The network element objects have been improved with the following new features:

Partial Representation

A partial network element is an abstraction which denotes a network element that is only part of the real-world network element. Partial network elements can be used in several situations, for example:

A network element can be defined as partial by setting the value of the attribute partial in the business object. This attribute can be set programmatically using IltNetworkElement.PartialAttribute.

The following example illustrates how a network element is created using the attribute partial via XML:

<addObject id="NE1">
  <class>ilog.tgo.model.IltNetworkElement</class>
  <attribute name="name">NE1</attribute>
  <attribute name="partial">true</attribute>
  <attribute name="type">NE</attribute>
</addObject>

Partial network elements are graphically represented by an icon located at the bottom left of the network element base.

The result can be seen in the following images:

The partial representation is displayed according to the business object CSS configuration. The following properties can be used to customize the passive representation:

Shortcut Representation

A shortcut network element is an abstraction which denotes an object that is only a reference to an existing network element. IltNetworkElement provides a new attribute, ShortcutAttribute, whose value can be:

A network element can be defined as a shortcut by setting the value of the attribute shortcut in the business object. This attribute can be set programmatically using IltNetworkElement.ShortcutAttribute.

The following example illustrates how a network element is created using this attribute via XML:

<addObject id="NE1">
  <class>ilog.tgo.model.IltNetworkElement</class>
  <attribute name="name">NE1</attribute>
  <attribute name="shortcut">STANDARD</attribute>
  <attribute name="type">NE</attribute>
</addObject>

Shortcut network elements are graphically represented by an icon located at the bottom left of the network element base.

The result can be seen in the following images:

The shortcut representation is displayed according to the business object CSS configuration. The following properties can be used to customize the shortcut representation:

New Types

The IltNetworkElement class provides the following new types:

Logical Network Elements (or Logical NE)

A logical network element is an abstraction of a non-physical managed telecom object such as a service or a software component.

A network element can be defined as logical by setting the value of attribute type in the business object to IltNetworkElement.Type.NE_Logical. This attribute can be set programatically using IltNetworkElement.TypeAttribute.

The following example shows how a logical network element is created in XML:

<addObject id="NE1">
  <class>ilog.tgo.model.IltNetworkElement</class>
  <attribute name="name">NE1</attribute>
  <attribute name="type">NE_Logical</attribute>
</addObject>

Logical network elements are represented by a square leaf-shaped icon:

NE Components

An NE component is an abstraction of a physical managed telecom object that is part of a network element, such as a network card attached to a router.

A network element can be defined as NE Component by setting the value of attribute type in the business object to IltNetworkElement.Type.NEComponent. This attribute can be set programatically using IltNetworkElement.TypeAttribute.

The following example shows how an NE component is created in XML:

<addObject id="NE1">
  <class>ilog.tgo.model.IltNetworkElement</class>
  <attribute name="name">NE1</attribute>
  <attribute name="type">NEComponent</attribute>
</addObject>

NE components are represented by a vertical rectangle-shaped icon:

Logical NE Components

A logical NE component is an abstraction of a logical managed telecom object that is part of a network element, such as a software element or a logical processor.

A network element can be defined as a logical NE component by setting the value of attribute type in the business object to IltNetworkElement.Type.NEComponent_Logical. This attribute can be set programatically using IltNetworkElement.TypeAttribute.

The following example shows how a logical NE component is created in XML:

<addObject id="NE1">
  <class>ilog.tgo.model.IltNetworkElement</class>
  <attribute name="name">NE1</attribute>
  <attribute name="type">NEComponent_Logical</attribute>
</addObject>

Logical NE components are represented by a vertical leaf-shaped rectangular icon:

Cluster Network Elements

A cluster network element is an abstraction of a network element that is made up of two or more distinct subcomponents such as other network elements that can be (and often are) managed as standalone telecom objects. Clusters can be co-located or distributed, depending on how their subcomponents are organized (either within a managed area or spread across different areas). As with the new partial network elements concept, it is possible to represent wholy-owned clusters (that is, all the subcomponents are managed by the user), or partially-owned clusters (only some of the subcomponents are managed by the user).

A network element can be defined as a cluster by setting the value of attribute type in the business object. This attribute can be set programatically using IltNetworkElement.TypeAttribute. A distributed cluster is defined by the type IltNetworkElement.Type.Cluster_Distributed and a co-located cluster is defined by the type IltNetworkElement.Type.Cluster_Colocated.

The following example shows how a network element is created as a distributed cluster in XML:

<addObject id="NE1">
  <class>ilog.tgo.model.IltNetworkElement</class>
  <attribute name="name">NE1</attribute>
  <attribute name="type">Cluster_Distributed</attribute>
</addObject>

Distributed clusters are represented by a globe image with a cluster of networked elements on top:

Co-located clusters are represented by the image of a building with a cluster of networked elements on top:

New Functions

The IltNetworkElement class now provides the following new representations for generic and technology-specific functions: