Before you import IdML data

Before you import IdML data, make sure that CIs are uniquely identified and that enumerated values are processed properly.

The IdML specification says that the ID tag is optional, but this tag is required for importing CI data. The ID is used, along with an optional prefix, to create the ACTCINUM attribute for the actual CI. Be sure that your IdML files specify this tag for each actual CI. If the tool encounters a CI record without an ID, a warning message is written to the log file and the CI record is skipped. The ID value must be unique.

The Common Data Model, which defines the language that is used to describe configuration items, uses enumerations for several CI attributes. In an enumeration, the possible values of the attribute are represented by integers. The ImportIDML tool uses a file that translates these integers into the correct attribute values. To ensure that enumeration values are correctly processed when you import IdML data, the Common Data Model version that is used to create the files should not be more recent than the Control Desk Common Data Model version.

The createIDMLMetaCache tool in the Integration Composer Home/bin directory can be used to update the Common Data Model metadata that is used by the ImportIDML tool. It reads a CDM.xsd file and outputs three text files in the Integration Composer Home/data/idml/cdm_metadata directory:

cdmdatetimes.txt: a list of Common Data Model attributes that have a datetime format that must be converted to a time stamp in order to be loaded
cdmenumerationmap.txt: a list of enumerations that are used to convert the alphanumeric enumerations to its appropriate integer value that the product recognizes
cdmnames.txt: a list of valid Common Data Model classifications that are used to recognize improper classifications and issue warnings

If any of these files exist, the tool renames the existing file by appending the current timestamp and creates a new file.

The createIDMLMetaCache tool accepts one parameter, which is the name of an xsd file. Specify the location of the xsd file that contains the schema that is used to generate your IdML file. If no file name is specified, the tool runs against Integration Composer Home/data/idml/cdm_metadata/CDM.xsd.

All of the classifications that are specified in the IdML files that you import must be specified in the cdmnames.txt file and must also be defined as Control Desk classifications. In addition, all the attributes that are specified in the IdML files that you import must be defined in Control Desk for the classification of the actual Configuration Item to which they belong.

Feedback