This documentation supports the 21.3 version of BMC Helix Innovation Studio.To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Knowledge base synchronization overview

Knowledge base synchronization is a complex process that migrates articles and their attributes from a BMC application that you use to create and maintain knowledge content to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround. This process accommodates knowledge model differences between the systems to seamlessly synchronize articles, their attributes, states and localizations without data loss.    

Related topics

Setting-up-BMC-Helix-Knowledge-Management-by-ComAround-in-an-application

Synchronizing-BMC-applications-with-BMC-Helix-Knowledge-Management-by-ComAround

Synchronizing-the-knowledge-bases


How knowledge base synchronization works

A synchronization job creates a list of new or updated articles and previously failed articles to be synchronized. The job runs in this order:

Sync_job_order.png


Knowledge articles that are synchronized

During the knowledge base synchronization, the following knowledge article templates, states and attributes are synchronized from your BMC application to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround:

22.1.01_Synchronized_properties_HKM.png


How article states are mapped

The following image shows the state of knowledge articles after the migration from your BMC application to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround:

22.1.01_State-status mapping.png

Important

By default, canceled and retired knowledge articles from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management and BMC Helix Business Workflows Knowledge Management are not synchronized with BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround. To modify the default settings, see To modify the query to synchronize knowledge articles and previously failed articles.


How localizations are synchronized

The synchronization tool supports multilanguage synchronization for the locales that exist in both BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround and your BMC application. The tool checks the article locale set in your BMC application and automatically synchronizes localized articles to the corresponding translation language in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround.

Important

The synchronization tool does not translate localized articles while migrating them from BMC applications to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround. It copies article content as is to the corresponding translation in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround. 

However, the synchronization tool can't migrate localized articles from BMC applications to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround in the following cases:

  • If BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround doesn't support a translation language for the article locale set in your BMC application.
  • If BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround supports a translation language for the article locale set in your BMC application, but this language isn't configured for a BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround portal.
Example

If a portal in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround is configured to support only English and German translations, localized articles in Polish in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management won't be migrated to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround. To enable synchronization of these articles to Polish, the portal in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround must be configured to support the Polish translation as well. 

In these cases, the synchronization tool returns the Invalid portal culture exception, skips the localized articles in that language, and moves to other articles.

However, you can define a custom mapping for the locales that either don't exist in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround or aren't supported by a BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround portal. This mapping will enable the synchronization tool to migrate localized articles into the translation language of your choice. For more information about defining a custom locale mapping, see To create a custom locale mapping.


How localized metadata fields are synchronized

If the article locale is set to a different language than English in your BMC application, metadata fields are copied as article tags to the respective translation in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround, in the following format:

  • Field value is copied as is. If it is localized in your BMC application, it remains localized in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround.
  • Field name is always presented in the English language in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround, regardless of:
    • its localization in your BMC application
    • the translation language to which an article is migrated in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround
Examples

Field value synchronization

The Department metadata field is set to Customer Service for a localized article in the Polish language in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management. After this article is copied to the Polish translation in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround, the corresponding tag will be Department=Customer Service. However, if the value of the Department metadata field is set to Obsługa klienta in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management, the tag will be Department=Obsługa klienta in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround.

Field name synchronization

If the system locale is set to the Polish language in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management, the name of the Department field may be displayed in Polish, which will be Dział in this case. However, it will be copied in the English language to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround, regardless of the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management locale. For example, the metadata field Dział that is set to the value Obsługa klienta will be migrated from BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management to BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround as Department=Obsługa klienta.


Where to go from here

Knowledge-synchronization-process-overview

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*