Defining Yard Topology including Locations, Yards, Areas and Places is a basic and necessary step to start using Yardman. It describes and maps your current real world’s yard into Yardman. The better you model it on the beginning the better yard overview you will get.
Dependencies
Location (includes) Yard (includes) Area (includes) Place.
Locations
The Location is a top level object and may contain several different yards. It is most often used to define the city in which the yard is located.
Yards
The Yard is the 2nd level object that belongs to a location and may have many areas. It is most often used to define the actual yard including company buildings, parkings, warehouses, gates, so mostly everything surrounded by a fence.
Areas
The Area is the 3rd level object that belongs to a yard and may have many places. It is most often used to define the buildings (like warehouses, gates) where visitors may have check in and check out. A warehouse with several loading docks is a perfect example of an area.
Places
The place is 4th and the last level object that belongs to an area. It is most often used to define the place where visitors have to stop and do something (like load the cargo, security check). A loading dock is a perfect example of a place.