How to: View and Modify Publication Properties (RMO Programming)

You can modify publications and access their properties programmatically by using Replication Management Objects (RMO). The RMO classes that you use to view or modify publication properties depend on the type of publication.

To view or modify properties of a snapshot or transactional publication

1. Create a connection to the Publisher by using the ServerConnection class.

2. Create an instance of the TransPublication class, set the Name and DatabaseName properties for the publication, and set the ConnectionContext property to the connection created in step 1.

3. Call the LoadProperties method to get the properties of the object. If this method returns false, either the publication properties in step 2 were defined incorrectly or the publication does not exist.

4. (Optional) To change properties, set a new value for one or more of the settable properties. Use the logical AND operator (& in Microsoft Visual C# and And in Microsoft Visual Basic) to determine if a given PublicationAttributes value is set for the Attributes property. Use the inclusive logical OR operator (| in Visual C# and Or in Visual Basic) and the exclusive logical OR operator (^ in Visual C# and Xor in Visual Basic) to change the PublicationAttributes values for the Attributes property.

5. (Optional) If you specified a value of true for CachePropertyChanges, call the CommitPropertyChanges method to commit changes on the server. If you specified a value of false for CachePropertyChanges (the default), changes are sent to the server immediately.

To view or modify properties of a merge publication

1. Create a connection to the Publisher by using the ServerConnection class.

2. Create an instance of the MergePublication class, set the Name and DatabaseName properties for the publication, and set the ConnectionContext property to the connection created in step 1.

3. Call the LoadProperties method to get the properties of the object. If this method returns false, either the publication properties in step 2 were defined incorrectly or the publication does not exist.

4. (Optional) To change properties, set a new value for one or more of the settable properties. Use the logical AND operator (& in Visual C# and And in Visual Basic) to determine if a given PublicationAttributes value is set for the Attributes property. Use the inclusive logical OR operator (| in Visual C# and Or in Visual Basic) and the exclusive logical OR operator (^ in Visual C# and Xor in Visual Basic) to change the PublicationAttributes values for the Attributes property.

5. (Optional) If you specified a value of true for CachePropertyChanges, call the CommitPropertyChanges method to commit changes on the server. If you specified a value of false for CachePropertyChanges (the default), changes are sent to the server immediately.

Example

This example sets publication attributes for a transactional publication. The changes are cached until explicitly sent to the server.

           // Define the server, database, and publication names
            string publisherName = publisherInstance;
            string publicationName = "AdvWorksProductTran";
            string publicationDbName = "AdventureWorks";

            TransPublication publication;

            // Create a connection to the Publisher.
            ServerConnection conn = new ServerConnection(publisherName);

            try
            {
                // Connect to the Publisher.
                conn.Connect();

                // Set the required properties for the publication.
                publication = new TransPublication();
                publication.ConnectionContext = conn;
                publication.Name = publicationName;
                publication.DatabaseName = publicationDbName;

                // Explicitly enable caching of property changes on this object.
                publication.CachePropertyChanges = true;

                // If we can't get the properties for this publication, 
                // throw an application exception.
                if (publication.LoadProperties())
                {
                    // Enable support for push subscriptions and disable support 
                    // for pull subscriptions.
                    if ((publication.Attributes & PublicationAttributes.AllowPull) != 0)
                    {
                        publication.Attributes ^= PublicationAttributes.AllowPull;
                    }
                    if ((publication.Attributes & PublicationAttributes.AllowPush) == 0)
                    {
                        publication.Attributes |= PublicationAttributes.AllowPush;
                    }

                    // Send changes to the server.
                    publication.CommitPropertyChanges();
                }
                else
                {
                    throw new ApplicationException(String.Format(
                        "Settings could not be retrieved for the publication. " +
                        "Ensure that the publication {0} exists on {1}.",
                        publicationName, publisherName));
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // Do error handling here.
                throw new ApplicationException(
                    "The publication property could not be changed.", ex);
            }
            finally
            {
                conn.Disconnect();
            }

' Define the server, database, and publication names
Dim publisherName As String = publisherInstance
Dim publicationName As String = "AdvWorksProductTran"
Dim publicationDbName As String = "AdventureWorks"

Dim publication As TransPublication

' Create a connection to the Publisher.
Dim conn As ServerConnection = New ServerConnection(publisherName)

