Quick start guide

This guide will show you how to synchronize data with UIDSync® Universal. The quick start guide focuses on how to use the main user interface elements and also the main elements of the program. More detailed explanations of settings and configuration can be found in the product's manual.

Understanding the Interface

Start UIDSync® Universal and the StartUp Wizard will appear. If the StartUp Wizard is not shown, you can open it anytime by selecting Getting Started ... from the file menu. On the left side of the StartUp Wizard you will be offered the following options to start your first synchronization:

• You can start with an empty SyncFlow without any preconfigured activity using the SyncFlow Configuration Designer.
• You can use a template to create a SyncFlow based on the configuration already predefined in the template.
• You can use a wizard to create a new SyncFlow by choosing a data source and a data target for your first SyncFlow.

The easiest way to understand the interface of UIDSync® Universal is to start with an empty SyncFlow. The interface now should look like below, displaying different areas each of which might contain commands or panels.

You can expand or minimize each panel. If you expand the Communication Area and the Context Area you will see, that each of these regions includes further windows. You can rearrange each window (except the SyncFlow Configuration Designer) by drag and drop. If you want to see all windows on the screen it may look like below.

General Settings

General settings can be configured with the Control Panel, which can be opened in the File ribbon tab of the Menu. The Control Panel enables adjustments of default settings of UIDSync® Universal. E.g. you can change configuration parameter of the application like the application's color scheme and other settings.

SyncFlow Configuration Designer

This app provides the main designer to define SyncFlows. When a SyncFlow document is opened or when you activate the Configuration Designer section a short introduction into how to use the designer will be displayed. With the Configuration Navigator on the left side of the SyncFlow Configuration Designer you can select different types of activities for the SyncFlow. If you click on the Dataflow button you can define the source and the target data type by adding a Subscriber and a Publisher. Also all Processing/Transform activities can be added therewith.

To add or adjust additional SyncFlow activities, you can do so, by activating the sections Commands, Events, Services or Scheduled Tasks. For further information about these activities please view the description in the Dataflow Configuration Designer after clicking Dataflow. For configuration of each activity further functions are available via the Properties buttons.

SyncFlow Configuration

A standard SyncFlow consists of a Subscriber (source data) and a Publisher (target data) and optionally one or more Processing/Transform activities and/or any other additional activities. To choose and configure one of these SyncFlow Activities you can use the SyncFlow Configuration Designer.

General

For each of the types of SyncFlow Activities you will find a separate button on in the Configuration Navigator. To define a standard SyncFlow you should start with the Dataflow Configuration. If you click at one of the buttons Add Subscriber..., Add Publisher... or Add Activity... a window opens to select a Subscriber to add. It offers a list of activities for each of the chosen types. Where applicable after adding an Activity, a configuration wizard automatically opens, guiding you in the configuration of the activities settings. After defining an activity it is displayed in the Dataflow Configuration Section.

If configuration was not completed or changes are not valid, it will be displayed in the SyncFlow Configuration Designer with an information mark (see the screenshot above). If you click on the information button, you will get further information on how to proceed.

A list of all open configuration tasks can be reviewed in the Task List panel.

= Task that prevent the SyncFlow from executing if the activity in question is enabled.

= Warning, indicating a possiblemisconfiguration which might lead to unexpected results.

= Information offers useful advices for SyncFlow configuration.

To access commands specific to the selected Activity, you can use the Actions tab in the Context Area, where you will find e.g. Show preview, Delete, Properties and Configure.

Please note: Deleting any Activity from SyncFlow is irreversible.

Configuration

Source

To choose a Subscriber click e.g. Add Subscriber... After an Activity has been added to a SyncFlow a Subscriber Wizard opens. If you choose for example a CSV Subscriber you will be presented with the option to select a data file as source. Choose a source file, define file parameter (including Format, Enclosing Character, Delimiter, Array Delimiter ...) and the Primary Key. Review the selected parameters and finish.

Target

To choose a Publisher please click Add Publisher... and proceed with the Publisher Wizard similar to the Subscriber.

Properties

In the Properties tab now appear certain options for further configurations. We recommend regarding the Subscription Type. Define whether all data (Full-Mode) or only changed data (Delta-Mode) should be imported.

Settings the synchronization type to Full will cause UIDSync® Universal to also include all objects have not changed since the last run, though only attribute values that are different to current values in the destination will be written into the target data store.

