IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Defining and transforming data > Defining data objects > Artifact evolution for business objects
Create artifact evolutions
Artifact evolutions can be created using the artifact evolution editor in IBM Integration Designer.
To create an artifact evolution, follow these steps:
Procedure
- Launch the New Artifact Evolution wizard by clicking File > New > Artifact Evolution.
- From the New Artifact Evolution wizard, create a new library to use for the artifact evolution by clicking New. The New Library window opens. Enter a new library name and click Finish.
- From the New Artifact Evolution wizard, enter a name for the artifact evolution and click Next.
- In the new XSD Schema window, click Browse to find the new XML Schema(s) which contain the new versions of business objects to be imported into the new library. Click Next:
- From the list of new artifacts, select the ones that will replace existing artifacts, or click Select All if you are unsure which new artifacts correspond to existing ones.
- Click Finish. An artifact evolution has been created in the library.
- Next, you must add existing projects/libraries which contain the existing artifacts to be replaced by their new versions. Right-click in the editor view and select Add project from the pop-up menu. The Add project containing old artifacts window box opens. Select the module or library containing the existing artifacts. The existing artifacts are added to the artifact evolution editor.
- To define how the differences between new and existing artifacts should be propagated, you have to associate the new artifacts
with the existing ones. You can do that by clicking and dragging from the new artifact to the appropriate existing artifact. However, the artifact evolution editor can do some of this for you automatically.
To automatically connect the new and existing artifacts, select the Associate
Artifacts With Same Names icon from the toolbar. The connections
are made and the artifact differences are highlighted in the editor.
The artifact differences icons are used as follows:
-
- indicates a difference in artifact namespaces
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- indicates a difference in artifact names
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- indicates a difference in artifact contents
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- The Properties view shows artifact contents and differences between associated artifacts. Select the connection in the artifact evolution editor view and the Properties view will show the Details and Description for review. You can view the content of both the existing and new business objects as well as what the differences between those business objects are.
- Also, all of the differences between associated artifacts are presented in the Problems view.
- Next, to modify the existing artifacts and their dependencies accordingly to the new artifacts, you must refactor. After refactoring, the artifact evolution editor will update the view to remove the artifact
differences indicated before refactoring. The following examples are the toolbar actions for refactoring:
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- Select this icon from the toolbar to refactor the artifact name differences. The Refactor Artifact Differences window opens with a list of name differences to refactor. Click OK to finish.
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- Select this icon from the toolbar to refactor the artifact namespace differences. The Refactor Artifact Differences window opens with a list of namespace differences to refactor. Click OK to finish.
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- Select this icon from the toolbar to refactor artifact content. Click OK to finish.
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- Next, you must overwrite the existing schema file(s) with the new one(s) by clicking the Overwrite Existing Artifact
Files With The New Ones
toolbar icon.
What to do next
After overwriting the schemas, the old versions of the artifacts have been replaced with the new versions and the dependent artifacts have been modified accordingly. However, it is still possible that some additional adjustments to the dependent artifacts may be required.