Content Matrix 9.10 - SharePoint Edition

List Template Gallery Migration

Content Matrix lets you copy the List Template Gallery from a source SharePoint Site Collection to a target SharePoint Site Collection.

The List Template Gallery can be migrated as part of a Site Collection copy (when copy a Site Collection and pasting as a Site Collection), or it can be copied as a separate action. Any list templates that are copied from the source will overwrite any list templates on the target that have the same name. If the file names are different, then the list templates will be added to the existing List Template Gallery.

For example, if there are two templates on the target named "Template A" and "Template B", and these are migrated to the target where there are also two templates, which are named "Template B" and "Template C" then only "Template B" will be over written. In this case "Template A" will be copied to the target, and since there is no existing file with the same name it will be added without overwriting any other files. Since there was no file with the "Template C" name that was migrated to the target, the "Template C" file will also exist (as is) on the target. However, since both the source and the target have a file with the "Template B" name, the "Template B" file on the target will be overwritten by the one from the source. The end result is that three files will now exist on the target: Template A, Template B (which is a copy of the source version of the file), and Template C.

Content Types Migration

Content Matrix can migrate content types at the site and list level. Copying of content types is done as part of a normal copy, or they can be copied separately (at the site level) using the context (right-click) menu.

When Content Matrix copies over content types at the site level they will be copied to the target site with the same name and fields that they had on the source. All content types that are available within the scope of the migration will be copied. In other words, all content types within the selected source site, as well as all the content types that exist within any sub-sites, will be copied. Content Matrix will also copy any content types that the source site inherits from its parent site. The copying of these inherited content types is done in order to maintain any dependencies that may exist.

For example, let's look at a scenario where you have a site (Site 1) that has a parent site (Site 0) and two child sites at the same level (Site 2-a and Site 2-b), and all of these sites have content types. In this example, if you select Site 1 and copy content types, when pasted Content Matrix will copy over all the content types from Site 1, Site 2-a, and Site 2-b, and it will also copy over all of the content types from Site 0, in case there are any dependencies. If you select Site 2-a to copy from, then it will only copy over the content types from Site 2-a, Site 1, and Site 0 (again because of the inheritance). But the content types from Site 2-b would not be copied since it is outside the scope of the copy, and there is no inheritance. If Site 0 is selected, then Content Matrix would copy over all the content types for all four sites.

If you are copying at the list level and the list uses any content types that are not available on the target site, Content Matrix will automatically create them on the site during the migration and apply them to the list.  For content types that are specific to the list (i.e., they were created using an STP template), the content types will be migrated along with the list.

Please see the following Microsoft article for more information on SharePoint content types and content type inheritance: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/use-content-types-to-manage-content-consistently-on-a-site-48512bcb-6527-480b-b096-c03b7ec1d978

Out of the Box (OOB) Content Types on the Target

By default, Content Matrix will preserve the following  OOB content types if they exist on a target list, even if they did not exist on the source.  

NOTE: You have the option of overriding the default behavior so that OOB content types are removed from the target if they do not exist on the source. To do this, change the value of the  key PreserveOOBContentTypesForList in the configuration variable file EnvironmentSettings.xml from true to false.

Document Version and Checked Out File Limitations

At least one Approved version of a folder or file (that is, version 1.0 at a minimum) must have been published for it to be migrated. If only a Pending ("draft") version of a folder or file exists on the source, it will not be migrated to the target. As long as at least one Approved version exists, subsequent Pending versions will be migrated.

If a file on the source is currently checked out, the last checked in copy of the file will be migrated.  

If no checked in copy exists (which may be the case if the list's Versioning setting Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited? is set to Yes, then a file is uploaded but is never checked in), the file will not migrate.

Ghosted and Un-Ghosted Page Migration

Content Matrix can migrate the following types of pages:

·Ghosted page - A page whose contents are not stored in the content database but are read from a site definition file; a page that has not been customized.  

NOTE:  When ghosted pages are migrated they will remain ghosted.

·Un-ghosted page - A page that has been modified from the site definition file, and whose contents are stored in the content database.  (These are also known as "customized" pages in Microsoft Office SharePoint Services (MOSS) 2007).

NOTES:  

§If un-ghosted pages are migrated between the same version of SharePoint, un-ghosted pages can have their customizations preserved, and be migrated as un-ghosted pages.  

§If un-ghosted pages are migrated between different versions of SharePoint, Content Matrix is unable to retain the customizations needed for un-ghosted pages, and will reattach these pages to their page layouts. Once these pages have become ghosted, manual steps would have to be taken in order for them to become un-ghosted again.