Hi everyone,

We are planning a migration to a newer version of wM, and one thing we are looking for is a way to ensure that a certain package is consistent in all environments. The compare tool is fantastic, but we need exportable results.

I'm trying to find out if there's some kind of API behind the compare tool we could use in a flow or java service for this end.

Has anyone had a similar requirement or curiosity? Any ideas? I've looked and haven't found much.

Thanks and all the best,
Pedro

Bom dia, Pedro -

Not only have I had a similar requirement but this technique is something that I've relied on throughout my webMethods career. Whether doing an upgrade or troubleshooting an issue that "only happens in Production", being able to compare packages and configurations across different environments is key. Having a version control system that contains all your code and configuration files for each environment in their own individual branches or tags is ideal for a situation like this, but I'll admit it's rare in the webMethods world.

Long before the Flow comparison tool was introduced, and still long after, my preferred way to do this type of comparison is with a tool called BeyondCompare: https://www.scootersoftware.com/. I honestly haven't found anything that gives me the level of comparison and flexibility I get with this tool. I recommend you download it and take it for a spin.

Now, of course, this tool will do a comparison at the file level so if you run into differences between two Flow services, for example, it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly where that difference exists in the service by simply looking at the flow.xml file. So, one thing that you can do is to use this tool to give you a list of things that are different, and if Flow services appear on the list, you can use the Flow comparison tool to do a deeper dive.

One last side note: depending on how your configuration files are maintained and deployed, you can get into the annoying situation where the contents of the files are technically identical but they are sorted differently in each environment. So, in past projects where I dealt with complex configurations, I created simple shell scripts to sort my configuration files prior to the comparison.

Good luck!

Hi everyone,

We are planning a migration to a newer version of wM, and one thing we are looking for is a way to ensure that a certain package is consistent in all environments. The compare tool is fantastic, but we need exportable results.

I'm trying to find out if there's some kind of API behind the compare tool we could use in a flow or java service for this end.

Has anyone had a similar requirement or curiosity? Any ideas? I've looked and haven't found much.

Thanks and all the best,
Pedro

Interesting approach.

But an additional point to be considered:
Remember, that every service has a node.ndf file in xml format containg the Input and Output signatures as well as some other properties, i.e. audit settings.
Java services do have a java.frag file instead of a flow.xml.
And ART-based services might fail a file based comparison as most of the adapter service implementation is stored in a Base64-coded XML-Tag in the node.ndf file.

The comparison feature in the Service Designer recognizes this and compares according to the service type.

Regards,
Holger

Bom dia, Pedro -

Not only have I had a similar requirement but this technique is something that I've relied on throughout my webMethods career. Whether doing an upgrade or troubleshooting an issue that "only happens in Production", being able to compare packages and configurations across different environments is key. Having a version control system that contains all your code and configuration files for each environment in their own individual branches or tags is ideal for a situation like this, but I'll admit it's rare in the webMethods world.

Long before the Flow comparison tool was introduced, and still long after, my preferred way to do this type of comparison is with a tool called BeyondCompare: https://www.scootersoftware.com/. I honestly haven't found anything that gives me the level of comparison and flexibility I get with this tool. I recommend you download it and take it for a spin.

Now, of course, this tool will do a comparison at the file level so if you run into differences between two Flow services, for example, it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly where that difference exists in the service by simply looking at the flow.xml file. So, one thing that you can do is to use this tool to give you a list of things that are different, and if Flow services appear on the list, you can use the Flow comparison tool to do a deeper dive.

One last side note: depending on how your configuration files are maintained and deployed, you can get into the annoying situation where the contents of the files are technically identical but they are sorted differently in each environment. So, in past projects where I dealt with complex configurations, I created simple shell scripts to sort my configuration files prior to the comparison.

Good luck!

Hi everyone,

We are planning a migration to a newer version of wM, and one thing we are looking for is a way to ensure that a certain package is consistent in all environments. The compare tool is fantastic, but we need exportable results.

I'm trying to find out if there's some kind of API behind the compare tool we could use in a flow or java service for this end.

Has anyone had a similar requirement or curiosity? Any ideas? I've looked and haven't found much.

Thanks and all the best,
Pedro

If we are checking the consistency of a specific package, external tools like WinMerge can be used to compare the downloaded zip files from different environments. However, any hardcoded environment-specific values or endpoints can be tricky and often require special attention during the comparison process, as they may appear as differences even if the package logic is consistent.

Interesting approach.

But an additional point to be considered:
Remember, that every service has a node.ndf file in xml format containg the Input and Output signatures as well as some other properties, i.e. audit settings.
Java services do have a java.frag file instead of a flow.xml.
And ART-based services might fail a file based comparison as most of the adapter service implementation is stored in a Base64-coded XML-Tag in the node.ndf file.

The comparison feature in the Service Designer recognizes this and compares according to the service type.

Regards,
Holger

Bom dia, Pedro -

Not only have I had a similar requirement but this technique is something that I've relied on throughout my webMethods career. Whether doing an upgrade or troubleshooting an issue that "only happens in Production", being able to compare packages and configurations across different environments is key. Having a version control system that contains all your code and configuration files for each environment in their own individual branches or tags is ideal for a situation like this, but I'll admit it's rare in the webMethods world.

Long before the Flow comparison tool was introduced, and still long after, my preferred way to do this type of comparison is with a tool called BeyondCompare: https://www.scootersoftware.com/. I honestly haven't found anything that gives me the level of comparison and flexibility I get with this tool. I recommend you download it and take it for a spin.

Now, of course, this tool will do a comparison at the file level so if you run into differences between two Flow services, for example, it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly where that difference exists in the service by simply looking at the flow.xml file. So, one thing that you can do is to use this tool to give you a list of things that are different, and if Flow services appear on the list, you can use the Flow comparison tool to do a deeper dive.

One last side note: depending on how your configuration files are maintained and deployed, you can get into the annoying situation where the contents of the files are technically identical but they are sorted differently in each environment. So, in past projects where I dealt with complex configurations, I created simple shell scripts to sort my configuration files prior to the comparison.

Good luck!

Hi everyone,

We are planning a migration to a newer version of wM, and one thing we are looking for is a way to ensure that a certain package is consistent in all environments. The compare tool is fantastic, but we need exportable results.

I'm trying to find out if there's some kind of API behind the compare tool we could use in a flow or java service for this end.

Has anyone had a similar requirement or curiosity? Any ideas? I've looked and haven't found much.

Thanks and all the best,
Pedro

Hi everyone,

We are planning a migration to a newer version of wM, and one thing we are looking for is a way to ensure that a certain package is consistent in all environments. The compare tool is fantastic, but we need exportable results.

I'm trying to find out if there's some kind of API behind the compare tool we could use in a flow or java service for this end.

Has anyone had a similar requirement or curiosity? Any ideas? I've looked and haven't found much.

Thanks and all the best,
Pedro

Hi everyone,

We are planning a migration to a newer version of wM, and one thing we are looking for is a way to ensure that a certain package is consistent in all environments. The compare tool is fantastic, but we need exportable results.

I'm trying to find out if there's some kind of API behind the compare tool we could use in a flow or java service for this end.

Has anyone had a similar requirement or curiosity? Any ideas? I've looked and haven't found much.

Thanks and all the best,
Pedro