Copying Data Between Databases

Data can be copied between two on-premise or two cloud databases, between an on-premise or a cloud database and a transportable database, or between two transportable databases.

A non-current database can be opened as a guest database to copy data between two on-premise databases on the same machine or network, or two cloud databases on the same hub, or between an on-premise database and a cloud one.

Note: You can paste data copied from an on-premise database opened as a guest into a cloud database but you cannot currently paste data from a cloud database opened as a guest into an on-premise database.

A transportable database may be used for transferring data:

Between on-premise databases in an organisation.
Between cloud databases in an organisation.
Between on-premise databases and cloud databases in an organisation.
Between cloud databases and on-premise databases in an organisation.
When sending data to Autodesk as part of a support request.

The table below illustrates the copy options between the different types of databases.

Copy from	Copy to
Copy from	Cloud	On-premise Workgroup Standard	On-premise Workgroup Oracle	On-premise SQL server	On-premise Standalone	Transportable with on-premise data	Transportable with cloud data
Cloud	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES
On-premise Workgroup Standard	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
On-premise Workgroup Oracle	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
On-premise SQL server	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
On-premise Standalone	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Transportable with on-premise data	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Transportable with cloud data	YES	YES	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES

Note: A transportable database can contain a mixture of on-premise and cloud data.

Copy and paste

Objects are copied and pasted between databases in the same way as within a database. You can paste data copied from an earlier version of a database into a newer version but you cannot paste data copied from a newer version of a database into an earlier version, unless you update the earlier version to the same version as the newer database.

Copying and pasting is recursive. When an object is copied, all descendants of the object are copied with it. For example, if you copy a group, all items and groups contained in the parent group will also be copied.

To copy data from / to a database other than the current database:

Select OpenOpen/Create database from the File menu. The Open/create dialog is displayed.
Select which type of database you want to open and the relevant Open Database dialog is displayed. See Open a Database for further information.
Select the applicable database and click OK. The database tree should be displayed in the Explorer window. If it is not:
- Select New Explorer window from the Window menu to display it.
Open another on-premise or cloud database or a transportable database that you want to copy:
Note: You must use a transportable database if you want to copy data from a cloud database to an on-premise database or simulation results from a cloud database to an on-premise or another cloud database.
- To open another on-premise or cloud database, select OpenOpen another database from the File menu. The Open/create dialog is displayed.
  - Select which type of database you want to open and the relevant Open Database dialog is displayed.
  - Open the relevant database. (Multiple guest databases may be opened.)
- To open a transportable database, select OpenOpen transportable database from the File menu and choose the relevant database. (Multiple transportable databases may be opened.)
  Tip: To copy results for cloud simulations, choose a transportable with a database version 2024.5 or newer. Copying simulation results are not supported in earlier versions.
In the Explorer view for the database, right-click on the top level of data you want to copy. For example, you can choose a whole model group or any item in a model group (such as a network or a Selection List group).
Tip: To copy results for cloud simulations to a transportable database, ensure that full results have been downloaded for the applicable simulations. Simulations that have summary or no results downloaded will not be copied.

Note: You cannot currently copy TSD objects in a cloud database to another cloud, on-premise or transportable database.
Select Copy from the popup menu.
In the Explorer view for the database to be copied to, right-click on the item that is to contain the copied data and select Paste from the popup menu.
Network data and supported cloud database items can be pasted from a database containing on-premise data to a cloud database. Any database items that are not available in cloud databases will not be pasted even if they were included in the copied on-premise data.

Simulation results for any run copied to a cloud database from an on-premise or cloud database will not be available in the destination cloud database. The Results unavailable icon () will be displayed under applicable runs in the Explorer Window.

InfoWorks ICM will copy all items of data at or below the selected level.

This process can be repeated as often as is necessary, so that any combination of data items are copied to the database.

Copy duplicate objects

All objects in an InfoWorks ICM on-premise or cloud database (or transportable) are identified by a globally unique database identifier (GUID).

