About Creating and Populating a Central Catalog

The administrator creates a Central Catalog directory and then creates a base design that includes an Internal Catalog. As each catalog item is created, it is submitted to a temporary submission directory. The administrator uses the Datatable Explorer to import datatables and membermaps for use in the designs, and then submits and integrates them into the Central Catalog. When an item is changed and submitted again, its time stamp updates and the various catalogs using the item must be updated.

After an item has been incorporated into the Central Catalog it is locked automatically and only an editor can edit it. The administrator sets a password for the design that the editor uses to unlock for editing.

When you want to submit specific catalog items, you can find them using the Verify Catalog dialog box and submit the results to the Central Catalog.

There are three types of Catalog user roles:

• Administrator—Maintains the Central Catalog folder structure and inserts items as required. The administrator need not be an editor or user.

• Editor—Edits catalog items that reference Central Catalog items. Users become editors when they unlock a password-protected design.

• User—Creates Internal Catalog items and instances items from the Central Catalog. A user can submit Internal Catalog items to the Temporary Submission Directory.

When an item is submitted to the temporary submission directory, the Submit to Catalog dialog box opens and displays the location of the item in the catalog structure. The folder structure is maintained when items are submitted to the temporary submission directory.

All items are individually submitted to the Central Catalog as a file. You can submit either a single file, or several associated files. When the submitted item is dependent on other items, including the datatables and membermaps associated with the artifact, more than one file can be submitted for that catalog item. A dependency text file with the .dep extension is automatically created and submitted. It defines the path to all dependent files. All files must be available in the Central Catalog, including datatables and membermaps, for the catalog item to be available.