Exporting and Importing Authoring Files

Cogynt Authoring includes data export and import functionality to enable sharing data between projects.

Exporting Data

In addition to exporting project components from individual views, Cogynt Authoring allows exporting complete projects and subsets of projects using the Export Manager utility. The utility exports this information as a .cef file (for entire projects) or .pcef file (for parts of projects), which can be archived, shared, and imported as needed.

Accessing Export Manager

To access the Export Manager utility, do one of the following:

• Click the system panel (☰) icon. Then, under Project Tasks, click Export.
• Click the Export button in the upper-right of the current view.

Note

Export Manager requires an active project. Otherwise, it is inaccessible.

Exporting Entire Projects

An entire Authoring project can be exported as a .cef file for archiving or importing.

To export an entire project:

1. Access the Export Manager. For more information, see Accessing Export Manager.
2. From the Package Types dropdown menu, select Project
3. Click Export Project. The project's .cef file is downloaded automatically. Alternatively, click Cancel to abandon the export.

An entire project can also be exported from the Project Management page. This allows exporting a project without having to open it first.

To export a project from the Project Management page:

1. On the Project Management page, locate the project to export in the table.
2. Click the project's Export button.

Exporting Partial Projects

Selected parts of an Authoring project can be exported as a .pcef file for archiving, importing, or distributing. The Export Manager utility allows exporting the following project components:

• Patterns
• Event Types
• Schemas
• Deployments
• Deployment Targets
• Lexicons

For more information about these components, see Model Artifacts.

To export part of a project:

1. Access the Export Manager. For more information, see Accessing Export Manager.
2. From the Package Types dropdown menu, select an artifact category. A checklist of corresponding project components appears.
3. In the checklist, check the boxes of the components to export.
4. In the Search bar, enter a word or several characters to look for specific components. The checklist updates automatically to show components matching the entered terms.
5. From the Filter By dropdown list, select any tags to use as filters. In the Search bar, enter a word or several characters to look for specific tags. The list of tags updates automatically to show tags matching the entered terms.
6. Click Export to export the project parts. (Note: The name of the button changes to reflect the type and quantity of components being exported. For example, it may say Export 35 Event Types.) The .pcef file is downloaded automatically. Alternatively, click Cancel to abandon the export.

Single components can also be exported directly from their respective component management pages as follows:

1. Locate the component to export by typing its name in the Search bar or by manually browsing the paginated list of components.
2. In the component's table row, click the Export button.

Importing Data

Any file exported by Cogynt Authoring can be imported back into the system.

Note

If the file was exported from an older version of Cogynt, it may contain outdated computations. Cogynt automatically migrates these computations to their newer alternatives after the imported data is opened. For more information, see Migrating Computations.

Importing Full Projects

A full project's .cef file can be imported into Cogynt to work with the project on another machine or in another Cogynt instance.

To import a full project:

1. On the Cogynt main screen, click Import Authoring Data.
2. Use the file browser to select the necessary .cef file.
3. Click Import to import the project, or click Cancel to abandon the import.

Note

If the name of the project you are attempting to import matches the name of an existing project in the system, a warning dialog appears: A project named {NAME} already exists. This file will be imported as a copy. Would you like to import this file as a copy? Click OK to import the file as a copy, or Cancel to abandon the import.

Copies are named {NAME}_{X}, where {NAME} is the name of the duplicate project, and {X} is an integer.

Importing Partial Projects

A partial project's .pcef file can be imported into Cogynt to work with the exported components in another project, on another machine, or in another Cogynt instance.

Partial projects must be imported into an existing project. This can be accomplished within an open project, or from the landing page.

To import a partial project in an opened project:

1. Click the system panel (☰) icon.
2. Under Project Tasks, click Import.
3. In the Import Components window, verify the components to be imported. Any duplicate components will be imported as copies.
4. Click Import to import the project parts. (Note: The name of the button changes to reflect the type and quantity of components being imported. For example, it may say Import 3 Patterns.) Alternatively, click Cancel to abandon the import.

To import a partial project from the landing page:

1. Click Import Authoring Data.
2. Use the file browser to select the necessary .pcef file.
3. Click Import to import the partial project, or Cancel to abandon the import.
4. In the dialogue, select an existing project in which to place the partial project, or create a new project. For more information, see Creating New Projects.

Note

If the name of a component you are attempting to import matches the name of an existing component in the system, a warning dialog appears: A {COMPONENT} named {NAME} already exists. This file will be imported as a copy. Would you like to import this file as a copy? Click OK to import the file as a copy, or Cancel to abandon the import.

Copies are named {NAME}_{X}, where {NAME} is the name of the duplicate component, and {X} is an integer.

Migrating Computations

Files exported from older versions of Cogynt may contain computations that are no longer supported in the current version. To fix this, Cogynt automatically migrates any outdated computations to their newer alternatives the first time the imported data is opened. This process only needs to be completed once.

Note

Computation migration cannot be skipped.

To migrate computations:

1. Import the full or partial project file.
2. Open the project containing the imported data. The Migrating Computations window opens automatically.
3. Wait until Cogynt Authoring finishes reviewing the data for outdated computations. The Migrating Computations window shows a preview of the processed data, and records a tally of any errors, warnings, or informational messages it generates.
4. Once Authoring has processed the data:
   • If no outdated computations or other errors were found, the imported data loads as normal. No migration is necessary, and no further action is required.
   • If any outdated computations or other errors were found, Authoring generates a report documenting the problems it detected, and displays the report in the Migrating Computations window. Read the report, then click Download Report & Close. A copy of the report is downloaded to your local machine.
5. On the right of the screen, click the Issues tab to display the components of the project that contain computations to migrate.
6. For each affected component, do the following:
   1. Navigate to the component.
   2. In the upper-right of the screen, note the message: Please verify migrated computations and then click Save.
   3. Review the computation changes in the component's diagram, modifying them as necessary. For more information about working with computations, see Outcome Computations Authoring.
   4. When finished, in the upper-right of the screen, click Save.

Note

Any manual adjustments to the computation view are strictly visual. Existing deployments will still work without going through the verification and saving procedure.