Updating is the process of synchronizing a template or model entity with its template.
When an instantiated entity (in the Models tab) or a derived entity (in the Templates tab) has a different version from its template, a blue indicator appears in the top left of its icon.
Right-clicking on such an entity will open a context menu which will include an option to “Update” the entity.
The update process includes the following:
- Check for any changes between the selected entity and its template. If a property is changed, and that property is locked, then the selected entity will be updated accordingly. Similarly, any new limits or model attributes that are added to the template will be added to the selected entity.
- Check for any child entities that may have been added to the template. If such child entities exist, these will be instantiated/derived as children of the selected entity.
- Check for any child entities that may have been removed from the template. If this is the case, the existing instantiated / derived child entities will be delinked from the template, but not deleted
At the end of the update, the version of the selected entity will be set to match that of its template, so no further updates are possible until the template is changed.
An exception to this rule is that if an instantiated/derived measure has a fault, or is not correctly updates (e.g. if a dependant measure could not be located during instantiation/derivation/updating) then the version is not set to that of its template, allowing you to fix the underlying issue and update again.
If the entity is the same version as its template, and you choose to Update, Flow will confirm with you whether you want to "force" an update, i.e. to get all the properties from the template again.