Working with loader files in ObjectManager

The ObjectManager tool uses XML loader files to load (import) or dump (export or extract) data into IBM OpenPages®.

The loader file name consists of a prefix, which is defined by the user, and a standard string that has the following format:

<loader-file-prefix>-op-config.xml

Where:

<loader-file-prefix> is the user-defined portion of the loader file name.
-op-config.xml is the standard string that follows the prefix and identifies the file as a loader file to the ObjectManager tool. Do not change this portion of the file name.

When you pass a loader file parameter to the ObjectManager tool, you pass only the prefix portion of the loader file name. If no prefix is provided, the ObjectManager tool attempts to load from or write to the file op-config.xml.

Note: If you use ObjectManager to import security rules, any existing security rules are overwritten by the import.

Importing data

If you want to load (import) data into the OpenPages repository, you could, for example, create a loader file with the name mydata-op-config.xml (prefix + standard string). When you pass the prefix mydata to the ObjectManager tool, the ObjectManager tool automatically looks for a loader file that is named mydata-op-config.xml.

Exporting data

If you want to extract (dump) data from OpenPages, you could, for example, pass the prefix myconfig to the ObjectManager tool. The ObjectManager tool automatically creates an export (dump) file that is named myconfig-op-config.xml.

Creating a data loader file

A data loader file is an XML file that contains the data you want to import or load through the ObjectManager tool into your system.

You can use any XML or text editor of your choice to create a data loader file.

After you create the data loader file, save it using the file naming convention that is described in Working with loader files in ObjectManager.

All element tags in a data loader file are nested within the root element <openpagesConfiguration xmlFormatVersion="1.31"> and </openpagesConfiguration> tags.

An ObjectManager data loader file has the following structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<openpagesConfiguration xmlFormatVersion="1.31">
      <parent-element>
          <child-element/>
          <child-element/>
      </parent-element>
</openpagesConfiguration>

Where:

parent-element is a tag that identifies the type of information to be loaded.
child-element is a nested tag within an information type that usually contains attributes, text content, or both.

The following example shows the structure of an XML data loader file that loads currency exchange rates for the Canadian dollar (CAD) and Mexican peso (MXN).

The exchangeRates element contains the exchangeRate child-element. The exchangeRate element has attributes for the ISO code for the country or region, the start date for the exchange rate, and the exchange rate for that currency. The rate can use up to eight decimal places.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<openpagesConfiguration xmlFormatVersion="1.31">
   <exchangeRates>
      <exchangeRate isoCode="CAD"
                    startDate="2025-05-09 17:36:12"
			rate="0.8636"/>
      <exchangeRate isoCode="MXN"
                    startDate="2025-05-09 17:36:12"
			rate="0.0951"/>
   </exchangeRates>
</openpagesConfiguration>

When you customize application strings, set the overriddenByUser property to true in the loader file. When overriddenByUser is true for an applicationStringKey, custom values are not overwritten during upgrades.

When you customize object types, add the allowOverride attribute and set it to true in the contentType element tag. This enables an update to attributes like titleEnabled, searchEnabled, and other attributes after the import. Object fields, such as Enable Title Component or Global Search get updated.

For more examples of data loader files, see the following topics: