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Combine 3.0

New Features and Enhancements

Combine 3.0 is a major new release that focuses on recording database changes for auditing and tracking purposes. This release introduces the Change History repository database and the Change History tool that enable users to view past deployment results and search the repository content. Key features and enhancements in Combine 3.0 are now summarized below.

1. The Change History Repository

Users can install a central repository database to store package execution results, and then configure their client machines to read from, or write to, the Change History repository: Users can configure Combine to save general deployment results in the repository, or to also save detailed database changes info to track all changes made to target database during the execution of code packages. Furthermore, the content of the Package Results (Cre) file and the deployed code package (Cpa) file can be extracted from the repository. These features and many others can be invoked from the new user-interface and tool under Tools → Change History. For additional information regarding the Change History repository and tool, please refer to the Change History Overview section in the help files.

2. Changes to CpaExec

The CpaExec command line utility includes a new flag (ch) that instructs Combine whether to write to the Change History repository database. The same changes are also included in the Scheduled Packages Wizard, so that scheduled packages can be configured to store deployment results to the repository.

3. Change to the Package Results (Cre) File

The following new features are available in cre files that are created using Combine 3.0: – The content of the Cre file can be manually loaded to the Change History repository. – Users can extract the code package directly from the cre file, to view the content of the package that was executed and generated the cre file. – Environment Variables: Script nodes in the cre file now display the original scripts (i.e., before Environment Variables replacements). Scripts under individual database nodes in the cre are shown after variable replacements.

Note: Cre files that were created using Combine 2.1 or earlier cannot be manually loaded to the Change History repository. However, these cre files can still be opened and viewed in the main editor window.

4. Changes to the Options dialog for Packages

Users can instruct Combine to prompt or to automatically save package deployment results, either to a cre file or to the Change History repository, by settings the appropriate options under Tools → Options → Packages → Auto-Save Results. A new section under the Options dialog is also available, namely Packages → Change History, and holds the location and credentials for the Change History repository database.