Optional changes in the database model
Some database model configurations introduced in ImageMaster updates are considered optional. This means that it is possible to upgrade to the new ImageMaster version without including this specific database model change. However, this also implies that some features of the new ImageMaster release may not be available if the change is not applied to the database.
Since release 9.8.1 it is possible to generate a fresh database model without such optional changes to avoid larger migration efforts. For example, a new feature could require that all stored documents need to be modified, but if this particular feature is not required, you could decide to skip the optional database model change and still consider applying it at a later time.
The checkModel command (see Checking the database model) lists the available optional changes and also specifies which changes are already installed in the database. Both, the checkModel and the updateModel command (see Updating the database model) have parameters to control the included optional changes. The default is to exclude all optional changes.
The following chapters list the available optional changes.
Single instance partition
The option SingleInstancePartition allows single instancing across partition keys (even between physical partitions). Installing this change requires updating the ARCH_LOGICAL_FILE table with a new column (and with changed foreign keys).
Without this change, archive single instancing is only possible among documents that have the same partition key. This is not a significant restriction if partition keys are static (for example when partitioned by tenant), but becomes a problem when partitioning by any dynamic criteria is desired like the creation date or an attribute value.
Database storage consumption for ImageMaster retention plans
Since release 9.10.1 less database storage is required for retention plans. However, this behavior (enabled by default) can decrease performance. By setting the system property ima.retention.extractprogram to false, this new behavior can be turned off. For related details also seeOptional or conditional settings in [IM ImageMaster].