Managing Model Objects › Working with Versions of Functions and Messages › Understanding Versions

Understanding Versions

Understanding Versions

Versions of the same model object form a version group. Each version in a version group is a unique model object; the term version is used to identify them as being related.

In any group of versions, one and only one of the model objects in the group may be current. The current version is the version that is active in the model; it is the model object that is used by other objects in the model and is the model object that appears on CA 2E editing panels.

If you use CM, each version also has one of the following version types. If you do not use CM, all versions have version type DEV.

• DEV—Development
• PRD—Production
• ARC—Archive

All versions in a group have the same Copy name. This value is used to initialize the Copy name stored on the model list that the Copy Model Objects (YCPYMDLOBJ) command uses to copy objects between models. Initially the Copy name for a version group is the same as the name of the original model object. You can change the Copy name for all versions in a group using the Change Model Object Description (YCHGMDLOD) command on any one of the versions. New versions will automatically be given the same Copy name as the other members of the group.

For more information:

• On version types, see the CA 2E Change Management User Guide.
• On the YCPYMDLOBJ and YCHGMDLOD commands, see the Command Reference Guide.

The following diagram illustrates basic concepts relating to versions. The original object in this diagram is the Edit Customer function; it has three versions. These four functions comprise the version group for Edit Customer.

Note the following concepts shown by this diagram:

• When you create a version you can assign a name to the version or you can let CA 2E automatically generate it.
  • Edit Customer 1100460 is an example of a version name that was automatically generated by CA 2E.
  • Edit Customer VSN3 is an example of a version name that was assigned by the developer.
• The two versions, Edit Customer 1100460 and Edit Customer VSN2, were created directly from the Edit Customer function; Edit Customer VSN3 was created as a version of Edit Customer VSN2.
• All versions in the group have the same Copy name, in this case Edit Customer. If you change the Copy name for any version in a group using the YCHGMDLOD command, the Copy name is automatically updated for all versions in the group.
• Each version, including the original function, is a distinct model object and therefore has a unique:
  • Object surrogate number.
  • Object name; e.g., Edit Customer, Edit Customer VSN2, Edit Customer 1100460.
  • Implementation name.
• Edit Customer VSN3 is labeled as CURRENT and is the version displayed on CA 2E editing panels.