Unexpected File Format When Exporting JSON files from TDM Portal

Products

• CA Test Data Manager (Data Finder / Grid Tools)

Issue/Introduction

We are using a Generator in TDM Portal to publish data to the Scramble database. Once the publishing job completes, and we export the publishing job, which exports as a JSON file, we notice the file only contains the columns which contain a value. The columns that are null/empty are not seen in the JSON file. This is unexpected, since the application we are working with expects all columns to be published; including the empty ones. Therefore, we need to be able to export all columns and not just those that contain values.

Environment

Release : 4.8+

Component : CA Test Data Manager Portal

Cause

This behavior is by design and part of the default configuration. However, this is configurable and can be changed.

Resolution

To configure TDM Portal to export all JSON objects, including those that are empty:

 

1. Open a Windows File Explorer and navigate to the TDM Portal install directory. By default, this would be C:\Program Files\CA\CA Test Data Manager Portal
   
   
2. Go into the conf subdirectory
   
   
3. Open the catdmshredder.properties file for edit, in the text editor of your choice.
   
   
4. Around line 220 there should be the following entry: export_empty_json_objects_and_arrays=false
   
5. Set this entry to true, so that it reads as export_empty_json_objects_and_arrays=true
   
6. Save the changes and restart the CA Test Data Manager Portal service

 

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