Version Recognition Methods

Different versions of applications can be recognized using a sequence of Rules ending with a Set Version Rule attached to a File Rule. A Rule set can contain several Set Version sequences, so one Rule set can recognize multiple application versions. The Set Version Rule enables you to progressively develop your estimate of a version number. It replaces or appends any current estimate of the version number with new information. So, an application version can be identified as version 4.x, then reset to 4.02, and finally extended to 4.02b. This would take three Set Version Rules, which could appear anywhere in the application definition. On each occasion, make sure you decide whether to replace the version string, or append the new version information string to what you have built up already.

Some applications follow a useful convention of encoding the version number in the timestamp of specific files. To exploit this, Vector AM supports the use of tokens representing the file creation date and time to construct a version template. For example, $HOURS.$MINUTES would generate a version of 4.2 if the creation time on the selected file is 04:20:00 (4:20 a.m.).

If you have a timestamp of 7:28, the following token values are returned:

$MINUTES =28

$MINUTETEN =2

$MINUTEUNIT =8

In this case, $MINUTES would give the same result as $MINUTETEN$MINUTEUNIT.

With a timestamp of 7:08, the following token values are returned:

$MINUTES = 8 (note that the leading zero is deliberately dropped)

$MINUTETEN = 0

$MINUTEUNIT = 8

Therefore, $MINUTES (returning a value of 8) is different to $MINUTETEN$MINUTEUNIT (returning a value of 08). If the application followed this convention only after a certain date, apply a date range check before the Set Version Rule.

Automatic version recognition is a powerful feature which enables you to create application definitions which are future proof. Several definitions in the Applications Library exploit this technique.