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Archive Information Source Metadata

This page describes how Information Source metadata can be archived.

This option is available for both Information Sources and Dimensions and the description on this page applies to both cases.

Archiving Current State of Metadata

Current metadata state of an Information Source or Dimension can be archived.

A reason for archiving is that the metadata related to pages Information Source orDimension might have been used several times to do modifications of the installed metadata. Since it can be rather difficult to keep track of made changes, the archiving functionality provides a possibility to save the metadata at given point, serving as a backup of made modifications. As a rule of thumb the metadata definitions for an entity, Information Source or Dimension, should be archived as soon as modifications have been done and tested. The archive metadata can be exported to file but it can also be restored, i.e. replacing the current metadata definitions.

Assume we want to archive current metadata for the Information Source FACT_ABSENCE_PERIOD.

Open the Information Sources page (the Information Source page would work equally good). Use the command Archive Info Source(s). An assistant will open. Select FACT_ABSENCE_PERIOD in the item picker in the first step and in next step step verify that the selection was correct and Finish.

A message box will always appear where the user must confirm if the archiving should be handled or not.

If Yes is selected, a new archive entry for each selected entity, Information Source or Dimension, will be created. When ready a dialog box will appear to verify that the archiving operation completed successfully.

When the archiving has finalized, it is possible to navigate to the Information Sources Archive.

Information Source Archive

General

Every time the metadata of an Information Source or Dimension is archived using the archiving assistant, an entry will be created in the Information Sources Archive.

The following actions/events leads to creation of an archive entry:

  • The Archive Info Source(s) command is used, either from the Information Sources or Information Source page or from the Dimensions or Dimension page.
  • New metadata of an Information Source or a Dimension is installed as part of a patch, update or release. This means that the current metadata is archived before installing the new metadata.

The Information Sources Archive window provide the following possibilities:

  • Export
    The metadata of the entity, as of the archive entry timestamp, is exported to an INS file
  • Restore
    The metadata definitions as of the archive entry timestamp is restored, i.e. the current contents is removed and replaced by the archived definition. Restoring requires an ok from the end user.
    Note: When a restore is performed, the current metadata will be archived before restore takes place.
    In the example the entry with id=24602 was restored. The current metadata definitions were first archived, represented by the entry with id=24603.

How to Compare Metadata of an Entity

Assuming the following scenario:

  • Manual changes have been made to the metadata of an Information Source.
  • The changes have been saved by creating a new metadata archive entry.
  • A new version of the metadata for the Information Source has been installed after archiving the manual changes.
  • What are the changes between the currently installed metadata and the metadata just before the installation?

It is obvious that the archived metadata entry related to the archived manual changes should be exported to file. This is done via the Export command in the Information Sources Archive.

But with what should it be compared?

One possibility is of course to compare it with the metadata file used during the latest installation. The problem here is though that the metadata file as generated via the model file in Developer Studio does not have exactly the same structure as a metadata file exported via the Information Sources page or the Information Sources Archivepage. This makes the analysis of differences a bit difficult.

The suggested option for the described scenario is as follows:

  • Use the Information Sources Archive page to export the archived metadata related to the archived manual changes
  • Use the Information Sources page to export the current metadata of the entity
  • Compare the two files in your favorite diff tool

General Advice

The general advice is to always make sure to archive the current metadata and to export it to file before doing any manual metadata changes.

The reason for this is that it will be a bit easier to find out the manual differences made:

  • Archive before doing changes and export.
  • Perform manual changes.
  • Archive, i.e. backup the metadata containing the manual changes, and export.
  • Compare the two files. The advantage in this case is that the exported metadata files will have the same format/structure.