponds to the language that you
select.

Hint: You can add words to a given dictionary as desired.

To change the language setting:

1. In the Meridium APM Framework, on the text editor window, click the Options
button.

The Spelling Options dialog box appears.

-or-

On the Word Not Found dialog box, click the Options button.

The Choose Language dialog box appears.

Note: The features and functions of the Spelling Options and Choose Language dialog
boxes are the same.

2. Click the down arrow in the language box to select the desired language.

3. Click OK.
The next time that you search for misspelled words, the Meridium APM system will use
the dictionary file associated with the selected language.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Devices
The Meridium APM Devices functionality allows for the collection and transfer of data
between a Meridium APM database and a "device," which can be a physical piece of
hardware, such as a handheld data collection tool, or a file, such as a spreadsheet or text
file. The Meridium APM Devices interface enables direct communication between
supported data collection devices, the Meridium APM Framework, and the Meridium
APM database. This is done by defining a device and associating with it one or more
mappings, which define the data that is to be sent to and received from the data collection
device. The Meridium APM product is shipped with some preconfigured devices and
device mappings.

The data that is transferred between a Meridium APM database and a device can be
anything that is required or needed for the device to perform its job such as datapoints,
equipment data, measurement data, or calibration data. A possible Devices scenario might
be:

• First, a technician would send the desired data to the data collection device.
• After the technician has collected the necessary data on the data collection device,
he or she can collect and load the data into memory in Meridium APM, where it
can be reviewed prior to it being saved to the database.

• At this point, two types of save operations can be performed: the data can be
saved as a Meridium APM dataset or it can be saved directly to the Meridium
APM database.

 If the data is saved as a dataset, that dataset can later be reloaded,

reviewed, and then saved to the database.

 When the data is saved to the database, the appropriate analysis

calculations are performed, and the associated business rules are executed
if the process was initiated from Calibration or Thickness Monitoring.

When loading data from a dataset, be sure to match up the correct device with the correct
dataset. We recommend that you create a folder that will be used to store like-device
datasets. The name of each dataset should indicate the device type, the direction (Send or
Receive), and the type of data that is being used. Locate the dataset in the same folder for
each device every time you perform a Send or Receive. To prevent errors, double-check
the device type and device action (Send or Receive) associated with a dataset.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing the Devices Interface

Two Meridium APM modules, Thickness Monitoring and Calibration Management, have
integrated the Devices functionality and provide preconfigured Start Page links, which
you can use to access the Devices interface. In addition, as with all Meridium APM
features, the Devices interface is accessible via a URL, which you can construct and
place on any Home Page to provide quick access to Devices functionality.

Below we provide details on accessing Devices in Thickness Monitoring and Calibration

Management. Note that you can also use any URL that you have configured to access
devices in a similar way.

• To access the Devices interface in Thickness Monitoring, on the Thickness

Monitoring Functions page, click the Datalogger link.
• To access the Devices interface in Calibration, on the Calibration Management
Functions page, click the Send to Calibration Data Collector or Receive from
Calibration Data Collector link.

The Select a Device and Device Properties dialog box appears.

Note: If you access the dialog box from the Send to Calibration Data Collector link, the
Send to Device option button will be selected by default. If you use the Receive from
Calibration Data Collector link, the Receive from Device option button will be selected
by default. When you access the dialog box from Thickness Monitoring, the Send to
Device option button is always selected by default.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Select a Device and Properties

Dialog Box
The Select a Device and Properties dialog box serves as the starting point of the Devices
interface. From this dialog box, you can access various options related to devices. The
Device ID list displays the name of the currently selected device. The last device that you
used is selected by default, but you can choose a different device, if desired.

Below the list, a pair of option buttons appears. You can select the option that
corresponds to the action that you want to perform: Send to Device or Receive from
Device.

If you click the Show Advanced Options link, four additional links appear:

• Edit Device: Displays the Manage Device window, where you can modify the
settings for the selected device.
• New Device: Displays the Manage Device window, where you can create a new
device.

• Delete Device: After asking for confirmation, deletes the selected device.

• Manage Mappings: Displays the Manage Device Mappings window, where you
can manage the mappings for a given type of device. This link is enabled only
after at least one device has been defined.

Note: The Show Advanced Options link is enabled only if you are a Super User or a
member of the MI Devices Administrators Security Group.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a New Device

To add a new device, you must be a Super User or a member of the MI Devices
Administrators Security Group and have the appropriate family-level security privileges.

To add a new device:

1. Access the Select a Device and Properties dialog box.

2. Click the Show Advanced Options link.

Four additional links appear.

3. Click the New Device link.

The Manage Device window appears.

4. Configure the device properties as desired.

5. Click the Save button.

The new device is saved to the database.

6. Click the Close button to close the Manage Device window.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Editing an Existing Device

To edit an existing device:

1. Access the Select a Device and Properties dialog box.

2. In the Device ID list, select the device that you want to edit.
 3. Click the Show Advanced Options link.

Four additional links appear.

4. Click the Edit Device link.

The Manage Device window appears, displaying the current settings for the device.

5. Configure the device properties as desired.

6. Click the Save button.

Your changes are saved to the database.

7. Click the Close button to close the Manage Device window.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring Device Properties on the

Manage Device Window
The Manage Device window displays all the properties associated with a given device.

For any device, you can configure the following properties:

• Device ID: The name of the device. For each device, this value is required and
must be unique.

• Device Type: The type of device, which you can select from the options in the list.
The available device types are hard-coded into the system and represent the types
of devices supported by Meridium APM. The type of device that is selected
determines whether the Data Source, User ID, and Password fields are enabled or
disabled. If you select a Device Type, then type a value in the Data Source field,
and then change the Device Type, the value you typed in the Data Source field
will be removed. This is a required field.

• Data Source: The name of the data source associated with the source data. When
using a device such as Microsoft Excel, Access, ODBC, or text, you will need to
define where the source data resides. For example, in the case of ODBC, this
would be the name of the ODBC data source as configured in the ODBC Data
Source Administrator. In the case of a text file, you would specify the directory
 where the text file is located, and in the other cases, you would specify the
location of the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet or Access Database file.

You can click the Browse button to search for the data source location. If you select a
Microsoft Excel, Access, or text file, the Browse button will display a Windows browser.
If you select an ODBC data source, the Browse button will display the ODBC
Datasources dialog box, where you can select the appropriate data source.

• User ID: The user ID for the data source described above. This value may or may
not be required, depending on which data source you selected.
• Password: The password associated with the specified user ID. This value may or
may not be required, depending on which data source you selected.

• Send Settings:

 Send to Device Query: The query that will be used to define the set of
data, or values, that will be available to send to the device. You can click
the Browse button to find and select the desired query. To select this query,
it must already be configured and be stored in a Catalog folder for which
you have View permissions. Note that as long as the query is stored in a
Public folder, users of the Devices functionality will be able to execute the
query without having explicit permissions to the Catalog folder.

 Send to Device Contents Description: A description of the type of data that

you will be sending to the device.

 Send to Device Contents Family: The family associated with the

information that will be sent to the device. The families that appear in the
list are determined by the Send query that you selected.

IMPORTANT: Specifying this family is crucial when the Send query contains a Many
relationship. For example, consider a Send query that selects information from the
Equipment, Functional Location, and Task families and where a Functional Location
record can be linked to many Task records. If you select the Task family as the Send to
Device Contents Family, each Task record will be listed on the Send to Device dialog
box, with the Functional Location record data repeated for each Task record. On the other
hand, if you select the Functional Location family as the Send to Device Contents
Family, then each Functional Location record will be listed only once, even though many
Task records may be linked to it.

• Receive Settings:
•
  Receive from Device Query: The query that will be used to define the set
of data or values that will be available to receive from the device. You can
click the Browse button to find and select the desired query. To select this
query, it must already be configured and be stored in a Catalog folder for
which you have View permissions. Note that as long as the query is stored
in a Public folder, users of the Devices functionality will be able to
execute the query without having explicit permissions to the Catalog
folder.

 Receive from Device Contents Description: A description of the type of

data that you will be receiving from the device.

 Receive from Device Contents Family: The family associated with the
information that will be received from the device. The families that appear
in the list are determined by the Receive query that you selected.

Note: If you change the device query for a device that already has mappings, you will
need to modify the mappings manually to correspond to the new query.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting a Device
IMPORTANT: Before you delete a device, you should delete any mappings that are
linked exclusively to that device.

To delete a device:

1. Access the Select a Device and Properties dialog box.

2. In the Device ID list, select the device that you want to delete.

3. Click the Show Advanced Options link.

Four additional links appear.

4. Click the Delete Device link.

A confirmation message appears, asking if you really want to delete the selected device.

5. Click the Yes button.

The device is deleted from the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing the Manage Device Mappings

Window
The Manage Device Mappings window is where you can manage all the aspects of device
mappings. Note that to manage device mappings, you must be a Super User or a member
of the MI Devices Administrators Security Group. Note that the Meridium APM product
is shipped with some preconfigured devices and device mappings.

You can access the Manage Device Mappings window in two ways:

• Access the Select a Device and Properties dialog box, select the desired device,
click the Show Advanced Options link, and then click the Manage Mappings link.

-or-

• On the Devices page, which appears after you send or receive data, on the Device
Tasks menu, click the Manage Mappings link.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspects of the Manage Device Mappings

Window
The Manage Device Mappings window serves as the starting point for all the tasks that
you can perform related to device mappings. The window consists of the following:

• Device Type list box: Displays the currently selected device. You can click the
down arrow to view and manage the mappings for a different device. Note that
this list displays only the device types for which at least one device has already
been defined.
• Mapping list: Displays the mappings that are currently configured for the selected
device type.

• Four links, which appear at the bottom of the window:

 •

 Edit Mapping: Displays the Mapping window, where you can edit the
selected mapping.

 New Mapping: Displays the Additional Information dialog box, where you
can specify options to begin the process of creating a new mapping.

 Copy Mapping: Creates a copy of the currently selected mapping. After

you copy a mapping, you can modify it as desired.

 Delete Mapping: After asking for confirmation, deletes the selected

mapping.

The following image shows the Manage Device Mappings window as it appears after you
select the Fluke 74x device.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Creating a New Device Mapping
To create a new device mapping, you must be Super User or a member of the MI Devices
Administrators Security Group and have the appropriate family-level security privileges.

To create a new device mapping:

1. Access the Manage Device Mappings window.

2. Click the New Mapping link.

Hint: Alternatively, you can select an existing mapping and click the Copy Mapping link
to create a copy of a mapping that already exists. You can then modify the copy to create
the new mapping.

The Additional Information dialog box appears.

3. For the Data Transfer Direction, select the desired option: Send to Device or
Receive from Device.
4. In the Device Query list, select the appropriate device query.

5. In the Data Source list, select the appropriate data source.

6. Click OK.

The Mapping window appears.

7. Configuring the mapping settings as desired, and click the Save button.

The mapping is saved to the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Editing an Existing Mapping

To edit an existing device mapping, you must be a Super User or a member of the MI
Devices Administrators security group and you must have the appropriate family-level
security privileges.

To edit an existing device mapping:

1. Access the Manage Device Mappings window.

2. In the list of mappings, select the mapping that you want to modify.

3. Click the Edit Mapping link.

The Mapping window appears, displaying the current settings for the selected mapping.

4. Modify the mapping settings as desired, and click the Save button.

Your changes are saved to the database. You can click the Close button to close the
Mapping window.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring Mapping Properties on the

Mapping Window
There are two parts to configuring the properties of a mapping on the Mapping window:

• Defining general settings on the Mapping tab.

• Defining field mappings on the Fields tab.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Defining General Settings on the
Mapping Tab
The Mapping tab of the Mapping window displays general properties related to the
mapping, such as the ID and type.

