Plan Files and Patch Files
Plan Files
The WAE Live, WAE Design Archive, and WAE Design applications all have interfaces for viewing the network through a plan file. A plan file is comprised of a series of tables that store information about a network, including topology, configuration information, traffic, failure state, and visual layout Additionally, WAE Design uses plan file information to perform simulations.
Plans files are typically created by the WAE Collector discovery process for use in the applications. Plan files can, however, be created using CLI tools or the WAE Design GUI, and stored locally.
Plan files are comprised of tables, objects such as nodes and sites, properties (shown as column headings), and property values (Figure 2-1).
Plan File Formats
Each plan file is a uniquely named database of tables that is in one of two formats, both of which are editable by SQL commands.
- The.pln format is compact and thus, can be quickly loaded to and saved in the WAE Design GUI.
- The.txt format contains tab-delimited columns. You can create and edit these directly in a text editor or spreadsheet, such as Excel, thus allowing for quickly applying bulk edits. In these plan files, each table is labeled with angle brackets, such as <Nodes> and <Sites>.
Figure 2-1 Opened Plan File
Access Plan Files
To open a local plan file from the WAE Design GUI, select the File->Open menu or File->Open Recent menu. To save a plan file locally in the.pln format, select the File->Save menu. To save a plan file in a simple.txt or complete.txt format, select the File->Save As menu.
To add a description to the plan file, select the Edit->Plan Description menu.
For instructions on opening and saving plan files on remote servers, see the WAE Network Visualization Guide.
Patch Files
A patch file is a compact way to represent differences between plan files. In WAE Design, patch files, which use a.plp format, are created for new LSPs, modified, LSPs, and deleted LSPs. These differences or “patches” can be applied to other plan files or deployed to the network. Note that since they contain LSP deletions, a patch file can remove LSPs from a plan file to which it is applied or from a network when it is deployed.
WAE Design enables you to create and use patch files in the following ways.
- To create patch file of the LSP differences between two plan files, create a comparison report and select the patch file option (Tools->Reports->Compare Plans). For information, see the Reports chapter. You can also execute this from the CLI using the
compare_plans -out-patch-file
tool. For information, refer to the Help output of the compare_plans
CLI tool.
- To deploy patch files to the network, use the Save to WAE tool under the File menu. For information, see the WAE Network Visualization Guide.
- To apply a patch file to a plan file, the
apply_patch
CLI tool. For information, refer to the Help output of the apply_patch
CLI tool.