Skip to main content

With Updates becoming main vehicle for delivery of fixes and new functionality for IFS Applications there is a greater need for our Customers and Partners to be able to validate impact of merged Update on configurations they have developed. This has been made possible from Update 6 for Application 9 and RTM release of Applications 10. However up to very recently it involved help from IFS Global Update Team who could include export of configurations developed by Customer and/or Partner during Update Analysis and provide list of impacted areas. 

From second half of 2019 we have even better solution for dealing with Update impact analysis on developed configuration. IFS Product Development made it possible with IFS Configuration Analyzer. Now Customers and Partners can perform impact analysis at any point in time – before, during or after delivery of Update delivery. Tool will present impacted configuration in a list that shows type of impact and allows to export that information to Excel. I would like to share in few steps how to go about running analysis so deployment of Update can be better controlled, and impact is known at early stage. I will not be able to tell you how to adjust files however as it depends on type of change introduced in the new Update and how it impacts on the configuration that has been developed. It is best to have person developing configurations review them if possible but that is not essential.

 

There are 3 main steps when working with the tool

  • Installation (including obtaining latest Interface Report file)
  • Loading of information and analysis
  • Amendments to configuration source code

Configuration Analyzer requires installation on a PC before it can be used. It is rather straightforward process that is clearly documented by instruction provided with the software. Currently latest version of the tool will have to be requested from IFS, however we will try to make it available in central repository in the future. Please make sure to reach to us once you would like to analyse impact with new Update as tool needs to be supplied with latest version of Interface Report – I hope this will become clear in the next paragraph.

Once Analyzer is installed it works based on 2 sources of information together with selection of base and target Update level

  • Interface Report: a file (InterfaceReports.ifr) that stores information about changes introduced in every Update released to date. Most recent version needs to be obtained from IFS Support (through Update case for instance) before analysis is started
  • Configuration Export: a folder containing export of all developed configuration that should be included in the analysis. Export can be done from Solution Manager\User Interface\Custom Objects\Configuration Extractor.

Configuration Analyzer documentation describes how to install and load these 2 files into the tool.

Next step is to load interface report details and configuration export into the tool using Load button and then start analysis. Again, these simple steps are listed in tool documentation. Please note that this stage may take a moment depending on number of configurations included in your analysis.

When analysis is completed you will be presented with results. These can be viewed in 2 different views:

  • File View: it displays a list of configuration files with interface impacts associated and other information for each file in a grid
  • Issue View: an alternative view at the impact that groups files based on type of issue encountered

Everyone has their preference how they would like to tackle adjustments so please explore these 2 options and select one that works best for you.

In this last step the action happens. You will need to go over any impacted configuration and work out if you need to perform any adjustments to configuration source code to make it work without any problems once new Update is installed.

Configuration Analyzer classifies impact into following areas based on severity of impact

  • High
  • Unknown
  • Low
  • No Impact (by default hidden in the impact list)

You will have to go through all the files with impact highlighted and review if there is need to adjust source code. If you try to do it in single seating, you can use detailed view screen functionality to highlight all tackled configurations

 

 

It is possible that majority of impact presented by the tool are safe to ignore but please make sure to spend time to go over the list as you may have runtime errors once Update is deployed in Production environment and affected configurations are not amended or not tested.

If you have any comments or questions, please post them here in this topic and we can work through them collectively making sure you get through configuration adjustment for any new Update as quickly and effortlessly as possible.

This sounds just perfect! How can we get hold of the tool itself? Is it included when we order an Update for IFS10?

Hi Marie,

 

I would suggest to request the tool through Update case. Case owner can take latest version released by Product Development (location available only from IFS network: \\corpnet\files\F1ToolsExternal\IFSConfigurationAnalyzer) and upload it to IFS FTP to folder you use for Releases download.

If they struggle please ask them to get in touch with me :)

Thanks,

Pawel

Thanks Pawel!

Thanks for sharing this Paweł.
Does this apply to customers running in the IFS Cloud as well?

Mateusz

Hi Mateusz,

 

Deployment type does not matter in this case. Therefore it is equally applicable to IFS Cloud customers (or any other cloud for that matter). 

 

Pawel

Hi,

Is it possible to export the analysis, then import it again into UpdateAnalyzer?

Hi,

We have just been made aware of this tool and I wonder what it costs… ? And are there many customers who have started to use it ?

Any references ??

 

Heidi

Hi,

We have received this tool from IFS (delivered to our FTP) but have not yet had the chance to try it out. 

Best regards,

Marie

Hi,

We have also received it from IFS and have used it when moving from 5 to 7, and now when moving from 7 to 9.

Our understanding is that “Configuration Analyzer” will work only when we call standard IFS API. Attached table reflects our learnings based on configurations made. Can you confirm that Configuration Analyzer will cover all (when calling standard API)?

