[OFBiz] Dev - RE: [lists] Re: [OFBiz] Dev - Proposal for CVS tags to improve release process

[Brett]

David,

I agree that the code base in CVS is pretty stable and that making tags in
CVS isn't really going to improve the stability of the code.  From one tag
to the next the stability of the code would be basically the same (i.e.
pretty stable).  All the tags would do is mark a place in time that could be
referenced by the community.  

My main motivation in making the suggestion was to make it possible for the
community to help itself, not to put more work on you and Andy's plate.
Where CVS tags would be most useful is in upgrading existing production
systems.  For example, we recently upgraded our production systems from a
pre-3.0 release.  We discovered that several of the ofbiz data types had
changed from varchar(60) to varchar(100).  Although not a critical problem
it was one that we wanted to be aware of prior to rolling out the upgrade to
production.  More serious changes like entities moving from one table to
another would require more work.  I'm sure others experienced similar
problems.  As I mentioned we have done a lot of work to make the upgrade
successful and it would be nice if we could share this with the community
but without some kind of reference in the code it is difficult to contribute
these notes.

Again, I'm not trying to create more work for the ofbiz developers.  We are
very happy with the code and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it
to work with our systems.  I just thought others might want our notes, and
we would be interested in getting feedback from the community on other
upgrade issues.  If this suggestion creates more work for you and Andy then
please disregard the suggestion and we will continue to work on our process
independently.

Sincerely,


Brett   


> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Jones [mailto:jonesde at ofbiz.org]
> Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2004 12:29 AM
> To: dev at ofbiz.dev.java.net
> Subject: [lists] Re: [OFBiz] Dev - Proposal for CVS tags to improve
> release process
> 
> 
> Si, Brett, others,
> 
> In general the idea of doing tags as stable points would be nice, but
> I'm not sure it reflects reality so well (though yes, even with lots of
> people working on lots of different things, stable points do still tend
> to happen, right now is a pretty good one actually).
> 
> What might work better, and this would be a nice feature to have in an
> issue tracker, is to see what things are currently being worked on so
> that you can decide for yourself if there is something that is
> partially in place that might affect what you are doing.
> 
> In general with something as large as OFBiz is getting there are so
> many different pieces that you may not care about serious instability
> in certain parts as long as other parts are more stable.
> 
> Another thing that I'll say again that I've said many times is that for
> the most part OFBiz remains in a pretty workable state over time. As
> new things are added, like the screen widget for example, we try to
> maintain the practice of leaving the previous stable code in place and
> in use until the replacement is stable. I can't say that everyone does
> this or all the time, but for the most part we try to encourage and
> follow this pattern.
> 
> -David
> 
> 
> On Aug 4, 2004, at 6:18 PM, Si Chen wrote:
> 
> > Brett,
> >
> > I think it's a great idea and would definitely like to participate.
> > I would like to see if it is possible to have cvs tags around
> > "relatively stable" points where most things are somewhat settled.  It
> > doesn't mean that everything needs to be thoroughly tested, but just
> > that the cvs is not in the midst of a major re-factorings and
> > development.  I think then, we can proceed as you suggested, and post
> > patches and notes against these tagged points.  After some time, these
> > tagged points ought to achieve some stability and be releasable.
> >
> > By the way, I am currently working from an April 8, 2004 version of
> > the cvs and would like to upgrade to a more current version some time
> > in the next month, so this is great timing as well.  Perhaps we could
> > work together on something like this?
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Si
> >
> > Brett Palmer wrote:
> >
> >> I have written a short proposal for creating regular CVS tags in the
> >> ofbiz module to help improve the release process for the community.
> >> Here is the link to the wiki page.  If you have other ideas please
> >> share them.
> >>
> >> http://ofbizwiki.go-integral.com/Wiki.jsp?page=ProposedReleaseStrategy
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >>
> >> Brett
> >>
> >> /********************   Here is the text version of the proposal
> >> ***************************/
> >>
> >>
> >> Stategy for OFBiz Releases
> >>
> >> In the April 2004 OFBiz Users Conference we discussed ideas for
> >> improving OFBiz releases.  This wiki page continues this discussion
> >> with the hope that the user community can come up with a strategy for
> >> helping the project develop a better release strategy.  Here are some
> >> of my thoughts.  Feel free to add your own thoughts and opinions.
> >>
> >> Current Release Strategy
> >>
> >> Currently there are no scheduled releases.  As David explained at the
> >> conference, official releases tend to occur after an OFBiz contract
> >> completes and new features have been added.  These are usually good
> >> release candidates because they have been fully tested and new
> >> features have been added.  The problem with this approach is that as
> >> a community it is difficult to determine when you should upgrade your
> >> production system with the latest from OFBiz.
> >> How Can the Community Help?
> >>
> >> We all benefit greatly from the work of David, Andy and the other
> >> OFBiz contributors.  We can't ask them to take the time to develop
> >> release schedules and planning cycles for free.  As an alternative to
> >> this here is what I propose:
> >>
> >> 1. Tag the ofbiz module regularly:  I propose the ofbiz module be
> >> tagged at least once a month.  The tag could be something like
> >> OFBIZ_<DATE>  or <Some project name>_<DATE>.
> >> 2. Community develops release notes:  From the CVS tags the community
> >> can add release notes on this wiki site to discuss things like new
> >> added features, strategies for upgrading, changes in entity
> >> definitions, or bugs found.
> >>
> >> The above items would be simple to impelment and could help the
> >> community better manage OFBiz upgrades.  We are currently practicing
> >> a similar strategy at my company.  At least once a month we do a CVS
> >> vendor import into our own ofbiz module and tag the module with the
> >> current date.  Then we run the newest updated ofbiz through a test
> >> cycle to determine what effect it will have on our production
> >> systems.  After the testing cycle we upgrade our production systems.
> >> Throughout this process we keep notes and develop database scripts to
> >> help with the upgrade.  On our development boxes we try to stay
> >> within one month of the latest ofbiz source and on our production
> >> systems about 3 months.  This process helps us minimize the risk of
> >> updating directly from OFBiz's CVS respository while keeping us
> >> closely tied to the latest code.  I believe there are other users
> >> performing a similar process.  If we were able to make the above
> >> changes the community could share the information rather then keeping
> >> it to themselves.  This way the whole community improves the process
> >> of upgrading ofbiz.
> >>
> >> Thoughts anyone?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> Brett Palmer
> >>
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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> >>
> >
> >
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