On the Mapping tab, you can define the following properties for the selected mapping:

• By selecting a device and linking it to a mapping, you are indicating that you want
the mapping to be used when data is sent or received to or from the selected
device. You can link a given device to multiple mappings and then via the Device
Query, specify which mapping you want to use on a record-by-record basis.
Before you can save a mapping, it must be linked to at least one device.

To link a device to the current mapping, in the Available Devices field, select the desired
device, and click the right arrow button to move the device to the Selected Devices field.
You can also select multiple devices in the Available Devices field and click the double
right arrow button to move the selected devices to the Selected Devices field.

Hint: You can remove devices from the Selected Devices list by using the left arrow
buttons.

• In the Device Query field, make sure that the correct query is selected. Note that
this field is read-only.
• In the Device Query Families list, you can specify the following:

•
 Meridium APM Family: A list of all the families that serve as a source of
data in the Device Query. The Fields tab will display the fields that are
defined for these families. This field is read only.

 Is Many Relationship: A flag which indicates whether or not each family

can potentially participate in a Many relationship. When this option is
selected, you can specify the Max Link Count. This field is read only.

 Max Link Count: For every non-Device Content family for which the Is
Many Relationship check box is selected, the number of instances that
should be considered for this mapping. This is necessary because, in
theory, millions of links might exist. By setting this value, you are
indicating a finite number of links that are created so that the specified
number of placeholders for every field in that family can be created.

 Action: The action that should be performed when data received from a
device are saved to the Meridium APM database (Locate, Insert, Update,
 Insert or Update, and None). Note that you must select something other
than Locate for at least one family before you will be allowed to save the
mapping. Additionally, since this setting is related only to Receive
mappings, this column is disabled when you are configuring a Send
mapping.

• Mapping ID: The unique ID for the mapping that describes its purpose. It is used
to identify the mapping in the list of available mappings on the Manage Device
Mapping window and should reflect the type of mapping that is selected in the
Mapping Type field. This is a required field.

• Mapping Type: The configuration that will be used by the device for the data that
is being received by the device or being sent from the device. You can click the
down arrow in the Mapping Type field to display a list of mapping types for the
selected device. This is a required field.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defining Field Mappings on the Fields

Tab
The Fields tab of the Mappings window lets you map fields in the Meridium APM
database to fields using by the data collection device. The list displays the fields that are
currently mapped.

Note: When creating a new mapping, you can view the Fields tab only after you have
completed all the required information on the Mapping tab.

To add a new field mapping:

1. Click the Add Field Mapping button to add a blank row to the list.

-or-

Right-click the list, and choose Add Field Mapping.

2. In the Meridium APM Field column, select the desired family and field.
3. In the Device Field column, select the device field that corresponds to the family
field that you selected in the Meridium APM Field column.

4. Select the Key check box if the field is a "key" field.

Note: Key fields are used to determine whether or not a record already exists in the
Meridium APM database. If the record being loaded already exists, the existing record
will be updated. If the record does not exist, it will be added.

To delete a field mapping:

• Select the row that you want to delete, and then click the Remove Mapping
button.

-or-

Right-click the row that you want to delete, and then click Remove Field Mapping.

To view the details of a mapped field:

• Select the row for which you want to view details, and then click the Show
Details button.

-or-

Right-click the row for which you want to view detail, and then click Show Field
Mapping Details.

The Mapping Field Properties dialog box appears.

The Mapping Field Properties dialog box displays the following read-only information:

•
• Meridium APM Field: The name of the field, as specified by the Caption
defined for the field in Meridium APM.

• Meridium APM Field ID: The ID of the field.

• Meridium APM Family: The family to which the field belongs.

• Meridium APM Family Type: The type of family to which the field
belongs, including the entity, relationship, and special field. The special
field could be a unit of measurement or inspection.

• Device Field: The field name in the device.

• Device Field ID: The field ID in the device.

• Device Datastore: The datastore location for the field.

 • Field Data Type: The type of data that is included in the field (numeric,
character, binary, etc.)

To update the list of fields to include additional fields generated by changes made to the
Max Link Count column in the Meridium APM Query Families grid on the Mapping tab:

• Click the Load Mapping Fields button.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deleting a Mapping
To delete an existing device mapping, you must be a Super User or a member of the MI
Devices Administrators Security Group and you must have the appropriate family-level
security privileges.

To delete an existing device mapping:

1. Access the Manage Device Mappings window.

2. In the list of mappings, select the mapping that you want to delete.

3. Click the Delete Mapping link.

A confirmation message appears, asking if you really want to delete the mapping.

4. Click the Yes button.

The mapping is deleted from the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sending Data to a Device

Before you attempt to send data to a device, you should make sure that the device has
been properly configured.

To send data to a device:

 1. Access the Select a Device and Properties dialog box.
2. If it is not already selected, select the Send to Device option.

3. Click OK.

The system runs the Send query for the selected device. After the query runs, the Devices
page appears, displaying a list of values that are available to be sent to the device.

Note: If the Send query for the device contains a prompt, before the Devices page
appears, a dialog box will be displayed, where you must supply values for the prompt
parameters.

If an appropriate device mapping could not be found for a given row of data, a message
will appear, and that row will be disabled so that you cannot send it to the device.

4. In the Send? column for each row of data that you want to send, select the check
box. For data that you do not want to send to the device, clear the Send check box.

Note: Alternatively, if you want to send all the data to the device, right-click the list, and
choose Select All Records. Note that choosing Deselect All Records clears all your
selections.

5. On the Device Tasks menu, click the Send Data link.

The system prompts you to check that the device is connected.

6. Click the Yes button to continue. Note that if you click the Yes button and the
device is not actually connected, an error message will appear.

The system sends the data to the selected device, validates the send action, and presents a
status message notifying you that the send action has been completed.

Note: If you click the Send Data link but the system cannot send the data, then the system
displays a warning message and the failed records.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Receiving Data from a Device

Note: If you send an item to the DMS2 or DMS Go/DMS Go+ device that contains
more than 32 characters, the item name is truncated to the first 32 characters it
receives by the device. When you receive this same item from the device, if you
attempt to save the results, an error appears because the truncated item name
cannot be found. To avoid this error, edit the item name in the TML Asset ID
column on the Devices page before saving the results.

To receive data from a device:

1. Access the Select a Device and Properties dialog box.

2. If it is not already selected, select the Receive from Device option.

3. Click OK.

The Devices page appears, displaying a blank grid.

4. On the Device Tasks menu, click the Receive Data link.

The system prompts you to check that the device is connected.

5. Click the Yes button to verify that the device is connected and ready to send data
to the Meridium APM database. Note that if you click the Yes button and the
device is not actually connected, an error message will appear.

The system displays a list of datapoints on the Devices page. At this point, you can save
the received data to the Meridium APM database or as a Meridium APM dataset.

Note that receiving data simply imports the data from the device and displays it on the
Devices page. After you have received data, you can save the data as a Meridium APM
dataset or, if you have the appropriate permissions, save the data directly to the database.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Options Available from the Devices Page

From the Devices page, you can access various options associated with devices. The
Devices page offers two task menus, from which various options functions are available:
Device Tasks and Common Tasks.

The Device Tasks menu on the Devices page contains the following links:

• Send Data: Sends data to the device.

• Receive Data: Receives data from the device.
 • Select Device: Displays the Select a Device and Properties dialog box, where you
can choose a different device to send or receive data.

• Manage Mappings: Displays the Manage Device Mappings window, where you
can manage the mappings associated with a given device.

• Run Device Query: Reruns the Device Query associated with the current device.
This option is useful if the Device Query contains a prompt. You can click this
link to rerun the query and supply different values. Note that this link is enabled
only when you are performing a Send operation.

• Baud: Displays the current baud rate. You can click this link to change the baud
rate.

• Port: Displays the port currently used by the device. You can click this link to
change the port.

The Common Tasks menu on the Devices page contains the following links:

• Load From Dataset: Displays the Open a Dataset dialog box, where you can select
a dataset from which to load data.
• Save Data: Commits the current data to the database. This option is available to
you only if you are a Devices Administrator and is enabled only if the received
list contains data that has been selected for saving.

• Save As Dataset: Displays the Save Results as Dataset dialog box, which lets you
save the current data as a dataset. This option is enabled only when data has been
selected in the received list.

Note: The Save? check box in the list of received data lets you choose which specific data
you want to save.

• Help: Displays the context-sensitive Help topic for the Devices page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing the Baud for the Device

To change the baud rate of a device:
 1. On the Device Tasks menu, click the Baud link.

A list of options pops up.

2. Select the desired rate from the list. For example, if the Panametrics 38DL Plus
has been configured to communicate at 9600 baud, select 9600 from the list.

The baud rate changes as appropriate.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing the Port for the Device

To change the port of a device:

1. On the Device Tasks menu, click the Port link.

A list of options pops up.

2. Select the desired port from the list.

The port changes as appropriate.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Loading Data from a Dataset

From the Devices page, you can upload data from a Meridium APM dataset and then
send it to the selected device or save it to the Meridium APM database.

To load data from a Meridium APM dataset:

1. On the Devices page, on the Common Tasks menu, click the Load From Dataset
link.

The Open a Dataset dialog box appears.

2. Navigate to the dataset that you want to load, and click the Open button.
The dataset is loaded, and the data appears on the Devices page.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Saving Received Data as a Meridium

APM Dataset
After you receive data from a device, the received data is displayed in a list on the
Devices page, from which you can save the data as a Meridium APM dataset.

To save received data as a Meridium APM dataset:

1. In the list of received data, select the Save? check box for each row of data that
you want to flag for saving.

Note that this selection does not affect which rows of data are actually included in the
dataset. Regardless of your selection, ALL rows of received data will be saved to the
dataset. In addition, your Save? designation will be saved with each row of data and will
serve to indicate which rows you think are valid and should be saved to the database.
When an administrative user later reviews the dataset, he or she can determine which
information to commit to the database, based on your recommendation.

Hint: If you want to flag all the received data, right-click the list, and choose Select All
Records. Note that choosing Deselect All Records clears all your selections.

2. On the Common Tasks menu, click the Save As Dataset link.

The Save Results As Dataset dialog box appears.

3. Navigate to the Catalog location where you want to save the dataset.
4. Type a name for the dataset and a description, if desired.

5. Click the Save button.

The dataset is saved to the Catalog. If the save to dataset function is unsuccessful, an
error message will appear, indicating that the data could not be saved. From the error
message, you can access the error log.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Saving Received Data to the Database

After you receive data from a device, you can save the data directly to the database.
Committing the data to the database actually updates all the associated records and tables
with the received information. Any database actions that need to be taken as a result of
the updated data will be performed by the system.

Note: Only Device Administrators and Devices Power Users can save data directly to the
Meridium APM database.

To save received data to the Meridium APM database:

1. In the list of received data, select the Save? check box for each row of data that
you want to save.

Hint: If you want to save all the received data that is displayed, right-click the list, and
choose Select All Records. Note that choosing Deselect All Records clears all your
selections.

2. On the Devices page, on the Common Tasks menu, click the Save Data link.

The data is saved to the database and any necessary actions are taken. If the save to
database function is unsuccessful, an error message will appear, indicating that the data
could not be saved. From the error message, you can access the error log.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Viewing the Error Log When the Save Is

Unsuccessful
When you attempt to save received data to the Meridium APM database or as a dataset
but the save is unsuccessful, an error message appears. The specific error message that
you see may vary depending on the type of device you are using, whether all or some of
the data failed to save, and whether you are saving the data to the database or as a dataset.
Regardless of the text that appears, when you click OK, the Devices Log will appear,
displaying a list of the data that could not be saved to the Meridium APM database.
 On the Devices Log dialog box, you can double-click any row in the grid to view the
details of the error.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Parameters for the Devices URL

The URL for accessing for Devices functionality, meridium://Devices, accepts the
parameters described in the following table. Note that a link created from the path with
no parameters opens the Select a Device and Properties dialog box.

