Export Service

The Export service automates exporting resources from the application.

The following table provides an overview of the Export service:

Category Description
System name ExportService
Graphical Process Modeler (GPM) category All Services
Description The Export service automates exporting resources from the application. You specify the resources to be exported and the various options in the Export service input XML file. Alternatively, you can specify a resource tag (which defines all the resources to be exported) in the input XML file. Resource tags can be created using the Admin Console. See Using Proper Syntax for syntax information. You can export resources to an XML file or to an installable bundle. If you want to export resources to be used on a new installation of your application, use an installable bundle. You can then load the installable bundle as part of the new system installation. See Using Proper Syntax for syntax information. The input XML file can also be used to specify the export type: standard or advanced.
  • Standard export copies non-versioned resources and the default version of versioned resources.
  • Advanced export copies non-versioned resources and enables you to choose to export just default versions or all versions of versioned resources.
See Using Proper Syntax for syntax information. You can specify regular expressions to filter and selectively export the desired resources. See Regular Expressions for information. When exporting trading partner identities, PGP profiles, service configurations, and communities, you must use a security context utility to store a passphrase in the database. The passphrase is then used to encrypt the identity information when it is exported to the output XML file. See Using the Security Context Utility for information.
Business usage The Export service can be used with the scheduler to automate the process of exporting application resources. You define the resources to be exported in an XML file.
Usage example The Export service is typically used in the following situations:
  • In a virtual VAN environment, trading partners will synchronize their business resources in an automated fashion by using a combination of export and import services.
  • Certain application resources may need to be exported and sent to SCI customer support to assist in troubleshooting problems.
Preconfigured? No
Requires third party files? No
Platform availability All supported platforms for your application
Related services Import service
Application requirements None
Initiates business processes? No
Invocation Generally, this service is invoked by the Scheduler.
Business process context considerations None
Returned status values Success –Successfully exported Error –there are two basic errors:
  • There is no Primary Document, this service operates on the primary document
  • Set passphrase using SecurityContext program for security context
Restrictions None
Persistence level Full
Testing considerations Use the Export option from the Deployment > Resource Manager menu to export a set of resources. Save the status report from that export. Next, use the Export service to export the same set of resources. Compare the status reports for the two exports to determine if the Export service is successfully exporting all of the resources you specified.

How the Export Service Works

The Export service works based on an XML input file that you create. The input file must contain the context and identity values from a security context (only if trading partner identities are included), whether or not to export information based on resource tags, the resource tags or names, the output type (XML or installable bundle), and the export type (standard or advanced). It can contain much more information, however. There are many parameters and expressions that can be used to select just the resources you want. See Regular Expressions and Options for more information.

Example Business Scenario

Your company has a trading partner community called Suppliers. You want to update your company's trading partner profile and send the suppliers a new service configuration to use when sending you data. To accomplish this:
  1. Create a resource tag (Supplier_Update) that will contain the trading partner profile and the service configuration.

    From the Deployment menu, select Resource Manager > Resource Tags > New Resource Tag. Select the resources to associate.

  2. Create a security context for this export operation:

    install_dir\bin>securityContext.sh set Suppliers dec01 leopard

    See Using the Security Context Utility .

  3. Create a well-formed XML file to be used as input for the Export service. To test that the XML file is well-formed, open the file with Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer will open an XML file only if it is well-formed:
    <?xml version="1.0"?>
<ExportConfiguration>
<OutputFormatType>XML
Document</OutputFormatType>
<ExportResourcesBasedOnTagName>Yes</ ExportResourcesBasedOnTagName>
<Tags>
<Tag
Name="Supplier_Update" />  
</Tags>
<ExportType>Standard</ExportType>
<Passphrase>
<SecurityContext>Suppliers</SecurityContext>
<SecurityIdentity>dec01</SecurityIdentity>
<ExportCertificate>Yes</ExportCertificate>
</Passphrase>
</ExportConfiguration>
  4. Create an Export service configuration and a File System adapter configuration to use in your business process. In the File System adapter configuration, specify the extraction folder (where the File system adapter will place the export file at the end of the business process).
  5. Create a business process to export the files. The Export service and File System adapter will be used to export the resources and then extract the export file to a location on your system:

    To enter the information for the Security context, click Advanced and add two entries, Context and Identity. Enter the values for each from the security context you created earlier:

Use the File System adapter configuration you created earlier in this business process. Select Extraction as the action in the GPM:

Implementing the Export Service

To implement the Export service, complete the following tasks:
  1. Identify the resources to be exported. If there are several types of resources (maps, services, trading partner information, for example), you can create a resource tag that includes all of the resources.

