Version Management
Drafts
System Drafts are independent alternative versions of the system. Even though, there are some dependencies between objects in Master Archive and Drafts.
Creating a Draft
By creating a Draft, we have to select what version will be a starting point for that Draft. In the sample diagram, our Draft A1 is derived from Master Archive version V2, therefore all objects in A1 will have the starting state the same as in V2. User can modify existing objects or add new objects. All changes are visible only in this Draft and will not affect objects in V2 or V3.
A2 represents a Snapshot in a Draft - it can be seen as "save state" operation that will distinguish changes made before and after a snapshot was taken.
If the Archive works in a relaxed mode, in place changes for each version are allowed. This can result in several conflicts. For example, if a user chooses to delete an object in A1 that was originally added in V2 it will not be possible to delete that object in V2. A proper warning message will be shown to the user, indicating that selected object was already modified (deleted) in future versions.
Discarding a Draft
By discarding a Draft, all changes made in that draft are removed from the system permanently. There is no indication that the draft existed.
Publishing a Draft
Publishing a Draft means that a user would like to merge changes made in the Draft to Master Archive. There are different possibilities, but current implementation has only one publish mode that will:
Flatten all changes made in the Draft to one version (no snapshots)
Create a new version in the Master Archive that will contain this change set.
Discard the Draft
Once the publish function is started, a process window will be shown and a process state can be observed. User can continue to work and close the window or entire application.
Function will be executed as server task and run independently from UI.
Quick Access to drafts
Basic version (Draft) operations can now be accessed under Version information panel.
Operations include:
When a version from Master Archive is opened, a user can create a new draft. System version is switched to this draft automatically after the draft is created.
When a Draft is selected a user can
Discard the draft. A draft will be deleted and the system will be switched to default version.
Publish the Draft (with option to set as default system version)
A new draft form now includes version selection buttons. Previously, a Draft was created from a selected version in AV manager.
This led to mistakes, when a Draft was created from a wrong version. Now, by default, a system Default version will be used.
A user that wants to create a Draft from different version, should explicitly change this value on this form.
Simple Version Tree with one Alternative (Draft)