WD24 - Patches.

Hi all,

Today I looked into making patches for updates.I think the concept is handy when you need a quick solution and not everyone can logoff from the application. I read the manual and it says there will be a file generated containing the patch applicationname.exe.001. When I try to generate the application no patch file is made. Has anyone have experience with this and is it advisable to use them (if I can find them )

Thanks for any help.

Best regards,

Aad



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2020 04:43PM by AadG.

Hello Aad

The patches are created in the "Patch" folder of the project and also in the "Exe" folder of the project.

I use them all the time and they are brilliant for both a quick fix and a major update. I have also used them to explore options & changes with specific clients.
Make sure that if you change the database or the project itself to include the wdd and/or the wdp file as well
The patches will continue to be created in numeric order automatically or you can rename them.
A new patch will automatically contain every patch element to date unless you click the "None" and nominate just the items to be included in the current patch.
If you create more than 999 patches, the patch process will continue to create them past that number but the patch screen and history screen won't recognise them. I re-start the numbering to 1 when I upgrade Windev versions
I always include a comment about the purpose of the patch and the client/s it is for in the "Caption" option
I never use the setup option as it creates an exe which can be impossible to email to clients.

After the patch is created the process will ask if you want to "open the generation directory". That will tell you where it is.
The file created is projectname.wdl.001

Regards
Al



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2020 07:53PM by Al.

Hi Al,

Thank you for answering my topic. I did what you said but cannot get it to work.
There's no patchfile and also no patch map like you said. I have a small application, added a window and
compiled 64 bits. Nothing happens.

Am I forgetting something ??

Best regards,

Aad

Hello Aad

I am using 32 bit but I can't see that making any difference
Using the old Windev menu structure - no idea where it is in the ribbon crap.
Workshop > Library > Create a library patch
This should open a window with a heading of "Creating the patch library" move to the next window with a heading of "Elements to include in the patch" This window should show you a list of project windows, reports etc
tick the items to include and move through the next few screens until the patch is created

If you are not seeing these things then you are in the wrong place.

Regards
Al

Hi Al,

Like you said. In the wrong place. I found it under Workshop. Do you know if I change the layout of a file, I csn use a patch ?
I'm using hModifytructure.

Best regards,

Aad

Hello Add

For a file change you would need to send the new project.wdd file in the patch.

Regards
Al

Ok, no problem. I will run a few tests.
Thanks again for your help. Appreciated as always.

Best regards,

Aad

Hi Al,

I made a few tests and it works well. As an expert on this I have 2 questions for you about using this in a safe way.

1. How can I reset to .001 ?
2. How can I stop using patching and use the normal way of updating ?

I hope you'll find the time to give me an update.

Best regards,

Aad

Hello Aad

The option to "Reinitialize (Clear the History)" should set it all back to 001

The next full project exe that you issue and install on your client sites will not load any patches issued prior to its creation.
You can then delete the patches on the client site.

Regards
Al

Ok. Thanks Al.

Hi Al,

One small question for you. Does every new patch need the contain the windows etc. that were integrated in earlier patches, so they still need to be marked when a new patch is generated.

Best regards,

Aad

Hello Aad

You can include the earlier windows, but I never have as I couldn't see the point and the patches get progressively larger if you do.
I always use the "None" option to clear out the previous windows so that my patches only contain the new changes.
There is always less chance of conflicts if the patches are essentially stand alone packages without any baggage from previous patches

Regards
Al

Thanks Al,

My thoughts are that every new patch has to contain the earliet changes until you make a new .exe just like with differential backup.
So when I use NONE and then mark one changed window and make i.e. patch 10, do I still need patch 1 to 9, because they contain my earlier versions.

You notice I'm a bit confused how this is working.

Best regards,

Aad

Hello Aad

I always leave earlier patches in place at the client site so each new patch only needs the new things. This also keeps the patches small in size.
I delete the old patches when a new exe is installed

If my latest patch did contain all the earlier items then I could delete the previous patches at the client site when adding the new patch, but I would always worry that maybe I had accidentally un-ticked an item that should be in the patch.

Regards
Al