Hi,
I wrote a pattern to discover MS Print servers (as SoftwareInstance) and Print queues (as SoftwareComponent). Now that ADDM is able to discover printers, I would like to link each Print queue to its printer.

I tried several “model.rel” functions but it’s not working. I guess I have to create my own relationship in the taxonomy.

How would you do that?

Thanks
Lionel

My assumption of what you are trying to do would be this:

For each printer I find, assign the print queue attribute to that printer, and then link it as a communication relationship to the print server that the queue resides on.

Is this what you are trying to accomplish?

Not exactly. Print queue is a node not an attribute of the printer.
I have the print server and the print queues on one side and the printers on the other side. I want to link the print queues to the printers. I tried to use a communication relationship but it’s not working with the Printer kind.

Maybe instead of creating a SoftwareComponent in the CEI_WindowsPrintServer.tpl, you should create a Detail Node for the Printer Node and then that should allow you to link the Printer through the detail to the SI of the Print Server.  Not sure thought as it looks like Printer doesn’t really have any good relationships attached to it.

I would also agree that having the Print Queues as Detail nodes would make more sense.

In any case, have a look at the taxonomy diagrams in the docs. What you should consider before extending the taxonomy is the existing relationships between various nodes.
Yes, it is true that there is no direct link, but Detail nodes can be linked to SoftwareInstance nodes which are linked to Host nodes.
There is a way (via a number of hops) to get from the Host node to the Printer node.

Well, print queues may be created as Detail nodes but:
- Not all printers are discovered (I know I can send captured device data to change that).
- Some print queues are connected to “logical printers” like Adobe PDF or Microsoft XPS.
Therefore I have to keep them as independant objects.

Actually, the print queue is an important object for me. I have some BAI based on print queues. I don’t want to change everything.

Detail nodes are independent objects as are SoftwareComponent nodes.
In any case, what I said for Detail objects still applies for SoftwareComponent nodes.

Extending the taxonomy is not something I would recommend.

SoftwareComponent nodes are for deployed components of software which is not what a print queue is. You should use a Detail node.

In either case using a distinct type attribute will keep them separate. I would strongly recommend you use Detail.

I’m trying to work out how you relate a Printer to it’s queue. Are you just linking them on common IP?

SoftwareComponent or Detail, as far as I know, none of them have a direct relationship to Printer. Therefore I have extended the taxonomy to create it.

Yes I’m just linking the print queue to the printer when I found the same IP on both sides.

Not in the taxonomy explicitly no, but you should use one of the existing ones anyway, I’d suggest Printer:Dependant:Dependency:DependedUpon:Detail.

Just because it isn’t explicitly defined it is valid so TPL will allow you to create that and you can write reports or syncmappings against it.

Whatever you do don’t edit the main taxonomy unless you want difficulty next time you upgrade!