    For a list of resources that can be exported, see Resources That Can Be Exported .

  2. Create a security context and passphrase for this export operation, if required for the type of data you are exporting. For information, see Using the Security Context Utility .
  3. Create an XML file to use as input for the Export service. This file defines the resources and type of export. For information, see Creating an Input XML File.
  4. Create an Export service configuration. See Managing Services and Adapters.
  5. If you want to have the export file placed in a folder on your system, create a File System adapter configuration. Specify the folder to which the file should be extracted. For XML output, specify .xml as the file extension.
  6. Use the Export service and File System adapter in a business process.

Example Input XML Files

The following examples show how an XML file can be used as input for the Export service. The first example illustrates using resource tags; the second example illustrates using resource names.

Example 1–Using Resource Tags

An easy way to create an export file is to create resource tags in the Admin Console and write an input file that refers to them. The file can include one or more resource tags. This example exports all the resources identified by two tags:

<?xml version="1.0"?> 
<ExportConfiguration> 
<OutputFormatType>XML Document</OutputFormatType> 
<ExportResourcesBasedOnTagName>Yes</ExportResourcesBasedOnTagName>  
<Tags> 
    <Tag Name="bp1"/> 
    <Tag Name="maps1"/> 
</Tags> 
<ExportType>Standard</ExportType> 
<Passphrase> 
<SecurityContext>secret1</SecurityContext>  
<SecurityIdentity>secret2</SecurityIdentity>  
<ExportCertificate>Yes</ExportCertificate> 
</Passphrase> 
</ExportConfiguration>

Example 2–Using Resource Names

The following example specifies that resource names are used, rather than resource tags, and uses inclusions and exclusions to customize the data selected for the export:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>  
 <ExportConfiguration> 
   <OutputFormatType>XML Document</OutputFormatType>  
   <ExportResourcesBasedOnTagName>No</ExportResourcesBasedOnTagName>  
   <ExportType>Standard</ExportType>  
   <Resources> 
       <Resource>
          <Name>Code Lists</Name>  
          <PatternSet> 
            <include>*</include>  
          </PatternSet>    
     </Resource> 
   </Resources> 
   <Passphrase> 
      <SecurityContext>Suppliers</SecurityContext>  
      <SecurityIdentity>dec01</SecurityIdentity>  
      <ExportCertificate>Yes</ExportCertificate>  
   </Passphrase> 
</ExportConfiguration>

Using the Security Context Utility

The following types of data require a security passphrase when exported:
  • Trading Partner Identities
  • Trading Partner Envelopes
  • PGP profiles
  • Service configurations
  • Communities
  • Certain SSH resources: Host Identity Keys, User Identity Keys, and SSH Remote Profiles
  • Web services
  • Security tokens
  • Proxy netmaps
  • System digital certificates

The Export service works with the Security Context utility in the application. The utility is called securityContext.sh (for Unix) or securityContext.cmd (for Windows). It is located in the bin directory of your application installation. The security context utility can be used to store the passphrase and to retrieve it. The security context and security identity values are used to retrieve the associated passphrase. The passphrase is used to encrypt sensitive information (such as trading partner identities) in the export file.

The following information is used in the examples in this section:
  • Context = CompanyA
  • Identity = Apr15
  • Passphrase = secret_phrase

When the utility is used to store the passphrase, provide the following three parameters:

securityContext.sh set CompanyA Apr15 secret_phrase

To check on the existence of a passphrase, use the following command: 

securityContext.sh get CompanyA Apr15

The retrieve the list of contexts, use the following command:

securityContext.sh list_context

The context and identity need to be specified in the input XML file to direct the Export service to retrieve the appropriate passphrase from the database, as shown in the following example:

<Passphrase> 
  <SecurityContext>CompanyA</SecurityContext>  
  <SecurityIdentity>Apr15</SecurityIdentity>  
  <ExportCertificate>Yes</ExportCertificate>    
</Passphrase>

Creating an Input XML File

In the XML files you create for input to the Export service, you can customize export operations by using the expressions and various options described in this section.

Using Proper Syntax

This section illustrates the correct syntax to use when specifying resource tags, output types and standard or advanced exports.

