Understanding the Transporter Interface

The Transporter main selection screen is divided into two sections with a Source and Destination side. Once connected to their respective source and destination, each side displays data objects that can be matched to its corresponding mate in the opposite window. A tabbed view of Transport data types is available for selection. Source and Destination object lists are merged into a single table view where matching Source and Destination objects are lined up in the same row for easy viewing. As a consequence, if the Source and Destination data is very different, there may be gaps in the display. For added control over the display, two Preference options are available to control destination display.

Note: You can adjust the size of these windows by moving the center bar left or right.

The Transporter uses a combination of menu options and a toolbar to access and manage the transporting of data objects between source and destination.

Main Menus

The Transporter contains these main menus.

File Menu

The File menu manages the access and reading of file information and the Transporter operation.

This menu contains these options:

Connections – Displays the Connections dialog. This dialog is used to create and modify existing connections to a source and destination using files. Connections files are created in the user's Transporter home directory.

Example: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\.transporter

Note: The user information is encrypted in the file, using Triple DES Encryption.

Clicking Connections on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Connections option.

Connect – Establishes connections to the source and destination. Once connections are established, the Connect option is unavailable; only the Disconnect option is available.

Clicking Connect on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Connect option.
Disconnect – Ends the current session as well as the to the source and destination sides. Once the ends, the Disconnect option is unavailable; only the Connect option is available.

Clicking Disconnect on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Disconnect option.
Configure – Displays the Configuration Options dialog to customize the Transporter for working preference. See Configuring the TA Transporter for more information.

Clicking Configure on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Configure option.
Read Data – Reads data from the source and destination for the currently selected object type.

Clicking Read Data on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Read Data option.
Refresh All – Disconnects and then reconnects to the selected sources.

Save Map – Displays the Save Map File dialog to save the object mappings that have been selected during the current session. The file name you provide is assigned a.map extension. You can avoid repeating the manual mapping process for jobs if jobs with the same data objects need to be transported again by saving the object map.
Save Exclusions – Displays the Save Exclusion to File dialog to save the jobs that need to be excluded from the selection file. The file name you provide is assigned a.xpr extension.
Save Selections (Applies to jobs only) – Displays the Save Selection to File dialog to save the job objects selected in the main text field of the source tree. The file name you provide is assigned a .xpr extension. Save job selections if you do not want to repeat the same selection process in a future session or you want to schedule the Transporter in batch mode.
Load Selections – Displays the Open Selection File dialog to select and load a selection file that was saved from a previous Transporter session.
Exit – Ends the Transporter session and closes the Transporter application.

Preferences Menu

The Preferences menu allows you to manipulate how data is viewed in the Destination window.

This menu contains these options:

Show Unmatched Destination Items – Displays destination objects that have no matching source only. The default is False.

Show Duplicate Destination Objects – Displays destination objects that have a matching source. The default is True.

If the above options are set to OFF, no text displays in the Destination window.

Expand Groups on Read – Expands all job groups in the current view upon read.

Collapse Groups on Read – Collapses all job groups in the current view upon read.

Search Menu

The Search menu helps you sort through a potentially large number of data objects that may be displayed in the source list.

This menu contains these options:

First – Finds the first match for the criteria entered in the Search Text field. Clicking Find on the toolbar is the same as selecting the First option.
Next – Finds the next match for the criteria entered in the Search Text field.

Clicking Next on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Next option.
Filter – Displays the Job Filter dialog that provides various text fields to filter the available jobs/groups that are displayed in the source.

Clicking Filter on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Filter option.

Note: To search on data against the destination list, right-click on the Destination pane and select Find First or Find Next from the menu options.
Find First – Finds the first destination match for the criteria specified in the Search text field.

Find Next – Finds the next destination match for the criteria specified in the Search text field.

Transport Menu

The Transport menu organizes the tasks directly concerning the transporting of object data.

This menu contains these options:

Mappings – Displays the Scheduler Object Mapping dialog to map the various data objects between the source and destination.
Synchronize – Copies all objects listed in the source listing to the destination. Normally a user would not want all of their jobs to be transported at once. The user would select which objects should be transported to the destination.

Depending upon the number of objects in the source, using the synchronize option may require a lengthy amount of time to complete.
Start Transfer – Begins the transporting process of the selected objects between the source and destination.

Clicking Start Transfer on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Start Transfer option.

Actions Menu

The Actions menu groups together options affecting the operation of the TA Master and its job schedule.

This menu contains these options:

Pause Scheduler – Pauses the destination TA Master.

Create Schedule – Recompiles the destination production schedule for the current or future day.

Reports Menu

The Reports menu provides ready access to the main reports and logs provided by Transporter. Reports are HTML based and viewed via the system's default browser.

This menu contains these options:

Mappings Report – Displays the Scheduler Object Mapping Rules report that details the source objects that are currently mapped to corresponding destination objects. Recall that the purpose for mapping source object to destination objects is to automate the transporting process.
Invalid Mappings – Displays a report of mappings that are no longer valid. Mappings may no longer be valid if the object was renamed or deleted in the destination. Therefore, no valid mapping between a source and destination object can be established.

Last Activity Log – Displays the Activity Log report for the last transport operation of the current Transporter session.

