4.7. Data Transfer Import
The Data Transfer feature allows the user to copy objects or designs that can then be used to:
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transfer data from one IRM system to another
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creating small blocks of data that can be used as templates, being inserted into the system multiple times
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Differences from Data Export / Import include:
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Data Transfer does not require specifying Templates or Configurations in order to generate output
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Data Transfer generally has fewer options, as it's meant only for IRM-to-IRM operations
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Data Transfer allows multiple Super Categories of objects to be exported and imported in a single operation
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can operate only on the current selection, or an Area
The rest of this section focuses on Data Transfer Import, while the export side is covered in
Data Transfer Export.
Rather than being initiated via the DDR Import Wizard, a Data Transfer import operation can be started by clicking on the Data Transfer Import context menu option, which is available on all Area context menus (Object Grid, C&T tree, and Design World Area Operations):
This opens the Data Transfer Import dialog, where you can select the appropriate files for import and view upload progress:
When the import is completed, the dialog above is closed and the Data Transfer Import Results dialog is opened:
The dialog indicates how many objects of each Super Category were Successfully imported vs. Failed. The Message column lists the objects that failed to import and the reason why they failed.
For example, if a Managed Object's Type is not a Library Type, or if the Type is not known to the system doing the import, which can happen if data is being moved between separate IRM accounts, an appropriate warning is displayed in the results table and the object is not imported. The full warning message is displayed by hovering the cursor over the message:
Any object in the import that has an Area reference will have that reference changed to the target Area and the resulting imported objects get new IDs.
References between imported objects are preserved, but references to objects that aren't imported depend on the availability of those objects. When importing to the same Site such references are available, but when importing to a different Site they will generally not be available. For example, if an Equipment with a reference to a User is exported and re-imported into the same Site, the User reference is preserved and the referenced ID is left unchanged. However, if the same Equipment is imported to a different Site, the User reference is cleared.
While the behavior described in the previous paragraph may seem limiting to some users, IRM objects typically have a sufficient number of references to other objects such that if all referenced objects were also included in a Data Transfer operation, it would start a chain reaction that might move a far larger amount of data than what the user anticipated. For this reason, only objects that are tightly bound to an object being transferred get included, such as a card in an Equipment Slot. On the other hand a User of that Equipment is not bound in the same (tight) way and so is not included in the transfer operation.
