Configuration data versioning tool overview

Configuration data is an integral part of all implementations. Often, there is a need to track changes to an implementation's configuration. Furthermore, if the changes in configuration data are found to be inadequate, there is no easy way of rolling back changes to their original states.

In an offsite and onsite implementation model, master configuration data is maintained onsite, which is where the production environment is hosted. When a fix pack must be applied to the production environment, offsite test developers must write instructions regarding any configuration data changes for the fix pack and pass it to the onsite configuration manager; that is, certain values of business rules need to be changed. The onsite configuration manager has to replicate the configuration changes onto the production environment.

To make it easier to track versions of configuration data or sets of changes to configuration data, Sterling Order Management System Software includes the Configuration Data Versioning tool (CDV Tool) It enables you to capture changes from a source database, compare and deploy them onto a target database (this can be the same or a different database).

To enable this functionality, the configuration table must have AuditRequired flag set to Y and the table name must exist in config-db.xml. By default, most of the configuration tables have AuditRequired flag set to Y.

The CDV Tool supports configuration tables only.

You can create version labels in the Applications Manager to represent timestamps in a time line when changes occur in configuration data. The system can then identify any changes in the configuration data between timestamps of version labels based on the audit information in the system.

When configuring the audit purges, if you purge the YFS_AUDIT table records from the deployable tables, the Configuration Data Versioning Tool will not deploy those changes.

Configuration data versioning tool features

The Configuration Data Versioning (CDV) Tool can be accessed from the Sterling Order Management System Software Development and Deployment WorkBench (also known as the "WorkBench").

The Configuration Data Versioning Tool allows you to select different version labels from a source database, compare the data and apply them to a target database. The system identifies modifications made to the source database between two version labels. You can see the details of each modification and detect conflicts. These modifications are applied to the target database while checking for conflicts. Once all conflicts are resolved, you can deploy the changes.

Version label data is stored in the YFS_CONFIG_VERSION_LABEL table. The manageConfigVersionLabel API and getConfigVersionLabel API are used to manage and search for config version labels.