Accepte
d
Parameter Name Description Notes
Value(s
)
Send
Action Specifies the None
action you Receive
 want to take:
send or
receive.

If this parameter is not

specified, the ability to
Disables the edit data will be
ability to edit enabled. Therefore,
the devices while True (enabled) is
AllowGridEditOnReceive data when False a valid value, you
performing a should need to use this
Receive parameter only for the
operation. purpose of disabling
the functionality
(False).

If this parameter is not

specified, the ability to
Disables the edit devices data will
ability to edit be enabled. Therefore,
the devices while True (enabled) is
AllowGridEditOnSend data when False a valid value, you
performing a should need to use this
Send parameter only for the
operation. purpose of disabling
the functionality
(False).

If this parameter is not

Disables the specified, the ability to
ability to save save data as a dataset
data to a will be enabled.
Meridium Therefore, while True
AllowSaveToDatasetOnReceive APM dataset False (enabled) is a valid
when value, you should need
performing a to use this parameter
Receive only for the purpose of
operation. disabling the
functionality (False).

AllowSaveToDatasetOnSend Disables the False If this parameter is not

ability to save specified, the ability to
data to a save data will be
Meridium enabled. Therefore,
APM dataset while True (enabled) is
 a valid value, you
when should need to use this
performing a parameter only for the
Send purpose of disabling
operation. the functionality
(False).
If this parameter is not
Disables the specified, the ability to
ability to load load data from a dataset
data from a will be enabled.
Meridium Therefore, while True
APM dataset False (enabled) is a valid
when value, you should need
AllowLoadFromDatasetOnReceive
performing a to use this parameter
Receive only for the purpose of
operation. disabling the
functionality (False).

If this parameter is not

Disables the specified, the ability to
ability to load load data from a dataset
data from a will be enabled.
Meridium Therefore, while True
AllowLoadFromDatasetOnSend APM dataset False (enabled) is a valid
when value, you should need
performing a to use this parameter
Send only for the purpose of
operation. disabling the
functionality (False).
Any
Specifies the
valid
Device ID ID of the
Device
desired device.
ID. None

Note: The AllowGridEdit parameters (for both Send and Receive) are superseded by
security. This means that even if this parameter is set to True, you must be a member of
the MI Devices Power Users or MI Devices Administrators Security Group to edit grid
data.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples of the Devices URL

• meridium://Devices?Device=Fluke&Action=Send

Initiates a Send operation for the Fluke.

• meridium//Devices?Device=Fluke&Action=Receive

Initiates a Receive operation for the Fluke.

• meridium//Devices?Device=Fluke&Action=Receive&AllowGridEdit=False&
AllowLoadFromDatasetOnSend=False

Links to the Send function for the Fluke and disables the edit grid data and Load from
Dataset options.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Event Builder

The Event Builder is available in various places throughout the Meridium APM
Framework application to facilitate the creation of Event records. Some Meridium APM
modules, like Inspection Management give you access to the Event Builder, which takes
you step-by-step through the process of building an Event record.

By using a URL, you can make the Event Builder available anywhere in the Meridium
APM Framework application that supports the use of links. When you use a URL to
launch the Event Builder, the screen of the builder that you see first will depend on which
parameters were specified in the URL. For example, if the Entity Key is provided in the
URL, the Event Builder will bypass the step where you select an Equipment record.
Instead, the record with the provided Entity Key will be selected automatically in the
Event Builder. Note that you can click the Back button to view previous pages in the
Event Builder to see any selections that were passed in via the URL or that you explicitly
selected.
Note: In addition to manually constructing an Event Builder URL, you can also create a
URL using the URL Builder.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Using the Event Builder

The following instructions provide details on using the Event Builder to create a new
Event record. Note that these instructions include all steps presented by the Event Builder
(e.g., if the Event Builder is launched from the base URL with no parameters passed in).
Depending on how you access the Event Builder, your workflow may vary slightly. In
these instructions, skip to the step that reflects the screen that you see when you first
launch the Event Builder. Note that regardless of your point of entry, you can click the
Back button to view previous pages in the Event Builder and see any selections that were
passed in via the URL or that you selected.

To create a new Event record using the Event Builder:

1. Access the Event Builder.

The Event Builder appears, displaying the Welcome screen.

2. Click the Next button.

The Event Builder displays the Equipment Selection screen.

 3. Enter search criteria to locate the desired Equipment record. You can perform a
Simple search on the Simple Search tab, or you can perform an Advanced search
on the Advanced search tab.

4. When you have finished entering search criteria, click the Find Now button.

Your search results appear at the bottom of the Equipment Selection screen.
 5. In the results list, select the row containing the desired record, and click the Next
button.

The Event Builder displays the Event Selection screen.

6. In the Event Families list, click the down arrow, and choose the desired Event
family.
 7. Click the Next button.

The Event Builder displays the Task(s) Selection screen.

8. If you do not want to link a Task record to link to the Event record, select the
None option, and skip to step 10 of these instructions.
 9. If Task records are already linked to the selected Equipment record and you want
to link the new Event record to one of those Task records, select the Existing
option.

The list of Task records that appears below the selection options becomes enabled. At this
point, you can select the check box next to the Task record to which you want to link the
new Event record.

10. Click the Next button.

The Event Datasheet screen appears. If you chose not to link a Task record to the Event
record, the datasheet is empty. If you chose to link the an existing Task record to the
Event record, the datasheet is pre-populated with the appropriate information from the
Task record.

11. Enter or modify the data as desired, and click the Finish button.

The Event record and its links to the selected Task and Equipment records are saved, and
the Event record appears in the Record Manager.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating a Link to the Event Builder

When you create a URL to launch the Event Builder, you can specify parameters that
determine what information will be automatically supplied to the Event Builder. In this
way, you can easily create an event that is specific to a given Equipment record,
relationship, and event family. You can also determine which datasheet will be used by
default.

These instructions assume that you have already accessed the URL Builder and have
chosen to create an internal Meridium APM URL.

To complete the steps in the URL Builder to create a link to the Event Builder:

1. In the URL Builder, on the Select URL screen, select EventBuilder from the list,
and click the Next button.

The URL Builder for Event Builder screen appears, displaying options that let you pass in
specific parameters to the Event Builder.
All the parameters on this screen are optional. Without parameters, the Event Builder
URL will launch the Welcome screen of the Event Builder, which will take you step-by-
step through the process of creating an event. By passing in parameters, the Event Builder
will skip any step for which information has already been supplied.

Note: At this point, you can click the Finish button in the URL Builder or complete as
many of the following steps as desired.

2. Click the Equipment button.

The Find Items page appears.

3. Perform a search to locate the piece of equipment for which to create the event.

4. In the results list, select the desired record, and click the Open button.

The equipment field in the URL Builder is populated with the record that you selected.

5. On the URL Builder for Event Builder screen, click the Relationship button.

The Select Family dialog box appears.

 6. Click the down arrow, and select the relationship family that will be used to relate
the event to the Equipment record.
7. Click OK.

The relationship field in the URL Builder is populated with the family that you selected.

8. Click the Event Family button.

The Select Family dialog box appears.

9. Select the event that you want to use for creating the event, and click OK.

The event family field in the URL Builder is populated with the family that you selected.

10. Click the Datasheet ID button.

Note: This button is enabled only after you have selected an event family.

The Select Family dialog box appears.

11. In the list, select the datasheet that you want to use in the Event Builder, and click
OK.

The datasheet field in the URL Builder is populated with the datasheet name that you
selected.

12. If you want the user to be able to link the event to multiple tasks, set the
Multiselect option to True. If not, set it to False.
13. In the Task Options section:

• If you want the Task(s) Selection screen of the Event Builder to default to
None, select the None option.

• If you want the Task(s) Selection screen of the Event Builder to default to
Existing, select the Existing option.
 Note: If you choose the Existing option, an additional field will appear at the bottom of
the screen. Click the Tasks button search for a specific task that you want to associate
with the event record. After you find the task, click the down arrow to select the task for
inclusion in the URL.

14. On the URL Builder for Event Builder screen, click the Finish button.

Your URL is saved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Parameters for the Event Builder URL

The URL for the Event Builder, meridium://EventBuilder, accepts the parameters
described in the following table. Note that a link created from the path alone will launch
the Event Builder, which will walk you through the process of creating a new Event
record.

Accepted
Parameter Name Description Notes
Value(s)
The ID of
Specifies the
the
datasheet that This should be the ID of a
datasheet
will be used datasheet that has been
that you
to display the configured for the specified
want to use
DatasheetID specified family.
for entering
record.
event data.

Specifies the
The Entity
Equipment or
Key of the
Functional
desired
Location
Equipment
EquipmentEntityKey record to None
or
which you
Functional
want to link
Location
the specified
record.
record.
If you omit the
RelationshipFamilyKey The The Family RelationshipFamilyKey
 parameter, the Event Builder
will display the Relationship
Selection screen, where you
will need to specify the
relationship that you want to
relationship
use to link the Equipment or
that will be
Functional Location record to a
used to link
new Event record.
the specified Key of the
Equipment or desired
If you include the
Functional relationship
RelationshipFamilyKey
Location family.
parameter, the list of families
record to the
will include only families that
specified
participate as successors to the
record.
selected Equipment or
Functional Location family
using the specified relationship
family.

Specifies the
The Family
family in
Key of the
EventFamilyKey which to None
desired
create the new
family.
record.
Specifies
values that
will be used
The values
to populate
that will be
certain fields
used to
FieldIDs in the None
populate the
specified
specified
record.
fields.

Specifies the
Task family
whose records The family
you want to ID of the
TaskFamilyID None
see on the desired Task
Task(s) family.
Selection
screen.
True
Multiselect Determines None
whether or False
 not you can
select
multiple Task
records to link
to the new
record.

Specifies the
To cause the specified record to
TaskEntityKey Task record to The Entity
be linked to multiple Task
which you Key of the
records, you can pass in more
want to link desired Task
than one Entity Key, separating
the new record.
each with a comma.
record.
• None causes the new
Event record to be linked to
no Task records.

• Existing displays a list

Determines of Task records that are
the default None linked to the selected
selection on Equipment or Functional
TaskOption the Task(s) Existing Location record on the
Selection Task(s) Selection screen.
screen. When you select one or
more Task records from the
list, the new record will be
linked to the selected Task
record(s).

When you use a URL to launch the Event Builder, your position in the builder will
depend on which parameters were specified in the URL. For example, if the
EquipmentEntityKey parameter is provided in the URL, the Event Builder will bypass
the step where you have to select an Equipment or Functional Location record. Instead,
the Equipment or Functional Location record with the provided Entity Key will be
selected automatically in the Event Builder.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples of the Event Builder URL

• meridium://EventBuilder
Launches the Event Builder and displays the Welcome screen.

• meridium://EventBuilder?EquipmentEntityKey=123456

Launches the Event Builder and displays the Relationship Selection screen, where you
can select the relationship family that relates the Equipment record with the Entity Key
123456 to the desired Inspection family.

• meridium://EventBuilder?
EquipmentEntityKey=123456&RelationshipFamilyKey=456789

Launches the Event Builder and displays the Event Selection screen, where you can
select the desired Calibration Event family. The Inspection Event record that is created
will be linked to the record with the Entity Key 123456 through the relationship family
with the Family Key 456789.

• meridium://EventBuilder?
EquipmentEntityKey=123456&RelationshipFamilyKey=456789&EventFamilyK
ey=159753

Launches the Event Builder and displays the Task(s) Selection screen, where you can
select the Task record to which you want the new Inspection record to be linked. The
Inspection record that is created will be stored in the family with the Family Key 159753.

• meridium://EventBuilder?
EquipmentEntityKey=123456&RelationshipFamilyKey=456789&TaskFamilyID
=MI_TASKINSP

Launches the Event Builder and displays the Task(s) Selection screen, where you can
select the Task record to which you want the new Calibration Event record to be linked.
The Task records that appear will belong to the family with the ID MI_TASKINSP.

• meridium://EventBuilder?
EquipmentEntityKey=123456&RelationshipFamilyKey=456789&EventFamilyK
ey=159753&TaskOption=Existing&MultiSelect=True

Launches the Event Builder and displays the Task(s) Selection screen, where you can
select the Task record to which you want the new Inspection record to be linked. The
Existing option is selected by default, and you can select multiple Task records to link to
the Inspection record.

 meridium://EventBuilder?
EquipmentEntityKey=123456&RelationshipFamilyKey=456789&EventFamilyK
ey=159753&MI_EVENT_SHRT_DSC_CHR=Calibration 01_01_2009
  Launches the Event Builder and displays the Task(s) Selection screen. After you
select a Task record, the Calibration Event record that appears contains the value
Calibration 01_01_2009 in the field with the ID MI_EVENT_SHRT_DSC_CHR.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Grids
Grids appear in various places throughout the Meridium APM applications to help
organize the display of information. For example, when you run a query in the Meridium
APM Framework application, the results are displayed in a grid.

Note: Although grids are used throughout Meridium APM applications, the most
enhanced grid functionality is available in the Meridium APM Framework application.
While all of the features described in this section of the documentation apply to grid
functionality in the Meridium APM Framework application, some of the features
described in this section apply to grid functionality in other Meridium APM applications.

A grid consists of columns and rows, which intersect to create cells. Each cell contains
the data, which usually comes from records that are stored in the Meridium APM
database.

You can think of a grid as a table. A table consists of columns (vertical) and rows
(horizontal), and cells appear where the columns and the rows intersect.

The following image shows a grid in Meridium APM as it may appear when it is first
accessed.
In most cases in the Meridium APM Framework application, each row in a grid
represents an individual record. In some grids, if a column contains values from text
fields, a down arrow will appear to the right of each cell, which you can click to display a
dialog box that contains all the text in that cell. Depending on where the grid appears, you
may have the option of entering data into the grid to modify values in an existing record.
Some grids also allow you to create new records by adding new rows. You will know that
you can add a new row if a new blank row appears at the bottom of the grid. When you
are viewing a grid where a blank row appears, you can type data in the cells in that row as
desired.

In grids that allow you to select rows, you can:

• Select a single row by placing your cursor in the small box to the left of the first
cell.
• Select multiple rows by using the Ctrl or SHIFT keys on your keyboard.

• Select all rows by using the Ctrl+A keys on your keyboard.

In most cases you can customize the appearance of the grid using various customization
options.

On some pages, the changes that you make to the appearance of a grid will be saved
automatically and used for displaying the grid the next time that you access it. For
example, in Thickness Monitoring, if you sort a column in the grid on the TM
Measurement Data Entry page, the next time that you view that grid, you will see the sort
order that you applied. For details on where grid customizations will be saved
automatically, see the documentation for that feature.

In addition to grid customization options that are saved automatically, in some grids, you
have the option of manually saving the changes that you make.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Customizing the Grid Layout

The grid layout refers to the structure of the grid itself, such as the columns that are
displayed, the order in which they are displayed, and any grouping that has been applied.
Specifically, to customize the grid layout, you can:

• Add or remove columns.

• Rearrange the columns.
 • Adjust the width of the columns.

• Apply grouping.

• Sort the columns.

• Reset the grid layout.

These options are accessible from a shortcut menu that appears when you right-click in
the grid, as shown in the following image.

Depending on where you right-click the grid, the options that appear on the shortcut
menu will vary. You will know that an option is selected when an outline appears around
the icon to the left of the option. After you have modified the layout of a grid and
achieved the desired appearance, you can save the grid layout, if desired.

Note: Some layout customization options may not be available in every grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding or Removing Columns

When a Meridium APM product or feature provides a grid that displays values that are
stored in records in the database, the Meridium APM system provides a default column
arrangement, or group of field values that are displayed in the grid. You can modify this
column arrangement by adding to or removing columns from the grid.

To add a column to a grid:

1. Right-click any current column header, and click Show Available Fields on the
shortcut menu.

The Available Fields dialog box appears.

2. Use the vertical scroll bars to view all the available fields. Or, click the bottom
edge of the dialog box and drag it to expand the view of the fields.
3. In the Available Fields dialog box, click the desired field, and then drag it to the
column header in the grid.
Before you release the mouse button, another column header is outlined to indicate that
the selected field will be added to the grid to the left of the outlined field.

After you release the mouse button, the column is added to the grid.

To remove a column from a grid:

1. Click the column header, and drag it to an area outside of the grid until you see an
X over the column header.

2. Release the mouse button.

The column is removed from the grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rearranging the Order of Columns

To change the order of the columns that are displayed in a grid:

1. Click the header of the column that you want to move.

2. Drag the column header to the desired location in the grid.

The column appears in the selected location.

Note: The placement of some columns is hard-coded to ensure the most logical display of
these field values. These columns cannot be moved.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adjusting the Width of Columns

To adjust the width of a single column width:

• Pause on the column divider. When the double arrow appears, click the divider,
and drag it to the right or left as desired.

-or-

• Right-click the column header of the column whose width you want to adjust, and
click Best Fit.

The width of the selected column is adjusted automatically to allow the longest value in
that column to be displayed.

To adjust the widths of ALL columns:

• Right-click any column header, and click Best Fit (all columns).

All column widths in the grid are adjusted to fit appropriately within the display area.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Applying Grouping to Grids

You can group grids by using one of the following options:

• Grouping a grid by a field in the results.

• Creating multiple grouping levels.

• Expanding or collapsing a grouped list.

• Clearing grouped selections.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Grouping Area

When the Group By Box option is selected, a box appears above the column headers and
displays the column by which the results are grouped or the text Drag a column header
here to group by that column if the results are not yet grouped. Throughout this
documentation, this area is referred to as the grouping area.

When you are viewing some grids, the grouping area is displayed by default. If the
grouping area is not displayed, you can right-click a column header and click Group By
Box to display it. If desired, you can also remove the grouping area.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Displaying the Grouping Area

To display the grouping area:

• Right-click a column header, and click Group By Box.

The grouping area appears above the column headers.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Removing the Grouping Area

If desired, you can remove the grouping area that appears above a grid.

To remove the grouping area:

• Right-click a column header, and click the selected Group By Box option.

The grouping area above the column headers is removed.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Grouping a Grid

The way in which you group a grid will depend on whether or not the grouping area is
displayed.

If the grouping area is displayed, you can drag and drop the desired column header to the
group by box area. If the grouping area is not displayed, you will need to use the shortcut
menu that appear when you right-click a column-header in the grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Grouping a Grid When the Grouping

Area is Displayed
The following instructions assume that the Group By Box option is selected, which
displays the grouping area above the grid.

Note: If the Group By Box option is not selected, when you drag a column where you see
a large black X on top of the column header, the field will be removed from the grid
completely. You can add it back to the grid using the Show Available Fields option.

To group a grid when the grouping area is displayed:

• Click the column header for the column by which you want to group the results,
and drag it above the other column headers to the grouping area.

The selected column header appears above the other column headers, and the results are
grouped by that column. For example, the following figure shows an example of query
results that have been grouped by Work Order Status Code.
You can click any plus sign (+) to expand the results and see the members of that group.
You can ungroup the results by clicking the field and dragging it back down into the
column header area.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Grouping a Grid When the Grouping

Area is Not Displayed
To group a grid by a column in the results when the grouping area is not displayed:

1. Right-click the column header for the column that you want to use for grouping.

2. On the shortcut menu, click the Group By This Field option.

The Meridium APM system groups the results by the selected column. For example, the
following figure shows an example of grid results that have been grouped by Work Order
Status Code.

After you have grouped the results, the grouping field appears above the other column
headers. You can click any plus sign (+) to expand the results and see the items in that
group. You can ungroup the results by clicking the column and dragging it back down
into the column header area.
Note: If an Alias is not defined for one or more fields in a query, when you group the
query results, counts do not appear in the results. To make sure that counts will appear,
make sure that every field in the query design grid has an Alias.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creating Multiple Grouping Levels

These instructions assume that you have already created the first level of grouping.

To group a grid by more than one column:

• Right-click the column header that you want to use as the second level of
grouping, and click Group By This Field. Continue grouping the data until you
have created all the necessary levels.

As you select additional columns by which to group the results, they are added to the
grouping indicators, which appear above the column headers. As you add grouping
levels, the Meridium APM system generates a tree structure on the grid to allow you to
view each level. The following image is an example of the tree structure of a grid
grouped by Activity Type and Request Type Code.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Expanding and Collapsing a Grouped

Grid
If the results in a grid have been grouped, you can expand any grouping level by clicking
the plus sign (+) located next to a collapsed level. After a level has been expanded, you
can collapse it by clicking the minus sign (-).

Alternatively, you can right-click the area where the grouping indicators are displayed
and click:
 • Full Expand: To expand all of the groupings in the list so that you can select an
item in the list.
• Full Collapse: To collapse all of the groupings in the list.

Note: If a grouped grid is collapsed and you print the grid, the printed copy will show the
groups expanded rather than collapsed.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Clearing Grouping Selections

To remove any grouping that you have applied to a grid:

• In the area that displays the grouping indicators above the column headers, right-
click the column header that you want to remove, and click Ungroup.
-or-

• In the area that displays the grouping indicators above the column headers, click
the column that you want to remove, and drag it back down the column header.

Additionally, you can clear all grouping selections by right-clicking the area above the
column headers and clicking Clear Grouping.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sorting a Grid According to the Number

of Items in Each Group
After you group a grid by a field in the results, the grid displays a numeric value next to
each grouping header to indicate the number of rows within that group. If desired, you
can sort the results by these numeric values. For example, consider the following grid,
which is grouped by Current State.
You can see that one item in the results is Cancelled, fourteen items in the results are
Consolidated, and so on. You might want to sort the results by the number of items in
each group in either ascending or descending order. Consider the following image, which
displays the same grid where the results have been sorted in ascending order according to
the number of items in each group.

To sort a grouped grid according to the number of items in each group:

1. Right-click the grouping field that appears above the column headers.
2. Point to Sort by Summary, and click:

• Count by - <Grouped Field> - Sort Ascending to sort the results in

ascending order.

-or-

1.

• Count by - <Grouped Field> - Sort Descending to sort the results in

descending order.
...where <Grouped Field> is the field caption of the field by which the grid is grouped.
Note that if the grid uses multiple levels of grouping, <Grouped Field> is the field
caption of the first field by which the grid is grouped.

The results are sorted.

Hint: To clear the sorting, you can right-click the grouping field and click Clear Summary
Sorting.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sorting Data in a Grid

Regardless of the default sorting that has been applied to a grid, you can re-sort the list by
applying different sorting criteria. Sorting is available for columns that contain data from
numeric, character, logical, and date fields. Sorting is not available on columns
representing text fields.

To sort the contents of a grid:

1. Right-click the column heading for the field by which you want to sort the results.

-or-

If you want to sort by a field that you have used for grouping, right-click the field in the
grouping area (above the column headers).

2. On the shortcut menu, click:

1.

• Sort Ascending: To resort the results in ascending, alphanumeric order.

• Sort Descending: To re-sort the results in descending, alphanumeric order.

The values are sorted appropriately.

Hint: You can also click the arrow button in the column header to toggle the sort order.
When a down arrow is displayed in a column header, clicking the header will sort the
items in the column in ascending order and the arrow will point upward. When an up
arrow is displayed on a column header, clicking the header will sort the items in
descending order, and the arrow will point downward.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Resetting the Grid

When you reset the grid, you remove customizations that have been applied and saved to
the grid.

Note: After you reset the grid, the customizations that you were viewing before you reset
the grid cannot be recovered.

