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In Inforay, the metadata structure is established in the so-called X-Ray. The X-Ray is used to extract information from the data sources that end users want to monitor. This data is displayed in online Monitors that are based on the X-Ray. Logistical map of business informationThe X-Ray forms a logistical map of business information, presented in indicators and categories. Indicators are the control variables that represent quantities. Categories are the lines of inquiry for viewing indicators. The X-Ray contains connections where information is both required and available. Information requirements and connectionsActually, an X-Ray consists of two layers: the graphical layer that describes the information requirements, and the technical layer that contains the connection information to the data sources. These are also called the business X-Ray and the technical X-Ray.
IndicatorsThe preceding illustration shows part of an X-Ray. On the left-hand side are the indicators: Number of Orders, Cost per Order, and the derived indicator Expenses. Most indicators are directly retrieved from the sources in which the data is stored. It is also possible to calculate indicators; such indicators are called derived indicators. Derived indicators are calculations of data in the sources, for example: Expenses equals Number of Orders times Cost per Order.CategoriesAlong the bottom of the X-Ray are the categories: Office, Department, Employee, Supplier, Product, Year, and Month. Categories can be mutually related, usually because one category is a grouping or subset of another category. For example, the expenses can be kept by office, by department, or by employee. If you request the expenses per office in Inforay, it is also possible to specify this information per department. Once the data for a particular department appears on screen, you can zoom in on the data per employee. Connection pointsThe connection points on the intersections of the grid indicate which indicators can be viewed by which categories. These connections represent the information that can be requested. Information may not be available for all possible combinations of indicators and categories. This does not necessarily mean that the information cannot be determined. Certain combinations may be excluded from the X-Ray, because that information is, for example, redundant or protected. |
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