When the Analyst clicks on one of the "Options..." buttons on the Main Topology Import Panel, the Topology Import Options dialog appears. This multi-tabbed panel provides detailed control over the topology import process.
The Topology Import Options dialog contains eight tabbed panels, each of which allows the Analyst to control a particular aspect of the import process:
Collectively, the fields on these eight panels provide the Analyst with a huge number of options, allowing the topology import process to be customized to serve a variety of needs. By intelligently manipulating these options, the experienced Analyst can use the Spreadsheet Topology Import as a "power modeling" tool, thereby accelerating the model development process. The Analyst should also thoroughly understand the differences between the seven Import Modes, since the majority of import tasks can be configured simply by selecting the proper import mode (see also the Import Modes Comparison chart).
The data source tree that appears on the left-hand side of the Data Source Administration dialog has been reorganized for clarity.
Design templates are now listed in their own branch of the tree. The Spreadsheet Imports folder now lists the data sources for all spreadsheet imports that are installed with eXpress (as part of the main program or as .dlls). There is also a new folder for XML Imports (included for future expansion). Finally, the Plug-In Imports folder now lists only third-party data sources or custom data sources developed for specific customers.
Each standard DSI data source type is identified with its associated icon—the gray “component” icon, for instance, is used for the eXpress Spreadsheet Topology Import. Two different icons are used for the data sources used to import Failure Effects—a blue one for object effect imports and a red one for design effect imports. Likewise, when importing tests, the data source icon is based on the test type to be imported (signature or inspection).
Note: the icons for the Spreadsheet Failure Effect Import and Spreadsheet Test Import data are initially set to the design effect and signature test icons, respectively). The icon is changed when you click on the corresponding entry on the panel on the right-hand side of the dialog.
