5. Importing a model

The import window

Selecting the Import from database menu option launches the import window.

This import window is compound of 5 areas:

• The left area shows the list of import steps,
• The right area is separated in 3 zones:
  • The top zone allows to select the database to import from,
  • The middle zone lists the versions of the model in the selected database,
  • The bottom zone indicates the number and the status of all the model's components,
• The bottom horizontal area shows the Import and Cancel buttons

The import process

If the plugin detects that the model is already opened in Archi, then an error message is printed:

Else, the model is created in Archi and all its components are imported, one by one.

During this import process, the plugin memorizes the version of every single component, in order to determine the updated ones that need to be exported.

The model versions

The plugin lists all the model versions, plus a special one called "latest version":

• When the user imports a specific version of the model, then the plugin imports the components as they were during the export process.
• Nevertheless, as components can be shared across models, some components might have been updated by other models after the last export of the imported model. So the latest version special version tells the plugin to import the latest version of all components, which ever the model that updated it.