MATRIXX Pricing Repository

All items that comprise a pricing plan are based in XML and stored in a pricing repository in the Subversion version control system.

Using a version control system to manage the pricing repository has several benefits:

  • The source control stores the date and time each catalog item was created, when it was checked out or checked in, and the user who performed the action. This provides a secure way to tracks all file changes.
  • File versions can be compared and pricing plans can be built based on any file version. Version control also provides automatic archival of files.
  • Users can have separate, local, workspaces so multiple users can work on the same or different product catalogs simultaneously without hampering the work of others.
  • Users can compile an XML version of the pricing plan that can be loaded into a development system and tested for accuracy.
  • Accidental deletions can be recovered and the latest file version checked into source control can be restored.

Figure 1 illustrates how the MATRIXX pricing model is based on a secure, reliable system that allows multiple users to collaborate on the same pricing plan.

Figure 1. Multi-User Pricing Environment

When more than one My MATRIXX instance uses the same version-controlled pricing repository, each instance uses ID Reservations to make the object IDs it creates available to the other My MATRIXX instances, so there are not conflicts caused by two separate My MATRIXX instances using the same object ID values. For information about configuring ID Reservation, see the discussion about configuring My MATRIXX properties.

The suggested location for the MATRIXX pricing repository is the /var/mtx_catalog_builder/repo directory on the My MATRIXX pod. The files in this repository are in Subversion's internal file format and are not in a readable pricing format. They contain all history for each pricing file, the log statements that accompany that history, and other information that Subversion needs for managing files.

Local workspaces are located in the /var/mtx_catalog_builder/temp/mtx_workspace directory. Each user's private workspace is updated with every change they make to any item in a pricing plan.