6.9 Comparing the Schema

Designer allows you to compare schema from your production environment to do in-depth testing with the Identity Manager drivers. Designer now provides conflict resolution on individual classes and attributes and allows you to view the differences between existing and new values when importing and deploying the schema. For example, before deploying schema to an Identity Vault you can run Schema Compare.

Schema Compare shows the differences between the schema of the ID Vault and that of the Designer. The viewer shows 'Schema' at the root level with 'Classes' and 'Attributes' under it. Classes and Attributes can be expanded to list various classes and attributes respectively. When an item is selected, the information section shows it as equal (no action is necessary) or unequal. If they are unequal, you can choose not to reconcile them, choose to update them in Designer, or choose to update them in eDirectory. To reconcile the differences between the schema of the Designer and that of the eDirectory while in Compare, you don’t need to run the Import or Deploy of Schema.

Do the following to determine if you have deployed all the changes you made in the Designer schema to the Identity Vault schema.

  1. Right-click the ID Vault in either the Modeler view or in the Outline view. Select Live > Schema > Compare to bring up the Designer/eDirectory Schema Compare window.

  2. Expand the Select a class or attribute portion of the window to see the listed classes or attributes respectively. Select an individual class or an attribute to see the actual differences displayed in the Text Compare portion of the window.

    The plus icon at the right side of the Select a class or attribute allows you to expand all elements in the parent object, and the minus icon collapses all of the elements. The ? icon displays the Summary/Compare dialog box help.

  3. By default, the Compare window only displays values that are different between eDirectory and Designer. To view all the classes and attributes, select Show all from the pull-down menu. Your choices are Show differences, Show deletes, and Show all.

  4. Check to see the status of the values that are shown. Values that are equal are shown as Equal on the Compare Status line in the Information portion of the Compare window.

    The Compare Status and Reconcile Action portion of the window

    The overlay image displayed in the Compare Status entry identifies objects or attributes that need reconciliation. The following table describes what you see in the Compare Status line and the overlays that you can see:

    Compare Status

    Description

    Equal

    The selected classes or attributes are same in eDirectory and Designer.

    Unequal

    The value of the selected class or an attribute, or one or more classes or attributes, are different in eDirectory and Designer.

    Not Deployed

    The selected class or an attribute is not deployed to eDirectory.

    Not Imported

    The selected class or an attribute does not exist in Designer.

  5. Under the Information portion of the Compare window, select how you want to reconcile the differences between the Source and Destination.

    If Compare Status shows Unequal, you have three choices:

    • To do nothing, keep the default value of Do Not Reconcile.

    • To update the schema in Designer so that it contains the same information as the schema in eDirectory, select Update Designer.

    • To update the schema in eDirectory to reflect the changes you have just made to the schema in Designer, select Update eDirectory.

  6. Check to see the Text Compare values.

    The Text Compare values displayed in the bottom portion of the Designer/eDirectory Schema Compare window shows the difference at the child object level. The Text Compare dialog box uses the Eclipse* Compare editor to compare classes and attributes. The differences in the code are highlighted in blue.

  7. After you view the differences, click Reconcile to perform the reconciliation actions for each object in the tree, or click Close to close the Designer/eDirectory Object Schema Compare window.