Razl Version 2 New Features - Part 2

This post has been migrated from www.experimentsincode.com, we apologise if some of the images or content is missing

In my last post we looked a couple of new features available in Razl, in this post I will show you the how we have improved moving of large blobs and how you can cancel process once they have started.

Large Blobs

Typically you will come across large blobs in the Sitecore media library, for example video and audio files. We have improved how we compare a blob by making a hash of the actual blob data, this ensures Razl correctly highlights fields that are different: We have also improved how a blob is copied from one instance to another. In previous versions of Razl we would download the entire blob before moving it but now we stream the data directly from the origin server to the target server. This ensures that the memory footprint of Razl is kept small. In testing we have moved five 200mb files from the origin to the target and Razl’s memory footprint has kept below 90mb. We have also improved the feedback when a blob is moved, in the progress window Razl shows how much data it has copied: With these improvements migrating the Sitecore Media Library become really easy.

Cancelling Actions and Feedback

One thing you will quickly notice when your start running Razl V2 is that Razl now provides a lot more feedback on what it is doing behind the scenes. All long running tasks will cause a loading dialogue to appear over the top of Razl with information about what actions Razl is currently taking. For example is we connect to a Sitecore instance Razl will inform us that it is trying to connect: Or if we start to run a series of tasks we can see which items it is currently working on: Not only does this popup give you feedback but also it allows you to cancel the current action and stop Razl doing whatever task it is currently performing. This is great if you have a long running operation such as a lot of items being compared or the server is just being slow.

Other features

This release also contains a few smaller features:

• Razl now logs all the actions it takes and any exceptions. This should make auditing much easier.
• Quick navigation to referenced and referred items from an item in the Content Tree.
• Improve handling of items that have moved in the content tree.
• HTTPS support has been added.
• Basic information to help identify a connection, for example the database, URL and sites on the target Sitecore instance.

Summary

The new features we have added to Razl should really help improve your productivity and enjoyment of the tool. We are excited to get Razl V2 out to everyone ASAP once we have put it through it’s paces with our internal testers.