Promoting Files using TURNOVER
Using a Change Management tool to promote files makes the creation and replacement of target files so much easier.
#INTERNET-FACT: Turnover for iSeries, is a change management tool that really eases this process for us developers.
Consider this scenario – we want to make a change to an IBM i *PF (physical file) like adding a field or changing a field size. This is a hefty file change, changing the level ID of the file and will require recompilation of all related logical files and all programs that use the physical and/or any of the related logical views.
Turnover makes this because after we have ‘checked out’ the physical file it will ask us if we want to also grab all related logical files and programs for recompilation. Just say YES and let Turnover do the work.
We make our file changes in DEV and compile them… add to the promotion form and the Turnover will select the group of objects we want to compile. Then, the compile wizard does the rest. It organizes the compile and puts everything in the right order automatically. It checks for dependent objects as well as custom compile commands. As this change involves a physical file, when it puts the new file in the target environment it will repopulate the file with your data, recompile associated logicals, and even reapply triggers and constraints.
The user interface for the TURNOVER® for iSeries v100 plug-ins exactly mirrors the WDSC GUI