General Configuration Transfer Considerations

Certain considerations apply across multiple Workflow resource types when transferring configurations.

Note: In addition to the information outlined here, certain considerations apply based on type of resource configuration being transferred. For more information, see Content-Specific Transfer Considerations.

Data Transfer Recommendations

We recommend that you transfer content, as required, in the following order:
  1. OPC Server
  2. Equipment Model
  3. Material Model
  4. Personnel Model
  5. Security
  6. Events Model
  7. Proficy System (Computers)
  8. Default Computer Configuration
  9. User Forms and Displays
  10. Production Model
  11. Workflow Model

Version Compatibility

Beginning with Workflow 2.2, you can import content that has been exported from previous versions of the software. For workflows, you can import content exported from version 1.5 Service Pack 2 or later; other types of content must have been exported from version 2.0 or later.

Links to External Data

Certain types of Workflow resources can be associated with properties or variables, which, in turn, can be linked to data items housed in external systems. When transferring configurations for such resources, you must first ensure that the destination server is configured for connection to the external system, and that the data items are present and equivalently named on that system; otherwise, linking will break upon transfer of the resource configurations to the destination server.

For example, the originating application server is connected to an OPC server named OPC_Server1, and OPC_Server1 has three groups named Group1, Group2, and Group3. The equipment properties you are transferring are linked to OPC items in Group1 named Item1, Item2, and Item3. In order for the transfer to succeed, the destination OPC_Server1 should be exported from the source system and imported into the destination system, so that the groups and tags exist with the same ID.

The following resource types may be subject to this external linking dependency when transferring configurations:
  • Equipment

    For more information on bulk equipment uploads, see Equipment Provisioning.

  • Events
  • Material
  • Personnel
  • Production
  • Property Groups

Security Settings

For resource types that are subject to Workflow security enforcement, any security settings established for a related resource instance are not included when transferring the resource configuration. Rather, you must transfer these settings separately. For more information, see the topic on transferring security configurations.

Third-party Software Requirements

You must have Microsoft Excel 2007 installed and activated, as well as its Primary Interop Assemblies, in order to transfer certain types of Workflow resource configurations. You must also ensure that your custom language settings (if language is different than English) are set appropriately. For more information, see:

If you are transferring resource configurations that were created with non-Latin characters, you can open the content file in Excel2003, but the non-Latin characters will not display properly. To display non-Latin characters, you must use Excel 2007.

Configuration Updates

When previously transferred configurations change, you can update destination systems accordingly by transferring the modified configurations again from the source system.

The manner of updating configurations on the destination system varies based on resource type. In the majority of cases, configurations on the destination system are updated to reflect their modified counterparts from the source system. For example, if you transfer the configuration for an equipment instance from one system to another, change the name of the instance on the source system, and then transfer the modified configuration for that instance to the destination system, the instance name on the destination system is changed accordingly. However, if a property is associated with the equipment instance, and you change the name of that property on the source system, the property name is not updated on the destination system when the modified equipment instance configuration is transferred. Rather, the property name is left intact on the destination system, and a new property is added to the equipment instance on the destination system. Likewise, if you delete a property from the equipment instance on the source system, the property is left intact on the destination system when the modified equipment instance configuration is transferred.