Preserving Customizations with Overlays & Custom Objects in AR System 7.6.04: Deep-dive Session

Vyom Labs Pvt. Ltd. www.vyomlabs.com

Preserving Customizations with Overlays & Custom Objects in AR
System 7.6.04

© Copyright 2012 Vyom Labs Pvt. Ltd.

Disclaimer

 All other trademarks, service marks and logos used in this webinar are the
trademarks, service marks or logos of their respective owners.

 The views expressed in this webinar are views of the speakers and do not necessarily
reflect the views of Vyom Labs Pvt. Ltd.


Agenda



Why Overlay


Why Overlay

Overlay—
An overlay is a copy of an AR System object that is used in place of the origin object (an
object created in the Base Development mode of BMC Remedy Developer Studio; all out-
of-the-box AR System application and server objects are origin objects).
To ensure that customizations are not lost during upgrades, you modify the overlay, not
the origin object.


Why Overlay (cont..)

 Overlays automate customization best practices
Customer created Objects
(Custom)

Unmodified BMC Modified BMC
Objects Object
(Base) (Overlay)

Only base objects are
affected during an The base object is
upgrade retained when an
overlay is created



Benefits of Overlay


Benefit of Overlay

 Identification and protection of added functionality
 Identification of modified functionality
 Preservation of relevant changes across application upgrades


Use overlays to preserve your customizations


Creating Overlays

 Overlay can be created on Following Objects:
 Forms
 Fields
 Active Links
 Active Link Guides
 Filters
 Filter Guides
 Escalations
 Images
 Local Applications
 Menus
 Packing Lists
 Views
 Web Services


Developer studio modes


Create overlay of Form


Create View Overlay of Form


Create Overlay of Field


Create Overlay of Image


Comparing objects at the same location


Migration of overlays and custom objects

 From one AR System server to another
 From an AR System server to a file
 From a file to an AR System server
 From one file to another


Tracking overlays in logs

 Tracking escalation overlays
 Tracking filter overlays


Custom objects

 A custom object is a standalone object created by users in the Best Practice
Customization mode of BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Custom objects are not
modified or lost during upgrades.
 Note - Objects created in Base Development mode are origin objects.


Convert Custom objects into Base Objects


Limitations

 If an existing object in your production environment has been deleted from the
upgraded version of the corresponding application, and if the application installer
imports that object in Overwrite mode, customizations made to the object are not
preserved.
 Automatically merge customizations with functionality added during upgrades.
 Enable you to make all possible changes to AR System objects. For example, you
cannot make changes that would alter the underlying database, such as changing a
field’s data type.



What is BPCU?


Best Practice Conversion Utility

To preserve modified or user-created objects in applications installed on pre-7.6.04
AR System servers, use the Best Practice Conversion command-line utility to
convert the objects into overlays or custom objects before upgrading your
applications or server components to version 7.6.04.


BPCU (cont..)

This utility has the following modes:
 ReportDiff—Generates a report of differences between the objects in an overlay hash
file and the objects on a server or in another overlay hash file.
 Overlay—Based on a differences report, converts customized AR System objects into
overlays, and converts user-created objects into custom objects.


Using BPCU

To convert pre-7.6.04 customizations into overlays and custom objects:
Make sure that the installation of AR System on your development server matches the
installation on your production server.
Back up the development server’s database.
To obtain the conversion utility, install the 7.6.04 AR System server on the development
server.
Unzip the ARSystemServerInstallDirbpcu7604.zip file. The Best Practice Conversion
utility files are installed in the following folder: Best_Practice_Conversion_Utility.
Configure your system to run the utility. Obtain the master overlay hash file, and copy it
to your development server.


Using BPCU (Cont..)


Steps to Generate BPCU Difference Report

Pre-requisite
OOTB Server (exactly matching Customer/Current Prod Setup)
Current Prod Server
Master Hash file
Activities:
Generate Diff report using BPCU tool


Steps to Generate BPCU Difference Report (Cont..)

Generate Diff report using BPCU tool
Use below command: GO to command prompt: (for Ex)
 C:bpcu7604Best_Practice_Conversion_Utility>bpcu.bat <Enter>
Arguments:
-f “C:bpcu7604master-hash.xml" -x "Prod Server Name" -u "Admin User" -p "Admin
Password" -m "D"
 In “Output” folder you can find no of files. To see Differences in current system and
OOTB system we use “bpcu-diff-report_xxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxxx.html”


Difference Report


Q & A Session

Qu
est An
i on sw
s er
s


About Vyom Labs

ABOUT VYOM LABS
Vyom Labs is “The complete IT Service Management solutions company”. The company's head office
is in Pune, India. Vyom Labs has delivered ITSM BSM services in 5 continents in the IT Service
Management space through partners in different geographies.

Vyom Labs offers end-to-end ITSM solutions / services as follow:
BMC BSM Solutions and Services
IT Infrastructure Services
ITIL Consulting Services
Software Testing Services
Performance Testing for BMC Remedy ITSM Applications


Contact Us

www.vyomlabs.com
info@vyomlabs.com

Our Locations:
Pune, India (Head Quarters)

Bangalore, India

Oklahoma, USA


Preserving Customizations with Overlays & Custom Objects in AR System 7.6.04: Deep-dive Session

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