Using Delta-Mode will tremendously improve performance and lower network and server load. When using Delta, UIDSync® Universal will only request those objects from the source server, which have changed since the last run. Additionally it will also check each of the attributes and whether there is a need to commit changes into the target data store - thereby further lowering server load in the target.

Previewing processing results

After defining the Subscriber and the Publisher you would already be able to copy/synchronize data from source to target. Without any additional processing steps this would result in a mere copying of the data from source to target. In any case, though, you can preview the processing results for any Publisher and processing activity without changing data by using Preview command which is available in the Actions panel of the Context Area or in the Activity's context menu.

Processing/Transform

You can add any number of processing steps in between the Subscriber and the Publisher. There are a number of processing activities available, which allow you to filter data, adapt a data schema, verify data validity... You can add the appropriate processing activity by clicking Add Activity ... and the available processing options are displayed in the Select an Activity to add window.

For example:

• Data Process Filter - Filters the stream of data to include or exclude specific items matching a rule
• Advanced Schema Mapper - Adapt source schemas to match target data processor requirements, e.g. if the source data store uses a different schema compared to the target data store...

Select the required activity to adapt the SyncFlow to your requirements. After a new processing step has been added you can configure it in the Properties panel and execute additional available commands in the Actions panel.

Please note: You can add and remove activities at any time. This will not change any other configuration parameters of other activities.

Please note: The SyncFlow will process sequentially from Subscriber to Publisher. The data flow will thereby be processed by the top processing activity first, followed by the next processing activity below. Finally, the data as supplied by the last processing activity will be exported to the target data stores by the Publisher(s).

Other SyncFlow Activities

Other SyncFlow Activities are provided to execute commands depending on events, to control the sequence in which activities are being executed or to include monitoring services in your SyncFlow. Further types of activities available to adjust the SyncFlow are:

• Commands that control the sequence of activities or extend the functionality of a project, like the Email Sender or the Shell Command. E.g. the Email Sender sends a message alerting an administrator on every identity record matching specific values
• Actions that execute activities based on specific events, like the Activity start event or the SyncFlow finish event. E.g. the Activity Start Event is being executed, the selected activity is starting. It can be used to selectively execute other Activities
• Services that offer background services, like the SyncFlow Log Writer, that logs all output messages during the execution of a SyncFlow

• Scheduled Tasks displays time based schedule tasks defined for a SyncFlow, like the New Email Service

If you want to add e.g. the Email Sender to the SyncFlow click on the add-button in the Commands panel a window opens with a list of the available commands.

Running the Sync

When you have finished and reviewed your configuration, verified that all your requirements were made by using the preview options, you are ready to execute the SyncFlow. Click Run SyncFlow in the SyncFlow ribbon tab or Run selected SyncFlow in the Solutions ribbon tab of the Menu bar to start the execution.

Please note: Before starting the execution of the SyncFlow interactively, especially for the first run, it might be a good idea to change the Output mode to information or verbose. This way you will be able to review any action by any activity and any change that has been applied to your data during the execution. Though, this will slow down the synchronization process it will support the analysis of your configuration.

Review Your Results

When the synchronization is completed you can review the SyncFlow in the Processing Counter panel, and/or the Output window. Additionally a log file can be created for each SyncFlow execution by including the SyncFlow Log Writer (Services) in your SyncFlow, which will write all messages into the SyncFlowfolder ExtensionSpecific. If you have any questions or problems you can email the log file to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for review.

In the Output window the complete output of an application is outlined. You can define the Output Options to adjust which output massages are displayed in the Output window. There exists a range of setting options from Off with no logging to Verbose with an extensive reporting of the synchronization.

Please note: An output mode of information or verbose may decrease the performance of a SyncFlow execution strongly and should only be used to analyze and debug your configuration. E.g. a SyncFlow processing 10.000 rows of data could result easily in more than a million lines of output.

Saving and loading your SyncFlow

You have the option to save the SyncFlows contained in your solution. To save a solution, click the Save Solution or Save Solution As ... command. For a solution that has not been saved, yet, you will have to enter a valid location. Enter the name of the solution, choose the location and save it. The hereby created folder UIDSolution (see top right) includes separate folders for each SyncFlow of the Solution and the file UIDSyncFlow.uids. If you want to reload the saved solution you have to click the Open Solution command and choose this file.

To add a SyncFlow to a solution just use the New SyncFlow button in the Solutions menu. You can configure as many SyncFlows as necessary for your project.  To build a new solution click Create new Solution in the Solution menu.