• Concept of attribute locking

• Locking an attribute in a Template indicates that its value is to be logically “shared” with all derived objects (Templates or instances). In other words, when the value changes in the template, that change is propagated to all the derived children of the object. When an attribute is “locked” in the Template, the value can be changed in that Template but not in any of the derived children.
• Based on this concept, an attribute can have one of three logical lock types:

• Locking an Attribute

• To lock a Template attribute, do the following:

• Select the desired Template in the ArchestrA IDE and start its editor.

• Enter a value in an attribute field in the object’s editor.

• Select the locking mechanism for that attribute. Some editors may have lock icons associated with certain edit fields, but this possibility is within the scope of the developer of the object’s editor.

• Save and close the object editor.

• The locked attribute in any derived templates and instances created from this template are locked and unavailable. To test this, you can derive a new template or create an instance from the original template, and then check the new object’s editor. The locked attribute is unavailable for editing.

• To unlock a Template attribute, do the following:

• Select the desired Template in the ArchestrA IDE and start its editor.

• Select the locking mechanism for the locked attribute in the object’s editor. Some editors may have lock icons associated with certain edit fields, but this possibility is within the scope of the developer of the object’s editor.

• Save and close the object editor.

The previously locked attribute in any instances created from this template are now unlocked. The previously locked attribute in any templates derived from this template are still Locked (in me). The previously locked attribute in any instances of derived templates remain in Locked in Parent.