This section describes how to export and import objects using CentraSite Control.
With CentraSite Control, you can export one or more objects in each export operation. To export an object, you typically select it in the navigation view and then specify which related objects you would like to export along with it.
The export operation creates an archive file on the file system. The archive file contains a copy of the objects that you have exported. The archive file can be imported afterwards into the same CentraSite registry or into a new registry. See the section Importing Objects from an Archive Using CentraSite Control for details of the import operation.
Objects can be exported either by right-clicking the object you wish to export and choosing on the context menu, or by using the menu entry, or by clicking the icon. The menu entry and the icon allow you to export multiple objects in one step whereas the context menu only allows you to export a single object.
If you have created a list in your My Favorites area, you can export the set of objects in the list by using the option in the list's context menu. See the topic Working with My Favorites in the document Logging On and Using the CentraSite UIs and APIs for information on defining lists.
Some objects in the registry do not support all of the export methods; check the user interface to see which controls are available for the type of object you want to export.
Note:
You must have view permission for the assets you want to
include in the export set.
To export an object or a set of objects
In CentraSite Control, go to the page that contains the object or the set of objects that you want to export. For example, if you want to export a taxonomy, go to the Administration > Taxonomies page, or if you want to export the contents of a list, go to to see your defined lists.
Locate the object or the set of objects you want to export and choose from the context menu,
Or:
If the Actions menu is visible, select the object or set of objects you want to export and choose the menu entry.
Or:
If the icon is visible, select the object or set of objects you want to export and click the icon.
The export dialog shows the selected objects and all dependent objects. The colored icon beside each object indicates whether the object is one of the selected objects or a dependent object.
The checkbox beside each object indicates whether or not the object should be included in the export set. By default, all displayed objects are included in the export set.
If you wish to remove an object from the export set, unmark its checkbox. This removes the object and all of its dependent objects (if any) from the export set.
For some object types, additional export options are available. In this case, the button is activated, and when you click this button, a dialog opens that shows these additional export options. If you are exporting objects that are contained in a list, and the list contains more than one object type, you will see several tabs, with one tab per object type.
The available options depend on the type of object you wish to export.
| Object type | Available export options |
|---|---|
| Asset |
|
| Lifecycle Model |
|
| Taxonomy |
|
| Asset Type |
|
| Organization |
|
Click to complete the object selection.
Click to start the export.
Specify a name for the archive file when prompted to do so.
When the export is complete, examine the export report to verify that the objects were exported successfully.
A confirmation message appears when the export is complete. Here, you have the possibility to view the export log, in order to verify that the objects were exported successfully. To do this, click on the link.
Important:
If the report indicates that certain associated objects have
been omitted from the archive, you will need to make sure that these objects
are either present in the target registry when the archive is imported or
create an archive that includes them. For additional information about
exporting associated objects, see How the Export Process Handles
Associated Objects.
This section describes how to import objects from an archive file that was previously created by using the CentraSite export feature. The archive you wish to import must reside in the file system of the computer where your browser is running.
For general information about what happens during the import operation, see the section Importing an Object.
To import objects from an archive file
In CentraSite Control, go to any page that displays the button. Examples of pages that include this button are:
Asset Catalog > Browse
Policies > Design/Change-Time
Administration > Taxonomies
Click the button. This activates the import dialog.
In the field Import as, select from the drop-down list. When you select this option, the layout of the wizard changes to show just the fields that are required for importing an archive.
In the field File, supply the name of the file that contains the archive.
Click . The Import Preview page is now displayed.
Note:
If the archive you wish to import was created with CentraSite
8.2 or earlier, the Import Preview page is not available.
In this case, when you click , the import
operation continues with the Import Options dialog in step
4.
The Import Preview page displays the names of the top-level objects contained in the export archive. If the archive contains related objects that the top-level objects require for completeness, the related objects are not displayed, but they will be imported automatically along with the top-level objects. For example, an exported web service requires a related schema, so the archive file will contain both the web service and the schema, and an import of the web service will cause the related schema to be imported also.
By default, all displayed top-level objects are selected for import; this is indicated by the marked checkbox beside the name of each object.
You can exclude objects from the import by unmarking their checkboxes.
Note:
In some cases, there may be a dependency between top-level objects
(for example, a web service that refers to a taxonomy), and the import
operation ensures that such dependencies are retained. This means that if you
unmark the checkbox of a top-level object that is required by another top-level
object, CentraSite will ensure that the required object is nevertheless
included in the import.
Additional options are available that allow you to choose how the imported objects will be created. To access these options, click .
In the Import Options dialog, set the following options.
| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Keep current organization / Assign new organization |
When you import objects, you can import them into the same organization in the target registry as in the source registry from which they were exported, or you can assign a new owning organization. Choose to import the objects into the same organization. The organization in the target registry must have the same name and UUID as in the source registry. Choose to import the objects into a new organization. If you choose this option, you can select the new organization via the button. In some cases, the original organization will be preserved during import even if you have selected a specific organization in this field. This happens if the object to be imported is any of the following:
Asset types are not owned by any organization, so selecting an organization for such objects has no effect. |
| Keep current owner / Assign new owner |
The imported objects can be assigned to the same owner as in the source registry, or you can assign a new owner. Choose to assign the imported objects to the same owner as in the source registry. The owner in the target registry must have the same name and UUID as in the source registry. Choose to assign the imported objects to a new owner. If you choose this option, you can select the new owner via the button. |
| Keep lifecycle state |
This option determines whether the lifecycle state of the imported assets is preserved. Enable the option to retain the lifecycle state of the assets being imported. For more information, see How Lifecycle State is Handled During Import. |
| Allow replace of registry objects |
Choose this option to specify that existing objects with the same name in the target registry will be overwritten, even if the object in the archive is older than the one in the target registry. For more information about this option, see What Happens When an Imported Object Already Exists in the Target Registry?. |
| Import groups that the user belongs to |
When you import a user, you can specify whether you want to also import the groups that the user belongs to. This applies only to user-defined groups; system-defined groups are not imported. Choose this option to import the user-defined groups that the user belongs to. |
Click to leave the Import Options dialog.
If you are importing an archive that was created with CentraSite 8.2 or earlier, the import now starts.
If you are importing an archive that was created after CentraSite 8.2, the Import Preview dialog is displayed again. Now click to start the import.
When the import operation completes, the import wizard informs you if the import was successful or if there were any errors.
You can click here to terminate the import wizard without viewing the import log.
Alternatively, to see details of the objects that were imported, the wizard offers you a link to view the import log. When you click this link, the import log lists each top-level object and indicates whether or not it was successfully imported. The import log also lists the import status of any related objects that were contained in the archive (i.e. objects in the archive that are not top-level objects).
In the import log view page, click to terminate the import wizard.
It is possible that an asset type definition in the source registry is different from an asset type definition with the same name in the target registry. This could happen if, for example, the asset type in the target registry represents an updated version of the asset type with different attribute definitions.
If an asset type has an attribute that is required in the target registry but not in the source registry, such a mismatch will occur.
The way CentraSite handles this situation on the target registry depends on the attribute type:
If the attribute type is one that has a default value, such as "slot" or "classification", CentraSite assigns the default value to the attribute when the asset is imported.
If the attribute type is one that does not have a default value, for example an attribute type that represents a file name or relationship, an error will occur during the import of the archive, because the target registry requires a value for the attribute. Under such circumstances, the affected asset will not be imported and the import log will contain appropriate error messages. In such cases, you need to ensure that a value is supplied for the attribute before the asset is exported from the source registry.
