Object Extensions to the Carapace Audit

The Carapace Audit can be extended to record information about arbitrary objects. One example of this 'object extension' is the Message Audit.

The following steps extend the Carapace Audit so it can hold information about a new type of object.

1. Create a Carapace script package which defines the following classes:
   • storage class -- to store the object in the audit database
   • filter class -- to help when filtering the Audit for attributes of the object
   • administration class -- to delete the stored objects.

   Each of these classes has a fixed interface.

2. Register this script package within the database.

Usually, the objects are held within the database -- since this allows filtering to be performed by the Audit. However, it is entirely possible to store the objects by some other means and hold only filtering information within the database.

For a complete example, see the message audit script.

Storage Class Interface

The storage class is used to store the object so that it can be retrieved by the audit system. This is used by the Auditor class. The storage class must be created as follows:

    (create Xxxx db)

The storage class is required to have the following method:

record

record the object and identify it by the supplied identifier

record

Record the object and identify it by the supplied identifier.

Arguments:

id	String
obj	Object

Return type: the empty List ()

Filter Class Interface

The filter class is used to provide information to the Audit when reading information from the Carapace Audit.

The filter class must be created as follows:

    (create Xxxx db)

The filter class is required to have the following methods:

filterHeadings	return the headings/attribute names of the object which can be filtered upon in the Audit
displayHeadings	return the headings/attribute names of the object which can be displayed in the Audit
fetch	fetch the identified object
exists	test if the identified object exists
relationships	list the relationships allowed between objects of this type
filterPage	return the name of HTML template used for filtering objects of this type
detailsPage	return the name of HTML template used for displaying objects of this type

filterHeadings

Return the headings/attribute names of the object which can be filtered upon in the Audit.

Arguments: none

Return type: List

displayHeadings

Return the headings/attribute names of the object which can be displayed in the Audit.

Arguments: none

Return type: List

fetch

Fetch the identified object.

Arguments:

id

String

Return type: Object

exists

Test if the identified object exists.

Arguments:

id

String

Return type: Object

relationships

List the relationships allowed between objects of this type.

Arguments: none

Return type: List

filterPage

Return the name of HTML template used for filtering objects of this type. If no filter page is supplied, then the empty String "" is returned.

Arguments: none

Return type: String

detailsPage

Return the name of HTML template used for displaying objects of this type. If no details page is supplied, then the empty String "" is returned.

Arguments: none

Return type: String

Administration Class Interface

The administration class is used by the Admin to remove stored objects from the Audit.

The administration class must be created as follows:

    (create Xxxx db)

The administration class is required to have the following methods:

delete	delete the identified object from the Audit
purge	delete all objects created before the supplied time

delete

Delete the identified object from the Audit.

Arguments:

id

String

Return type: the empty List ()

purge

Delete all objects created before the supplied time.

Arguments:

toTime

String

Return type: the empty List ()

Registration of an Audit Extension

Maintenance of object extensions is done using the Admin interface. This is also accessible from the Web-based UI for the Carapace Administration System.

Contents

Index

Current topic: audit

Related topics: databases