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STEPXML Comparison Tool Scenarios

The following examples highlight how the STEPXML Comparison Tool can be used.

Running and loading STEPXML generated via the comparison tool

It is advisable to run the STEP comparison tool when no-one is using the system. The reason for this the XML being loaded may require ‘Single-Update Mode’ and if the process loading the XML is allowed to enter Single-Update Mode users will only have read-only access to the system.

If you load XML which requires Single-Update Mode and it cannot enter this state due the fact that there is an active process on the server. The import will enter a ‘wait’ state and will enter ‘Single-Update Mode’ when there are no active processes on the server.

If the XML being loaded is not set to go in to Single-Update Mode when imported the process will highlight it required to go into Single-Update Mode but was not able to.

Create Export configurations for exporting the data

When doing the first export where you select the configurations you required to be exported it is advisable to save a configuration file. The reason for this is there are a number of configurations and it could be very easy to miss a vital configuration if a user sets this every time they do a configuration export.

Scenario 1 - In this scenario we need to identify what is different between our source and target systems and update the target with the necessary updates.

Checking what is different between system to generate STEPXML to update target system :

Back-up target system
Export XML from Source system excluding Assets, Classifications, Entities and Products
Run a Cross Context export if configuration is stored in more dimension points i.e., LOVs, attribute names etc.
Export XML from Target system as above
The compare tool will highlight what is on the Source system only and what is different
Generate STEPXML tool
Load into target system
Check execution report for errors and resolve
Use compare tool to see what is different or only on the target system to remove or update
Scenario 2 - In this scenario we need to identify what only exists on the target system which will have to be manually removed or updated.

Removing configuration from a target system :

Back-up target system
Export XML from Source system excluding Assets, Classifications, Entities and Products
Export XML from Target system as above
The compare tool will highlight what is on the Target system only
STEP user will need to manually remove the specific configurations from the target system
Scenario 3 - In this scenario we need to compare the system only.

Compare configurations to see if the source and target systems match each other:

Export XML from Source system excluding Assets, Classifications, Entities and Products
Run a Cross Context export if configuration is stored in more dimension points i.e. LOVs, attribute names etc
Export XML from Target system as above
The compare tool will highlight what is not identical
Scenario 4 - In this scenario, use the compare tool to generate XML for specific object types. For example, to move two product types from source system to the target, choose to compare the same file and decide the objects to generate XML for.

Generating valid STEPXML:

Export XML from Source system excluding Assets, Classifications, Entities and Products
Run a Cross Context export if configuration is stored in more dimension points i.e. LOVs, attribute names etc
Re-use the source XML in the target
The compare tool will highlight what is identical and you can choose to view the XML via the hyperlinks for the appropriate objects

Considerations for STEPXML imports

When using the STEPXML Comparison Tool, review the following considerations.

Single-Update Mode

Configuration updates can require STEP to go into ‘Single-Update Mode’. The updates that require Single-Update Mode via the comparison tool are listed the STEPXML Comparison Tool Limitations section here
Change attribute to / from being free text searchable - Yes
Change attribute to / from being multi valued - Yes
Activate / Deactivate unique keys - Yes but only the configuration
Change reference type to / from being multi valued
Modify or Move classification-product link types
(e.g. move from one type to another type)
Change classification-product link type to / from being multi valued
Remove child object type in product, classification, entity, or publication object type hierarchy

Removing valid object types from an attribute

If object types are being removed as being valid for an attribute which contains data for products this will not be removed. A warning within the execution report will highlight the

Users have to manually insert the XML tag OnlyAllowValidUserTypes=’true’ in the STEP-ProductInformation tag

Issues that could occur when during STEPXML import :

If attribute changes from Text to Number validation this may not be allowed as there is data within the system for products that do not conform to Number validation
If the configuration being loaded is reliant on another object that does not exist within STEP, a warning will be displayed in the execution report to highlight this.

For example:

Loading attributes requires the object types they are valid for to exist
Loading contexts requires the dimension points they are linked to exist
Loading privilege rules requires the objects they refer too to exist
Loading Stateflows requires the user groups they refer too to exist

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