Project Blueprints: Sharing Projects from Partners to Customers

Project blueprints enable a Timextender partner to publish a Timextender Classic project once and let their customers use it as the starting point for new projects. Work done for one customer can be reused for the next, so customers start from a working solution instead of an empty project, all without juggling project imports and exports. If you've used Instance Blueprints in Timextender Data Integration, this is the same idea for Classic.

Understanding Project Blueprints

A project blueprint is a copy of a project that a partner publishes for reuse. When a partner uploads a blueprint, they set its name, version, description, an optional documentation link, and its visibility.

Visibility controls who can see and use a blueprint:

• Public: All customers below the partner's organization in the Timextender Portal hierarchy can see and use the blueprint. Access is checked every time the list is loaded, so a customer who is added later sees existing public blueprints without the partner having to publish them again. Organizations above or beside the partner in the hierarchy do not see the blueprint.
• Private: Only the partner's own organization can see and use the blueprint.

Requirements

• Partners need a Partner license that includes the Manage Project Blueprints feature to publish and manage blueprints. Without it, the Partner menu does not show the command.
• Customers need a license that includes the Use Project Blueprints feature to create projects from blueprints.
• Timextender Classic must be able to connect to Timextender's online services. If your network only allows traffic to specific hosts, make sure api.timextender.com and *.blob.core.windows.net are allowed.

Creating a Project from a Blueprint

When a blueprint is available to you, you can select it in the New Project window. The list only shows blueprints that meet all of the following rules:

• The blueprint was published by your own organization or by an organization above you in the Timextender Portal hierarchy, for example your partner.
• The blueprint's visibility is Public. Blueprints published by your own organization are also shown when their visibility is Private.
• The blueprint was published from the same product that you are using.

If your license does not include the Use Project Blueprints feature, no blueprints are available to you, or Timextender Classic cannot connect to the online services, the New Project window opens without the blueprint list and you create an empty project as usual.

To create a project from a blueprint, follow the steps below.

1. Go to File > New Project.
2. In the New Project window, enter a name for the project.
3. In the blueprint list, select the blueprint you want to use. The details on the right show the blueprint's description, publisher, and upload date. If the publisher has added documentation, click More information to read it.
4. (Optional) Click Advanced Settings to change settings such as team development, Integration Services, and deployment options.
5. Click OK to create the project.
6. When you are asked whether you want to open Connection Manager, click Yes and set up the connections for the project.

To create an empty project instead, keep (No blueprint) selected at the top of the list.

After You Create the Project

• Source information: The project keeps a record of the blueprint's name, publisher, and version, which you can see as read-only information in the Edit Project window.
• Updates to the blueprint: The project is your own copy. If the publisher replaces the blueprint with a new version or deletes it, your project does not change. To use a newer version, create a new project from the updated blueprint.
• Export: You cannot export a project created from a blueprint using File > Export.

Managing Blueprints (Partners Only)

As a partner, you can publish projects as blueprints, see a list of the blueprints your organization has published, replace them with new versions, edit their properties, and delete them.

Project blueprints have the following restrictions:

• A blueprint is tied to the product it was published from and can only be used in that same product. For example, a blueprint published from Timextender Classic cannot be used in an OEM product.
• A project based on a blueprint cannot be exported from the application.

Viewing a List of Blueprints

To view the list of blueprints, follow the step below.

• Go to Partner > Manage Project Blueprints.

The Manage Project Blueprints window lists every blueprint your organization has published, with the following columns: Name, Version, Description, Publisher, Uploaded, and Visibility. You can edit and delete blueprints without opening a project.

Publish a Project as a Blueprint

To publish a project as a blueprint, follow the steps below.

1. Open the project you want to publish.
2. Go to Partner > Manage Project Blueprints and click Upload.
3. In the Upload Project as Blueprint window, enter a Name of up to 80 characters.
4. Enter a Version of up to 8 characters using only digits and dots, for example 1.0.
5. (Optional) Enter a Description of up to 500 characters of plain text, and a Documentation URL starting with http:// or https://. Customers see the URL as a More information link below the description.
6. Under Visibility, select Public or Private.
7. Click OK. The blueprint appears in the list.

Replace a Blueprint with a New Version

When you have updated a project, you can publish it as a new version of an existing blueprint. The new version replaces the old one, which is removed and cannot be restored. If you want two versions to be available at the same time, upload the project as a separate blueprint instead.

1. Open the updated project.
2. Go to Partner > Manage Project Blueprints, select the blueprint you want to replace, and then click Replace.
3. In the Replace Blueprint window, enter a new Version. The other properties are copied from the current version, and you can change them if needed.
4. Click OK.

Edit a Blueprint

You can change the properties of a blueprint without publishing a new version. Editing does not change the version, the upload time, or the project content.

1. Go to Partner > Manage Project Blueprints, select the blueprint you want to edit, and then click Edit.
2. Update the Name, Description, Documentation URL, or Visibility as needed.
3. Click OK.

Delete a Blueprint

Deleting a blueprint removes it from the list and from storage. Projects that customers have already created from the blueprint are not affected.

1. Go to Partner > Manage Project Blueprints, select the blueprint you want to delete, and then click Delete.
2. Click Yes to confirm.