To reset the grid:

• Right-click any column header, and click Reset Grid Style.

The grid is reset. In most cases, the grid will be reset to the layout that you were viewing
before you made any changes to it. In some cases, however, depending on the type of
user that you are (Super User or non-Super User), the type of grid that you are viewing,
and the module that you are working in, the layout might be different than it was before
you changed it.

In either case, after you reset the grid, you can make changes to it again.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Applying Filters to Grids

You can apply filters to grids using the following options:

• The basic filter.

• The Filter Editor.

Note: You cannot filter a grid by a value in a text field.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Applying a Basic Filter
To apply a basic filter to a grid:

1. In the column header of the column that you want to use for filtering, click the
button. This is the right-most button. Note that the arrow to the left of this button
indicates the sort order.

2. In the list that appears, select the desired filtering option. Choose from the
following options:

o All: Indicates that no filter is applied. You can select this option to remove
any currently applied filters. Note that this option appears only after a
filter has been applied to the column.

2.
o Custom: Allows you to use the Custom AutoFilter

o Blanks: Filters the list to display only the items that do not have a value in
the field represented by the selected column.

o Non-Blanks: Filters the list to display only the items that DO have a value
in the field represented by the selected column.

o A value: Filters the list to display only the items that contain the selected
value in the field represented by the selected column.

Note: If you are applying a filter to a column that displays a custom icon (e.g., the Flag
column in the Proposed Strategy section on the ASM - Asset Strategy Actions - [Strategy
ID] page), the icons will not be displayed. Instead, blank rows will appear, which you can
click to filter the grid by a specific icon. You will not know from the blank rows,
however, which row represents which icon.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Filter Editor

In some grids, you can specify criteria using the Filter Editor feature to limit the results
that are displayed.
 V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Accessing the Filter Editor Window

To access the Filter Editor window:

• In the grid, right-click the column header that you want to use for filtering, and
click Filter Builder.

The Filter Editor window appears, displaying the available filtering conditions.

Note that the first time that you access the Filter Editor window, a condition for the
column that you right-clicked appears by default. You can modify the default condition or
add new conditions to limit the list of results further.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Operators to Use When Filtering a Grid

The following table describes the available operators that you can use when filtering grid
results.

Custom Filter
Purpose Operator AutoFilt Edito Example Results
er r

Returns
results if the Returns results where the
column Equals Yes Yes Equals RCM value in the selected column
displays an is exactly RCM.
exact value.

Returns
results if the
Does Returns results where value
column does Does not
not Yes Yes in the selected column is
not display a equal RCM
equal not RCM.
specified
value.
 Returns results where the
value in the selected column
is greater than 10.
Returns
results if the
column
Is
displays a Is greater than
greater Yes Yes The specified value must be
value that is 10
than numeric. If you specify a
greater than
character value, an error
the specified
message appears.
value.

Returns results where the

value in the selected column
Returns
is greater than or equal to
results if the
10.
column
Is
displays a
greater Is greater than
value that is Yes Yes
than or or equal to 10
greater than
equal to The specified value must be
or equal to
numeric. If you specify a
the specified
character value, an error
value.
message appears.
Returns results where the
value in the selected column
Returns
is less than 10.
results if the
column
displays a Is less
Yes Yes Is less than 10
value that is than
The specified value must be
less than the
numeric. If you specify a
specified
character value, an error
value.
message appears.
Returns results where the
Returns value in the selected column
results if the is less than or equal to 10.
column
displays a Is less
Is less than or
value that is than or Yes Yes
equal to 10
less than or equal to The specified value must be
equal to the numeric. If you specify a
specified character value, an error
value. message appears.
No Returns results where the
Returns Is Yes Is between date in the selected column
results if the betwee 1/1/2000 and is between January 1, 2000
 and January 1, 2005.

If the selected column

displays dates, then you
column must specify a date value. If
displays a the selected column
value that is displays numeric values,
n 1/1/2005
between two then you must specify a
specified numeric value. Note that if
values. you specify a character
value where the column
displays numeric values, no
results will be displayed in
the query when the filter is
applied.
Returns results where the
date in the selected column
is not between January 1,
2000 and January 1, 2005.

Returns
If the selected column
results if the
displays dates, then you
column No
Is not Is not between must specify a date value. If
displays a
betwee Yes 1/1/2000 and the selected column
value that is
n 1/1/2005 displays numeric values,
not between
then you must specify a
two specified
numeric value. Note that if
values.
you specify a character
value where the column
displays numeric values, no
results will be displayed in
the query when the filter is
applied.

Returns
results if the
column No Returns results where the
displays a Contain value in the selected column
Yes Contains R
specified s contains the character R
value anywhere in the text.
anywhere in
the text.
Returns
results if the
Returns results where the
column does No
Does value in the selected column
not display Does not
not Yes does not contain the
the specified contain R
contain character R anywhere in the
value
text.
anywhere in
the text.

Returns
results if the
column No
Returns results where the
displays a Begins
Yes Begins with R value in the selected column
value that with
begins with the character R.
begins with
the specified
character(s).

Returns
results if the
column No
Returns results where the
displays a Ends
Yes Ends with R value in the selected column
value that with
ends with the character R.
ends with the
specified
character(s).

Returns
results if the
column
Returns results where the
displays a
value in the selected column
value where
contains begins with the
the specified Is like Yes Yes Is like 34%
characters 34, followed by
character is
any combination of
located
characters.
somewhere
within the
text.

Returns Is not Yes Yes Is not like Returns results where the
results if the like 34% value in the selected column
column does not begin with the
displays a characters 34.
value where
the specified
characters are
not located
anywhere
within the
text.
Returns results where the
selected column does not
Returns
contain any values.
results if the
column does Is blank Yes Yes Is blank
Note that if you are using
not display
the Custom AutoFilter, this
any values.
operator is labeled Blanks.
Returns results if the
Return query column displays any value.
results that
contains any Is not Note that if you are using
Yes Yes Is not blank
value in a blank the Custom AutoFilter, this
selected operator is labeled Non-
column. Blanks.

Returns
results if the
No Is any of Returns results where the
column
Is any (1/1/2000, value in the selected column
displays any Yes
of 1/1/2001, is January 1, 2000, January
of the
1/1/2002) 1, 2001, or January 1, 2002.
specified
values.

Returns
results if the Returns results where the
No Is none of
column does value in the selected column
Is none (1/1/2000,
not display Yes is not January 1, 2000,
of 1/1/2001,
any of the January 1, 2001, or January
1/1/2002)
specified 1, 2002.
values.
And
Returns And Yes Yes Returns results where the
results if the • Last value in the Last Updated
column Updated column is January 1, 2000
displays Equals and the value in the
values that January 1, Updated By column is not
meet multiple 2000 Meridium APM
specified Administrator.
conditions. • Updat
ed By
 Does not
equal
Meridium
APM
Administr
ator
Or

• Last
Returns Updated
results if the Equals
column January 1, Returns results where the
displays 2000 value in the Last Updated
Or Yes Yes
values that column is January 1, 2000
meet one • Last or January 2, 2000.
condition or Updated
another. Equals
January 2,
2000
Returns results for any of
the following situations:

• The date in the Last

Updated column IS
Not And January 1, 2000 but the
value in the Updated
• Last By column is not
Updated Meridium APM
Returns Equals Administrator.
results if the January 1, • The date in the Last
column 2000 Updated column is not
displays value Not January 1, 2000 but the
No Yes
that do not And • Updat value in the Updated
meet multiple ed by By column IS
specified Equals Meridium APM
conditions. Meridium Administrator.
APM
Administr • The date in the Last
ator Updated column is not
January 1, 2000 and the
value in the Updated
By column is not
Meridium APM
Administration.
 Not Or
Returns results were BOTH
of the following statements
• Last
are true:
Updated
Returns Equals
• The date in the Last
results if the January 1,
Updated column is
column 2000
anything other than
displays
Not Or No Yes January 1, 2000.
values that do • Updat
not meet one ed By
• The value in the
condition or Equals
Updated by column is
another. Meridium
anything other than
APM
Meridium APM
Administr
Administrator.
ator

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding a Filter Using the Filter Editor

Window
To apply filters using the Filter Editor window:

1. Access the Filter Editor window.

Note that the first time that you access the Filter Editor window, a condition appears by
default.

2. To modify the default condition:

• Select the column header value to which you want to apply criteria.

• Select the desired operator.

• Specifying the field value to which you want to apply the corresponding
operator. Note that if the column header that you selected is an
alphanumeric field, then the text <enter a value> will appear in place of
the corresponding field value. When you click the text <enter a value>, a
text box will appear, where you can type the desired value. If the column
header that you selected is a date field, then the text <enter a value> will
become a Calendar when you click on it.

3. To add a new condition, click the button to the right of the default And operator.
A new condition appears below the default condition.

4. Modify the new condition by selecting the desired column header value, operator,
and field value.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each condition that you want to add.

6. Click OK.

The grid results are filtered based on the specified conditions.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Removing a Filter from the Filter Editor

Window
To remove a filter from the Filter Editor window:

1. Access the Filter Editor window.

2. Click the button to the right of the condition that you want to remove.

-or-

If you want to remove ALL conditions, click the first-level operator, and select the Clear
All option.

The condition(s) are removed from the Filter Editor window.

3. Click OK.

The grid results are updated.

Note: You can also clear a filter from the grid by right-clicking the column header.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Clearing a Filter
To clear a filter that has been applied to a grid:

• In the column header from which you want to clear a filter, click the button, and
click All.

-or-

• Right-click the column header in the column from which you want to clear a
filter, and click Clear Filter.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Saving the Grid Layout

After you have customized the layout of a grid, you may be able to save the layout so that
the next time you (or other users) access the grid, you (or they) will see that same layout.
The option to save the grid layout is not available in all grids. You will know that you can
save the layout when the save options appear on the shortcut menu (highlighted in red in
the following image).

Two options are available for saving the grid layout:

• Save for All Users: Saves the current gird layout for ALL users (i.e., creates a
Super User layout for the grid). This option appears only if you are a Super User.
• Save for Current User: Saves the current grid layout for you (i.e., creates a
personal layout for the Security User who is current logged in). This option
appears for ALL users.

Note: Saving the grid layout will save any layout customizations that have been defined.
Filters will not be saved as part of the grid layout.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Levels of Grid Layout Customization

After a grid layout has been customized, that layout can be saved as a property of the grid
so that it is used the next time the grid is displayed. The following levels of grid layout
customization are available:

• Default: No Customization at all. You can think of the default layout as the layout
that you would see if you created a query and ran it without making adjustments
to the layout after the results were initially displayed (as a flat layout with
columns and rows).
• System Layout: The customized layout that has been provided as a baseline
property of the grid and delivered with the baseline Meridium APM product. If a
system layout has been provided, it will override the default layout.

• Super User Layout: The customized layout that has been configured and saved by
a Super User for all users. The Super User layout will override the default and
system layouts.

• Personal Layout: The customized layout that has been configured and saved by a
Security User for that user. The personal layout will override all other layouts
(Super User, system, and default). In other words, when a personal layout has
been saved, that user will see that layout whenever he or she views the grid.

You can think of these layers of layout customization as shown in the following image.

When a user views a grid, the highest level of customization will always be displayed.

• If a personal layout is available, the personal layout will be displayed.

• If a personal layout is not available but a Super User layout is available, the Super
User layout will be displayed.

• And so on...

For grids with customized layouts, you can use the Reset Grid Style option on the
shortcut menu to displays the next lowest level of customization available. For example,
if when you are viewing a that has both a personal layout and a Super User layout, when
you use the Reset Grid Style option, the Super User layout will be displayed.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Saving a Customized Grid Layout for
Yourself
After you customize the layout of a grid, you can save the customized grid layout for
yourself, meaning that the next time you view that grid, you will see the layout that you
last saved. The ability to save the grid layout is not available for all grids. You will know
that you can save the grid layout if the Save for Current User option appears on the
shortcut menu.

