Reconciling customized Developer Studio form views

When you upgrade, the auto-recon utility automatically reconciles all non-conflicting changes in all workflow objects, such as form, fields, views, active links, and filters. These changes are reflected on the overlay object.

However, the auto recon utility detects a conflict when customizing an object. The utility does not automatically reconcile customized objects. In such a scenario, use the steps described and perform manual reconciliation by using Developer Studio.

Advantages of reconciling custom form views

Reconciling your customized Developer Studio form views provides you the following advantages:

Your environment is intact after an upgrade and the customized form views do not break.
You can reconcile the Developer Studioform views without requiring intervention from BMC.
You can adapt to new features as per your convenience.

Example: Performing reconciliation when a new button is available on a customized form after the upgrade

Performing reconciliation when a new button is available on a custom form after the upgrade

At Apex Global, Jonnie, the administrator, upgrades their environment to the latest version of BMC Helix Innovation Suite. However, in their existing environment, the Service Request Details form has a customized CI field after the out-of-the-box Service field.

The following screenshot shows the out-of-the-box Service field and the customized CI field:

After the upgrade, Jonnie checks the reconciliation report and observes that the Service Request Details form has a new AIOPs button right next to the out-of-the-box Service field.

Jonnie performs the reconciliation process and adjusts the positioning of the custom CI field to accommodate the new AIOPs button.

The following screenshot shows the updated view:

Changes in behavior of field display properties

During an upgrade, display properties of a field might change. Also, display properties can be customized while you create a view overlay. The following table helps you understand the different changes that can occur in the display properties of a field that is added to a view overlay in Developer Studio:

Display property updates by BMC	Display property customization	Action in upgrade	Action in the reconciliation process	Action in rollback
No change in the display property	No change in the display property	Displays the updated view.	Removes the overlay and displays the updated view.	Rolls back the update.
Change in the display property	No change in the display property	Displays the updated view.	Displays the updated view.	Rolls back the update.
No change in the display property	A field position is customized.	No action	No action	No action
A new field is added	None	The new field is not displayed.	The reconciliation process shows a conflict. Manually reconcile the display property.	No action
A change in the display property has no conflict with the customization	A change in the display property that has no conflict with the change done by BMC	No action	The reconciliation is complete without any conflict.	Rolls back the update.
A change in the display property conflicts with the customization	A change in the display property conflicts with the change done by BMC	No action	The reconciliation process shows a conflict. Manually reconcile the display property.	Rolls back the update.

Changes in the behavior of Table field and the Selection field

The following table describes the changes that occur in the Table field and Selection field during the reconciliation process:

Field type	Customization	Update in the latest version of BMC Helix Innovation Suite	Is the change reflected in customer environment post upgrade?	Action taken by the AR System server during an upgrade
Table field	A Table field is added to the form view overlay.	A new column is added.	Yes	The new table column is visible.
Table field	A Table field is not added to the form view overlay.	A new column is added.	Yes	The new table column is not visible.
Selection field	A Selection field is added to the form view overlay.	The display properties of the field are updated.	Yes	The changes are visible

Process of reconciling customized Developer Studio form views

Best Practice
We recommend reconciling customized form views immediately after the upgrade.

Step 1: To obtain the previous version reconciliation report

Open the AR System Upgrade Tracker form in Mid Tier.
Click New Search.
Select Request ID.
From results, select the Manual reconciliation report.zip component.
In the File Name field, select the attachment.
Click Save.
From the attachment you have saved, click the Forms folder and extract files for reconciliation.

You have saved the reconciliation report of the previous version.

Step 2: To run the analyzer to remove unnecessary overlays

Open Developer Studio and select the Best Practice Customization mode.
In AR System Navigator, select Forms.
Sort the forms on Customization Type.
You will see a list of overlaid forms.
Select all forms with Customization Type as Overlay.
Right-click the selected forms.
Select Analyze Overlay > Unmodified Fields in View.
The following video shows the options you need to select:

This option removes the overlay that you have not created.
To review the results, click the Analyzer Results tab.
This tab shows the fields that you have not added. The following screenshot shows the Analyzer Results tab:

This tab shows the fields that you have not added.
To remove the fields, right-click the rows and select Fix All Fields in All Views.
The following screenshot shows the selected option:
(Optional) Select the Progress option to view the status.
The following screenshot shows the Progress option:

After the analysis is complete, Developer Studio displays the following confirmation message:

(Optional) Step 3: To generate the reconciliation report

Best practice
BMC Helix Innovation Suite upgrade pipeline provides a report that shows details about objects that are automatically reconciled during the upgrade and objects that need a manual reconciliation. The report gives an overview of the changes made to various objects during the upgrade and helps you plan the manual reconciliation effort.

For information about obtaining the reconciliation report from the pipeline, see Obtaining the reconciliation report.

Perform the following steps to manually generate the reconciliation report. However, we recommend obtaining the reconciliation report automatically through the upgrade pipeline.

Open Developer Studio and select the Best Practice Customization mode.
In AR System Navigator, right-click the server name.
Select Reconciliation Application.
In the Reconciliation Application dialog box, select the following options.
- Select Run auto reconciliation and generate report.
- From Additional Info, select Directory.
- In Old Definition File, select the path where the form views from the previous version are saved.
- Select Server Upgraded.
- In Report File, select path where you want to store the reconciliation report.
- Click Finish.
(Optional) To view the status, select the Progress option.

The reconciliation report is generated.

Step 4: To reconcile customized form views

Open Developer Studio and make sure to perform the following tasks in the Best Practice Customization Mode.

The following infographic shows a high-level overview of tasks that you need to perform:

Task 1: Review the reconciliation report

In AR System Navigator, expand Recon Application.
Select Objects to Reconcile.
The following report shows a list of forms that need reconciliation:

Task 2: Reconcile new fields

(Optional) Right-click a form in the list and select Reconcile.
A list of fields that need reconciliation is displayed. For newly added fields, only the list of new fields is displayed.
The following screenshot shows newly added fields:
(Optional) Double-click a field to see the display properties.
The following screenshot shows the display properties for a character field.

For a new field, the Old Definition and New Definition columns show no data.
Open the form where new fields are added.
From the Form menu, select Add/Remove Fields in View.
The Add/Remove Fields in View dialog box as shown in the following screenshot is displayed:
From the Fields not in View list, select the new fields you want to add.
Use the arrow keys to move the fields.
Click OK.

Task 3: Reconcile customizations (Three-way reconciliation)

Right-click a form in the list and select Reconcile.
A list of fields that need reconciliation is displayed. For conflicting changes, existing and modified display properties of a field are displayed.
The following screenshot shows fields with conflicting changes:
Double-click a field to see the display properties.
The following screenshot shows the display properties for a customized new field.
To obtain the new value in your environment, click Move from New.
To move to the next change, click Next Diff.
Click Save.

The customized form views are reconciled.

Reconciliation process logs

The reconciliation process logs are captured in the devstudio_workspace.log file, located in the <Dev_Studio_Workspace>/.metadata/ folder. Review the logs to troubleshoot any issues that might occur while reconciling the customized form views.

The following screenshot shows the Error Log tab: