Channel Import & Export
Channels and their associated metadata can be imported and exported from both Connexion and Gateway. A channel file can contain:
One or more channels
The group name, tab name and associated keys
Custom device (plugin) assemblies
Associated global variables
Generally speaking, complex channels can be exported from one Connexion instance and imported into another in one operation, with all required dependencies. Associated groups, tabs, custom devices, and globals are all (optionally) created automatically.
Only channels and their associations are stored in a channel file. Many other configurations within Connexion are importable/exportable, but use a different file format.
Copy / Paste
The Connexion UI supports copy and paste of channels for convenience. This requires that the source and target Connexion instances are both accessible from the Connexion UI (or two copies of the UI are running on the same host). You can also copy and paste channels within the same Connexion instance (copying to different groups and tabs, for example). The copy, paste, and export commands are all accessible via context menus.
Export
The Export command is available via the channel context menu and tab context menu, allowing you to export a single channel or all channels within a tab. If you want to export channels from multiple tabs (or all channels in the system), you should use the Channel Operations Dialog (ctrl + M).
The Channel Operations Dialog can be shown via the channel and tab context menus, ctrl + M shortcut, as well as the channel operations icon in the top right.
The Channel Operations Dialog lets you filter and select channels arbitrarily - and then perform bulk operations on the selected channels. To bulk export channels, use the Group and Tab filter drop-downs to choose which channels to export (you can select the All option in these drop-downs).
ctrl and shift keys to multi-select channels to export (of ctrl + A for all)In the above image, the Tab drop-down has been updated to show all channels in the Default Group. Then, select the channels to be exported (using typical multi-select modifiers) and click the Export Selected To File.
The Export Channels Dialog let’s you specify several options:
Choose the target path and filename (by default, channel files are saved on the desktop). You have the option of appending channels to an existing file, if the destination file already exists.
You can optionally provide a password, as well as choosing to exclude any custom device (plugin) assemblies or referenced globals.
Devices may clear sensitive information, like passwords, during a channel export. This is up to the device developer.
Import
Connexion has three options when importing channel(s).
Import Into Tab: All channels in the channel file will be imported into a specific tab (usually the currently selected tab).Import Into Group: All channels will be imported into the current group. Any missing tabs will be automatically created, and channels will be imported into the matching tab within the current group.Import Into System: Any missing groups and tabs will be automatically created, and channels will be imported into the same group and tab as defined in the export file (which is the group and tab of the originating system).
The most common scenario is importing channels into the currently selected tab. Use the tab context menu to initiate this option (or the Import button if your tab is empty).
To import channels into the current group, or to perform a system-level import, use the import button in the header bar.
Regardless of the type of import you’re performing, the Import Channels Dialog will be shown. This dialog allows to specify which channels within the export file should be imported, as well as viewing how the import will change any existing channels.
If any custom devices (plugins) or globals are defined within the export file, tabs will be displayed showing how the import will affect any existing items, along with the option to bypass importing individual entries.
The import dialog also displays the structure of groups and tabs, and whether they will be created as part of the import routine.
You can click on the View Changes hyperlink to view configuration deltas between existing and importing devices, as well as each device icon to view the UI for the import device.
Similar to groups, tabs, and channels, individual devices can be checked/unchecked for inclusion in the import routine.
The above image shows the Import Into System option, with channels already existing. If the target groups, tabs, or channels don’t exist, this is displayed as follows.
When the Import Into Group and Import into Tab modes are used, and a target channel already exists, you have the option of updating the existing channel, or importing the channel ‘as new’ - meaning a new channel will be created with new name (by default, the current name with a number appended).
Since the channel file represented in the image above contains both custom devices (plugins) and globals, we have additional tabs displayed.
The Plugins tab displays all custom devices referenced in the channel file, and automatically selects any which don’t exist in the target system. Mouse over the ‘open folder’ icon to view the assemblies referenced by each custom device.
Similarly, the Globals tab displays all globals defined within the channel file, and whether or not a matching global already exists (and if so, its current value). Select / deselect globals to include or exclude them from the import.
Importing large channel files (hundreds or thousands of channels) can consume a fair bit of memory within the Connexion UI. After a large import, you may want to restart the client application.