Note: Using the Save for Current User option will create a personal layout for the grid
that will override all other layouts and will be displayed whenever you access the same
grid.

To save a customized grid layout for yourself:

1. Right-click anywhere in the grid.

The shortcut menu appears.

2. On the shortcut menu, click Save for Current User.

The customized grid layout is saved so that the next time you view the grid, you will see
those customizations.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Saving a Customized Grid Layout for

All Users
If you are logged in to the Meridium APM Framework application as a Super User, you
can save a customized grid layout for yourself and other users. You will know that you
can save the grid layout if the Save for All Users option appears on the shortcut menu.

Note: Using the Save for All Users option will create a Super User layout that will appear
for any user who has not saved a personal layout for the same grid.

To save a customized grid layout for all users:

1. Right-click anywhere in the grid.

The shortcut menu appears.

2. On the shortcut menu, click the Save for All Users option.

The customized grid layout is saved so that it will be displayed to you and to users who
have not previously saved their own customizations to the same grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Refreshing Results Displayed in a Grid

If you want to refresh the results that are displayed in the grid to make sure that you are
seeing the most current data available, you can do so from the shortcut menu.

Note that if you have made modifications to the grid by changing the results that are
returned (e.g., you filtered the grid using the Filter Editor), refreshing the results will not
undo these modifications.

To refresh the results displayed in a grid:

• Right-click any column header, and click Refresh Results.

The Meridium APM system retrieves the most current data in the database and displays
the results in the grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adding Rows to a Grid

The following instructions provide details on adding rows to a grid. Note that not all grids
allow you to add rows (e.g., the grid that appears in the query results).

To add a row to a grid:

• In the last cell on the row where you are currently working, press the Tab key.

-or-
 • Click below the row that you are currently working in.

A new blank row appears at the bottom of the grid.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction to the Meridium APM

Data Structure
Before you can begin working in Meridium APM, you must understand some
fundamental concepts about how information is stored and organized in the Meridium
APM database, including:

• What entity families and relationships families are and how they correspond to
database tables.
• How families are organized to build a hierarchy.

• What records are, how they relate to families, and how they are stored in the
database.

• What datasheets are and how they related to records.

• What data spreading is and how you can use it to streamline the construction of
your data model.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Is a Family?
In Meridium APM, a family is an organizational unit that helps classify data in the
database. Meridium APM uses two types of families: entity families and relationship
families. Families serve to organize information within the database and to help end users
locate and classify similar data.

Each Meridium APM family has a corresponding table in the database. Family tables are
used to store all the data belonging to a given family, where each row in a family table
corresponds to a record in that family.
Meridium APM provides many families, both entity families and relationship families, in
the baseline Meridium APM database. In addition, you can create your own families. The
power behind families is in their flexibility. You can create as many families as you need
to categorize all of your records. In addition, you can assign families whatever names are
appropriate for classifying the type of data that they will store for your organization.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Is the Family Hierarchy?

In Meridium APM, entity families can be organized into a hierarchy so that one family is
defined as a subfamily of another family. By creating a hierarchy, you can enhance
clarity.

When you look at the baseline Meridium APM database, you will see that some families
are further divided into subfamilies. For example, the Recommendation family contains
several subfamilies that define the types of Recommendation records that you can create.

As you customize your database, you will need to look at all of the different groupings of
items that you will manage in Meridium APM. Then you need to divide these items and
name each group, which will become your families. Next, you need to look for situations
where one item is a type of another item. In some cases, you may want to create a family
that helps form your hierarchy but to which you would not directly save records. In the
end, you will probably have a number of families.

Consider an example where you create four families: Failure, Equipment Failure,
Shutdown. These three families are distinctly different, but they also share some
commonality: a shutdown is a type of equipment failure and equipment failure is a type
of failure.

If you set up your hierarchy so that all of these families are stored at the root level along
with all other families, there would be no connection between one family and another to
organize the families logically. A better choice would be to set up families and
subfamilies. The hierarchy would look like this:

In this example, the Failure family is the root family of the Equipment Failure family, and
the Equipment Failure family is the root family of the Shutdown family.
Each root level will be useful for defining data that is common to its sub-levels. In
addition, the metadata is well ordered based on the type of data that is being collected.
You will probably find it easier to organize your database on paper prior to creating it
within the Configuration Manager, since it is not an easy task to change designations after
the other metadata elements have been created.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Entity Families and Relationship

Families
Meridium APM uses two types of families: entity families and relationship families.

An entity family is an organizational unit that is used for classifying elements within your
organization. Records belonging to entity families store information that is related to
physical items (equipment, people, analyses, inspections, etc.) in your company or
facility. For example, Full Inspection is an entity family that Meridium APM provides in
the baseline database. An individual Full Inspection would be one entity belonging to that
family. Each entity family has a corresponding entity family table in the Meridium APM
database. Entity family records are what you view and manage in the Meridium APM
Record Manager.

A relationship family corresponds to a database table that is used to connect two entity
family tables. Relationship definitions can be defined for each relationship family to
specify the entity families to which it relates. For example, in the baseline Meridium
APM database, the Has Reference Documents relationship family relates the Full
Inspection entity family with the Reference Document entity family.

When two entity families have been related to one another through a relationship family,
records within those entity families can be linked, meaning that a connection can be
created between the two records. For example, a Full Inspection record might be linked to
a Reference Document record that stores information about the item that was inspected.
The link itself is defined by a record that is stored in the Has Reference Documents
relationship family table.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 About Families Delivered with Read-
Only Properties
Baseline families can be delivered with read-only properties such that you will be
prevented from performing any of the following actions on the family:

• Modifying certain properties of the family.

• Customizing the family's rules.

• Creating new fields for the family.

• Customizing certain properties for the family's fields.

• Deleting the family's fields.

• Deleting the family.

In other words, families that are delivered in this way can be managed only by Meridium,
Inc.

Note: Families that are delivered in this way exist to support specific workflows within a
module or feature and are documented in the context of the module or feature they
support.

In the Configuration Manager, when you select a family that has been delivered in this
way, the properties that you cannot modify will be displayed as read-only in the interface.
In addition, some options that allow you to customize the family or its fields will be
disabled. The following table lists the UI elements that are disabled when you select a
family that has been delivered with read-only properties.

Location in the Configuration Manager Interface Element

Family Information section on the right side of the

Meridium APM Configuration Manager main ID text box
window.
• Physical Table Name text
Physical Storage section on the right side of the box
Meridium APM Configuration Manager main
window. • Physical Storage Location
text box

• Physical Table Storage

 Parameters text box

• Database View Name text

box

Tasks section on the right side of the Meridium APM

Delete Family link
Configuration Manager main window.
• Create New Field link
Manage Family Fields window
• Delete Field(s) link

• Rules Wizard link

• Data Type list

• UTC check box

• Unit of Measure list

• Field ID text box

• Edit Length text box

• Number of Values per

Field text box
View/Edit Field Properties window
• ID Field check box

• Spread to subfamilies
check box

• Hyperlink Field check box

• Formula Field check box

• Keep History? check box

• Is Active? check box

View/Edit Field Properties window Save As New button

In addition, while you can view the rule projects for a family, if you try to change those
rules, a message will appear, indicating that you cannot modify the rules.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Families Managed by Product

Modules
Baseline entity families can be delivered with their Family Is Managed By Product
Module property set to True such that records in that family can be managed using only
the module that the family supports. In other words, you cannot use the Record Manager
or Bulk Data Form to create, delete, or modify records in families with this property
setting.

While you can view records in these families via the Record Manager and Bulk Data, the
datasheet and the options that allow you to create or delete records will be disabled.

More specifically, in the Record Manager, the datasheet will be disabled, and a link will
be displayed above the Datasheet list, which you can click to view that record within the
module that the family supports. The text that appears for this link will vary for each
record and is displayed in the format <Record ID> (<Family Caption>), where <Record
ID> is the Record ID for the record and <Family Caption> is the family caption of the
family to which the record belongs. For example, the following image shows the link that
appears above the Datasheet list in the Record Manager when you are viewing an RCM
FMEA Failure Mode record.

Likewise, in the Bulk Data Form, the grid will be disabled so that you cannot modify any
of the values in the grid. A hyperlink is not displayed above the grid in the Bulk Data
Form, however, because you are viewing multiple records at one time. If you want to
open a given record in the module to which it belongs, you can open that record in the
Record Manager first, and then click the hyperlink that is displayed above the datasheet
to open the record in the corresponding module.

In addition, in both the Record Manager and the Bulk Data Form, the following links and
buttons that appear on the Datasheet toolbar and Common Tasks menu will be disabled:

• Delete
• Save

• New

• Save and New

 • Copy

Baseline families that are delivered with this property setting exist to support specific
modules and are documented within the context of that module.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Families with Authentication

Required
Families can be configured such that authentication is required to create or update records
in that family. When authentication is required, Security Users will need to retype their
password before they can save changes to records in that family. In this way, an electronic
signature is provided for these changes, which indicates that the Security User is
accountable for any actions recorded under that signature (i.e., changes to data).

To configure a family in this way, you can set the Authentication Required to Insert or
Update Records family property to True. Note that setting this property to true for a
parent family does not change this setting automatically for its subfamilies. After this
property is set, the next time a Security User tries to save changes to an existing record or
create a new record in that family, a dialog box will appear, prompting the Security User
for their password. If the password that the Security User enters does not match the
password stored for that Security User, a message will appear, indicating that the
authentication failed, and the record will not be saved. The following image shows an
example of what this dialog box looks like. Notice that the User ID value is read-only and
populated automatically with the User ID of the Security User who is currently logged in.

Note: If you create or modify multiple records from the same family and save them at the
same time, the Re-authenticate to Complete Save dialog box will appear only one time so
that you can authenticate all the records at once.

Revision history is also enabled automatically for families with this setting, and the
following additional details are displayed on the Field Change History dialog box for the
records in these families:

• Record Created By: The name of the Security User who created the record
originally.
• Record Created On: The date and time on which the record was created originally.
The following image shows an example of what the Field Change History dialog box
looks like for a family whose Authentication Required to Insert or Update Records
property is set to True. A red outline has been added to this image to highlight the
additional information that is displayed for records belonging to families that require
authentication.

No baseline family is delivered with the Authentication Required to Insert or Update

Records property setting set to True.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Are Fields?

Fields represent the individual pieces of information that will be stored for records
belonging to a given family. For example, records stored in the Full Inspection family
will contain information related to full inspections. Therefore, the Full Inspection family
contains fields that help define the inspection.

Each field that is defined for a family corresponds to a column in that family table. Any
field that you define for a family can be displayed in a datasheet so that values can be
displayed and collected via the Meridium APM Framework application or the Meridium
APM Web Framework. Additionally, fields can be used in queries, graphs, reports, and
other utilities to help you retrieve and display specific information about records in the
database.

Field can store the following types of data:

• Letters and numbers (e.g., Equipment or Equipment-123).

• Numbers only.

• A Boolean value (i.e., true or false).

• Date and time values.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

 What Are System Fields?
In addition to the fields that you define manually for each family, each record that you
create will also contain system fields. System fields:

• Are identified by a field ID (i.e., you cannot define a field caption for them).
• Are managed automatically as you perform actions within the Meridium APM
system.

• Cannot be modified or configured in the same way that family fields can be
managed or configured (e.g., you cannot defined custom rules for them).

• Do not appear in many of the places where family fields appear (e.g., on
datasheets).

• Can be included in queries.

• Are referenced throughout the Meridium APM product but in ways that most end
users do not see (e.g., in rules and in URLs).

The following table provides a list and description of the system fields that exist for every
record.

