SystemPerforming Object Promotion

If your environment includes separate instances of Loftware Enterprise™ SP for different phases of development, such as development, quality assurance, user acceptance testing, and production, you can use object promotionClosed The transfer of a copy of objects specified in a promotion configuration from one Loftware Application Server to another. to promote objects from the Loftware Application Server for one phase to the Loftware Application Server for the next phase.

Each object that is promoted from the source server is transferred to the same location in the folder structure on the destination server. On the destination server, each promoted object is initially a minor version unless the object type does not support minor versions. After reviewing the result of a promotion attempt and performing any appropriate testing, you can either publishClosed For transition to production, create a new version of the object, incrementing the major version number and setting the minor version number to zero. or roll back the promoted objects on the destination server.

Important! Object promotion is supported for devices, cross reference tables, and objects that support version controlClosed The following types of objects are version controlled when saved in a version-controlled folder: label templates, forms, images, layer objects, layouts, reusable objects, field data catalogs, applications, business rules, processes, workflow templates, and data services. Images do not support minor versions.. Except for devices and cross reference tables, all objects to be promoted must be version-controlled, must be published, and may not be built-in system objects installed with Loftware Enterprise SP. If you attempt to include a built-in object such as a stock image, it is omitted from the promotion configuration because it already exists on the destination server.

Automatically Including Referenced Objects

Object promotion allows you to specify objects to be promoted from one instance of Loftware Enterprise SP to another but, unlike the Transfer utility, object promotion automatically identifies and includes all objects that are referenced by the objects you select for promotion.

The following are examples of scenarios in which Loftware Enterprise SP automatically includes referenced objects.

  • If you select a label template to be promoted, Loftware Enterprise SP automatically identifies any layout, image, data service, reusable object, layer, or field data catalog that it references and includes those among the objects to be promoted.
  • If you select an application to be promoted, Loftware Enterprise SP automatically identifies any form, business rule, process, or data service that it references and includes those among the objects to be promoted.
  • If you select a process to be promoted, Loftware Enterprise SP automatically identifies any business rule or data service that it references and includes those among the objects to be promoted.

Replacing Server-Specific Parameter Values

Object promotion provides you with an opportunity to substitute different values for some data service parameters on the destination server than those used on the source server. For example, you can use parameter replacement to specify a different URL and credentials for the data service when run on the destination server.

Promoting to a Destination Not Directly Accessible

If you can directly access the destination server from the source server, Loftware Enterprise SP can transfer the objects to be promoted from the source server to the destination server. If you cannot directly access the destination server from the source server, Loftware Enterprise SP can export objects to be promoted to a compressed file on the source server, and then you must move the file to the destination server so that the objects can be imported.

For more information about performing object promotion, see the following topics.