System modeling

You can use the system model feature on HCL DevOps Test Hub (Test Hub) to create a model that simulates an application or system under test. You can define components to represent the actual components in the system under test, define their relationships and then view the components in a system under test as a diagrammatic representation.

Introduction to a system model

A system model is a logical presentation of the components contained in a system under test and the relationships between components. You can create a system model when you want to visualize the different components and their relationships as a diagrammatic representation.

You can create only one system model within a team space on Test Hub. A team space repository is required to contain the system model that you create. Before you can create a system model, you must add a team space repository. The system model that is created or edited is stored in the team space repository. All projects within a team space share the same system model. All members of a team space can create, edit, and view the system model.

After you log in to Test Hub, you can go to the System Model page to create a system model for your team space. Alternatively, you can go to any of the projects in your team space and create a system model from the System Model page within a project. The system model is accessible from all the projects in your team space.

Components in a system model

Components are the basic building blocks that are used to represent a piece of software in an application.

You can model a system by using components. You can create components that represent the type of asset or resource used by the system or application under test and can be of the following types:
Component type Description
Database The component type represents the database resource. You can select this component type when you want to represent a database asset or resource in the system model.
Service The component type represents the virtual service resource. You can select this component type in the system model to represent a virtual service in the team space repository or associate a virtual service resource that is in the project repository.
UI The component type represents the user interface (UI) resource. You can select this component type when you want to represent the UI resource in the system model.

Component relationships

You can create multiple components to depict the different resources in the system or application under test. You can create a component as a child component of a parent component. You can also create multiple components as children components of the same parent component.

You can define the relationship between components if one component depends on another or if a component has a dependency of another component. The Depends on or Is a dependency of relationship depends on the component that you select in the system model after you define the relation.

For example, if you define Component A to depends on Component B, then the relationship is displayed with a line arrow from Component A to Component B, and the arrow points to Component B.

When you click the Component A in the system model page, you can view that the Component B is listed under the Depends on section for Component A in the right pane.Image of the depends on relationship.
When you click the Component B in the system model, you can view that the Component A is listed under the Is a dependency of section for Component B in the right pane.Image of the is dependency of relationship.

Component associations

When you work with the system model from your project in a team space, you can associate test resources that are in your project repository with components in the system model. You can associate all types of test resources such as Suites or tests, and virtual service resources with the components.

After associating test resources, you can view them when you select the component with which they are associated. You can select the associated test resources to start a run of the Suites or tests or start an instance of the virtual services resource.

Using the system model UI

The following table lists the icons used in a system model and the icons that are displayed on the System Model page:
Icon Description
Image of the system model icon. Represents a system model.
Image of the test assets icon. Represents Suites and tests in a repository.
Image of the database icon. Represents a database resource. The component name is prefixed with this icon when you select the component type as database.
Image of the services icon. Represents a service resource. The component name is prefixed with this icon when you select the component type as service.
Image of the user interface icon. Represents a user interface (UI) resource. The component name is prefixed with this icon when you select the component type as UI.
Image of the virtual service icon. Represents the virtual services.
Image to denote dependency. Represents the dependency between the components.
Image to denote inherited dependency. Represents the inherited dependencies.
The following table lists the icon that you can use to perform different actions in the system model:
Icon Used for...
Image of the add icon. Adding components, child components, or dependent components.
Image of the search icon. Searching for components in the system model.
Image of the publish icon. Publishing the changes made to the system model, changes made to components, or changes made to component associations. The changes are published to the team space repository.
You can perform the following operations when you view the model that is displayed on the System Model page:
Operation Action
Pan the view of the model
  1. Click the area of the model that you want to pan and move the area by keeping the left mouse button pressed.
  2. Release the left mouse button to stay on the view that you panned.
Zoom in the view of the model
  1. Click the Zoom-in icon Image of the zoom in icon..
    The view is enlarged or zoomed in.
    Note: You can repeatedly click the Zoom-in icon to further enlarge the view.

    Alternatively, you can use the scroll button on the mouse or device to zoom in the view.
Zoom out the view of the model
  1. Click the Zoom-out icon Image of the zoom out icon..
    The view is diminished or zoomed out.
    Note: You can repeatedly click the Zoom-out icon to further diminish the view.

    Alternatively, you can use the scroll button on the mouse or device to zoom out the view.
Reset the view
  1. Click the Menu icon Image of the menu icon. on the System Model page.
  2. Select Reset Zoom.

    The view is reset to the default view without any zoom applied. If the view was zoomed in or zoomed out, the view is reset to 100% of the size.
Position the model view
  1. Click the Menu icon Image of the menu icon. on the System Model page.
  2. Select from the following options:
    • Center: Select this option to align the view of the model to the center of the pane.
    • Fit to View: Select this option to fit the view of the model in the pane on the System Model page.

Tasks in system modeling

When you want to model the system under test for the first time after you install the server software, you must first add the team space repository. See Adding a repository to a team space.

After a repository is configured as the team space repository, you can work with the system model. See Tasks for working with a system model.

When you want to change, update or delete the repository, you can work with the team space repository. See Tasks for working with the team space repository.