Validating model changes with the Content Validator

The Content Validator helps you keep your content accurate and up-to-date as your data model evolves. If a field is renamed, a table is swapped, or a topic is removed, the validator makes it easy to spot where things broke and quickly fix them - either one by one or in bulk.

Additionally, the Content Validator is a powerful discovery tool: you can search for all the content that references a specific field, view, or topic to see how widely it’s used before making changes. This way, you can make updates with confidence and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

Content Validator basics

What is the Content Validator?

The Content Validator is a tool that allows you to visualize how content is impacted when the model or references in the database change. You can use it to identify where topics, views, and fields are being used and make updates before (or when) things break.

Who can use the Content Validator?

Users with Connection Admin or Modeler permissions can access the Content Validator.

Do I have to use a branch with the Content Validator?

No, but it's strongly recommended. Using a branch allows you to test and review your changes before making any modifications to the live environment. Refer to the Developing content & models with Branch Mode guide for more information about using branches in Omni.

Accessing the Content Validator

Users with Connection Admin or Modeler permissions can access the Content Validator by opening a model in the IDE and clicking the (checked document icon) in the left navigation.

Searching for content

The Content Validator is useful for seeing how a topic, view, or field is being used across your workspace. For example, check where a field appears before removing it, identify the dashboards that depend on a view before swapping in a new table, or find all queries tied to a topic. This way, you know exactly what will be affected before making changes.

Use the search box and the Choose find type dropdown to search the content in your instance, clicking Find to execute the search. You can search for content by:

• View name
• Field name. Note: This must be a fully qualified field name, meaning the name of the view containing the field must be included. For example, shipped_items.item_price
• Topic name
• Document name
• Query name

Including personal content & queries without issues

By default, search results will only include content in your organization's Hub that has a broken query. To include:

• Content in users' My documents folders, use the Include personal documents toggle
• Queries without issues, click the ✓ (green checkmark) near the top-right corner of the page

Branches & search result impact

The content included in search results is also impacted by whether you're performing the search while in a branch.

Searching while not in a branch

If you're not in a branch while searching, the results will include:

• Published content
• Drafts that are not attached to a branch

In this example, the results include the published Bug deep-dive document and a draft not attached to a branch, Draft not in branch.

Searching in a branch

If you're in a branch while searching, results will include:

• Published content
• Drafts attached to the branch

In this example, the results include the published Bug deep-dive document and a draft (Draft in branch) attached to the field-cleanup branch.

See an out of date draft? Refer to the Working with out of date drafts section for more information.

Updating documents

Use a branch!

Omni strongly recommends using a branch when making changes to content through the Content Validator. Otherwise, changes may be applied directly to the published version of documents and can only be manually reverted on a document-by-document basis.

You can make single document changes or bulk updates right from the Content Validator:

1. In the Content Validator, click the Replace button next to one of the content results.

2. In the Replace dialog, select the type of object you want to replace:

3. Enter the name of the object to replace and the name it should be replaced with. If replacing a field, make sure you include the name of the view, like <view_name>.<field_name>:

   
   Updating published documents in a branch

   If you're in a branch and applying changes to a published document, Omni will create a new draft with the changes and attach it to the branch. The changes will be published when the branch is merged. If performing a global find and replace, Omni will create a draft for each affected document.

4. To apply the changes to all content, toggle the Replace for all content setting.

5. Click Replace.

At this point, you can navigate to individual documents to verify the changes are working as expected. If you're working in a branch, merging the branch will publish the changes in any drafts attached to the branch.

Working with out of date drafts

When a draft is marked out of date, it means that a new version of the document has been published since the draft was created. If the outdated draft is published, it will overwrite the currently published version of the document.

We recommend taking the following steps to resolve this issue:

1. Identify the changes in the outdated draft.
2. In the Content Validator, discard the outdated draft by clicking the (red trash can) next to the draft.
3. In your branch, complete content replacements as needed. Omni will create a new draft and attach it to the branch.
4. In the new draft, redo any changes you identified in step 1.
5. When finished with all your changes, merge the branch.