Cost Splitting
When an asset is utilized by multiple parent assets, Txture by default applies an even split, as shown in this example:
This is a suitable solution in many cases. However, in certain cases you may want to take control over the split yourself.
To do this:
- Make sure that your Link Type has a property tagged as
Distribution Weight. - Open the link in question in the repository
- Change the value of the
Distribution Weight
For instance, this could result in a split like this:
Distribution Weights do not necessarily have to add up to 1. Their entire purpose is to be a comparison value relative to each other. The calculation works as follows:
- Associated Costs of
App 1= 3/5 * $ 300 = $ 180 - Associated Costs of
App 2= 2/5 * $ 300 = $ 180
As shown in the example, we take the sum of all Distribution Weights (2 + 3 = 5)
and divide the local weight by that sum in order to determine the fraction
of costs of VM 1 that gets associated with App 1 and App 2 respectively.
Default Weight
The default Distribution Weight is 1. Even if a Link Type (which is tagged with a relevant semantic tag) does not have a Distribution Weight property, the corresponding Links will still be considered as if it had a Distribution Weight of 1.
Negative Distribution Weights
If a negative value is encountered in a Distribution Weight, it is treated as zero.
Use Distribution Weight of Zero to prevent Cost Propagation
Notably, you can also assign a Distribution Weight of zero. This prevents propagation of costs towards this asset. The remaining assets will split the full costs among them.
In this example, App 1 incurs none of the associated costs of VM 1,
because the Distribution Weight on the link was set to zero.
The calculation works as follows:
- Associated Costs of
App 1= 0/2 * $ 300 = $ 0 - Associated Costs of
App 2= 2/2 * $ 300 = $ 300
Note that the sum of distribution weights here is 2, which is why App 2
incurs 100% of the cost of VM 1.
All-Zero weights create Unaccounted Costs
If all Links pointing towards an asset have an explicit Distribution Weight of zero, the costs of this asset cannot be propagated anywhere. It will become a dead end in the propagation and its costs will become unaccounted.