Using the external dependencies explorer in Toad Data Modeler

Hi, my name is Lukas Knapek and I'm a technical writer at Quest. In this video, I would like to talk about external dependencies explorer. This feature is closely related to external objects, so if you have not seen the video where I talk about them, I would recommend you watch it first. In Toad Data Modeler, I have opened a couple of my smaller models, all of which already use external objects. Specifically, my books model uses an external entity imported from the authors model, and it also has the book copies entity which has been exported to the notes model. So all in all, I have one exported and one imported external object in this model. You can see that things might get complicated as I keep using more external objects, so I could definitely use some sort of overview. This is where external dependencies explorer comes to the rescue. It can be displayed by going to the Window menu and selecting the last entry-- External Dependencies Explorer. This window displays all external objects imported to your model, as well as those exported from your model. The explorer allows you to perform external object update as seen and the external objects video. For example, if I modify the original unique ID domain by changing its data type, let's say-- I can go back to my books model select the demanded explorer, and update it by clicking the Update from External Source button. And as you can see, the domain has been updated. You may have also noticed that each object has unknown status. The status describes the state of external object links between models. If I check the status of the book copies entity using the Check Item button, I can see that it's OK because the original object, book copies, as well as the reference external object both exist. However, this may not always be the case. Imagine a situation where I delete an original object that is referenced by some external object. For example, I can see an external user in my imported objects. I could check it and see that the link is OK so far. Now, what if I go to the original object and delete it? What if I also close the model saving the changes? How is this situation to be handled? I'll go back to my books model and check all of the imported objects using the Check All button. As you can see, Toad Data Modeler needs the source model to be open in order to check the status of the objects. Let's open it then. The check has been completed, and we can't see a warning next to the external user whose original object I have just deleted. As you can see, it says, "Source object has not been found in model 'Authors.'" So what can I do to resolve this situation? Well, I can use another tool for external dependencies explorer, select the object, and delete it by clicking the Delete Object button. And just like that, we removed a redundant external object that is no longer linked to the original object. These were the main features of external dependencies explorer in a nutshell. In conclusion, the explorer is the best way to view and manage external objects in your models. It is also able to check the external objects and fix potential status problems. I hope this video helped you to learn more about managing external objects using this explorer. For more information about Toad Data Modeler, visit quest.com/products/toad-data-modeler, or pay a visit to the product community at Quest.com/products/Toad-Data-Modeler. Have a nice day.