Versioning an Asset

You can use the versioning feature in CentraSite to add an updated version of an asset to the catalog. For example, if you make significant changes to a Service asset (such as adding operations to the service or modifying the data types that it uses), you can use the versioning feature to add the new version of the service to the catalog.

Versioning can be active or inactive for any given asset type. The method for activating versioning for an asset type is included in the CentraSite. Note also the restrictions for activating versioning, described in Considerations for Asset Types of the Suite.

When you generate a new version of an asset, CentraSite adds a new asset of the same type to the catalog. The new asset will have the same name and description as the one from which it was versioned. It will have an updated version number. The new version is related to the old version by a Supersedes association from the new version to the old version. In cases where the detail page of an asset has a Summary profile, the association is displayed under the Summary profile.

Note: Depending on the type of asset you version, some of the attributes are cloned from the original asset and others are not. For example, when you version a Web service, the settings on the Classifications profile are cloned. After you version an asset, you should always examine the attribute settings for the new version and set them appropriately.

The metrics and event information that was collected for the old version of the asset will remain unchanged in the registry/repository. The old version's metrics and event information will not be copied to the new version. CentraSite will begin collecting metrics and event information for the new version of the asset.

CentraSite maintains two sets of version numbers for an asset. One set is maintained for CentraSite's own internal use. CentraSite automatically assigns this version number when you create a new version of an asset. You cannot modify it. The version numbers assigned by CentraSite have the format <MajorVersion>.<Revision> and are always sequentially numbered starting from 1.0 (for example, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0). If the revision feature is enabled, the revision number is incremented automatically each time you modify the current version of the asset. For detailed information, see Managing Asset Revisions.

Each version of an asset also has a separate user-defined version identifier. This is the public version number that CentraSite shows to users when it displays the catalog. The user-defined version identifier does not need to be numeric. For example, you might use a value such as V2.a (beta) to identify a version.