Accessing Application Versions from the Portal Landing Page

Description

This article describes options for managing user access to different versions of your published applications. It does not contain details on version control for modeling and design work.

Package vs Category

Once you have completed modeling and testing your project you can publish it for installation on a production server. The name of the published package can include version numbers, such as 'Package-1-1' for Major-Minor release number, or the release date, such as Package_YYYYMMDD. In addition to the package name, the package also contains the Category name, which it takes from the project's folder name in the Designer.

Version Control and Naming

As you update your application and republish it, it is important for you to be able to manage the different versions of your application. The package name and category can play a part in this.

Case 1: The name of the category is the same as that of the published package; for example:    

 MyPackage (Category) references MyPackage (published package)

Case 2: You update the name of the published package with each iteration: 

MyPackageCategory references
MyPackage-1-1
MyPackage-1-2
MyPackage-2-1 etc.

Case 3: You create separate project folders with each version and name the published package accordingly:

MyPackageCategory-1-1 references MyPackage-1-1
MyPackageCategory-1-2 references MyPackage-1-2
etc.

You can discuss the pros and cons of the above approaches with your LogicNets representative, but the second option offers a good combination of simplicity with a level of version control.

Advanced Note: When displaying packages on a user's dashboard, it is important to consider whether the application the user should access is always the most recently published version or if there may be instances where the user needs to access a previous version. 

Assigning Package Name to Groups

The packages a user sees on the dashboard are controlled in the User Management module under Groups. The group to which the user is assigned has associated packages.

 

When the User Administrator assigns a specific package to a user or group of users, the package appears as an icon on the user's landing page. With the cases mentioned above, the following happens when you publish a new version of the application:

Case 1:
If the application is updated and republished using the same category and package name as it had previously, when you install the updated package no additional action is required.

Case 2 and Case 3:
In Case 2 and Case 3, the updated application was assigned a new name when it was published. Therefore, the User Administrator will need to re-associate the new package to the user groups. Note: The Package Installer identifies that the old and new package both have the same category and automatically inactivate the old version.

Assigning Category Name to Groups (Release 7.4+)

With LogicNets v7.4 and higher, you are able to set the categories on the dashboard in addition to the packages. This means that the system takes into account the category of the published package as well as the name. With the cases mentioned above, the following happens when you publish a new version of the application:

Case 1 and Case 2:
If you update and republish your application there is no additional action required in the User Management module, because the system identifies the consistent category name.

Case 3: 
Because you included version information in both the category and package name, the user administrator must make take the following actions in the User Management module: 

• Assign the new category OR package to the group.
• Deactivate the old package or it still appears on the landing page for those users and groups to which it was assigned.