Import/Export Utility

Overview

This chapter is intended for the administrator responsible for distributing EPX throughout the organization. It describes how to use the Import/Export Utility to distribute process flows and process flow components, including users, groups, and roles, from one EPX database server to another.

After developing process flow components and process flows on one EPX database server (source), you can migrate them to another EPX database server (destination). You then should copy any necessary work item viewer files to the destination server.

Topics in this chapter include:

  • Using the Import/Export Utility for EPX
  • Copying work item viewer files
  • Deploying the URL for accessing TaskManager

For more detailed information about using work item viewers see the Process Modeling guide; see the TaskManager guide for more details about TaskManager.

Using the Import/Export Utility for EPX

The Import/Export Utility included with EPX allows you to copy process flows and their components from one EPX database server to another. This is especially useful if you have developed your EPX system on one server, and you want users to connect to other servers to take part in process flows.

Objects that you can migrate include:

  • users
  • groups
  • personal subflows
  • roles
  • subflows
  • work item types
  • work item viewers
  • process flows

The following sections describe how to export objects to an XML file and import the file to another EPX database server using the Import/Export Utility.

Exporting EPX Components

To use the Import/Export Utility, you first need to determine which objects you want to migrate, select them, and export them to a file.

Exporting Objects to a File

  1. In Design Console, in the Tools menu, click Import/Export. This action opens the Import/Export window.

  2. In the Import/Export window, click the Migration Source button. In the Source list, click EPX Server. If it does not appear by default, in the Server/File list, click the name of the local EPX installation.
  3. Click OK. Data from the server is loaded into the utility.
  4. In the Source box, click the objects you want to export, and then click the add button [>] to move them to the Destination box.

Click the [>>] or add all button to move all objects in the Source box to the Destination box. Click the [<] or remove button to remove selected objects from the Destination box, or click the [<<] remove all button to remove all objects from the Destination box.

  1. To export the objects in the Destination box, click the Migration Destination button.
  2. In the Destination list, click EPX Export File. In the Server / File box, either type a filename (e.g., export), or click the [...] or browse button to open a dialog where you can select an existing file.

A zip file will be created containing the XML (.epm) file that the exported objects will be written to.

  1. If you have selected process flows, you can also include work items in the export process. Select the Include Work Items checkbox if you want to export work items. By default, work items are not exported (the checkbox is clear). Click Migrate to begin exporting.
  2. When the export is finished, click OK. You can close the utility by clicking the close button [x] in the top-right corner of the dialog. Now the .zip file containing the exported objects can be imported into one or more EPX database servers. If the location where you saved the file is not accessible from the EPX database server into which you will import the EPX data, then you should now copy the file to an accessible location.

Importing EPX Components

To complete the migration process, you need to import the XML file into the destination database server.

Note: To import objects into a EPX database server, you must have create or read and write permissions on the objects in the XML file.

Importing Objects from EPX Import File

  1. In Design Console, click Import/Export in the Tools menu.
  2. In the Import/Export dialog, click the Migration Source button. In the Source list, click EPX Import File. In the Server / File box, either type the name of the export file you created, or click the browse button[...] to navigate to the file and select it. Click OK.
  3. In the Source box, click the objects you want to import, and then click the add button [>] to move them to the Destination box. Click the add all button [>>] to move all objects in the Source box to the Destination box. Click the remove button[<] to remove selected objects from the Destination box, or click the remove all button [<<] to remove all objects from the Destination box.
  4. To import the objects in the Destination box, click the Migration Destination button.
  5. In the Destination list, click EPX Server. If it does not appear by default, in the Server / File list, click the name of the local EPX installation. To include work items in the import process, select the Include Work Items checkbox.
  6. Click Migrate. If an object in the file you are importing matches one that already exists in the database, the Object Collision Error dialog appears, asking if you want to overwrite that object during the import process.

  7. When the import process is completed, click OK. You can close the utility by clicking the close button [x] in the top-right corner of the dialog.

Copying Work Item Viewer Files

When you migrate EPX components to other EPX database servers, you must also make sure that the appropriate work item viewer files, including the custom viewers, are migrated. To do this, you must copy the necessary HTML and JSP files to the same location on the destination EPX database server. In the Windows operating system, this is located in <EPX>\tomcat\webapps\tm\apps.

Work Item Property Names

Previous EPX versions required developers to use underscores to separate parent and child attribute relationships for work item property names (underscore notation).

Example: Property Name = Parent_Child_Attribute Value = 100

EPX 3.1 allows developers to assign work item property names in work item viewers using standard "parent" "." "children" notation (dot notation).

Example: Property Name = Parent.Child.Attribute Value = 100

For existing EPX installations upgrading to 3.1 or new EPX installations, these can be configured to accept either forms for denoting the work item property names. By default, EPX 3.1 is configured to accept dot notation for work item property names.

To change the EPX configuration to accept the former underscore notation, you must modify the config.properties file for the following configuration attribute to "true":

taskmanager.wivProps.dotUnderscore.conversion.enabled = true

For customers upgrading EPX to version 3.1, with the config.properties file still set to the default value ("false"), you must update all viewers (change the "underscore" to "dot" for all work item property names). If you want to continue using the underscore notation, you must set the above property value to "true".

Migrating Custom BICs

If you are using any custom BICs, be sure that you backup each custom BIC’s installation. In the simplest case, this would be the .jar file and the .config file in:

Windows: <EPX>/bin/agents/<BICmanager>

Copy these files into a separate location. Prior to importing any process flows which contain these custom BICs, replace the backup files in this directory:

Windows: <EPX>/bin/agents/<BICmanager>