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Forge Component Version tracking should be easier
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It is difficult to track down a version of a forge component once you have installed it in your environment and the component receives new updates from the community. 

It should be easier to check how far behind I am in adopting a newer version of a particular forge component by just going to Service Center or best in LifeTime itself.

Based on a trustable hashing algorigthm, why can OutSystems not determine if the package hash for the version of Forge component is matching with a signature with a published component and if so flag it to me easily. If the match does not happen then tell me that I have customized the copy of forge component so it is not possible to track it against the public repository.

02 Oct 2020
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What's wrong with the upgrade notification in Service Studio? Is that not meeting your needs in some way?

J.Ja

04 Oct 2020
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Thanks for reaching out Justin, no it does not help with what it shows at the moment.


A lot of times, I may not be interested in upgrading the forge component I have if it is not an update worthy for my use - security or functionality improvement. To make this kind of decision what I currently do is, I go to the "what's new" release notes of the component and then look at the release notes to decide if I need to commit time to upgrade it. It is during this moment, it would be tremendous help if I get a hint at what version my specific environment is with that forge component.


Cheers

Dhruvin

05 Oct 2020
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Got it! So is the fix to move this functionality to Lifetime or Service Center... or is it to better enhance what is seen in Service Studio to make it easier to identify the difference between currently installed vs. what's in the version being offered?

J.Ja

05 Oct 2020
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Merged this idea with 'Compare new OutSystems UI release in Service Studio' (created on 08 Oct 2020 09:31:01 by William Vermeulen)
09 Oct 2020
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It would be great if you could compare your current version of OutSystems UI with the most recent.

The notification bell allows you to update the component, but does not indicate what has been changed between your current version 2.x and the latest. Since f.e. the DatePicker behavior gets fixed and improved over time. 


I can imagine you don't want to just bluntly update, but do a impact analysis first. Also (regression) testing the apps that use the OS UI framework to prevent unwanted issues :-) 


Also if you are using a version that gets marked as Deprecated, you should be triggered to update (with an explanation ofc ). 

This idea could as well apply to other components that are listed as "ready for update" in the notification section.  



This comment was:
- originally posted on idea 'Compare new OutSystems UI release in Service Studio' (created on 08 Oct 2020 by William Vermeulen)
- merged to idea 'Forge Component Version tracking should be easier' on 09 Oct 2020 19:41:48 by Justin James
08 Oct 2020
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Hi William

Thanks for the suggestions, I really like the one for deprecated elements!

Question: when you say compare, do you mean having some visual indicator, e.g. merge window to compare both version? Or having for instance some sort of release notes so you can check what changed quickly?


My regards



This comment was:
- originally posted on idea 'Compare new OutSystems UI release in Service Studio' (created on 08 Oct 2020 by William Vermeulen)
- merged to idea 'Forge Component Version tracking should be easier' on 09 Oct 2020 19:41:49 by Justin James
09 Oct 2020
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I also appreciate the idea about deprecated elements, but this could be literally any changes that have happened so far.

To question from Justin James - ideally both places, the ServiceCenter and LifeTime together are serving that single place for tracking version then somehow this Forge Component versioning should be incorporated there itself. As an environment owner, I would not want to have multiple sources of truth for this. 


To question from Dinis Carvalho - Service Studio version comparison always feels like it is in the baby steps, it does good job for what features it already supports but it will be great if it can provide ability to do version compare with other sources such as "online forge repository" rather than just old versions or a file. 

12 Oct 2020
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Hi Dinis,



Question: when you say compare, do you mean having some visual indicator, e.g. merge window to compare both version? Or having for instance some sort of release notes so you can check what changed quickly?


Answer: Yes, like a merge window or so. In the case of the UI components get also more insight on what has been changed over time. The DatePicker is an excellent example in this. 


12 Oct 2020
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Hi all,

Yes, a better Forge Component Management functionality is required!

The current available from Service Studio with the bell notification is very basic.

Currently what I do to track the versions installed of Forge Components is to go to LifeTime and tag the application with the same version number from the Forge, and include in the description of the tag all the information for that version.

Really more annoying is the BUG of LifeTime that it does not update the names and icons of the applications, even though they are updated. For example here "Silk UI Mobile" is actually the old name of the now new "OutSystems UI" (Reactive)!

This is described in this Post (https://www.outsystems.com/forums/discussion/60472/not-visible-in-lifetime/), and registered as RPD 4774.

There is also the Forge Component "Forge Components Installed Versions" (https://www.outsystems.com/forge/component-overview/8152/forge-components-installed-versions) that allows you to see which version you have installed in the environment. This is already helpful.

I think the component could be improved, for example, with direct links to the Forge page of the component.

--Tiago Bernardo

18 Nov 2020
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Changed the category to
Community Forge
10 Jun 2021
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We should not have to rely on forge components for this functionality. It should be built into the platform itself.

29 Jun 2021
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Merged this idea with 'Display version number of forge component in service center' (created on 21 Mar 2024 01:35:32 by sherwin)
22 Mar 2024
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Just want to display the version number of the installed component in the environment vs the current version uploaded on Forge.

I know that the developer of the component can add the version number to the description but not all developers do that. 

I think that displaying the version number will be helpful to developers to know the compatibility of the currently installed forge component on the environment and the breaking change/s will be done once the updated from the current version to the latest version

21 Mar 2024
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We have been adding the version number from the Forge in the Application's description (if it hasn't been mentioned in the modules description, which some component developers do).

But yes, it would be nice if there is some default coverage of this by OS.

21 Mar 2024
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