You can synchronize data between NRDS and iMIS in the following ways:
■ Initial: Run the initial synchronization to pull over NRDS data for offices and members into the iMIS tables.
■ Scheduled: Create a scheduled task to regularly synchronize updated office and member data.
■ Command line: Synchronize data for offices and members using a command line if you need to update NRDS data immediately.
■ On-demand: Synchronize data for a particular office or member as needed using iParts.
This section describes how you can set up these synchronization types.
Important: For an iMIS contact to sync to NRDS, it must have a NRDS ID.
Note: Before synchronizing NRDS data, you must set up and configure the NRDS bridge in iMIS. Also verify that you have defined the default Customer Type to use when creating new customers and organizations online (defined from System Setup > Set up web components > Quick setup).
To run the initial synchronization between NRDS and iMIS
Before scheduling your routine data synchronization between NRDS and iMIS, you must run the initial synchronization that pulls all of your NRDS members and offices into the new iMIS tables. This process can take several hours, depending on the number of records you bring over. We recommend that you run the initial synchronization at night or over the weekend to limit potential performance problems on your application server while it runs. After the initial process completes, only members and offices that have been modified are synchronized when you run the scheduled task or the command line application.
Tip: Be sure to run your index maintenance plan first to get the best possible performance during the initial synchronization.
1. If you used the old NRDS system in iMIS, use the legacy NRDS Importer to do a final batch upload so that everything is up to date in NRDS.
2. Select the batch files to be used for the initial synchronization.
□ From NRDS, select Batch Refresh to create a set of batch files that contain all of your NRDS records. Choose the option to create tab-delimited files. When complete, NRDS will email a zip file of these records to the association Point of Entry.
□ (optional) If you need to manage state and local associations in iMIS, then download that file also. From NRDS, select Batch Refresh, answer the delimiter question, then click Create File of State and Local Association Directory.
□ Unzip the NRDS batch files onto your iMIS application server. Each file is named with your association ID followed by the word FULL (i.e. 0123FULL), but they all have different file extensions followed by a couple numbers. You must have seven [ID]Full files:
■ [ID]FULL.m00 – Members
■ [ID]FULL.n00 – Member supplemental
■ [ID]FULL.o00 – Offices
■ [ID]FULL.p00 – Office supplemental
■ [ID]FULL.e00 – Education
■ [ID]FULL.d00 – Demographic
■ [ID]FULL.f00 – Financial
Note: If you downloaded the optional state and local association directory, then unzip that file in the same location: [ID]ASSN.a00.
□ Using a text editor, find and edit the Asi.NrdsSync XML configuration file. By default it is located on your application server in C:\Program Files\ASI\iMIS\Net\bin.
□ Find the BatchRefreshFileLocation property.
□ Edit the value to specify the location of the unzipped NRDS batch files. For example C:\NRDS.
Note: If you leave this value blank, the NRDS records will be requested directly from NRDS one-by-one. If you have a large database, this process could take several days. We highly recommend that you use the NRDS batch files for your initial synchronization.
3. Run the initial synchronization to pull your members and offices into the new tables.
□ Open a command prompt on your application server.
□ Change the directory to the iMIS\Net\bin directory:
cd C:\Program Files\ASI\iMIS\Net\bin
Note: This path may vary depending on your install location.
□ Run the Asi.NrdsSync application with the initialsync command. You have the option to run this process silently in the background, but we recommend that you use the verbose command so that you can monitor the progress and view log details as the process runs.
Asi.NrdsSync.exe initialsync Verbose
After this process completes, set up a scheduled task to regularly synchronize data between NRDS and iMIS (described below).
Note: If you do not use the NRDS batch files for the initial synchronization and encounter a network interruption during the initial synchronization, do not run the initialsync process again. Instead, run an Inbound synchronization only: Asi.NrdsSync.exe In Verbose
To run a synchronization from the command line
1. Open a command prompt on your application server.
2. Change the directory to the iMIS\Net\bin directory:
cd C:\Program Files\ASI\iMIS\Net\bin
Note: This path may vary depending on your install location.
3. Run the Asi.NrdsSync application.
Asi.NrdsSync.exe
Note that you can override the default behavior using the following arguments:
□ <type> – Specifies the type of the synchronization. Enter In if you want to synch from NRDS to iMIS. Enter Out if you want to synch from iMIS to NRDS. Enter Initialsync to run the initial synchronization.
Values: In | Out | Initialsync
□ <verbose> – Displays log information while the Asi.NrdsSync task is run. By default, this session is hidden.
Value: Verbose
For example, the following command synchronizes members and offices from NRDS into iMIS and displays the command line session, so that you can monitor progress:
Asi.NrdsSync.exe In Verbose
To create a scheduled task that regularly synchronizes data between NRDS and iMIS
The NRDS scheduled task runs in the background and synchronizes data in the following order: 1) Office records inbound from NRDS, 2) Member records inbound from NRDS, 3) Office and Member records outbound from iMIS.
This synchronization runs in batches. The default number of records included in each batch is 50. Depending on your requirements, you may want to adjust the batch size. For example, a smaller batch size puts a smaller load on your application server’s memory. To change this value, edit the Asi.NrdsSync XML configuration file. By default it is located in C:\Program Files\ASI\iMIS\Net\bin. Find the NrdsBatchSize property and adjust the value as needed.
1. From your application server, open the Windows Task Scheduler.
2. Select Action > Create Task… .
3. From the General tab, enter a Name, Description, and select the Security options you prefer.
4. From the Triggers tab, click New… .
5. Make your frequency selections based on how often you want to synchronize data between NRDS and iMIS.
6. From the Actions tab, click New… .
7. For the Action, select Start a program.
8. Browse to and select the Asi.NrdsSync application. By default it is located in C:\Program Files\ASI\iMIS\Net\bin.
9. Click OK to save the task.
To set up on-demand synchronization
Two iParts are available that you can use to synchronize data on-demand:
■ Use the NRDS Sync Buttons iPart to synchronize the currently selected iMIS record. It contains two buttons. Send to NRDS sends iMIS changes to NRDS. Update from NRDS pulls in NRDS changes to iMIS. The buttons are disabled if the selected contact does not have a valid NRDS ID.
Note: The Send to NRDS button is disabled when an association record is selected. Association records can only be updated from NRDS.
■ Use the NRDS Sync By ID iPart to update iMIS with NRDS data for a particular NRDS ID. If an iMIS record does not yet exist for the NRDS ID, then a new contact is created.
If you want to set up on-demand synchronization, we recommend that you add the NRDS Sync Buttons to your NRDS Profile content records, so that the iPart can synchronize data for the currently selected contact. You can add the NRDS Sync By ID iPart to any content record.