Change Control and Patch Versioning Considerations

When using change control or patch versioning:

• Use patch versioning to control historical data (that is, each change to any entity such as classes, interfaces, methods, properties, or constants) in the JADE development environment.

  The latest patch control version number applies to a method checked out by you to a delta. A method checked out by another user relates to the penultimate patch version number.

• Deltas and the associated change control relate only to methods, and are useful for runtime testing. Change control applies only to methods, which are checked into and out of deltas.

  A delta applies only to the latest patch control version. It does not maintain historical information about changes to methods.

• When patch versioning is enabled, you can execute only the latest version of a method. (The changes that you can view by using the Compare Sources window accessed from the Summary of Patches window are for display purposes only, although you can apply a specific version of a source to become the latest source.)

  When using change control and you are not set to the delta in which a method is checked out, you can execute the previous source of the checked out method; that is, the checked in version.

• Checking out a method enables you to test that method without affecting other users who are not set to that delta.

  Any testing of a changed method when patch versioning is enabled affects all other developers, regardless of any delta in which they may be working.

• A method is checked out at the delta level and not at the level of the user within that delta who checks out the method.

  If patch versioning is set, any developer who has access to that method can see all method source changes.

• When you have patch versioning enabled for a schema and a method is checked out in another delta, the Summary of Patches window displays only the method that is checked in.

  You cannot view (or compare) any changes made to that checked out method until it has been checked back in to the delta.

• Extracting changed entities extracts only the latest change. For example, if five changes have been made to a method source in one patch version, only the last change is extracted; that is, earlier source changes in that patch version are lost.

  You can, however, use the Apply button in the Compare Sources window (accessed from the Summary of Patches window) to compare change versions to a source within a patch and to apply a specific change so that it becomes the latest one before you extract your changes. However, applying an earlier change to a method source may affect other developers.

  When extracting from a delta in which methods are checked out, the checked out versions of those methods are extracted. However, checked in methods are extracted if you are extracting from another delta; that is, your extracted method sources may not be the latest.

For details, see "Change Control" in Chapter 2 and "Patch Versioning" in Chapter 3.