Platform Update - 3.9 CTP 3 update
The 3.9 update for the Platform products is being rolled out.
Today, the last CTP version has become available for the Platform products - Architect, Generator & Framework.
CTP means Community Technology Preview, and with this version you can preview selected new features for the platform products and give us your feedback on it.
In this post we first explain where to the get the new versions.
After which the release notes for the Architect, Framework and Generator are given.
We also have a part about Deployment here since there is some new functionality when integrating with the 3.9 Platform.
Important upgrade notices
- When your application contains Novulo Instructies M4813, make sure it is least at revision 416 before integrating with Architect 3.9.
- Opening and saving a component with Architect 3.9 will perform a one way conversion of the model. As a result, you can no longer edit or integrate that component with 3.8 or lower without losing data. Therefore, components that are used in applications that are not yet ready to be upgraded to 3.9, should not be edited with 3.9.
- Applications that are integrated with Architect 3.9 must also be generated with Generator 3.9 and deployed with the 3.9 Framework.
- When editing or integrating a model with Architect 3.9, model errors that went unnoticed in 3.8 may now be detected. This is expected. In most cases, these errors can be corrected using Architect 3.8, which is what we advise you to do.
- When upgrading the Novulo Instructions component (this is required when integrating with Architect 3.9) some test configuration which has been stored within the application may be found that cannot be directly converted to the new structure. In such cases, you will be provided with a back-up file containing the original test configuration.
Where to get the new versions
Architect: select 3.9-CTP in the Architect starter or use 3.9-CTP in deployment for your order
Generator: use generator_3_9_ctp in deployment
Framework: deploy your application after generating with the 3.9-CTP generator and use the embedded Framework (or a newer 3.9-NB framework, should they become available)
Novulo Instructions (M4813): select revision 416 (or higher) in the composer
Headless Test Runner 1.6.0.2: download here
Release notes
Architect (3.9-CTP.C12978)
Business and test processes
With the release of Architect 3.9 the component documentation and business & test processes which were introduced in 3.7 with the use of plugins, have been fully integrated into the Architect.
This integration provides developers to add, create, update & maintain documentation and tests within components to increase quality.
Extensive documentation about the business & test processes can be found here: community post
To view the documentation and run the tests in your generated application, your application needs to contain the Novulo Instructions component (M4813) with revision 416 (or higher). The tests themselves need to be run with the Headless Test Runner.
Page & process documentation
You can now add documentation to each page, form, grid, field and button.
It is also possible to add documentation to the new business tasks.
For pages and business activities there is also the possibility to add an introduction and afterword.
The easiest way to enter this is by using the translations & documentation editor discussed below.
This documentation, introduction and afterword are displayed in the application when it contains the component M4813 – Novulo Instructies.
Translations & documentation editor
The Translations & documentation editor can be seen in the previous Architect screenshot.
With this editor it is possible to easily add and edit translations and documentation of your model, using an interface similar to Excel. To open it, right click on any element of your model and choose “Translate” (alternatively, in the ribbon, choose View → Show panel → Translations & documentation).
The editor has the following features:
- When you select an element (for example in the explorer-tree), the translations & documentation editor automatically updates to show only the translations for that element.
- When you select a row in the editor, the corresponding element is automatically selected in the appropriate panel.
- It has a button to toggle whether all translations & documentation for the subtree are shown, or whether to stop at subpages.
- It has a button to toggle whether all rows are shown, or only (partially) untranslated rows.
- It has buttons to toggle whether translations for UI elements are shown and a button to toggle whether translations for documentation elements are shown.
- It can be easily navigated using the keyboard (including tab and enter)
- A single value can be copied to other rows and columns, by using the small black square at the bottom right of a selected cell.
PI46225 - Consume features at produce concepts in Architect
It is now possible that produced concepts in your component can have consume features.
This change allows you to produce concepts in the logical component, instead of having to use “dummy” components.
To change the consume back to a produce, use the “Convert to produce” option in the context menu of the virtual page.
The consumed concept will then be converted to a produced concept. The virtual page itself will be made the details page of the produced concept and it will be linked under the first grid of that record type in the component.
PI48372 - Add notification + quickfix for unused consumed concepts
When your component has unused consumed concepts now a notification is shown, with a quickfix to remove the concept.
PI48358 - Process component list search also takes produced proces concept name into account
A search in the process component list now also checks the produced process concept name:
PI42643 - Show onchange process in context menu
You can now also access the onchange processes in the right mouse menu for fields:
PI46656 - Right mouse menu in My Recent Projects
On the start page of the Architect in the My Recent Projects panel a right mouse menu is now available with which you can open a component in edit or in view mode.
PI41677 - Expression editor: Being able to see multiple languages of a message in read only mode (e.g. in compare mode)
It is now possible to see the message box of a message expression when you are in read only mode, for example when you are comparing.
PI45277 - Start integration based on integration string from GUI
In an integrated system it is now possible to edit the integration string in the Components manager.
This integration string is checked against the minimal component revision status when you press Update.
PI45696 - Highlight problem in problems tab when a FClass is selected
When you click an element in the Architect and it has one or more entries in the problems tab, the problems tab will scroll to those entries and highlight them.
Other changes & bug fixes
PI49551 - Remove 50 characters limit for plugin identifier of “old-style” plugins
PI51222 - Replace code signing certificate
PI52768 - Exception in problem visitor when “type” contains a dollar sign
PI52427 - LoadPage on consumed concrete superclass not replaced correctly during integration
PI53046 - Generator error details dialog never shows Generator URL
PI52662 - When loading a model with the DatOutputter generateId cannot generate an id when maxId > Integer.MAX_VALUE
PI49758 - Architect: Convert to Checkbox stelt Required field in
PI50558 - Exception in dialoogje bij op-CTP-zetten-bij-opslaan
PI52022 - Update produced FAttribute when mapped field is deleted
PI50179 - Exceptions when a WFComponentProxy refers to a non-existing process
PI49398 - Consumed processes referenced in plugins should be replaced during integration
Known issue – Create a test process for a consumed superclass
At the moment it is not possible to create a test process for a consumed superclass. After integration the test process is as it is configured for the first subclass. For the RC we will make this functionality available.
Framework (3.9-CTP.C12976) & Generator (3.9-CTP.C12976)
Minor framework changes:
PI38424 - Copy deeplinks to records to the clipboard: icons updated
PI53268 - Upload field: Rename ‘Select files’ to ‘Select file’
PI53276 - Translate “cannot get previous/next record”
PI52578 - Improve process logging for basic special cases
PI53390 - Use a separate method to build configuration options for kendo widgets inside formelements
Business process related generator changes:
PI52985 - P4 (name TBD) as own FClass
PI53095 - Use “overriddenDocumentationSrcId”
PI53128 - Support “NavigateToPage” action
PI52949 - Standardize names of descriptive components
PI43884 - Generate documentation.xml for documentation in model - process part: bugfix
PI53576 - For page buttons ‘title’ node is missing in documentation.xml
Deployment
To facilitate the transition to 3.9 the following changes have been made in deployment:
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Documentation problems are listed separately. These problems were not reported by 3.8 and, depending on how you use business & test processes, they might not be critical problems for your application. By listing them separately, it will make it less likely that you overlook problems that are critical.
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A check has been added to prevent using 3.9 with an incompatible version of M4813 - Novulo Instructies.
