Compare and Import Into an Agentry Application Project

Prerequisites

Before importing an application project source into an existing application project, the following items must be addressed:

Determine the import source and verify access to that source.
Verify the import source was created with the same or earlier version of the Agentry Mobile Platform. Export files or Server published applications created with a later version cannot be imported into an earlier version.
Verify the correct Agentry application project to which definitions will be imported is the one currently open in the Agentry Perspective within Eclipse.
Back up the current project by exporting the entire project, or by committing any changes to the Agentry share repository prior to beginning the import.

Task

This procedure describes the steps involved in importing definitions from an import source into the current Agentry application project. This process includes comparing the two projects and selecting those components to import to the current project. When completed, any definitions selected in the import source will be added to the current application project. The source application will be unaffected by the procedure. This process may be cancelled at any time.

This procedure should be performed to:

Compare and import from the currently connected share repository. This is a feature included in the Team Development support added to the system with the release of Agentry version 5.2. This includes manual compare operations where the share repository is selected, as well as updates from the share that result in conflicts.
Make use of archived customizations or components in the current application project.
Merge development work performed by multiple developers into a single master project. Note that this is not a part of the Team Development support and feature set. It is recommended that the Team Development features be used when coordinating work among multiple developers for the same application. Importing from an export file of another developer’s work can still be performed, but should be limited to the scenarios of handing off responsibility for development, or when making use of modifications made to one project that are needed in another application project.

If not already open, select and open the Agentry application project to which definitions are to be imported in the Project Explorer View.
Right click the root folder for the application project in the Project Explorer View and select the menu item Compare With | Compare with other Agentry project.

This will open the Comparison View in the Agentry Perspective, with no project items yet displayed. It will remain blank until the import source is selected for comparison:
Within this view, above the pane on the right side, is the button [Select Session]. This button allows for the selection of the import source. Its behavior and the proper selection to make depend on whether or not the open project is currently connected to a share repository:
- If connected to a share repository, clicking the button will automatically open the share revision matching the last revision to which the project was updated. The share is then set as the import source, and other revisions can be selected within the share to compare and import from within the share.
- If not connected to a share, clicking this button opens the Manage Share Sessions screen. Within this screen either a previous import session can be reopened, or a new import source can be selected by clicking the [Browse] button below the list of save sessions:
- Alternately, whether connected to a share or not, clicking the drop down arrow for this button lists the import sources appropriate to the current project’s connection status. Always listed are any previous import sessions, as well as a menu item to display the Manage Compare Sessions screen. If connected to a share, an additional menu item is displayed that opens a sub-menu listing all revisions of the share to which the project is connected.
Once the import source is selected, that source and the current project are opened in the Comparison View and displayed side-by-side:
Within the comparison screen now displayed, the pane on the left is currently opened application project. The pane on the right is the import source. Differences between the two are highlighted. Items can be selected in the import source to import to the current project by checking the boxes for those item’s nodes. Definitions are aligned by default in the two panes based on definition name and type. To force two definitions of the same type but with different names to be aligned, right click either one and select the menu item Align With | definition name, where definition name is one of the possible definitions with which the selection can be aligned. Once the all of the definitions to be imported from the import source have been selected, click the button Import in the view’s toolbar. To save the changes, click the apply button in the toolbar.

The definitions will be moved to the left side pane indicating where they will be placed in the application project once imported.
Close the Comparison View by clicking the X button on the view’s tab.

Once this procedure is complete, the selected definitions in the import source are now a part of the open application in the Agentry Perspective. They may be modified further within the open project or otherwise used as needed. If the session was cancelled at any point, any applied imports will remain. Any imports that were not applied will be rolled back.

Next

Whenever importing into an existing application project, it is always recommended that a check is performed of the resulting project to verify the new definitions are defined as needed. Any modifications can be made according to normal processes. All imports, as with any other application change, should be thoroughly tested before being published to a live production environment.