Known limitations in workspaces

When using workspaces, be aware of the following known limitations:

• Users working in different workspaces must not work on assets that have the same unique identifiers in the same store. For example:

  • Attachments - do not upload files with the same full path for the file in different workspaces for the same store.

  • Products - do not create or update products with the same part number in different workspaces for the same store.

  • Catalogs - do not create or update catalogs with the same identifiers in different workspaces for the same store.

  • Catalog categories - do not create or update catalog categories with the same identifiers in different workspaces. for the same store

  When assets in different workspaces have the same unique identifiers in the same store and the task group containing one of the assets is committed to the production-ready data, the task group in the other workspace containing the other asset with the same unique identifier in the same store cannot be committed to the production-ready data.

  This limitation does not apply when working in different stores.

• If a task group is canceled while a Workspace Content Contributor is working on a task, the Workspace Content Contributor can continue making changes. These changes can never be committed to the production-ready data. To prevent this, ensure that no one is accessing a task in the task group you that want to cancel.

• Workspaces provide content validation at the database level only. Data is checked only for database constraints when committing to the production-ready data. There may be data inconsistency caused by related changes in task groups but if the changes do not violate any data constraints, then the changes are allowed to commit to the production-ready data.

• Workspaces do not provide an indication of changes made. All workspace users should use the task group comments to record changes made as part of their work on an assigned workspace task.

• There is no checking for conflicts between a single-use workspace and recurring task groups. If you create a recurring task group in a single-use workspace, the workspace remains open because all task groups in the workspace never move into the complete state.

• There is no tracking of changes made in workspaces. Changes should be documented to inform the Workspace Task Group Approver of the content to approve.

• When loading data from an external source into a workspace, the WebSphere Commerce database referential constraints are not imposed. This limitation in workspaces permits bad data to loaded into the workspace. Bad data in the workspace prevents the workspace data from being committed to the production-ready data.

  If you have loaded bad data into a workspace, run the massload utility using the same XML input file and specifying the delete method. This removes the bad data from the workspace. After that, you can correct the data and try to load the data into the workspace again.

• (DB2) Do not delete any WebSphere Commerce object that involves the MEMBER table from the production-ready data. This includes objects such as users, organizations, customer segments, member groups, customer territory groups, or customer price groups. Attempting to delete these objects will fail.

  You can delete WebSphere Commerce objects that involve the MEMBER table from a workspace, if the objects are available in a workspace. If you want to publish these deletions to the production server, turn SQL batch update off when running the stagingprop utility. Turn SQL batch updates off by specifying setting the -batchsize parameter to 0.

  To learn what WebSphere Commerce objects involve the MEMBER table, review the WebSphere Commerce data model documentation.

• (DB2) Do not use the quick publish option to delete catalog categories or to delete any WebSphere Commerce object that involves the MEMBER table. While these updates commit to the production-ready data successfully, these updates do not publish to the production server. To publish these operations, use the stagingprop utility with SQL batch updating turned off.

In addition, staging server limitations apply when using workspaces.

Related Concepts

Workspaces
Workspaces, task groups, and tasks
Staging server

Related tasks

Canceling a task group
Add comments to a task group (Workspace Manager)
Add a comment (Workspace Content Contributor)

Related Reference

Staging server limitations
Workspaces best practices
Workspaces data model
Data models
stagingprop utility