Typical lifecycle of a model stored in a CM tool (CM tool integration) — Creating a replica
There are typically three stages for storing and working with a model stored in a CM tool (a CM tool model):
• Storing a model in a CM tool the first time
• Creating a replica of a CM tool model
• Changing items in a CM tool model
Creating a replica of a CM tool model
If you want to work with a CM tool Model that is not in your Modeler environment, you start by creating a replica of the CM tool Model. When you create a replica, the CM tool Model is copied to a Modeler repository, with the Model and Packages created as stubs that are under configuration control. A stub Model or Package does not contain any items and it is not populated with all its properties. For more information about stubs, see
Understanding stubs .
After creating a replica, Modeler attempts to find the associated CM tool file for the Model and each Package. If the path of an associated CM tool file is different from the path recorded in the Model, Modeler stores the path locally on your computer. If Modeler cannot find an associated CM tool file and you want to return that Package to configuration control, you must do so manually. For more information, see
Reconnecting Modeler Packages to Configuration Control.
To create a replica, from Model Explorer, right-click the database in which you want to create the Model, point to Create Replica, and then click From Configuration Management. Thereafter, you can use get latest and check out operations to update your Model from the CM tool Model. Alternatively, you can use a CM tool to populate a directory with Model and Package files, and then create a replica from that directory.
Tip: Creating multiple replicas of a large CM tool Model may be time consuming. As an alternative, you can export the Model, and then import the Model to the required repositories.
Example - Creating a replica of a CM tool model
In this example, we create a replica of the Ticketing System model, which resides in the CM tool project named Ticketing System. This example uses Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (VSS.)
Initially, the Ticketing System Model is stored in the CM tool, and there is no Model in our repository.
We create a replica of the CM tool Model, so that we can change the Model in the Modeler environment. From Model Explorer, right-click the database, point to Create Replica, and then click From Configuration Management. We then select the Ticketing System project from VSS.
Notice the following:
• In VSS, the status of the files is unchanged. The Model and Package have not been checked out.
• In Modeler, an incoming (left pointing) arrow and lock indicate that the Model and Package are under configuration control, are Protected, and are not checked out to the Model. Note that the Model and Package have been created as stubs.
