Wow, I am surprised at the lack of even basic change management going on here. You are fundamentally changing the structure of a data model whilst transactions are taking place which is massive red flag for me. Just because the system does not stop you, does not make it right.
Even doing this during arranged down time I would take a db and system backup immediately prior to making the change just in case anything went wrong no matter how trivial the change. The correct process as explained to me by an Epicor engineer was do any work when there are no users on the system, stop the app server, regen the data model and then restart app server.
You do this, something goes wrong and you break the system and you are fired, âthe system didnât stop me doing itâ is not going to be much of a comeback.
Stepping back from the technical aspect, a lot of the posters on here work for US companies, many of whom are governed by Sarbanes Oxley. How on earth are you getting away with making db changes to critical systems on the fly whilst remaining compliant?
Simple, only answer the Auditor with yes and no, and do not elaborate, without explicitly being asked to elaborate
By the way I know an Epicor Engineer who worked for 20yrs on the ICE Framework, yet asks the most basic questions like how to convert an int to a string. How he remained with Epicor for 20yrs is beyond me. Just because someone is an Engineer or Gold Partner, doesnt mean anything. I know plenty of ICE Certified Consultants who donât even know how to use BAQs. Heck just an hour ago a Epicor Partner asked how to back up a database, while offering IT Services for 2+yrs⌠what kind of consulting shit is this and how is Epicor certifying these clowns?
But that aside, the right way like you said is to regen during a maintenance window, there doesnât exist a change that must go into production âright awayâ. At the least do it during Lunch Time, but never during a busy time. Plus if you regen and import your customizations, most people wonât even see it until they restart their Epicor anyways (to refresh Menu Securities).
Plus if one understands the Entity Framework and what âRegenâ actually does, it might click better. Epicor literally rebuilds a .dll (Recompiles) and replaces it while the Server is running. 9 out of 10 times, you will survive. That 1 time you wont. If you didnât use Epicor and had your own Application use Entity Framework, you would have to ship an Installer to your Users to Update their Application to get your new columns. In addition - Epicor writes to the database and runs several stored procedures.
Iâm sorry but without any Epicor knowledge/training or reading manuals, any experienced sysadmin, for example a new hire with no Epicor experience, should be dubious of regenerating a âdata modelâ when the system is up and being transacted on and proceed with caution - which is exactly what Kalvin is doing in asking this question in the first place.
and how is Epicor certifying these clowns?