Try
    ' Connect to the Publisher.
    conn.Connect()

    ' Set the required properties for the publication.
    publication = New TransPublication()
    publication.ConnectionContext = conn
    publication.Name = publicationName
    publication.DatabaseName = publicationDbName

    ' Explicitly enable caching of property changes on this object.
    publication.CachePropertyChanges = True

    ' If we can't get the properties for this publication, 
    ' throw an application exception.
    If publication.LoadProperties() Then
        ' Enable support for push subscriptions and disable support 
        ' for pull subscriptions.
        If (publication.Attributes And PublicationAttributes.AllowPull) <> 0 Then
            publication.Attributes = publication.Attributes _
            Xor PublicationAttributes.AllowPull
        End If
        If (publication.Attributes And PublicationAttributes.AllowPush) = 0 Then
            publication.Attributes = publication.Attributes _
            Or PublicationAttributes.AllowPush
        End If

        ' Send changes to the server.
        publication.CommitPropertyChanges()
    Else
        Throw New ApplicationException(String.Format( _
         "Settings could not be retrieved for the publication. " + _
         "Ensure that the publication {0} exists on {1}.", _
         publicationName, publisherName))
    End If
Catch ex As Exception
    ' Do error handling here.
    Throw New ApplicationException( _
        "The publication property could not be changed.", ex)
Finally
    conn.Disconnect()
End Try

This example disables DDL replication for a merge publication.

          // Define the server, database, and publication names
            string publisherName = publisherInstance;
            string publicationName = "AdvWorksSalesOrdersMerge";
            string publicationDbName = "AdventureWorks";

            MergePublication publication;

            // Create a connection to the Publisher.
            ServerConnection conn = new ServerConnection(publisherName);

            try
            {
                // Connect to the Publisher.
                conn.Connect();

                // Set the required properties for the publication.
                publication = new MergePublication();
                publication.ConnectionContext = conn;
                publication.Name = publicationName;
                publication.DatabaseName = publicationDbName;


                // If we can't get the properties for this merge publication, then throw an application exception.
                if (publication.LoadProperties())
                {
                    // If DDL replication is currently enabled, disable it.
                    if (publication.ReplicateDdl == DdlReplicationOptions.All)
                    {
                        publication.ReplicateDdl = DdlReplicationOptions.None;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        publication.ReplicateDdl = DdlReplicationOptions.All;
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    throw new ApplicationException(String.Format(
                        "Settings could not be retrieved for the publication. " +
                        "Ensure that the publication {0} exists on {1}.",
                        publicationName, publisherName));
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // Do error handling here.
                throw new ApplicationException(
                    "The publication property could not be changed.", ex);
            }
            finally
            {
                conn.Disconnect();
            }

' Define the server, database, and publication names
Dim publisherName As String = publisherInstance
Dim publicationName As String = "AdvWorksSalesOrdersMerge"
Dim publicationDbName As String = "AdventureWorks"

Dim publication As MergePublication

' Create a connection to the Publisher.
Dim conn As ServerConnection = New ServerConnection(publisherName)

Try
    ' Connect to the Publisher.
    conn.Connect()

    ' Set the required properties for the publication.
    publication = New MergePublication()
    publication.ConnectionContext = conn
    publication.Name = publicationName
    publication.DatabaseName = publicationDbName

    ' If we can't get the properties for this merge publication, then throw an application exception.
    If publication.LoadProperties() Then
        ' If DDL replication is currently enabled, disable it.
        If publication.ReplicateDdl = DdlReplicationOptions.All Then
            publication.ReplicateDdl = DdlReplicationOptions.None
        Else
            publication.ReplicateDdl = DdlReplicationOptions.All
        End If
    Else
        Throw New ApplicationException(String.Format( _
         "Settings could not be retrieved for the publication. " + _
         "Ensure that the publication {0} exists on {1}.", _
         publicationName, publisherName))
    End If
Catch ex As Exception
    ' Do error handling here.
    Throw New ApplicationException( _
        "The publication property could not be changed.", ex)
Finally
    conn.Disconnect()
End Try

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create a Publication (RMO Programming)

How to: Delete a Publication (RMO Programming)

How to: View and Modify Publication Properties (Replication Transact-SQL Programming)

Concepts

Publishing Data and Database Objects