In order to export a folder to a file, take the following steps in the Folder Export Import user interface:
• Connect to a Vault server and repository that you want to export from. Do this via the File menu, Connect to Server command. This is the usual process for logging into Vault, as you would do in the GUI client or Admin Tool. The Choose Repository dialog will be automatically displayed after a successful login to the server.
• You can change the repository at any time by invoking File->Choose Repository or Ctrl-P.
• After a successful login, the folder tree for the chosen repository is displayed in the main window. Choose the folder you want to export, and invoke the Export command (either view the toolbar button, the Action->Export menu item, the right mouse click context menu or Ctrl-E)
• This will bring up a dialog that allows you to specify a file you want the data to be exported to.
• The “Export Deleted Items” checkbox allows you to choose whether to export folders and files that have been deleted in the folder. If you do not export deleted items, they cannot be undeleted and retrieved when they are later imported.
• The “Comment” text area allows you to store a description of the export in the data file, which will then be displayed later when the file is imported. This comment will not be put anywhere in the Vault database.
• Press “Begin Export” to start exporting data to the data file. A progress bar will give a general indication of how much data has been exported.
The repository does not have to be locked during the export – other source control activities can be happening simultaneously with the export.
However, note that no transactions applied to the folder after the export begins will be included in the exported data. For instance, if you check in a new version of a file within the export folder after the export begins (but before it finishes), that new folder version will not be reflected in the data file, and therefore will not be part of an import taken from that data file.