by allistar >> Sat, 2 Mar 2002 1:10:17 GMT
Hi there,
I have seen a few messages on this newsgroup that relate
specifically to an easy way to internally manage and then release
changes to a Jade application.
Just a bit of background on us: We have been developing a large Jade application for the last 4 years and have > 100 sites using it. Our development team consists of 8 developers in various locations around
NZ.
Here are the problems we faced:
- "urgent" fixes need to be released to sites quickly.
- not all sites will be on the same version of our product.
- fixes should be able to be applied quickly and efficiently.
We have tried numerous systems for this, from the Jade patch system
to our homegrown utilities. We have finally developed what seems to
solve all of the major problems with a deploying a project like this:
- we have only one multiuser development system.
- logs (what we call bugs or enhancements) are developed using deltas
in the one development system.
- we have a Jade application that effectively manages deltas for
classes (we call it the "class locking system"). This is to prevent a developer from changing a class (adding properties/constants etc.) if that same class has already been changed by a log.
- we release one file to our sites (called a "package") which contains many logs in it. We have c++ software on site which breaks open the package and follows an automated script (stored in the package) to
apply the fixes to the site. The advantage of the scripting system is that we can get it to do anything, from importing .scm/.ddb files, running methods in the database, copying files to the bin/system directories, doing a database compact or database remapping - anything
we need).
- we have a system internally that automatically creates an
extracts.unl file (by peeking at the metadata stored in our
development system) which the developer then uses to make the
..scm/.ddb extract, and that system will automatically bundle that log into the compressed package.
Anyway, it seems to have overcome the biggest issues we have had with deployment, and also make the job of development a lot easier (as the system does a lot of the administrative work for you, leaving you to
do what you do best - write code).
If anyone wants to know anything extra about this or to discuss particular issues they have with their deployment, maybe we can get a discussion going to help out the wider Jade community and make all of
our systems more efficient.
Regards,
Allistar.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Allistar Melville
Software Developer
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Greentree International,
Developer of Greentree Financial Software. ------------------------------------------------------------------