Synch Server

The Synch server is a unique invocation of an SCM HServer process that is driven on an interval basis by the SCM Broker. The broker starts the synch server, which performs both inbound and outbound CA Vision object synchronization. Inbound processing retrieves records from the CA Vision server that are relevent to the SCM Projects that are associated with CA Vision Product Releases. Outbound processing includes posting SCM Package activity and posting task worklog hours. After the synchronization is complete, the HServer process exits. When the next Synch server interval time occurs, the SCM Broker starts a new synch server process. In this way, resources are not wasted by a long-waiting process that would be idle between Synch server cycles.

Synch Server Behavior

The SCM Broker controls the Synch server at the configured interval. The first time the Synch server runs and finds there are no CA Vision objects loaded into the SCM Repository, it queries the CA Vision server for Product, Release, and User database data. The synch server also stores a flag in the SCM database indicating that the CA Vision integration is enabled. The SCM Workbench uses this flag to determine whether to make CA Vision integration operations available.

On subsequent Synch server intervals, the Synch server performs two main operations:

Obtains new or updated records from the CA Vision server
Applies any changes requested or automatically generated in the SCM Server, such as posting worklog hours or updating task status

The Synch server obtains only the CA Vision objects, other than the Product, Release and User records, for CA Vision Releases that are associated with SCM Projects. When a release is associated with an SCM Project, a special synchronization operation is performed. All Requirement, Sprint, User Story, and Task records belonging to that release are loaded from the CA Vision server into the SCM Repository. This process is referred to as an initial product load.

After releases are associated with SCM Projects, new or changed objects associated with those releases are queried during every Synch interval, and updated in the SCM Repository as required.

Updates to the CA Vision server are performed before the retrieval of new and changed objects. In this way, updates are reflected in the retrieved objects. For example, posting worklog hours causes the associated User Story record to be changed. This changed user story is retrieved during the same Synch cycle.