Field ID Description Behavior/Usage

This field is populated automatically
with a system-generated value when a
record is instantiated (i.e., when you
A global unique
initiate the record-creation process).
identifier that
CONTENT_GUID uniquely identifies
Note that if you include this field in a
a record across all
query, when you run the query, values
databases.
will not be displayed in the
CONTENT_GUID column.

A field that stores

This field is updated when the
ENTY_CAPTION_TX a copy of the
ENTY_ID field is updated.
Record ID.

The value in this field is controlled by

the ID Template defined for a family.
The Record ID of This field is populated automatically
ENTY_ID
a given record. when a record is created and whenever
one of the fields defined in the ID
Template is modified.
 This field is populated automatically
with a system-generated value the first
A value that time a record is saved. The
uniquely identifies ENTY_KEY field is widely using
ENTY_KEY
a record within a within URLs to provide a means for
given database. giving you direct access to the
information associated with a specific
entity.

A value that This field is populated automatically

identifies the when a record is first saved with the
FMLY_KEY
family to which a unique key value that identifies a
record belongs. family within a database.

A value that
identifies the user This field is updated automatically
LAST_UPBY_SEUS_KEY
who last updated whenever a record is modified.
the record.

A value that
identifies the date This field is updated automatically
LAST_UPDT_DT
that a record was whenever a record is modified.
last updated.

A value is
internally by the
Meridium APM
This field is updated every time a
LOCK_SEQ_NBR system to indicate
record is modified.
how many times a
record has been
modified.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rules
In Meridium APM, rules consist of code that determines how records in the Meridium
APM database will behave under specific conditions. Rule code is written in Visual
Basic.Net (VB.Net), a programming language that is compatible with the language in
which the Meridium APM applications are written, allowing the Meridium APM rules to
plug in to the Meridium APM software. In this way, you can specify that when certain
actions are taken in Meridium APM, certain rules should be executed.
The purpose of writing rules for a family is to control how records in that family will
behave when a user works with those records in the Meridium APM Framework
application.

Rules can be defined:

• At the family level to specify how records within that family should behave.
• At the field level to specific how fields within records in a given family should
behave.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Is Data Spreading?

Grouping families into hierarchies encourages the use of data spreading. Using data
spreading, fields that are common to all families within a branch of the hierarchy can be
defined on a family and then spread down to subfamilies. Fields that are specific only to
one subfamily can be defined directly at the sublevel. Any fields that are defined for a
family will be available for display at any sublevel. Note, however, that you should not
over-use the data-spreading feature. The deeper a family exists in the hierarchy, the more
time it takes when querying data from the family because the query must look at many
family tables to gather all the information for generating the query results.

There are three main aspects of field spreading:

• Metadata: When a field is spread from one family to another, the metadata (i.e.,
Field Identification Properties) associated with the root family field is inherited by
the subfamily field when the subfamily is created. In other words, the field
properties at the target level match the field properties defined at the source level.
Most of this information cannot be modified on the family to which the field has
been spread. The Caption, Description, and Help Text can be modified.
Additionally, the Special properties may be editable at the subfamily level,
depending which option is selected.

• Physical Tablespace: Within the family hierarchy, a table will be created for each
family, regardless of its position in the hierarchy. Similarly, a column will be
created within a subfamily table for every field in that family, regardless of
whether or not it has been defined directly within that family or inherited from a
higher-level family. In other words, even fields that are created through spreading
will have their own physical tablespace in each family in which they exist.
 • Rules: For field-level rules, you have two options. Within the subfamily, you can
choose to:

o Inherit the rules that are defined for the source family. This is the default
condition for spread fields and is indicated by the Keep all properties of
this field the same as they are in the Parent family option in the
Configuration Manager. When you accept this default selection, a code
item will not be created for the field in the subfamily. All rules will be
defined in the source family code item and applied to the subfamily.

-or-

•
• Define rules directly within the subfamily by selecting the Change the
properties of this field for Child option in the Configuration Manager
application. When you select this option, a code item will be created for
the field in the field in the subfamily. The rules for the subfamily field will
be defined directly in the subfamily code item. Any rules that exist in the
associated source family code item will not be applied to the subfamily.

Note: If a subfamily code item exists for a spread field and you change the rules setting
back to inherit from the source family, the existing subfamily code item will not be
deleted or modified but will no longer be used. In this way, if you later decide to define
rules at the subfamily level, any rules that previously existed will already be there for you
to use or modify as desired.

There are two ways to spread fields:

• Within the properties of any family field, select the Spread to subfamilies check
box. When you do so, ALL subfamilies created under that family will
automatically inherit that field when the subfamily is created. Spread fields will
not be inherited by subfamilies that existed before the Spread to subfamilies check
box was selected.

• Within any subfamily, use the Field Chooser to select fields in higher-level
families that you want to create at the subfamily level. This option is useful for
spreading fields to subfamilies that existed before a spread field was created and
for spreading fields only to some subfamilies.

After a field has been spread, clearing the Spread to subfamilies check box will prevent
that field from being spread to additional families but will not remove the field from
families to which it has already been spread. The metadata, physical tabelspace, and rules
will continue to exist at the subfamily level until they are deleted manually. Un-spreading
a field will, however, break the connection between the source field and the subfamily
field, meaning that changes made to the source family field will not be applied at the
subfamily level, even if the subfamily field originated through spreading.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples of Data Spreading

Consider a family hierarchy that looks like this:

According to this hierarchy, you could add records for all of the shutdowns to the
Shutdown family. You would need to record data for those shutdown records such as
Failure ID, Failure Date, and Failure Comments. This data would be stored in the data
fields. To provide data storage for this information, you could put all four data fields in
the Shutdown family.

Now, consider a hierarchy that looks like this:

For Leak records assigned to the Leak family, you would need to record data such as
Failure ID, Failure Date, Failure Comments, and Leak Substance. Note that three of these
fields store the same type of data that you wanted to store for shutdowns. If the data fields
are all on the Shutdown family, you would have to recreate these data fields for the Leak
family. By using data spreading, however, you can create a streamlined database and
avoid the duplication of effort.

To look at it in another way, Example A does not use data spreading. Example B uses data
spreading:

Example A: No Data Spreading Applied

Family Fields

Failure

Failure\Equipment Failure
 Failure ID

Failure Date
Failure\Equipment Failure\Shutdown
Failure
Comments
Failure ID

Failure Date

Failure\Equipment Failure\Leak Failure

Comments

Leak Substance

Example B: Data Spreading Applied

Family Fields
Failure ID

Failure Date
Failure
Failure
Comments

Failure\Equipment Failure

Failure\Equipment Failure\Shutdown

Failure\Equipment Failure\Leak Leak Substance

Notice that Example B, which uses data spreading, has only four fields as compared to
the seven fields created for Example A. Note also that with Example B, there are no
duplicate fields, whereas Example A has three duplicate fields: Failure ID, Failure Date,
and Failure Comments. As you can see from this example, data spreading multiplied over
hundreds of families can help to save administrative time that is required to create and
maintain the data fields, and it can help limit the size of the physical database.

Note that in data spreading, only the data field definitions are spread to lower levels.
Values themselves do not spread. For example, a Shutdown and a Leak can have different
Failure IDs even though they both inherit the same Failure ID field from the Failure
family.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Are Relationships Definitions?

A relationship family corresponds to a database table that is used to relate two entity
family tables. A relationship definition is, for a given relationship family, a rule that
specifies which two entity families are related, which family is the predecessor, which
family is the successor, and the cardinality of each. By setting up relationship definitions,
you can define the various types and levels of connections that exist between entities. For
example, a piece of equipment might be related to items such as:

• The location that contains it.

• The people who inspect and maintain it.

• The inspection and repair events performed on it.

• The workflows in which it participates.

Defining, tracking, and analyzing the relationships between entities is one of the most
powerful tools in the Meridium APM system. After you have associated entity families
with one another using relationship definitions, you can begin creating business rules that
are based on those relationships. In this way, individual entities, each stored separately
within the database can interact with, use information from, and even be updated based
on changes made to other, related entities.

You can set up and maintain relationship definitions via the Meridium APM
Configuration Manager. When deciding how many relationships to create, remember that
too many relationships can be confusing to users and could create unnecessary system
overhead. Too few relationships, on the other hand, will prevent you from defining them
specifically enough to be useful to the end user.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Successors and Predecessors

Before you can create a relationship definition, you must first decide which two families
will participate in the relationship. Next, you must decide which family will be the
predecessor and which will be the successor in the relationship.
In many cases, the predecessor is the single part of the relationship equation and the
successor is the multiple part. For example, if the relationship is Has Failure, and you
determine that a piece of equipment, such as a pump, has a failure, then the pump
experiencing the failure is the predecessor because there is one pump, whereas the failure
is the successor because a pump might have many failures.

Another way to look at predecessors and successors is to consider that the predecessor
comes before the successor. For example, using this guideline, a piece of equipment
could be the predecessor and a repair could be the successor because the equipment was
in place before it was repaired.

Note that these are only guidelines. Meridium APM will allow any type of setup that you
feel best suits your needs.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Cardinality
Cardinality specifies for a particular relationship definition how many links can be
created between records of the predecessor and successor families. Consider an example
where the Has Maintenance relationship relates the Axial Compressor family to the Work
Order family. Within this relationship definition, the cardinality would specify how many
Work Order records could be linked to a given Axial Compressor record, and vice versa.

The following list provides descriptions of the cardinality rules that can be defined for
successors and predecessors. For the purposes of our examples, assume that the Axial
Compressor family is the predecessor and the Work Order family is the successor in the
Has Maintenance relationship.

• One and only one predecessor record can be linked to one and only one successor
record. For example, one and only one Axial Compressor record can be linked to
one and only one Work Order record. Axial Compressor A can be linked to Work
Order 1, but Axial Compressor A cannot be linked to any other Work Orders.
• One and only one predecessor record can be linked to many successor records.
For example, one and only one Axial Compressor record can be linked to many
Work Order records. Axial Compressor A can be linked to Work Order 1, Work
Order 2, and Work Order 3, and so on.

• Many predecessor records can be linked to one and only one successor record. For
example, many Axial Compressor records can be linked to one and only one Work
Order record. Axial Compressor A and Axial Compressor B could be linked to
Work Order 1.
 • Many predecessor records can be linked to many successor records. For example,
many Axial Compressor records can be linked to many Work Order records. Axial
Compressor A and Axial Compressor B can be linked to Work Order 1, and Axial
Compressor A and Axial Compressor B can be linked to Work Order 2.

Depending on the entity families and the relationship family involved in the relationship
definition, some cardinality options may not be logical for your implementation. Via the
Configuration Manager, administrative users will configure the cardinality between entity
families according to what makes sense for your company's workflow.

Based on the cardinality defined between entity families through a given relationship
family, you will be limited to the number of links that you can create between records
when working with the records in the Meridium APM Framework application or the
Meridium APM Web Framework. For example, if your system is configured such that a
Work Order record can be linked to only one piece of equipment, such as a Pump, you
could create a link between Pump 101 and Work Order 1, but you could not link Work
Order 1 to any other records. If you tried to do so, Meridium APM would generate an
error. In this way, cardinality helps you maintain integrity in your database because it
prevents you from creating relationships that should not exist.

Note: You can choose to allow only one link between the entities of the predecessor
family and entities of the successor family within a given relationship definition. Multiple
links may be allowed, however, if the predecessor or successor family participates in
additional relationship definitions. For example, your system could be configured such
that the each Work Order record can be linked to only ONE Equipment. If an additional
relationship definition existed for the Work Order family and the Functional Location
family, however, then a Work Order record could be linked to an Equipment record even
if it was already linked to a Functional Location record.

