Creating import definitions for Design Management Server

After you configure and start the IBM® Rational® Software Architect Design Manager Import Engine, you must create an import definition on the Design Management Server that specifies all the model content to import to the server.

Before you begin

Important: Before you import a model, you must create and define a configuration space. A configuration space is a group of configurations (a unique set of versions). Each design management project area is associated with a configuration space; multiple project areas can be related to the same configuration space and can share configurations.
Note: You must add a dedicated domain extension server to ensure that the Design Management Server displays Rational Software Architect content such as diagrams, data from the Explorer view, import functionality, and properties. The extension server is a separate installation package that you can install with the Design Management Server. You can also install the server by itself on a separate server and register it manually.

About this task

You can define the model content to place on the Design Management Server in two ways:
  • Import an entire workspace: This mode uses an installed version of Eclipse to access the workspace. With this option, you can perform an exact one-to-one mapping or import of the local workspace; every model in the workspace is placed on the model server. This option places all content on the model server quickly.
  • Import individual projects: This mode uses the file system and does not require an Eclipse installation unless you want to use Ant scripts. With this option, you can customize and define individual projects to place on the model server. Using this option, you can pull projects from different Eclipse workspaces; you can also pull specific projects from the same Eclipse workspace, rather than all content, when you use the first option.

    In addition, Eclipse workspaces may contain linked projects that are not physically located under the root workspace folder. In order to support selective import of these projects, the Import Engine tries to detect if a specified workspace folder is located in an Eclipse workspace that contains a .metadata folder (located under specified root workspace folder). If so, the import engine tries to load the workspace, and then finds and imports the selected projects. If this attempt is not successful (for example, if at least one project is missing after workspace was loaded), the import engine tries to find the missing project by using file system.

Important: After an import definition is created, you cannot change the mode until the import definition is deleted. To delete an import definition, on the Import Definition page, click Delete Import Definition and Data; the import definition, including all previously imported models, are deleted.
Note: To access the Import Definition page, click the File menu at the top of the screen, and click Import Definition.

Procedure

  1. To create an import definition by specifying an Eclipse workspace path, click File > Import Definition. A project area should be loaded, and a configuration (space) should be specified.
    Note: You cannot import a model into a project area that is actively managed with Design Management.
  2. On the Import Definition page, click an import option, and complete the substeps for the option:
    • Import an entire workspace
      1. In the Import Engine Name field, enter the same import engine ID that you created when you configured the import engine: DM_Import_Def.
      2. Click Test to ensure the import engine started and that the connection is valid.
      3. (Optional) In the Ant Script Path field, enter the location of the Ant script.
      4. In the Eclipse Workspace Path field, enter the path to your local Eclipse workspace folder that contains the model content to import to the Design Management Server. The Eclipse workspace path should point to a local computer (not to the Design Management Server) that contains the Rational Software Architect models; this computer must also have the import engine installed, configured, and running. When you provide this file path, you are configuring the import engine to go to a specific workspace and put all the model contents into a project on the Design Management Server.
      5. (Optional) In the Path Maps section, specify the path map variables that you use in your workspace. Remember, the Design Management Server has no file system, so the value of a path map must be relative to the workspace path.
    • Import individual projects from one or more Eclipse workspaces. This mode uses the file system and does not require an Eclipse installation unless you want to use Ant scripts.
      1. In the Import Engine field, enter the same import engine ID that you created when you configured the import engine: DM_Import_Def.
      2. Click Test to ensure the import engine started and that the connection is valid.
      3. (Optional) In the Ant Script Path field, enter the location of the Ant script.
      4. Under Projects, enter the paths to the individual projects in Eclipse workspaces on the computer that contains the model content to import. To add a project, in the Projects section, click Add.
      5. Enter the names of the projects to import.
      6. (Optional) In the Path Maps section, specify the path map variables that you use in your workspace. The server has no file system, so the value of a path map must be relative to the workspace path.
      7. (Optional) In the Advanced section, specify the number of minutes for the import engine to wait before the engine stops trying to transfer model content.
  3. (Optional) In the Schedule section, click Automatically request an import using this schedule and specify how often the import engine checks for model updates. You can also schedule a snapshot after the import process so that you have a view of the project at a specific point in time.
  4. To retain all the import definition updates, click Save.

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