Use the following syntax when referencing a resource tag: 

<Tags><Tag Name="Test2" /></Tags>

Use the following syntax when specifying the output type for the export:

  • For Install Bundle: <OutputFormatType>Install Bundle</OutputFormatType>
  • For XML Document: <OutputFormatType>XML Document</OutputFormatType>

Use the following syntax when specifying the export type:

  • For Standard : <ExportType>Standard</ExportType>

    The following example shows a sample standard export file:

    <ExportType>Standard</ExportType> 
<Resources>
<Resource>
<Name>Maps</Name>
  <PatternSet include= "^acme"/>      
</Resource>
</Resources>
  • For Advanced : <ExportType>Advanced</ExportType>
    The following example shows an advanced export that specifies all versions of versioned resources for map names that include acme should be exported:
    
<ExportType>Advanced</ExportType>
<Resources>
<Resource>
<Name>Maps</Name>
<PatternSet include= "^acme"/>
<AllVersions>true</AllVersions>
</Resource>
</Resources>

Regular Expressions

You can use regular expressions to filter and selectively export resources such as business processes, contracts, and identities.

The following example XML fragment could be used in an XML file to export all business processes whose names begin with wssd:

<Resource> 
     <Name>Business Process</Name> 
     <PatternSet include= "^wssd"></PatternSet> 
</Resource>

If using multiple includes, they are handled on separate lines, as shown in this example:

<Resource> 
      <Name>Business Process</Name> 
      <PatternSet> 
         <include>^[a-m]</include> 
         <include>wssd</include> 
     </PatternSet>	 
</Resource>

The following example exports all business processes whose names begin with wssd except those whose names end with enu:

	<Resource> 
      <Name>Business Process</Name> 
      <PatternSet include= "^wssd" exclude= "enu$"></PatternSet> 
	</Resource>

Options

You can customize exports using the options described in this section:

Characters

The following table contains the characters that you can use with the Export service:

Character Description
UnicodeChar Matches any identical unicode character
\ Used to quote a meta-character (like '*')
\\ Matches a single '\' character

Character Classes

The following table contains the character classes that you can use with the Export service:

Class Description
[abc] Simple character class
[a-zA-Z] Character class with ranges
[^abc] Negated character class

The following example exports all business processes whose names begin with letters A through M:

<Resource> 
     <Name>Business Process</Name> 
     <PatternSet include= "^[a-m]"></PatternSet> 
</Resource>

The following example exports all business processes whose names begin with letters A through C:

<Resource> 
    <Name>Business Process</Name> 
    <PatternSet include= "^[abc]"></PatternSet> 
</Resource>

Portable Operating System Interface Character Classes

The following table contains the standard Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) character classes that you can use with the Export service:

Class Description
[:alnum:] Alphanumeric characters.
[:alpha:] Alphabetic characters.
[:blank:] Space and tab characters.
[:cntrl:] Control characters.
[:digit:] Numeric characters.
[:graph:] Characters that are printable and are also visible. (A space is printable, but not visible, while an `a' is both.)
[:lower:] Lower-case alphabetic characters.
[:print:] Printable characters (characters that are not control characters.)
[:punct:] Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, control characters, or space characters).
[:space:] Space characters (such as space, tab, and formfeed, to name a few).
[:upper:] Upper-case alphabetic characters.

The following example exports all business processes whose names contain a numeric character:

<Resource> 
     <Name>Business Process</Name> 
     <PatternSet include= "[:digit:]"></PatternSet> 
</Resource>

The following example exports all business processes whose names begin with a lower-case character:

<Resource> 
     <Name>Business Process</Name> 
     <PatternSet include= "^[:lower:]"></PatternSet> 
</Resource>

Logical Operators

The following table contains the logical operators that you can use with the Export service:

Operator Description
AB Matches A followed by B
A|B Matches either A or B
(A) Used for subexpression grouping
(?:A) Used for subexpression clustering (similar to grouping but no backrefs)

The following example exports all business processes whose names begin with letters E, M, or W:

<Resource> 
    <Name>Business Process</Name> 
    <PatternSet> 
    <include>^e|^m|^w</include> 
    </PatternSet>	 
</Resource>

If you are searching for non-ASCII characters, such as é or ìå, save the input file as UTF-8.

Resources That Can Be Exported

The following list contains the types of resources that can be exported using the Export service:
  • Application configurations
  • Business processes
  • Communities
  • Contracts
  • Control numbers
  • Code lists
  • Documents
  • ebXML BPSS
  • ebXML CPA
  • Group permissions
  • Groups
  • HTML files
  • Identities
  • Images
  • Javascript files
  • JSP files
  • Mailbox META
  • Mailbox routing
  • Mailbox
  • Maps
  • Other files
  • Perimeter servers
  • Permissions
  • Property files
  • Schedules
  • Schemas
  • SCI packages
  • Service configurations
  • Stylesheets
  • XML files
  • Xslts
  • User groups
  • User permissions
  • Users
  • Web services
  • WSDL