Master Data Services : Cross Model entity Copy

Hi all,

One of the missing things in MDS is the cross-model entity copy

here is a API usage example for copying an entity from a model /version to another (or even copy an entity into a new model with a new entity name).

you can download the complete source code of my codeplex tool including this sample on : http://mdsmanager.codeplex.com

note: if source entity contains domain based attributes, and if the target model does not contain the domain based attribute parent entity, the attribute type will automatically converted to “Freeform” instead of “Domain based attribute”.

 private void CopyEntity(Identifier newModelId, Identifier versionId, Entity EntityToCopy)
        {
            OperationResult or = new OperationResult();

            try
            {
                Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor;

                Common.MDS_WS mds = new MDS_WS();
                //create a new guid for the new entity (target entity must NOT have the same ID than the source entity)             
    Guid newEntityId = Guid.NewGuid();

                //create a new metadata instance      
           Metadata md = new Metadata();
                md.Entities = new Collection();

                //add a new entity in this new metadata, with values and fields from source entity
                md.Entities.Add(new Entity()
                {
                    Identifier = new ModelContextIdentifier() { ModelId = newModelId, Name = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(txtNewEntityName.Text) ? txtNewEntityName.Text : EntityToCopy.Identifier.Name, Id = newEntityId },
                    AuditInfo = EntityToCopy.AuditInfo,
                    ExtensionData = EntityToCopy.ExtensionData,
                    ExplicitHierarchies = EntityToCopy.ExplicitHierarchies,
                    IsBase = EntityToCopy.IsBase,
                    IsFlat = EntityToCopy.IsFlat,
                    IsSystem = EntityToCopy.IsSystem
                });

                //publish this new entity
                using (ServiceClient c = MDS_WSConnect.CreateMdsProxy())
                {
                    Metadata retMd = c.MetadataCreate(new International(), md, true, out or);

                    //get source entity attributes
                    md = mds.GetMetaData(new International(), ref or, (Identifier)cbModel.SelectedItem, ((CustomVersion)cbVersion.SelectedItem).Identifier, EntityToCopy.Identifier, MDS_WS.MDAction.AttributesDetails);

                    //create a new metadata instance for attributes to copy
                    Metadata newMD = new Metadata();
                    newMD.Attributes = new Collection();

                    //for each source entity attribute, create a new attribute containing values and fields from this source entity
                    foreach (MetadataAttribute oldMA in md.Attributes)
                    {
                        MetadataAttribute ma = new MetadataAttribute()
                        {
                            AttributeType = oldMA.AttributeType,
                            Identifier = new MemberTypeContextIdentifier()
                            {
                                //entityId is coming from the target entity                               
  EntityId = retMd.Entities.First().Identifier,
                                //Id  is coming from the target entity
                                Id = retMd.Entities.First().Identifier.Id,
                                //internal Id  is coming from the target entity                             
    InternalId = retMd.Entities.First().Identifier.InternalId,
                                ModelId = newModelId,
                                MemberType = oldMA.Identifier.MemberType,
                                Name = oldMA.Identifier.Name
                            },
                            DataType = oldMA.DataType,
                            DataTypeInformation = oldMA.DataTypeInformation,
                            AuditInfo = oldMA.AuditInfo,
                            ChangeTrackingGroup = oldMA.ChangeTrackingGroup,
                            DisplayWidth = oldMA.DisplayWidth,
                            ExtensionData = oldMA.ExtensionData,

                            InputMaskId = oldMA.InputMaskId,
                            IsCode = oldMA.IsCode,
                            IsName = oldMA.IsName,
                            IsReadOnly = oldMA.IsReadOnly,
                            IsSystem = oldMA.IsSystem,
                            Permission = oldMA.Permission,
                            SortOrder = oldMA.SortOrder

                        };

                        //add all destination attributes to the metadata
                        newMD.Attributes.Add(ma);
                    }
                    //create the attributes metadata
                    c.MetadataCreate(new International(), newMD, true, out or);

                }
                //if operation is done and no error, displays message             
    if (or != null && or.Errors.Count == 0)
                    MessageBox.Show("DONE!");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                //to displays errors if any             
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
                if (or != null && or.Errors.Count > 0)
                {

                    foreach (Error err in or.Errors)
                    {
                        sb.AppendFormat("{0}" + Environment.NewLine, err.Code + " - " + err.Description);
                    }
                }

                if (sb.Length > 0)
                {
                    throw new Exception(sb.ToString());
                }
                else
                {
                    throw ex;
                }

            }
            finally
            {
                Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default;
            }
        }