Version control in version 17-up

• Article Type: General
• Product: Aleph
• Product Version: 17.01

Description:
What is the Version Control workflow in V17?

Resolution:
The Version Control uses the following parameters in alephcom.ini and guisys.ini and it works as follows:

C:\AL500\ALEPHCOM\TAB\alephcom.ini
[VersionControl]
Library=USM01
Type=sp_exe
RunAtStartup=Y

C:\AL500\ALEPHCOM\TAB\guisys.ini
[VersionControl]
LastUpdate=1173198861
SkipShowAtStartup=N

When alephcom.ini > RunAtStartup = Y, the Version Check should run automatically when opening GUI for the first time.

Then, on the first run, if Version Check finds new files in the specified location (Type=sp_exe), it asks if you want to load them now
-> if yes, it updates the files.
-> if no, the system offers you a checkbox that says "Do not show the version check dialog tomorrow, unless there are additional new files on the server." This is the SkipShowAtStartup parameter in guisys.ini that is filled in by the system.

Yes, skip.
If you mark the checkbox, the system will set SkipShowAtStartup=Y in guisys.ini. Then Version Check will not run automatically ever again and can be activated only manually or by editing the guisys.ini file and changing it to SkipShowAtStartup=N. This is done to avoid Version Checks every day. The LastUpdate parameter is not relevant in this case.

No, do not skip.
If you do not mark the checkbox, the system will set SkipShowAtStartup=N in guisys.ini. Then the Version Check will start automatically, but not earlier than tomorrow or when there are new files in the sp_exe directory. Version Check will not run automatically again on the same day. In this case the LastUpdate date is compared to the date of the files in sp_exe.

NOTE: LastUpdate is encoded and is not a recognizable date. It contains the exact date down to milliseconds. If this parameter is empty and SkipShowAtStartup=N, then Version check can automatically start the same day.

Relevant Documentation: ALEPH 17.01 Release Notes.pdf, General section, p14-15, available on the Doc Portal