Creating and updating a test company in maestro*

objective

In order to facilitate the creation of a test company, Maestro has automated this task to ensure the integrity of the data by making sure that the data copy is always made from the actual company toward the test company, and never the reverse. During the data copy, Maestro also ensures that no user is present in maestro*.

The creation of a test company consists of defining a new company (identified as the Test company) from an already existing company (identified as the Source company) and to copy all the data into the source company.

After this, the user can update the test company with the data from the source company using the Copy from the source company option.

 

prerequisite

  • Using the version 3.04.20 or higher of maestro*;
  • Working from the maestro* data server (not from a workstation);
  • Using an administrator account in maestro* to initially create the test company;
  • For creating a new test company, the directory for test company data must not yet exist;
  • For refreshing an existing test company, it must originally created with the Create a new test company tool;

 

summary

There are two steps to creating a test company:

 

steps

Creating a test company

 

ATTENTION! The new company must mandatorily be created FROM THE DATA SERVER DIRECTLY and not locally on a workstation. Furthermore, the latter can only be created by a user with an Administrator access.

The source company (or the one from which the data will be copied) must be closed and must NOT be in use by any user during the process.

The company creation method referred to in this document is applicable to maestro*'s classic operational mode only.

Please note that any assistance for preexisting procedures will be charged.

 

  1. From the company selection window, in the menu on the left, click on the Create a new test company option.
  2. The Source Selection window will be displayed. In this window, select the company that will be used as the source, then click the Select button.
  3. The Modify Settings window is displayed, complete the fields below:

Fields

Enter / Select

Company Name

The name of the company.

Directory

A directory name composed of a maximum of 40 characters.

NOTE: The directory indicated must not already exist.

Security

ClosedAvailable values.

All of the information displayed in the window is from the source company selected in step 2, except the data directory. The red comment, at the bottom of the window, indicates that the user is currently in a test company. This red text is only displayed when the company is being created.
  1. Click Save. The company is created. It will be visible to the maestro* administrator in the company selection window.

 

Creating a Test Company in Multidimensional Mode

Test Companies in a Multidimensional Environment - Theory

In a multidimensional environment, all companies are represented by a prefix, which are grouped in the same database. Therefore, when a new test company is created in this environment, the data of each company are copied in the new one, which will now be part of the database. In a Pervasive version, we talk about a directory, as further explained below, and in an MS SQL version, we talk about a database. In any case, the concept remains the same: all data and transactions are saved at the same place (in the directory or the database).

The image below is the window that is displayed when following the this link: maestro* > Help > About ... > Properties ... > Companies. It allows to see the information of companies managed in multidimensional mode and for which test companies have been created. For example, the Company Name on line 15 holds all the transactions from the THERMALKWC Directory but is filtered to only show the transactions from the company with the 1000 prefix, which is the prefix that corresponds to the source company.

Creating the Test Company

In sum, the process to create a test company in multidimensional mode is the same as for a simple test company. The only difference is the additional field that must be completed to indicate the prefix of the source company.

 

ATTENTION! The new company must mandatorily be created FROM THE DATA SERVER DIRECTLY and not locally on a workstation. Furthermore, the latter can only be created by a user with an Administrator access.

The source company (or the one from which the data will be copied) must be closed and must NOT be in use by any user during the process.

 

  1. From the company selection window, in the menu on the left, click on the Create a New Test Company option.

  1. The Source Selection window will be displayed. In this window, select the company that will be used as the source, then click on the Select button.
  2. The Create a New Test Company window appears. Enter the required information in the fields of the Details tab:

Field

Description

Company Name

The name of the test company.

Directory

A directory name composed of a maximum of 40 characters.

NOTE: The directory indicated must not already exist.

Security

ClosedAvailable values.

Prefix / Mask

Used to identify the company being created. Can also be used to filter which transactions will be displayed in the test company.

  1. Click Save. The company is created. It will be visible to the maestro* administrator in the company selection window.

 

Providing access to the test company

The administrator automatically has access to the test company when it is created. However, the administrator must change the security settings for the other users in order to provide them access to the new company. If a user needs the ability to update the test company data, the administrator should provide those access permissions by adding this option to his user group.

Updating the data for the test company

Warning ! This procedure only applies to a test company created using the Create a new test company tool. If it does not, you can delete the test company and recreate it with the Create a new test company tool.

 

This step must be performed when the user wants to update the test company data. This operation is performed by replacing all the data of the test company by that of the source company.

This step is necessary if the user wants to update the data for the test company, replacing all of the test company’s data with data from the source company.

To update the data for the test company:

  • The user must have access, within his security settings, to the Copy the Source Company option;
  • All users in the source company and test company must exit maestro*, except for the user who is about to update the data;
  • The user performing the update of the test company data must be logged into the test company.
  1. From the test company in the main maestro* window, in the menu on the left, click the Maintenance module and then General Maintenance.
  2. In the section on the right, in the Companies group, click on Copy the Source Company. A confirmation message is displayed.

If this option is not visible and you should have access, please contact your maestro* administrator to have your access rights modified.
  1. Before responding to the confirmation message, you must close the maestro* main menu as well as any other maestro* window. Subsequently, it will be possible for you to respond to the confirmation message. By replying in the affirmative, maestro* will copy the data in the source company into the test company. The data in the source company is not modified during this operation.

 

See Also

 

Formerly, How To no. 33

Last modification: September 20, 2024