Ask Reuben
Compatibility
is GDC version A.B.C compatible with FGL version X.Y.Z ?
I recently saw a support case where they quoted a presentation I did at WWDC 24 regards the compatibility of two of our products. Whilst that is flattering, for the definitive statement on compatibility the official definition is what we have documented in our documentation. You can normally find this near the beginning of each products individual documentation. You will also find it in the System Administrator targetted Install and License your Genero Products Documentation. As you can hopefully see in this image, this document as well as being a one stop shop for your system administrator when it comes to install and license, is also a one stop shop for your compatibility questions between our products …
Whilst I’d expect you can rely on the simple rule of thumb I had in the presentation, where moving forward with the changes to Front End Delivery from 5.00, where version number is in the form X.Y.Z …
Back-End:FGL (X.Y) = GAS (X.Y) = GRE (X.Y)
Front-End:FGL (X.Y ) <= [GBC (X.Y) | GDC(X.Y) | GMA (X.Y) | GMI (X.Y)]
… the documentation would include any exceptions for maintenance releases and should be regarded as the definitive source of information.
Another question that gets asked on compatibility is when do you need to recompile as you upgrade. Do you need to recompile if upgrading a major, minor, or maintenance release. Again the official answer is as per the documentation ,(make sure you check the documentation applicable for your version). My rule of thumb is if version number is X.Y.Z, is X=yes, Y=maybe, Z=no. That is if X changes, definitely recompile. If Z changes, you don’t need to recompile, you should be able to install a new FGL. If Y changes refer to the documentation, even it says you don’t need to recompile, I would still do it so you pick up the benefit of what has been included in the maintenance release.
P.S I always misspell compatible as compatable. Amusingly the wikitionary definition of compatable is “misspelling of compatible” so I must not be the only one.