Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

bryant.st39 — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 16:42:37 GMT

This is not recommended and is very risk...however, we have had occasions where this was the last resort...below is the XML structure for an interface...in the XML, I added comments (/*, */) around the portion of the interface definition that would affect the import, saved it, and re-zipped all the files. Before attempting, make backups and test thoroughly.

XML File:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<contentHaul xmlns:a="www.appian.com/.../2009">

<rule>

<name>PMT_ActionIsLocked</name>

<uuid>_a-0000e09d-8cea-8000-daab-640000640000_24919</uuid>

<description></description>

<parentUuid>_a-0000dc92-d263-8000-5130-010000010000_15604</parentUuid>

<visibility>

<advertise>false</advertise>

<hierarchy>true</hierarchy>

<indexable>true</indexable>

<quota>false</quota>

<searchable>true</searchable>

<system>false</system>

<unlogged>false</unlogged>

</visibility>

<definition>= #"SYSTEM_SYSRULES_formLayout"(

label: "WARNING: Work Products are currently being edited by:",

firstColumnContents: {

/* add in XML

#"SYSTEM_SYSRULES_textField"(

label: "Insert Process Report Here",

labelPosition: "ABOVE",

saveInto: {},

readOnly: true()

)

added in XML */

},

buttons: #"SYSTEM_SYSRULES_ButtonLayout"(

primaryButtons: {

#"SYSTEM_SYSRULES_ButtonWidgetSubmit"(

label: "OK",

style: "PRIMARY"

)

}

)

)</definition>

<preferredEditor>interface</preferredEditor>

<offlineEnabled>false</offlineEnabled>

</rule>

<roleMap public="true">

<role allowForAll="false" inherit="true" name="readers">

<users/>

<groups/>

</role>

<role allowForAll="false" inherit="true" name="authors">

<users/>

<groups/>

</role>

<role allowForAll="false" inherit="true" name="administrators">

<users/>

<groups/>

</role>

<role allowForAll="false" inherit="false" name="denyReaders">

<users/>

<groups/>

</role>

<role allowForAll="false" inherit="false" name="denyAuthors">

<users/>

<groups/>

</role>

<role allowForAll="false" inherit="false" name="denyAdministrators">

<users/>

<groups/>

</role>

</roleMap>

<typedValue>

<type>

<name>RuleTestConfig?list</name>

<namespace>www.appian.com/.../namespace>

</type>

<value>

<el>

<a:name/>

</el>

</value>

</typedValue>

</contentHaul>

Imported SAIL:

= a!formLayout(

label: "WARNING: Work Products are currently being edited by:",

firstColumnContents: {

/* add in XML

#"SYSTEM_SYSRULES_textField"(

label: "Insert Process Report Here",

labelPosition: "ABOVE",

saveInto: {},

readOnly: true()

)

added in XML */

},

buttons: a!buttonLayout(

primaryButtons: {

a!buttonWidgetSubmit(

label: "OK",

style: "PRIMARY"

)

}

)

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

yeswanththiyarir — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 15:39:12 GMT

Appian basic rule while deploying: applications developed in a version can only be deployed to higher versions.

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

bryant.st39 — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 09:04:24 GMT

I will...when we do this, we only modify the XML for datatypes, interfaces, and expressions,,,we simply add "/*...*/" comments around either unavailable functions/expressions or in some cases comment out the entire expression. This will allow it to import. As stated by Appian, this is not recommended and is very risky. Limiting object types being modified and regression testing can help mitigate the risks but not eliminate them.

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

Cali Nelson — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 18:00:54 GMT

Hi Aitor,

As Joe mentioned, deploying applications from a later version to an earlier version is not supported.
Also, modifying application export files to import them into another environment is not supported and can cause issues down the line with these objects and your environment.

Cali Nelson
--Appian Support

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

Joe Kozak — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 17:53:21 GMT

Please be advised that moving some code developed in Appian 18.3 to another Appian installation in 18.2 (on prem) will likely cause long term corruption of Appian deployment and may result in lack of support. Appian support team is requesting that this action should not be taken. Any questions, please contact me directly at joe.kozak@appian.com and I will assist. Thanks

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

chandu — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 16:00:00 GMT

Hi Bryant,
Could you please give the example you you modified the xml files? suppose if you didnt have 18.3 specific code how will you handle this.
As far as i Know Appian will read the manifest file that contains the version name to determine from which environment the package was exported. In this case are you sure that the 18.3 packages will be imported to 18.2?

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

aloks0189 — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 11:32:49 GMT

Hi aitor.sanchez
Adding to the practitioners above comments, you should also focus on the new features released in 18.3 which was not the part of v18.2. If your patch objects are using any one of these features, you must replace them with the available options based on v18.2 to avoid any future deployment issues.

Please find the release note links for Appian 18.2 as well as 18.3 mentioned below:
18.2 Release Notes: docs.appian.com/.../Appian_Release_Notes.html
18.3 Release Notes: docs.appian.com/.../Appian_Release_Notes.html

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

bryant.st39 — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 11:16:01 GMT

when you attempt to import, the import will fail because of missing "components"...find those in the XML and comment them out...for instance if it can't import because function "a!whatEver" doesn't exist, find all instance of "a!whatEver" and comment that entire function out...once you import, you will have to replace "a!whatEver" with a function from 18.2 to replace that functionality...note: if "a!whatEver" is in SAIL, you can just put SAIL comments around it to see that was commented out "/* a!whatEver(blah, blah, blah...)*/"

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

harrisont606 — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 16:39:34 GMT

you can check the 18.3 release notes to see if there are any new/changed/evolved functions. If you are using them, you may need to modify.

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

aitor.sanchez — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 16:08:31 GMT

Thanks! and how do you know wich is the specific code in 18.3 not valid in 18.2?

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

bryant.st39 — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 11:33:45 GMT

We've done this by modifying the xml files in application export to comment out v18 specific "code". I would imagine that you could create script to do the same.

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

aitor.sanchez — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 07:34:15 GMT

Thanks Chandu, it was my first thought, but we have arround 150 objects already in the application. No other way?

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

Singh002 — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 07:01:28 GMT

hi aitor.sanchez ,

You cant take patch and deploy to lower version.
I would suggest you to copy paste the code in txt and update in lower version.

Thanks,
Abhishek

RE: Appian 18.3 to 18.2 downgrade

chandu — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 06:34:25 GMT

Hi aitor.sanchez,
Lower versions of the Appian code can be deployed to higher versions of Appian but the other way is not possible via Import or Export. I think you need to manually do the changes.