Designing and Managing Behavior Models - Importing and Exporting NerveCenter Nodes and Objects - Exporting NerveCenter Objects and Nodes to a File -
Exporting NerveCenter Objects and Nodes to Other Servers      More about Exporting Objects

Exporting NerveCenter Objects and Nodes to a File

Situations can arise when you might want to export particular NerveCenter nodes and objects to a file. Having nodes or objects in a separate file can be useful when troubleshooting NerveCenter or sharing nodes and objects between different NerveCenter sites.

For a complete list of the object types and what NerveCenter actually exports when you select an object, see the section More about Exporting Objects.

When you export objects to a file, NerveCenter actually creates two files:

• A file with a .mod extension that contains the data required to re-create the objects. This is the file that is imported later into the destination database.
• A text file (*.txt) that contains a textual description of the exported objects. Although not required during an import, this file is important because it serves as documentation for the corresponding .mod file and is the only method of knowing what models reside in the .mod file prior to actually importing the models.

When you export nodes, NerveCenter creates a .node file that contains the data to re-create the nodes.

To export nodes and objects to a NerveCenter database on another NerveCenter server, see Exporting NerveCenter Objects and Nodes to Other Servers. For information about exporting a behavior model -- an alarm and all of the objects associated with it -- see the following sections:

• Exporting Behavior Models to Other Servers
• Exporting Behavior Models to a File

 
  To export a set of objects from NerveCenter:

1. From the client's Admin menu, choose Export Objects and Nodes.

   The Export Objects and Nodes dialog is displayed.

   

2. In the Objects File text field, type a filename for the serialized text file you want to export. You can include the path in order to write the file to a certain location; by default, NerveCenter places the file in the NerveCenter installation/model directory.

   NerveCenter will create two files. One will have the filename extension .mod and contain the actual data for the objects you export. This is the file that you can import into another NerveCenter database. The second file will have a .txt extension and contain a textual description of the objects. This file is not used during an import operation, but it is the only source of documentation for the .mod file contents.

3. If you are exporting nodes, NerveCenter also creates a .node file by default in the model directory. You must provide a name for this file in the Node File field. This file can later be imported using the importutil.exe tool, which is described in the Managing Managing NerveCenter guide and NerveCenter Administrator help.
4. Create a list of objects to be exported by following the directions below:
   1. Select the radio button for the type of object you want to export, such as Property Group.

      A list of objects of that type is displayed in the Available Objects list box.

   2. Select the objects you want to export from the list.
   3. Select the >> button. To select all objects for export, select the All >> button.

      The selected objects are added to the Selected Objects list.

      You can remove objects from the Selected Objects list by selecting the object and then selecting the << button.

      Repeat this step for each type of object that you want to export.

5. Select the OK button.

   The definition of the objects you've selected are exported.