Several of the new design elements in 8.5 are variants of file resources. That means that unless I do something, if you open a database with some of these elements created in the 8.5 Designer in the 8.0 Designer, these elements will show up as file resources.
Now from some points of view (including mine on alternate days), this is a bug. And from others, also including mine on alternate days, it's a feature... You can at least look at these elements as text like files in notepad in older versions of Designer.
So should I fix this or celebrate this?
thanks :-)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I recommend to fix this. Otherwise there is chance that I can break stuff using the 8.0 Designer.
If there are 8.5 elements I cannot work with in 8.0, hide them.
Given the ND track record in release compatibility I think this should be solved.
If it is 8.5 functionality without an equivalent in 8, just hide it in 8.
However if it does have an equivalent in 8, fix it.
My 2 cts.
I'd agree with the previous commenters. If this is going to allow me to break things in the 8.0 Designer then they should be hidden or at least locked somehow.
I guess the model for this would be how the Composite Apps work in the 7.x client, in that they don't show at all.
I seem to disagree with most of the other posters. While it is true that editing in a previous release will mess things up, that has been true of each new design element or structural element (e.g., layers before Notes 6). Traditionally, they have been accesible anyway in previous versions. While it seems esoteric, I have used this capability before to access image resources or subforms as forms, for example, since my extensions can work with the elements even if the Notes client can't. Just my two cents.
I'm with Ben but for a different reason. Anything that can make 8.5 faster to market while not hindering the quality of 8.5, I'm all for it. I'd rather the effort be spent on a better/faster 8.5 than backwards compatibility in Designer.
Technically they are file resources. Only the 8.5 engine uses them in a predefined way. So it is ok to show them in 8.0 since file resources are valid design elements in R8. Interesting question however: if u add a file (lets say an xpg for xpage) in 8.0 would that then show up under xPages in 8.5?
:-) stw
If it doesn't break anything, then celebrate. Actually I think it sounds pretty cool.
I assume the scenario is that you can hide it from Notes 5,6, & 7 Domino Designer but just not 8.0 because of the way the $Flags field works. That being the case, the problem (if there is one) is only for Notes developers, and only for those developers who migrated to 8.0.0 or 8.0.1 AND someone somewhere has added design elements to a database with 8.5 or higher. This scenario will not be all that common. We already get a warning when we edit a design element that was maintained by a later version of Notes.. So I am pretty sure I can live with this.
I also agree with Ben. Well, neither bug nor feature. Benign side-effect.
Post a Comment