RSE Filter Management

With iSphere RSE Filter Management you can export some or all filters from your workspace to a repository. A repository is an XML file on your local PC or a network drive. You can then import some or all filters from a repository to your workspace. The repository can act as a backup for your filters.

Here are some other scenarios where you might find Filter Management useful:

Your workspace is corrupted and you need to create a new one. In this case you can export your filters from the old workspace and import them into the new one.
You want to share your filters with your colleagues.
You have RDi installed on a computer in your office and at home and want to synchronize your filters.

To open the iSphere RSE Filter Management dialog, click on the Sun icon in the upper right corner of the Remote Systems view, or select RSE Filter Management from the iSphere menu.

Choosing what to Manage

You now need to specify what you want to manage, and also the repository name:

Editing Area

The filters in the workspace and in the repository will be displayed in up to four separate horizontal panes.

Edit workspace and repository filters
Edit only workspace filters
Edit only repository filters

Click the appropriate button. The default, Edit workspace and repository filters, is suitable for the first time you want to create a new repository. With this option you can:

Push filters from the workspace to the repository and vice versa.
Delete filters from the workspace.
Delete filters from the repository.

The next two option, Edit only workspace filters and Edit only repository filters are suitable for removing filters from the workspace or the repository.

Profile

Select the profile that contains the filter pools you want to manage.

Single Filter Pool

If this is checked, then you will need to select a filter pool using the Filter Pool drop down below. Only filters in this filter pool will be considered for action, and the filter pool name will not be saved. (Note that even if you never explicitly created a Filter Pool, a default filter pool is created for each connection and it is shown in the Filter Pool drop down.)

If this is unchecked, then all filters will be considered for action and the connections between filters and filter pools will be saved.

Filter Pool

Use this option to specify the filter pool you want to manage, when Single filter pool is checked.

Repository

Specify the location and name of the repository. A single filter pool repository must have a suffix of .rseflt and a repository for all filters must have a suffix of .rsefltall.

Exporting All Filters for the First Time

Suppose we have chosen to manage like this, exporting all filters for the first time to a new repository:

When we click [OK] we get a screen like this:

Since this is an export to a new repository, there is only one pane, showing the filters in the workspace.

Click [Select all] and all the filters are selected. (Note that you can also select filters in the traditional way, by clicking on them and using the Shift and Ctrl keys.)

All the action buttons on the right are now activated:

Click the [Push to Repository] button and the action column is populated for all selected flters:

Now click the [Perform action] button at the bottom left. You get a confirmation prompt :

If you click [Yes] the repository is updated.
If you click [No] you get back to the editor.
If you click [Cancel] nothing is updated and the editor is closed.

The Editing Window Areas

The filters in the workspace and in the repository are displayed in up to four separate horizontal panes, with these titles:

Filters only in workspace
Filters only in repository
Filters in workspace and in repository with a different type or string
Filters in workspace and in repository with an equal type and string

When you export filters for the first time only the first area, Filters only in workspace, is displayed. The other areas are displayed depending on the selected options and the existence, and filter string values, of the filters in the workspace and the repository.

Exporting All Filters After a Change

Suppose we create a new filter, LENNONS/XPR-O, in the Experimental_Stuff filter pool. Then we decide to delete the LENNONS2/XPR_2 filter. This will be our new filter setup going forward and we want to update our repository. We set up to manage as we did for the first export:

Now when we click [OK] we see this:

The 3 horizontal panes show the differences and the similarities between the workspace and the repository.

By selecting filters and setting the desired Action using the action buttons on the right, we can bring the workspace and repository into synch:

This is a rather simple example and it might have been easier to just export all filters to a new repository, but you have flexibility in managing as you choose. Note the actions you can define in the Action column:

Push to workspace.
Push to repository.
Delete from workspace.
Delete from repository.
Delete from both.

Restoring Filters and Filter Pools

With a filter, you can subset objects on the server. A filter is a set of definitions and a filter can be used in one or more connections, though it may return a different set of objects on different connections.

A filter pool is a group of filters. If you end up with many filters, you can group them into filters pools. A filter pool can also be used in one or more connections.

When you restore a filter or a filter pool it may be necessary to assign it to a connection.

Suppose we create a brand new workspace but have not yet created a connection, but we want to import our filters. By setting up to manage like this, we can import all our filters:

If we go to the RSE view, we do not see any filters or filter pools:

However, if we switch to the Team view, we can see that the filters and filters pools are there.

We create a connection in the RSE view and then use the View menu to Show Filter Pools:

Now we can right click on Objects and click on Select Filter Pools:

Then pick which filter pools will be assigned to this connection:

Alternatively, you can also assign filters one at a time by creating a new Filter Pool Reference:

Restoring Filters (saved from a single filter pool)

If you are importing a single filter pool, make sure you identify the target filter in the Filter pool drop down:

Filters you chose to be restored will end up in this filter pool, even if they were saved from another filter pool: