What is a custom graphics modeller good for?

Several arguments were decisive in the decision to use our own graphics modeller. From a developer's perspective, the dependence on CAD software was bothersome, as we had to maintain every update in our AixBOMS Suite versions as well. From our customers' perspective, the use of a standalone graphics application meant additional licensing costs, provided they weren't already using it. However, among them were many who had purchased it solely for visualising their cable routes and data centre equipment and were constantly expending a lot of manual effort keeping their plans up to date.

This was often unsuccessful, and so these plans were unsuitable for troubleshooting and future planning. Therefore, the desire for a real-time link between the data in the AixBOMS database and the plans used became a crucial argument for in-house graphics programming. Every change in the database has since been automatically displayed when views and plans are reopened. Depending on the management discipline (Cable, BSM, Networking, DCIM, Config, Connectivity, etc.), objects can have states, relationships to other objects, coordinates, child components, etc., which are then also determined from the database entries and displayed in suitable views. Furthermore, the freedom in modelling allows us to visualise often specialised components in such a way that the customer can easily recognise them.

Because most users prefer to work with our graphical editors and assistants, this graphical database coupling must function in both directions. For example, if a distribution cabinet is moved within an area plan, after saving, the corresponding changes for all affected (contained) components are also included in the database. Via context menus, graphical objects can be „managed“ in the plans and views just as they can be in the detailed view of the corresponding database object. For an AixBOMS user, there is now no discernible difference between a graphical object and its associated database object. And they also save on license costs.

If you have had similar experiences with the parallel maintenance of your infrastructure data, we may be able to help you with an automated transfer of your plans into AixBOMS. We already have relevant experience and our own software tool.