Apologies for late reply. Your understanding is correct. Configuration Analyzer would crosscheck changes in Core code between Source and Target Updates (this comes from interface report file) and compare this with Configuration export. At present following areas are covered by Configuration Extractor as stated in Technical Documentation:

 

“Supported Configurations

The following configurations are currently supported. The file naming convention can be used to find the configuration which the file is related to. Configuration Storage states the LU which stores configuration information. These LUs must have Rowkey enabled on them for Extract operation to work

Configuration Type Extraction Folder File Naming Convention Configuration Storage (LU)
Custom Fields* CustomFields CustomField-lLU_NAME].sql CustomFields
Custom Logical Units* CustomLogicalUnits CustomLu-LLU_NAME].sql CustomLus
Information Cards* InformationCards InformationCard-rLU_NAME].sql CustomInfoCards
Conditional Field Actions* ConditionalFieldActions ConditionalFieldAction-oACTION_ID]->Name].xml ConditionalFieldAction
Custom Tabs* CustomTabs CustomTab-aCONTAINER_NAME]->ATTACHED_PAGE]->TITLE].xml CustomTab
Custom Menus CustomMenus CustomMenu-nMENU_ID]->ATTACHED_WINDOW].xml CustomMenu
Custom Events CustomEvents CustomEvent-nLU_NAME]->EVENT_ID].xml FndEvent
Custom Event Actions CustomEvents CustomEventAction-oLU_NAME]->EVENT_ID]->ACTION_NO].xml FndEventAction
SQL Quick Reports QuickReports SQLQuickReport-rDESCRIPTION]->QUICK_REPORT_PO_ID].sql QuickReport
Query Builder Quick Reports QuickReports QueryBuilderQuickReport-rDESCRIPTION]->QUICK_REPORT_PO_ID].sql QuickReport
Report Rules ReportRules ReportRule-lRULE_ID]->DESCRIPTION].sql ReportRuleDefinition
Lobby Data Sources LobbyDatasources LobbyDatasource-cDATASOURCE_NAME]->DATASOURCE_ID].xml CompositePageDataSource
History Log HistoryLogs HistoryLog-oTABLE_NAME].xml HistorySetting

“

If you compare list above with areas you have listed in your document there are some gaps like Permission Sets, Profiles and couple others.

I hope this information will be of use.

Great, thanks for reply Pawel

 

Another few questions:

For running Configuration Analyzer tool, there is a IFR file that is required as an input. 

  • Global extension : Does it contain Global Extension upgrade differences as well?
  • Oil and Gas : Would this file contain VAP details?
  • Customer Specific Customizations: How will IFR file get updated with customer specific customizations?

Thanks

Gerald

Hello Gerald,

 

IFR file only covers Core application files I am afraid. In order to analyse code belonging to Global Extension, Oil and Gas extension or customer specific CRIMs please provide IFS Support with latest export of your configurations when requesting Update merge and we will run analysis during our Update impact analysis. We will provide you with the output listing all impacted files so you can address those.

I appreciate it is not the most convenient solution but hopefully it covers that gap in a satisfactory manner.

 

Thanks,

Pawel 

Hi Pawel

ok, thanks for update.

My understanding is then:

  • “Config Analyzer” works only for CRIMs on Core application, not GET and O&G
  • “Update Analyzer” works for CRIMs on Core + GET + O&G

Agree?

So as client we can run Config Analyzer ourselves but for impact assessment across extensions IFS needs to run Update Analyzer.

Thanks / Gerald

 

Hello Gerald,

 

You are correct.

Configuration Analyzer is only checking impact of changes in Core layer between 2 Updates on your Configurations.

In order to validate impact of changes in Extensions and customizations developed by IFS you would need to provide export of your configurations to IFS together with request to merge specific Update. Our Update team would run analysis of those configuration as part of Update merge and provide you with list of files identified as impacted.

 

Thanks,

Pawel

Hi Pawel,

We are about to update IFS Apps 10 from UPD8 to UPD10. Since your entry is a year old, I was curious to know if the tool meantime has become available in a central repository, as you stated?

 

Kind regards,

Jørn

Hi Jørn,

Apologies for a long delay in providing answer.

Please have a look at https://developer.ifs.com/. This website should now be accessible to all IFS Customers. There is a section containing several tools including latest version of  IFS Configuration Analyzer. Please let me know if you can access this page and download Analyzer without any issues.

 

Kind regards,

Pawel Lenczewski

I’m only halfway through this post but I already find it very descriptive and useful. The writing style is simple and easy to understand. Thank you very much.

The document I received along with the Configuration Analyzer (which I believe is the IFS official document) did not mention how to extract the configuration files. This piece of information I learnt thanks to this post. If possible, could you please review the Configuration Analyzer document and update it with it please?

Hi Pawel,

The link to the Developer site worked , and so did the download :grinning:

Thanks a lot,

Jørn

Hi Jørn,

I am glad it worked for you. This should provide much better way of getting latest version of Configuration Analyzer with latest interface file.

 

Kind Regards,

Pawel

Hi Sudara,

 

I have reached out to RnD with your suggest of covering Configuration extract in the tool installation document. I will get back to you once I hear back from them.

 

Thanks,

Pawel

Hi,

Is it possible to export the analysis, then import it again into UpdateAnalyzer?


Hi, as I see it, this is a key point to have into account. I’ve just run an analysis and it took 1h 15 min. Now, How can I save my IFS Update Analyzer project in order to be able to import again later when I close the program? Otherwise, it is necessary to run the analysis again every time?

 

Thank you ,

JM DEL RIO

Hi JM Del Rio,

 

I have asked this question from our RnD team and will let you know once I hear back from them. 

Thanks,

Pawel

Reply


Terms & ConditionsCookie settings