Getting form counts

Obtaining the number of records in your source and target system prior to performing any data migration enables you to reconcile the number of records migrated and validate the migration.

To get a form count

1. From the navigation bar, select Discovery & Analysis > Reconcile Form Counts.
2. On the Form Data Reconciliation page, click Discover Data.
3. In the dialog box, select the name of the system, and click Get Data.
   A multi-threaded check of the number of records in each form in the selected system is performed.
   Optionally, you can select the Get Record Created After Timestamp check box and enter a date and time in the Created After Timestamp field. This is option is useful when attempting to identify the rate of data increase or verifying no additional data has been created in a change control scenario.
4. To view the details of the specific discovery:
   1. Select Individual from the Review Type list.
   2. Select the system.
   3. Select the date of discovery.
   4. Click Review Data.
      Reviewing any form count data automatically saves the individual or comparison report, which can be viewed from the Saved tab.

You can also compare form counts with each other with the following types of comparison:

• Compare—Compares two form counts with each other. This comparison type is useful for comparing the source and target counts to verify that all data has been migrated.
• Three-Way Reconciliation—Compares any three forms counts. For example, the count of records in a source BMC Helix ITSM system compared to a target BMC Helix ITSM system after migration alongside the same target system prior to migration.
• Compare Versus Compare—Compares two form counts alongside a previous comparison. This comparison type is useful in a migration scenario where multiple migrations are performed. This allows you to compare the latest counts with a previous review including any decisions made about previously identified discrepancies.

Reconciling form counts

The following screenshot shows an example Form Data Comparison for a Compare Versus Compare report. The report shows that for the selected form (BMC.CORE:BMC_BaseElement), the target form has 80 fewer records than the source. The following image shows an example:

This page enables you to review the data in several ways:

• To change between full screen and standard display modes, use the following buttons at the top left of the screen ().

• To filter the table to show only forms that have mismatched counts, select an option from the Match Count column filter.
• To display the full details of the comparison, select a row from the table. You can view the comparison of data counts, maximum last modified dates, and create dates for the selected form.
  The following image shows an example:
  

• If you have identified the cause of a discrepancy, record notes and select a category from the Analysis menu to explain the discrepancy.
• The Form Count table has many additional, hidden columns that you might find useful. Right-click on the table to display the list of fields available. The right-click menu also enables you to export the data.
• To export data for a selected form, click Migrate Data. See Migration Lists for further details.

To export or delete form counts

1. On the Form Data Reconciliation page, click the All Reports tab.
   This tab shows all form counts and enables you to export discovered data counts to a file that can be imported into another instance of BMC Helix Data Manager. This is useful when reconciling counts when moving from an on-premises to a cloud ITSM system.
2. To export the form data counts, click Export.
3. To delete the selected form data count and any associated reports, click Delete.