1. Modeling Configurations for SCM
  2. Refresh Your Snapshot

Refresh Your Snapshot

Refresh your snapshot to keep your configurator model in the Configurator Models work area synchronized with updates that you make in the Product Information Management work area, such as on the item, the item's item class, or the item's value sets.

Guidelines

  • If you import an item, and then update the model in Product Information Management, then you must do a refresh to get the update into Configurator. Don't try to reimport the item. If you try to reimport, then the import won't include the modifications that you made in Product Information Management.

  • If you modify the item, item class, or value set, then Configurator sets the snapshot's status to Modified when you do the refresh, indicating that you might need to update the configurator model that uses the snapshot.

  • Import only imports children that you specify as optional in the Product Information Management work area. If a child isn't optional, then the import won't import it, and you won't see the child in the Configurator Models work area.

  • You can only modify a configurator model that's a draft and that you lock for editing. If you can't edit the model, the it's probably a released version, or it's a draft version but someone else is editing the draft.

  • You must add the modified snapshot to each workspace that contains a draft of your model. You can then update and test your model, release the workspace into production, and Configurator will update the snapshot status from Modified to Released. The modifications that you make in Product Information Management go into production only after you release the modified snapshot.

  • A configurator model in Configurator doesn't have all the same objects that a model in Product Information Management has. A configurator model in the Configurator Models work area has only the optional components' structure of the model that you import from Product Information Management. It also has the attributes that are part of that optional structure. A configurator model can also have supplemental structures, extension rules, and user interfaces that you create in Configurator.

Try It

  1. Go to the Configurator Models work area.

  2. On the Overview page, click Tasks > Manage Snapshots.

  3. Search for your snapshot.

    You can refresh a snapshot for:

    • An item that's a model, option class, or standard item

    • Item class

    • Value set

  4. Click Actions, then click the type of refresh.

    Type of Refresh

    Description

    Refresh

    Brings all the updates that you have made on the item in Product Information Management into the snapshot in the Configurator Models work area.

    The refresh will update:

    • Each attribute that you modified since you originally imported the attribute into Configurator.

    • The item structure's children, including a model's child items, and an option class' child options. The refresh doesn't update a child item's snapshots. It updates only the attributes of the children that are part of the item's snapshot.

    • The same attributes that you originally imported for child items or options.

    • Any items that you added to the item's structure in Product Information Management.

    • Any item class, value set, standard item, model item, or option class that you modified and that's part of the snapshot.

    Refresh Including Descendant Structure

    Same as for Refresh, but the refresh will also include structures that are children of the model in Product Information Management, such as an option class under an option class.

    This type of refresh applies only for an item's snapshot. It doesn't refresh child models that the parent references.

    Refresh Including Descendant Structure and Referenced Structure

    Same as for Refresh, but the refresh will also include all structures that are children of a referenced structure, such as a referenced model.

    A scheduled process starts and displays a message.

    The refresh snapshot process was submitted with request ID 71901. After the process completes, snapshots appear in the search results with updated status.

    The scheduled process refreshes the snapshot.

  5. Click View > Columns, then add a check mark to the Last Refresh Date option.

  6. Search for your item again in the search area to update the page.

  7. Examine the Last Refresh Date option and verify that the date has happened in the last few minutes.

    Note that Last Refresh Date reports time according to your user preferences.

  8. Verify that the refresh was successful. Go to the Scheduled Processes work area and look for your process, such as 71901. Verify that the Status for the process equals Succeeded. The process name is Refresh Snapshot.

Update Your Descendants

Consider an example.

  1. You create an item named AS54888 in Product Information Management as a pick-to-order model. The AS54888 is a desktop computer.

  2. You import the AS54888 from Product Information Management into the Configurator Models work area in a snapshot named AS54888 Snapshot, creating a configurator model named AS54888.

  3. You do some design work on the AS54888 model in Configurator, then release it into production.

  4. You have a marketing campaign that's introducing a new, hot selling feature. New software designed specifically for virtual reality. AS54888 already has an option class named Software that allows users in your host application to choose their own software packages. You can use it to add the new feature. So, you go to the Product Information Management work area, then add the new Virtual Environments item to the Software option class in the AS54888 model.

    But now the AS54888 snapshot in Configurator is no longer synchronized with the AS54888 item in Product Information Management. The AS54888 snapshot in Configurator doesn't have the Virtual Environments item, and your users can't choose Virtual Environments as an option in the host application. They're stuck in a two dimensional world.

Here's how you can fix that.

  1. Go to the Configurator Models work area.

  2. On the Overview page, click Tasks > Manage Snapshots.

  3. On the Manage Snapshots page, search for your snapshot.

    Attribute

    Value

    Name

    AS54888 Snapshot

  4. Click Actions > Refresh Including Descendant Structure.

    This action refreshes the model and all of the model's descendants. It finds all of the changes that you made to the model and to the model's children.

    • In this example, it finds that you changed the snapshot for the Software option class.
    • As an alternative, you can search for the Software option class, and refresh it instead of the refreshing the entire model.
    • This action only refreshes models and structures that the model contains. It doesn't refresh models and structures that the model references.

  5. Verify the refresh. Verify that:

    • The refresh finished successfully. Examine the scheduled process, if necessary.

    • The Status attribute of the snapshot for the Software option class is Modified.

    • The Software option class contains the new Virtual Environments item.

  6. Add the snapshot for the Software option class to a new workspace that contains a draft of the AS54888 configurator model.

    Adding the snapshot will add the latest data from Product Information Management to the AS54888 configurator model, including the Virtual Environments item.

  7. Revise the AS54888 model in Configurator to pick up your design changes, as necessary.

    For example, redesign the user interface, revise the supplemental structure, add rules, and so on.

  8. Test your AS54888 configurator model.

  9. Release the workspace into production, then verify that you can choose Virtual Environments as an option for the Software option class in your host environment.

Did you Modify the Structure's Item Type?

You can't change the item's type in Product Information Management after you import it into the Configurator Models work area. If you change the type and then attempt to refresh the snapshot, the update will fail or you will encounter unexpected behavior when you view or test the model in Configurator. You might also encounter problems when you release the model to production.

Assume your Virtual Environments software has been out for a few years now and has matured into two different market segments, one for homes and one for gardens. You now have two different types of virtual environments to sell to these segments, so you need to create an option class for Virtual Environments and add two options to it:

  • Virtual Homes

  • Virtual Gardens

Assume

  1. You have a model in Product Information Management named AS54888, AS54888 contains the Virtual Environments item, and the Structure Item Type attribute for Virtual Environments is Standard Item.

  2. You import AS54888 into Configurator in a snapshot.

  3. You change the Structure Item Type attribute from Standard Item to Option Class for Virtual Environments in Product Information Management.

  4. You refresh the snapshot for Virtual Environments, but the refresh fails.

To fix this problem:

  1. End date the Virtual Environments item that has the Structure Item Type set to Standard Item.

    You can also delete it from the structure, but only if you didn't set up the model to create sales orders.

  2. Create a new option class named Virtual Environment, and make sure it has the item type that you need, in this case, Option Class.

    You can't use a name that already exists in Product Information Management regardless of whether the name is for an item or for an option class. To avoid a conflict, change your name slightly, such as Virtual Environment.

  3. Add the Virtual Environments option class to AS54888's structure.

  4. Add your child options to the Virtual Environment option class:

    • Virtual Homes

    • Virtual Gardens

  5. Go to the Configurator Models work area, then:

    • Refresh the model.
    • Update the model's descendants. For details, see the Update Your Descendants section earlier in this topic.

  6. Test your revised configurator model and release it.

  7. Go to your host application, add the AS54888 to an order line, verify that the AS54888 has a Virtual Environments option class, and that you can set Virtual Environments to Virtual Homes or to Virtual Gardens.

Troubleshoot

Trouble Shoot
I can't see whether my snapshot data is up to date. Go to the Edit Configurator Model page or the View Configurator Model page. In the Structure Hierarchy area, click the node that you're interested in, then examine the Snapshot Status attribute.
  • Released. The snapshot is up to date.
  • Updates in Workspace. There are updates in the workspace but these updates aren't in the model, and the snapshot is in the model's workspace.
  • Updates Not in Workspace. There are updates in the workspace but these updates aren't in the model, and the snapshot isn't in the model's workspace.

If the snapshot isn't up to date, then go to the Workspace page, then click Actions > Add Updated Item Snapshots for Models.