Note that a given family can also act as the predecessor in one relationship and the
successor in another. For example, the Equipment family is the successor in the
Functional Location Has Equipment relationship and the successor in the Equipment Has
Equipment relationship.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Example of a Baseline Relationship

Definition
The baseline Thickness Monitoring module includes, among others, the relationship
definitions for the Has Measurements relationship family shown in the following image.
From the relationship definition that includes the Thickness Measurementfamily, you can
see that:

• The Thickness Measurement Location family is related to the Thickness

Measurement family.
• The Thickness Measurement Location family is the predecessor in the
relationship definition, and the Thickness Measurement family is the successor.

• Zero or one Thickness Measurement Location records can be linked to zero or

many Thickness Measurement records. This means that more than one Thickness
Measurement Location record cannot be linked to the same Thickness
Measurement record. One Thickness Measurement Location record can, however,
be linked to multiple Thickness Measurement records.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Relationship Data

One thing to consider when configuring relationships is whether or not information about
the relationship will need to be stored. If so, fields can be defined for that relationship
family, and a datasheet can be configured. Each time records are linked via the Meridium
APM Framework application or the Meridium APM Web Framework, specific
information about the link can be recorded in that datasheet.

For example, suppose a pipe is connected to a pump in your facility. You record various
types of information for the pipe in a Pipe record and different information for the pump
in a Pump record. But when you link the Pipe record to the Pump record, you need to
store information specific to that connection, such as weld type and material.

Fields are defined at the relationship family level and are stored as columns in the
relationship family table. Any relationship field that you define, therefore, will be
available for any link between any predecessor and successor. So, you might need to
create more specific relationship families if you plan to use relationship fields.

Note: When you store data about relationships, you increase the complexity of your
system, which could potentially hinder the system's performance and the ease with which
your system can be maintained.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Families Involved in Multiple

Relationships
Each family can participate in numerous relationships. Consider that the Pressure Vessel
family can be involved in the following relationships:

• An Equipment Contains Sub-Equipment relationship with the Shell family and the
Nozzle family.
• An Equipment Connects to Equipment relationship with the Valve family.

• An Equipment Has Inspections and Equipment Has Repairs relationship with the
Inspections and Repairs families.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Is a Record?
In the most general sense, a record is simply a row in a database table. Because Meridium
APM uses various types of database tables, in Meridium APM, there are several types of
records, including:

• Entity family records (i.e., records associated with a specific entity family and
stored in one or more entity family tables).

• Relationship family records (i.e., records stored in relationship family tables).

Entity family records, which are the most common type of record, typically represent a
physical, functional, or organizational element in your company or facility. For example,
an Equipment record would store the information associated with a physical piece of
machinery. A human resource record would store the information associated with a
person.

IMPORTANT: In most cases, throughout the Meridium APM software and

documentation, when we use the term record alone, we are referring to a record
belonging to an entity family.
Because the Meridium APM system is flexible in the type of information it can track, and
because you have the ability to define how detailed your database will be, a record can
represent almost anything. Some other examples of the types of records that you can set
up include:

• Planned and unplanned events (e.g., inspections, failures, shutdowns, maintenance

requests, recommendations, and repairs).
• Datapoints.

• Measurement readings.

• Circuits.

• Tags and loops.

• Drawings.

• Processes.

Each record that is created is assigned a unique value, or key, that identifies it within the
system and differentiates it from all other records in the database. When you access a
record, Meridium APM takes the record key, searches the database, and retrieves the data
associated with that key. This data is then displayed through the tool of your choice (e.g.,
Record Manager, graph, query, report, or module-specific user interface). Because each
record has unique, identifying characteristics but belongs to a given family, you can track
each individual piece of equipment in addition to tracking the equipment as an entire
group.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Are Links?

A relationship family corresponds to a database table that is used to relate two entity
family tables. Relationship definitions specify which entity families can be connected
through that relationship for a given relationship family. A link is a relationship family
record that stores the information relating two entity family records.

Consider an example where the Has Maintenance relationship family relates the Axial
Compressor entity family to the Work Order entity family. If an Axial Compressor record
exists in the database to identify a specific piece of equipment, and you create a Work
Order record to store the information associated with the maintenance that was performed
 on that piece of equipment, you might want to relate the two entity family records to one
another. You would do so by creating a link between the two entity family records.

When you link two entity family records together, Meridium APM creates a record in the
appropriate relationship family table. The relationship family record, or link, contains:

• A key identifying the link itself.

• A value identifying the predecessor record.

• A value identifying the successor record.

The link may also contain other data if additional fields have been defined for the
relationship family.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Data Spreading and Physical

Record Storage
Data spreading adds another dimension to our definition of records with respect to
physical data storage. In the most general terms, a record corresponds to a row in a
database table. In a data model that does not use data spreading, this would mean that
each record is stored in one row of one table, where the columns of that row contain all
the information for the record.

In a data model that uses data spreading, however, the values for a single record are
actually spread across multiple rows in multiple tables. Consider the following example,
where spreading has been used.

Family Fields
Failure ID

Failure Date
Failure
Failure
Comments

Failure\Equipment Failure

Failure\Equipment Failure\Shutdown
Failure\Equipment Failure\Leak Leak Substance

In this example, when you create a Leak record and define values for the Leak Substance,
Failure Comments, Failure Date, and Failure ID fields, the only value that is actually
stored in the Leak table is Leak Substance. The other three values will be stored in the
family table where the fields are defined (i.e., where the physical columns exist): the
Failure table.

Each of the tables will contain a physical row, or record. When you view a record
belonging to the Leak family, you are actually viewing a composite record that consists
of the record stored in the Leak table and the record stored in the Failure table.

Typically, it is not necessary to refer to each record individually as a distinct row in

separate physical tables. Therefore, in cases where spreading has been used, we use the
term record to refer to the composite record that has been created as a result of data
spreading.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

How Are Records Uniquely Identified?

Each record in the Meridium APM database has a unique Entity Key that is stored in the
ENTY_KEY field. The value in the ENTY_KEY field is unique to a given database.
After you save a new record, it is assigned a unique Entity Key automatically. You cannot
display an Entity Key on a datasheet, but you can find it by running a query and including
the ENTY_KEY field. For example, if you wanted to see the Entity Key of PMP-4543,
you could create a query similar to the one shown in the following image.

The results of the query might look something like this:

Entity Keys are often required in URLs, so keep in mind that you can locate an Entity
Key by running a query and displaying the ENTY_KEY field.

Note: All records also contain the system field CONTENT_GUID, which uniquely
identifies a record across ALL databases. This field is populated automatically with a
system-generated value when a record is instantiated (i.e., when you initiate the record-
creation process).

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is a Record ID?

Throughout the documentation, we refer to the value that exists in the ENTY_ID field on
a datasheet as the Record ID. A Record ID can help you identify a record in the database.
A Record ID is determined via the ID Template configuration in the Configuration
Manager application. If an ID Template has not been configured for a family, records
created in those families will not have a Record ID.

While Record IDs are not required to be unique, if you set up your system such that you
configure ID fields for all families and you enforce a policy of supplying unique values in
all ID fields, the Record IDs of those records will be unique.

For example, consider the Record ID for Functional Location records, which is a
concatenated value containing the Functional Location and Functional Location
Description.

You cannot display a Record ID on a datasheet, but you can determine it by running a
query and including the ENTY_ID field. For example, if you wanted to see the Record
ID of the Functional Location record with the value MRD-HOU-MING in the Functional
Location field, you could create a query similar to the one shown in the following image.

The results of the query might look something like this:

While ENTY_ID is not displayed on a datasheet, the value that exists in this field is
displayed throughout the Meridium APM Framework application interface. For example,
when you perform a search for a record, the results section displays the Record IDs in the
Record ID column.

In addition, when you look at records in the record hierarchy, you will see the Record ID
at the record node level, as shown in the following image:

Record IDs are often required in URLs, so keep in mind that you can locate an Record ID
by running a query and displaying the ENTY_ID field.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overview of Datasheets
A datasheet is a customized view of fields assigned to a family. Datasheets organize the
data stored in a record. Since all members of a specific family have common
characteristics, the datasheet that is configured for a family applies to all the records that
belong to the family. For example, all records in the Meridium General Recommendation
family will use the Meridium General Recommendation datasheet. When you create a
new record in the Record Manager or the Bulk Data Form, the datasheet that appears
shows the specific data that is associated with a record. Most Meridium APM modules
also display datasheets in customized screens that do not necessarily resemble the Record
Manager or the Bulk Data Form.

Each entity family can be associated with multiple datasheets. Multiple datasheets can be
useful in cases where different types of users need to view and enter different information
into a single record. When you open a record, you will be able to select the desired
datasheet if more than one datasheet has been configured. Because datasheets are
completely configurable, it is up to an administrative user to decide whether to create
many datasheets to divide fields or just use one datasheet that contains all of the fields.

The Meridium APM system offers various types of datasheets so that you can customize
the way users enter data into the system.
V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Multiple Datasheets

To allow flexibility in data entry and storage, Meridium APM lets you define more than
one datasheet for a given family. For example, members of the Pump family may have
many pieces of data that can be recorded for them (e.g., maintenance, engineering,
reliability, cost, inspection, design, drawing, project, etc.). A datasheet containing all of
these data fields would be very large and difficult to navigate.

To make data entry easier, an administrative user can choose to create subsets of the data
based on specific purposes—engineering data in one datasheet, inspection data in
another, cost data in a third, and so forth. When you access a record, regardless of
whether you use the Record Manager, Bulk Data Form, or another method of viewing
records, you can select the datasheet that represents your needs.

When more than one datasheet exists for a family, you will be able to select the desired
datasheet when you create and view a record. The name of the currently selected
datasheet appears at the top of any record you are viewing.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

About Field Rules in Datasheets

The field properties and rules that you define for family fields determine how fields will
behave when users view them in datasheets in the Meridium APM Framework
application or the Meridium APM Web Framework. For example, the Format rule
determines how values will be formatted in the Meridium APM Framework application
and the Meridium APM Web Framework.

If you have defined a rule for a field that will affect the way it appears or behaves in the
Meridium APM Framework application and the Meridium APM Web Framework, you
may want to test the field rule. To do so, follow this workflow:

Step 1: Configure the family field properties as desired.

Step 2: Add the field to the datasheet.

Step 3: Compile the family.

Step 4: Launch the Meridium APM Framework application or the Meridium APM Web
Framework, and open a new datasheet for the family.

If you need to make additional changes to a field, repeat this workflow, but omit step 2.
After you add the field to the datasheet, any changes you make to the field rule will be
applied automatically to the datasheet.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.

Putting It All Together: Families,

Records, and Fields
The following explanation illustrates the connection between families, records, and
fields. While the example is generic, the concept applies to Meridium APM families,
family fields, and records.

Note: In this example, data spreading has not been used.

Consider a situation where employees who work for an employer will be stored in the
Employee entity family. Various fields will be defined for the Employee family to create
columns in the Employee table and store data for individual Employee records. The
Employee family table might look something like this:

Notice that the following fields are defined for the Employee family:

• Employee ID
• First Name

• Last Name

• Date of Birth

Four records belong to the Employee family and are stored as rows in the Employee
table. Each record has a value in each field. The first record in the table defines the
information for John Smith, the second record defines the information for Mary Jones,
and so on. Each record has an ID, which is unique to the record and can be used for
searching.
Because each employee has a certain number of years of service to the employer, the
Employee family could be related to the Service family through the Has Service
relationship family. The Service family, then, could contain fields such as Start Date and
End Date. The Service family table might look similar to the following table.

From the Service family, you can see that there are four records, each assigned a specific
Service ID. The Employee ID field indicates the employee with which the record is
associated, the Start Date field defines the date on which the employee began service, and
the End Date field indicates the date on which the employee ended his or her service.
Because the End Date field is empty for the employee defined by the Employee ID E-
113, we can infer that he or she is the only one who remains with the company out of the
four employees defined in the table.

V3.6.0.0.0 - Copyright © 1993-2014 Meridium, Inc. All rights reserved.