I was wondering how this module compares to Node Export? From their descriptions, it sounds like the features of Node Export are a superset of those of UUID Features- Node Export claims to allow for the export/import of content in Features using UUID.

In the short-term, I'm just looking for an answer because I'm trying to decide which module to use to import config-content (Webforms) between dev and live sites.

In the long-term, if these modules have similar goals, I'd like to see development efforts consolidated into just one, to prevent duplicated effort and end-user confusion (such as my own!)

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bsandor’s picture

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wizonesolutions’s picture

This was a good question that was perhaps just asked at a time when the maintainers were busy. So thought to bump it and ask if it is still a relevant question given the direction UUID Features is taking (i.e. using Deploy?)

And if it's relevant...what are the differences between the two? I've wondered this numerous times.

IrishGringo’s picture

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drclaw’s picture

I've been testing both this module and the node export module pretty extensively for the past week so I'll chime in here with some of my initial findings. I should note that my initial interest in these modules was for pushing content between the same site on different servers (dev, staging, production). I have found, so far, that neither module quite fulfills my needs, but I am still playing around with them.

Node Export:

  • Only exports nodes directly, although I think other entities are supported through dependencies. I have more to test on that front, however.
  • Has some bugs, but is in active development and the maintainer is quite active in the issue queue.
  • Pretty much works out of the box as expected.
  • Images (and presumably all files -- I haven't actually tested that yet) are exported as base 64 encoded strings which means that images are actually recreated on import. This is kind of neat, as it saves the trouble of syncing files folders between sites, but it increses the size of the export file quite a bit if there are a lot of images involved.
  • One Major flaw for me was that the node import process wouldn't respect authorship of nodes. All nodes authors are reset to the logged in user. There are lots of requests in the module issue queue requesting this feature, and at first glance, it seemed like the maintainer was pushing back (#1539008: Retain author information). However, I get the feeling he's actually working on it. See #794836: Handle Authors and #1586204: Improve dependency handling.
  • Exporting a large number of nodes is not really the best through the features interface (you have to check each node individually), but the module supports vbo now. Unfortunately it doesn't use the batch API to export large numbers of nodes so you're limited by your php memory limit.

UUID Features:

  • Can't export without patches (http://drupal.org/node/1245582#comment-5837264 and http://drupal.org/node/965450#comment-5837286)
  • Once patched, Taxonomy import/export works well
  • So far I haven't been able to get the node import to work. Specifically, I'm having trouble with file and image fields. I think I've got it figured out though and I'm working on a patch
  • Hasn't seen much maintainer activity in a while. Last commit was 28 weeks ago by Rob Loach. Has somewhat been kept alive by the community (i.e. the patches listed above). This is possibly because of the direction that the UUID module has chosen to go regarding features (Deploy) as @wizonesolutions mentioned above.
  • Exporting a large number of entities is not really the best through the features interface (you have to check each node individually)
Dane Powell’s picture

Thanks for the comparison, drclaw. It sounds like Node Export is currently superior in terms of features, reliability, and support. If that's the case, UUID Features should be merged and then marked as obsolete.

drclaw’s picture

Hi @Dane Powell,

I actually just did more testing today. I agree that Node Export is superior, especially along the lines of development pace and support. @danielb seems to be working quite hard to get everything working. However, I finally got the chance to test out the latest development version (I had originally been using the current recommended release: 7.x-3.0-rc3) and it seems that node relationships and taxonomy terms aren't quite importing yet. I know the maintainer has recently changed relationship/dependency handling though so it's possible that it's just not fully working yet. Also I may have messed something up. I'll post on the node export issue queue and see what comes up.

Also, further looking into the files issues I was having with uuid_features proved the problem was greater than I had anticipated. Usually I would try and fix it and contribute, but I'm uncertain as to whether this project has actually been abandoned or not. It does seem like the recommended route for features from the uuid guys is to use Deploy, so maybe uuid_features has been put aside in favour of that. It would be nice to get a little feedback from the maintainers of this project. =/

drclaw’s picture

Also, I've realized now that you can change the base 64 encoding of files and just import the file path in Node Export

Jeffrey C.’s picture

Node export focuses on exporting "nodes", while UUID Features supports all entites with an UUID. While Node export might be in a better shape and more usable now, in the future UUID Features will definitely be more flexible and widely usable. A similar alternative would be Default Content, which was later taken over by me and marked as deprecated in favor of UUID Features. In short, if you just want a quick way of exporting a number of entities (like nodes and nodequeues, for example), use Default Content or Node export. If you want a more complete solution with the flexibility to export every entity, try UUID Features. While UUID is still in alpha, it's impossible for a stable version of UUID Features to be released. So if you're looking for stability or you're developing for a production site, don't use UUID Features. Different opinions are welcome.

Jeffrey C.’s picture

Title: Comparison with Node Export module? » Comparison with Node export (and possibly other modules with similar functionalities)?
windmaomao’s picture

I am puzzled why uuid chose deploy module as their preferred way of syncing content. This doesn't make much sense to me.

Just because UUID started from services module development, doesn't mean we have to stick with services which was designed nothing to do with deployment. I wish I could read more about about the design concepts behind UUID, Deploy, Services.

Jeffrey C.’s picture

I'm afraid you'll have to post in UUID's issue queue for response to this question.

Iztok’s picture

What would you recommend for building a distribution (demo content)?

I have checked some distros, commerce_kickstart uses import, open enterprise uses defaultcontent.

Your thoughts?

Jeffrey C.’s picture

I won't actually "create" nodes in a module. Instead, I prefer the import way.

saltednut’s picture

@Iztok check out http://drupal.org/project/df - should help with demo content :)

Iztok’s picture

brantwynn looks very helpful, thank you!

scotwith1t’s picture

Issue summary: View changes

I would say, as of now, this is severely outdated. The latest dev of uuid_features supports:

and probably more that I'm not outlining here, in addition to just node content.

uberhacker’s picture

The uuid_features module was the glue I needed to export content via Features. The node_export module is now outdated since uuid_features provides much more flexibility. The main selling point is content can actually be exported to file(s) that can be used during migrations in an elegant manner.