Overview of Configuration Management Use Cases
This section is intended to assist you in understanding the Configuration Management (CM) features in Modeler and how they are intended to be used to support common CM Use Cases.
Detailed information on working with parallel sandboxes, change tracking, and access permissions is provided in the Modeler Help.
Feature Summary
This is a short high-level summary of key features in Modeler that support collaborative team-based development.
The Modeler Help also provides details on specific aspects of usage, including a table on associated access permission rights. The usage scenarios for exploiting these features are provided in the Use Cases topics.
The key features are as follows:
• Multi-User
Multi-user refers to the ability of multiple developers to interact with the same model at the same time, without needing to use an external CM tool as a deployment platform. Based on the client-server architecture, multi-user is a proven solution for many familiar large-scale database applications like email, online discussion tools, and financial trading systems.
• Model Versioning
Model Versioning refers to the ability to create snapshots of a complete model at a particular moment in time. After being versioned, the model is protected and the version number can be used for unique referencing purposes.
• Active Data Dictionary
At the heart of each model is a single data dictionary that maintains a consistent view across the model. Model items are defined once in the model and can be referenced on any diagram and dragged into text fields as hypertext links. Changes to model item names are automatically propagated across all diagrams, including references to the model item in textual descriptions. The active data dictionary also refers to the ability to view the same data in different ways depending on the user's viewpoint. These varying views of model content can help to improve the viewer's comprehension and workflow.
• Private Sandboxes
A Private Sandbox is a private view of the model that allows a user to work in isolation without being affected by other user's changes to the same model.
• Model Reconcile
A Model Reconcile is the merging of changes in a private sandbox into the trunk version of a model.
• Sandbox Rebase
A Sandbox Rebase is the merging of the latest changes in the trunk version into a sandbox. Rebase is the conceptual complement of Reconcile: rather than merging changes from the branch to the trunk, changes are merged from the latest trunk to the branch.
• Model Cloning
Model cloning creates a completely new model with a copy of all the objects in the original model. Model clones are independent models and cannot be reconciled with the original model. Cloning can be used to start a new project in the same database based on an existing model.
• Model Differencing
The model Differencer compares two different versions of a model and reports the differences. It can also produce a textual report, if needed.
• Model Export and Import
Model export and import represents the ability to export to file all the data from a given version of a model, and then import that data into a different database.
• Component Sharing Wizard
The Component Sharing Wizard supports the export and import of Packages when you need to quickly move Packages from one model. You can move Packages to another model directly or through an exported file, for example, to send Packages remotely or check them into an external CM tool.
• Change Tracking
Change tracking can be used to document changes required to a model and provide a detailed audit trail for review when the change is complete.
• Access Permissions
Access permissions are available at database, model and package level. Package level access permissions can be used to control write or owner access to different parts of the model by different team members or groups.
• Package Protection
Package protection allows you to freeze the development of parts of the model by making the Package and its child items read-only.
• Full Logging and Backups
Modeler's databases are stored in a journaling, transactional object database. This data server architecture provides highly available and recoverable access to referentially consistent model content. Database SAV files also provide an efficient method for transferring data between different databases.
It is strongly recommended that Full Logging is enabled and the database is backed up regularly. You should ensure that backup procedures are in place and periodically verify the recovery procedure works in practice.
• Package Check Out, Check In, and Create Replica
These will still work as in previous releases of Modeler, but we are recommending using the database-based CM features above, as it will improve scalability and reliability within your project.