InfoWorks ICM checks if objects being copied to a database already exist in the database. If there are duplicate objects (including any in the Recycle bin for on-premise databases but not for cloud databases), the Copying Of Duplicate Items dialog is displayed:

Click OK to continue to paste the objects. Items that already exist in the database will be duplicated there. The duplicate items have an exclamation mark (!) appended to the item name to create a unique name from the old name. A new unique identifier is also generated.
Click Cancel, and no data will be copied (regardless of whether it is duplicate or not).

Objects are not overwritten.

If an object with the same GUID already exists in the cloud database's Recycle bin, the Copying of Duplicate Items dialog is not displayed. The pasted object is automatically assigned a new GUID and will appear in the Explorer window without an ! appended to its name.

Copy runs and simulation results, ground models and time series data objects

When simulation results, ground models and/or scalar and/or spatial time series data (TSD) objects are copied, the Copying of Simulation Results, Ground Models and Time Series Data Objects dialog is displayed. This lists the simulation results, ground models and time series data objects that have been selected for copying. This dialog gives you the choice to include or exclude certain data types from the copy process. The ability to exclude some data from the copy operation is useful as some of it is potentially very large.

Check Copy Simulation Results to copy simulation results.
When copying simulation results from a cloud database to a transportable database, the Copying of Simulation Results from Cloud Database dialog will be displayed if any of the copied simulations do not have full results downloaded. Click:
- Continue to proceed without copying the results for the listed simulations
- Cancel to stop the copy operation so you can download full results and then copy the data again.
Check Copy Ground Models to copy ground model data.
Check No (only available when no simulation is present in the item to be copied), Yes - all data or Yes - only data referenced by copied simulations as required to copy time series data objects.
Note: The Copy time series data options are currently disabled when copying TSD objects from a cloud database.
Click Continue to copy the selected data. Any model data required to reproduce the run will always be copied (see note below).
Click Cancel to abandon the entire copy process.

Important note about runs and simulations in on-premise databases

If runs or simulation results are copied between databases, any associated data needed to reproduce the run will also be copied as long as you follow the correct procedure.

If you paste the run into a Run Group in the destination database then:

If the associated data (for example the network) has previously been copied into the destination database, ICM will restore the relationships between the run and this data.
If the associated data is copied after the run, relationships will not be restored.

The recommended practice is to organise your data sensibly in model groups and then to copy entire model groups between databases.

Note: When copying simulation results that are stored locally, rather than on the server, the copy operation will only be successful if the two on-premise databases share the same remote root directory. See Results Management if you do not know where your results are stored.

Important note about runs and simulations in cloud databases

If runs are copied from a cloud database, any associated data needed to reproduce the run will also be copied as long as you follow the correct procedure.

If you paste the run into a Run Group in the destination database then:

If the associated data (for example the network) has previously been copied into the destination database, ICM will restore the relationships between the run and this data.
If the associated data is copied after the run, relationships will not be restored.

The recommended practice is to organise your data sensibly in model groups and then to copy entire model groups between databases.

Simulation results for any run pasted to a cloud database from an on-premise or another cloud database will not be available in the destination cloud database. The Results unavailable icon (

) will be displayed under applicable runs in the Explorer Window. To view the result for a simulation included in that run, you must re-run it:

Open the run and click Re-run simulations in the InfoWorks or SWMM Schedule Hydraulic Run view.
Select Re-run simulation from the popup menu in the Results Management view.

Copy manifests

When copying manifests, the Select objects for copying dialog is displayed. This lists all the items included in the database in a tree. The items which are associated with the selected manifest, such as themes and layer lists, runs and alerts, are expanded in the tree and are checked.

Click on any associated items that you do not want to be copied. The check will be replaced by a cross, indicating that it is to be excluded from the copy operation.
Click OK to copy the data.
Click Cancel to abandon the entire copy process.

Copy workspaces

When you copy a workspace between databases, ICM will automatically copy all the underlying data required to recreate that workspace in the new database. You do not need to select this data yourself. This extremely powerful feature enables you to transfer complete projects easily and simply between databases.