What is data model manager?

The Data Model Manager is an application installed on your local admin machine to either:

1. Create a new installation of an Electricity or Gas Data Model.
2. Update an existing installation to a newer version.

It provides a structured methodology to deliver Data Model upgrades and defect fixes.

How do you use?

There is no requirement to update the Data Model manager for each Data Model release. The release contents are contained in the Data Model package.

The Data Model Manager has CLI and GUI variants specific for each target database platform and requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to run.

It takes a Data Model Package as the primary input, assesses the package against the target Data Model database and determines which artefacts to apply based on the patch level of that database and/or user selections.

What is a data model package?

A Data Model Package is a zip file containing metadata about the specific release and its associated artefacts, typically in the form of SQL scripts. Each package contains one or more Major or Minor Data Model releases.

Data Model Packages are delivered with two variants:

1. A CREATE package: Used to create a new installation of the associated Data Model.

2. An UPGRADE package: Used to upgrade an existing Data Model installation to a later version.

Major and minor data model release concept

Figure 1 explains how Major and Minor Data Model Release upgrades apply.

Figure 3 Major and minor data model release concept

Major data model release

A Major Data Model Release is where the CREATE package is baselined to a new complete install and the UPGRADE package goes from the previous Major Data Model Release to the new Major Data Model Release.

Figure 4 explains a Major Data Model Release v2.3 to upgrade a v2.2 full install to a v2.3 full install.

It rolls up a number of Minor Data Model Releases (v2.2.1 and v2.2.2) that followed the v2.2 Major Data Model Release. The Data Model Manager identifies the changes not already applied to the target database and only applies what is needed.

Figure 4 Figure 2: A Major Data Model Release v2.3 ALTER

Minor data model release

Following a Major Data Model Release, minor cumulative releases may be release and applied as increments to both the CREATE and UPGRADE packages. A Minor Data Model Release is typically a very small change, for example, adding a small number of columns to an existing table or tables.

In Figure 5 the CREATE package establishes a v2.2 FULL install and then applies a v2.2.1 minor release to bring the installation up to the latest patch release.

Figure 5 A Minor Data Model Release CREATE v2.2 with a minor release augmented at a later date