As previously mentioned, template entities are very similar to model entities. Each of the template entities (except for folders) correspond to a model entity.
Folders
As is the case throughout your Flow configuration, Folders are used to group template entities. Their primary function is to allow for structuring of templates.
Folders may not be derived from, nor may they be instantiated from.
Folders may be nested, but folders within any parent folder must be uniquely named. This limitation also applies to folders created at the root level of the Template tree.
Template Folders
Template folders correspond to model folders. They allow for grouping of template metrics, and may also be nested within other template folders.
A template folder is the highest level template entity that may be derived or instantiated from.
Template Metrics
Template metrics correspond to model metrics. They allow for grouping of template measures, and because they correspond to template metrics, they allow for load balancing of a Flow system across multiple Data Engines.
Template Metrics cannot be nested within other template metrics.
A template metric’s name must be unique within a template folder, but not necessarily unique across the Flow instance. However, because a model metric name is unique across a Flow instance, when a template metric is instantiated, the instantiated model metric name is prefixed with that of its instantiated model metric folder parent.
Flow will not allow you to create a duplicate model metric. At times, if Flow detects a potential duplicate of a metric name, such as during instantiation, Flow will automatically append a "- Copy" to the metric name. Flow may even append a "- Copy(n)" to the metric name, when 'n' is the number of duplicates that it has detected.
Template Measures
Template measures correspond to model measures.
A template measure’s uniqueness (within its parent) is determined by a combination of the following:
- Name
- Interval Type
- Unit of Measure
A template measure may have as its parent a template metric or another template measure.