BOX refresh

The BOX Refresh function refreshes everything within a BOX against the site/mastersite/root. If some resource files or artifacts have been changed with new references, then these newly referenced resources are also packaged into the BOX.

BOX records the information about where it was created. It also records the user-selected options when the BOX was created with the Create BOX Wizard or BOX command.

For example, “dealing with references” and “dealing with mastersite and root-level resources” properties are required to refresh the BOX with the correct context. For this, BOX records the host ID, host version, site/mastersite name, thread names, and user options into a BOX manifest.xml file.

For the instance name, multiple installations to one machine are supported, where every install has a unique name.

Existing BOXes can be refreshed, instead of having to be recreated. BOX searches for any changes, and present them for review.

During refresh:

  • Refresh checks for newer versions of those files already included.
  • When BOX resources are found that do not exist in the target environment, one of these options is taken to proceed:
    • Prompt the user with the exception and stop the refresh.
    • Ignore this and continue to refresh other resources.
    • Remove the resource from BOX since it has been removed from the target environment.
  • When new referenced resources are found that do not exist in the current BOX, one of these options is taken to proceed:
    • Add new referenced resources into BOX (default choice).
    • Discard new referenced resources.

Right-clicking a BOX opens a context menu that contains Refresh. Selecting this opens a dialog box with refresh options. For example, options for what to do if resources do not exist on the target site, and how to deal with new found resources.

  • Refresh checks for newer versions of those files already included.
  • New references are still subject to the limitations of BOX creation.

Clicking Next gives you a preview of the new BOX. You can filter the view to show only the differences, or everything.

An error is given if a BOX is checked out by other users.

Resource tree nodes have indicators on their status:

  • A resource with a plus-sign (+) indicates this is a new resource that is going to be packaged in the current BOX. A “To be added” tooltip is shown when the pointer pauses here.
  • A resource with an "x" indicates the resource does not exist in the current environment and is removed. A “To be removed” tooltip is shown when the pointer pauses here.
  • A resource with an arrow indicates the resource in BOX is different from the corresponding resource in the current environment and is updated. A “To be updated” tooltip is shown when the pointer pauses here.
  • Node names of all changed resources are highlighted in red to make the changes more visible.

The filtering function displays only nodes with changes.