Replication

Replication

Replication is a powerful means of sharing projects between isolated or mobile users; it enables different users to work independently of one another, and to merge their changes at a later time.

In Replication:

• A project is converted to a design master, then replicas are made of the master
• Users take the replicas away, modify the project, then bring their replicas back to be synchronized with the master file

Use Replication

To use replication:

1. Convert the base project to a design master.
2. Create replicas from the design master.
3. Take the replica away and work on it as required, then bring it back for synchronization with the design master.
4. Synchronize the replicas, during which all changes to both the master and the replica are propagated in both directions, so they both finally contain the same information.

Enterprise Architect Merge Rules

Enterprise Architect follows these rules in merging:

• Additions are cumulative; that is, two replicas each creating three new Classes result in six new Classes after merging
• Deletions prevail over modifications; if one replica changes a Class name and other deletes the Class, merging replicas results in both files losing the Class

Conflicting modifications appear in the 'Resolve Replication Conflicts' dialog.

Upgrades and Replicas

When you upgrade your version of Enterprise Architect, you must not open a replica until you have opened the design master and then synchronized the replicas with the master; you cannot directly upgrade a replica.

Avoid Change Collisions

If two or more people make changes to the same element, Enterprise Architect arbitrarily overwrites one person's change with the other's; to avoid this, different users should work on different Packages.

However, since Enterprise Architect does not enforce this rule, it is possible for users' work to conflict; to minimize difficulties, please note these guidelines:

• If users are likely to have worked in the same area of the model, they should both witness the synchronization and confirm that they are happy with the net result
• If small pieces of information have been lost, they should be typed into one of the merged models after synchronization
• If a large piece of information has been lost (for example, an overwritten large Class note) use the 'Resolve Replication Conflicts' dialog

Disable or Remove Replication Features

If you have converted a project to a design master but now want to disable the replication features, you can remove Replication; ensure that you back up all your files first.