How to export and import data flows

This article describes how to export data flows, custom nodes and schedules from the Data360 Analyze database and how to import these assets into Data360 Analyze.

When you have created a data flow, custom node or schedule in Data360 Analyze these assets are stored in the Data360 Analyze database. If you are working on a project as part of a team you may want to share your work with colleagues. You may also want to make a back-up of your work to protect against problems such as hard disk failure, etc. 

Exporting from Data360 Analyze

You can export an individual item or multiple items from the Data360 Analyze database in a single operation. The exported items are saved to an archive (.lna) file in your file system.  

To export your assets from Data360 Analyze, navigate to the Data360 Analyze Directory view. 

The Data360 Analyze Directory view lists the assets stored in the Data360 Analyze database. The display options drop-down menu allows you to select the type of asset that is displayed in the directory view.

Select the items you want to export from the list. You can use <Shift>+<Left-Click> to select a contiguous range of items, <Ctrl>+<Left-Click> to select/deselect an individual item, or <Ctrl>+A to select all displayed items.

If only one item is to be exported open the 'More actions' context menu in the details panel and select the 'Export' option.

The Export Documents panel is displayed. The contents of the Name field will be used as the filename of the exported archive file. The field is pre-populated with the name of the selected item together with a suffix of today's date.  The name can be changed, as required.

The Export Documents panel also displays the 'Include dependencies' options. This allows you to control whether dependencies for the selected item (e.g. any custom library nodes that are used by a data flow) will be included in the exported archive file. 

Click the 'Export' button to export the selected item. The export archive file will then be created and then 'downloaded' from Data360 Analyze. Depending on the browser you are using and your browser settings the archive file may be downloaded directly to your downloads folder or you may be prompted to open or save the file. Save the file (or use the Save as option) to save the file to the the target location.

The archive file will then be 'downloaded' by your browser and saved to the specified location.

If multiple items are to be exported in a single operation, select the required items. The selected items will be listed in the details panel. Click the 'Export' button on the details panel's menu.

The 'Export Documents' dialogue is displayed. However, in this case the 'Name' field includes "Export" as the filename prefix as multiple items are to be exported. If desired, modify the name to best describe the contents of the export archive file.

The remaining export process is the same as described above for the export of a single item.

To access your export archive files, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the target directory selected during the 'download' step. The export archive files can then be shared with colleagues or backed-up, as normal.

Importing into Data360 Analyze

To import data flows and nodes into Data360 Analyze select 'Import' -> 'Data Flows or Nodes' from the Directory view menu.

The 'Choose Files to Upload' dialogue is displayed. Navigate to the directory where the required export archive (.lna) file is stored and select the file. Depending on the browser used the dialogues may differ from those shown (in this case for Internet Explorer 11).

Click 'Open'. 

The 'Import Documents' dialogue is displayed. 

The dialogue provides the option to overwrite existing files. Choose 'Yes' or 'No' as required and  click the 'Import' button to start the import process.

The Data360 Analyze Directory view is displayed and the notifications area of the menu bar displays a 'spinner' icon to indicate the import is in progress as a background task.

When complete, the notifications area icon changes to indicate the task has finished. The notifications icon can be clicked to display details of the background tasks. You can click the 'x' icon next to a task to remove the notification or click the 'Clear successfully completed tasks' link to remove all successful tasks. You may also use the 'Close' link to dismiss the notification dialogue.

When a data flow is imported the 'Created date' attribute in the details panel and the 'created on' date in the Directory list indicate the date the data flow was imported into the Data360 Analyze Database.