First time caller, long time listener.
I was talking to an ARIS guru today (from Software AG!) and he was revealing to me all the capabilites and secrets ARIS have to offer. One particular one I was interested in was the ability to export all objects from a group (functions, tech terms, roles etc) onto an excel sheet with all associated attributes (ie. tech term has master as yes, so on). From that you can make an array of changes, adjusting names/associations/attributes, re upload the file and bada bing - objects updated.
I'm super interesting in replicating this, I've using the import excel function for a while now to do mass uploads. But the ability to make mass alterations is getting me going. I've tried my luck through the reports ("Output object information" was my no.1 hope), but I can't seem to get it right.
Does anyone have any idea on how this is done?
Regards,
Hi Jake,
Try to use the script "Export attribute values for translation" to export in Excel file then the script "Import translated attributes" to update. I think it should work also to update attributes in the current langage.
Let me know if it works.
Best Regards
Romain Tricarico
Hello Jake,
that's the thing with gurus: they enlighten you with visions, but don't tell about all the necessary lowly tasks to get there - unless you bring an appropriate $acrifice. 8-))
There are two reports under the category standard on your installation (cf. your online help <yourserver>/abs/help/en/handling/ba/index.htm#12829.htm) :
1. Create template for data import to configure model/object types and attribute for import and create an excel template
2. Import data in Excel format, based on this template
Romain Tricarico is right, too, but this workaround was necessary only in older releases.
Regards, Martin
Hello Martin,
The reports you mention cover a different use-case: It can only create objects. It will never alter existing ones, even if names match.
If you actually want to edit objects externally, Romain's solution is the right one. I used it recently to add a suffix to their name on a large number of objects. That was quite comfortably done in Excel to filter on the right attribute (Name), concatenate with the desired suffix, copy & "paste special" with values. Finally I re-imported the "translations" and all objects were updated. This works, because the translation report's export contains the GUIDs of the objects.
Regards, M. Zschuckelt
And we got a result! (Well kind of), Romain your approach was the right one, after some trial and error managed to successfully alter the attributes of function/objects and the like. Note for anyone following this approach, ensure the second row stays where it is, the script doesn't mind any movement below, but shifting those identifiers will cause errors in reading the upload data (had to trawl through the script to figure out why it wasn't working).
Add-on challenge:
I've noticed that only a select number of attributes are exported (string appears to be the theme), which makes sense considering the purpose of the script. I am however looking at altering other attributes, (in particular the boolean master). The AttrType Numbers don't link up with the data base, and the original export only includes name / description.
Is there any suggestions on doing this mass alteration?
To update the master attribute for a selection of objects you can use the attribute wizard.
First use Find to search all the objects for which you want to set the attribute to a specific value, then select all the objects, click right and select 'attribute wizard' from the pop-up menu.
Using this, you can set any attribute for all objects to a given value or you can delete attribute values.
An alternative could be to use the spreadsheet model type, although it doesn't provide the flexibility of Excel (yet) to manipulate the data.
I have seen the report that you are talking about, but it was not a standard script but something that had been developed in a customer project.
regards,
Koen
Hello Jake,
if you have seen these magical workings with a script a Software AG consultant showed to you (and that he probably developed for some customer engagement), it is very likely that he will be willing to let you have it as a bonus, if you engage him for some days during which he will get you going with the script. Most likely that is even the cheapest way to get that functionality before you re-invent it. You won't get help from Software AG support with such scripts, but Consulting will offer you maintenance services, if you wish.
AttrType Numbers are perfectly stable for built-in attributes. For custom attributes they are stable within the same server (or tenant, at least). Hence in scripting you have to first map the GUID of the custom AttrType to the local AttrType number. That's why you cannot use that translation report to transfer custom attribute content from one server to a copy of the database on another server. For that purpose there is the XML export/import feature. Use the translation only for modifying the database you got the export from.
Best regards, M. Zschuckelt