Overview of Configuring Environment Refresh

Environment refresh consists of an Environment Refresh window. Typically, environment refreshes are performed as part of maintaining environments between test systems.

The following lists the major sections found in the Environment Refresh window:

• General Information. General information stores the basic information for the refresh group, such as the names of the source and refreshed environment.

• Refresh Lines tab. The list of refresh lines includes basic, such as the package number and the line sequence, as well as the refresh status of the individual line. In addition to viewing refresh line information, several actions can be performed from the Refresh Lines tab:

  • Add Line. Manually adds a new refresh line to the list of refresh lines for this refresh group. This command generates the list of lines to be updated (such as a replacement of the calculate lines action), and adds additional lines to the list that might not be picked up by the calculate lines logic.

    When this action is selected, a prompt to add the refresh line information through the Add Line window appears. In this window, type a package number and select one or more package lines.

    This action can only be performed before the refresh group has been processed.

  • Include Line and Exclude Line. Use Include Line and Exclude Line to change the status of each individual refresh line on the list before the refresh group has been updated. All refresh lines are originally marked with a refresh status of Pending. When a refresh group is actually processed, using Update Lines, all lines in the list with a status of Pending are updated. Any refresh lines with a status of Exclude are not processed and are only used for reporting purposes.

    This action can only be performed before the refresh group has been processed.

  • View Detail. If a single refresh line is selected in the list, certain details regarding the refresh line can be viewed. Use this action to open up a read-only Line Detail window to view the information.

  • Open Package. For the complete details on the refresh line and the parent package, select a single line and click Open Package to navigate to the Package window and automatically open up the applicable package. Then view the complete package, as well as perform any eligible package activities.

• User Data tab. Each Deployment Management implementation can add custom fields that are common to all refresh groups. These new user data fields essentially become additional refresh group header data. These fields are normally determined during initial system configuration. As part of the configuration, the layout of the fields is determined. This configuration includes:

  • The look and feel of the field (whether the field is a drop-down list, or auto-complete list, or free-form text)

  • The logic behind the field (how the information in the field validated)

  • Graphic characteristics (such as field height, width, and placement in the tab)