Current Session Log – Displays the Activity Log report containing the complete activity log of the current Transporter session.

Past Session Log – Displays the Open Past Activity Log File dialog to select a log file from past Transporter sessions. Session logs for the Transporter are saved with transporter-timestamp.sess format where the timestamp that the session occurred on is affixed as part of the name.

Example: Timestamp has the format: yyyyMMddHHmmssSSS.

Options Menu

The Options menu is used to export and import objects as files to your file system, making them available for source control. See Using the Transporter Export/Import Utility for details.

This menu contains these options:

Cron Jobs – Has two submenus: Discover Cron and Import Cron. Lets you import the Cron jobs from the UNIX boxes to a TA system.

Export – Has two submenus: Export Jobs and Export Calendars. Lets you export jobs, job groups, or calendars from a source TA system to the file system.
Import – Has two submenus: Import Jobs and Import Calendars. Lets you import jobs, job groups, or calendars from the file system to a target TA system.
Compare – Has two submenus: Compare Jobs and Compare Calendars. Lets you compare previously exported jobs, job groups, or calendars in the file system to a target TA system.

Delta Import – Has two submenus: Delta Import Jobs and Delta Import Calendars. Lets you import jobs, job groups, or calendars from a previously created delta directory to a TA system.
Delete – Has two submenus: Delete Jobs and Delete Calendars. Lets you delete jobs, job groups, and calendars from a TA system.

Create Delta – Displays a dialog in which you specify the directories of two different versions of exported data, and then creating a third directory that contains only the delta files that are different between the two exports.
Export/Import Mode OR Transport Mode – Let’s you toggle between the main Transporter functionality and the export or import functionality.

Help Menu

The Help menu provides information on the version of the Transporter and how to use the application. Selecting this option launches your default Web browser and allows you to search for a topic.

This menu contains these options:

About – Displays the splash screen for the Transporter. The version number of the Transporter is displayed here.

Contents – Displays the online help system. You can search for a topic from the Help system’s table of contents or use the Search or Index features.

Toolbar and Buttons

The toolbar provides one-click access to some of the most frequently used features during a Transporter session. The buttons are arranged from left-to-right in approximately the same sequence needed during a typical session. The buttons duplicate the same options that are available in the main menu but provide more convenient access.

The buttons and their purpose are:

Source – Launches the TA Web Client in your default Web browser for the selected source.
Destination – Launches the TA Web Client in your default Web browser for the selected destination.
Connections – Displays the Connections dialog. This dialog is used to create and modify existing connections to source and destination Clients using files.
Connect – Establishes a to the items selected in the Source and Destination fields. Once the is established, the button changes to Disconnect and when clicked ends.

Clicking Connect is the same as selecting the Connect option in the File menu.

Note: A complete refresh of all data objects is accomplished during a session by disconnecting and reconnecting.
Disconnect – Ends the to the items selected in the Source and Destination fields. Once the ends, the Disconnect option is unavailable. Only the Connect option is available.

Clicking Disconnect on the toolbar is the same as selecting the Disconnect option.

A complete refresh of all data objects is accomplished during a session by disconnecting and reconnecting to the source and destination.
Read Data – Reads the object data for the definitions from the selected source and destination.

Clicking Read Data is the same as selecting the Read Data option from the File menu.
Start Transfer – Begins the data transporting process between the selected source and destination. Job transports provide for interactive mapping by transporting individual jobs or job groups.

Clicking Start Transfer is the same as selecting the Start Transfer option in the Transport menu.

Note: For Job transports, an individual job or job group can also be transported by dragging and dropping a source job or job group to a destination group. Be careful not to drop the job inside the wrong job group in the destination inadvertently.)

Filter – Displays the Job Filter dialog that provides various filter criteria for filtering of jobs or groups that are displayed at the source.

Clicking Filter is the same as selecting the Filter option in the Search menu.
Mappings – Displays the Scheduler Object Mapping dialog where the various objects from the source can be associated with corresponding destination objects.

Clicking Mapping is the same as selecting the Mapping option in the Transport menu.
Configure – Displays the Configuration Options dialog to customize the Transporter to work according to your preference. See Configuring the TA Transporter for more information.

Clicking Configure is the same as selecting the Configure option in the File menu.
Find – Highlights the first source data object that matches the criteria entered in the search text field.
Next – Highlights the next source match for the criteria entered in the search text field.

Note: To Search on data against the destination list, right-click on the Destination pane and click Find First or Find Next from the available menu options available.
Find First – Finds the first destination match for the criteria specified in the Search text field.
Find Next – Finds the next destination match for the criteria specified in the Search text field.
Status Panel – Located at the bottom of the Transporter screen, this panel displays the number of objects selected for transport as well as other status messages.

Tabs

The main Transporter selection screen contains a tabbed view of these Transport Data types:

Jobs/Groups – Displays job and job group definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Calendars – Displays calendar definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Business Views – Displays business views that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Variables – Displays variable definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Events – Displays the event definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Resources – Displays resource definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Actions – Displays action definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Job Classes – Displays job class definitions that can be transported from the source to the destination.

Crons – Displays active UNIX agents and its runtime users from the source.