Upgrade from version 3.2 to version 4.0

Note: This document is evolving with every 4.0 release

Introduction

The version 4.0 have some significant changes if compared to version 3.x that requires some attention if you are considering a migration from such a previous version.

Removed features

Removed support for old technical platforms (e.g. J2EE 1.4), replaced by support for new technical platforms
Removed features and APIs marked as outdated deprecated in previous version(s), see bellow
Changed URL patterns (with some backward compatibility however) and removed the legacy web services gateway webapp (replaced by the /api endpoint introduced in version 3.1), see bellow
Removed naming flexibility for grant hooks shared script (the previously allowed GRANTHOOKS name is now forbidden, it must now be GrantHooks)

Warning: The old legacy JSPs pages are scheduled to be removed in release P24. See bellow to refactor any hard-coded URL involving these JSPs.

Warning: The legacy UI is scheduled to be fully removed in release P25, you now need to consider refactoring all code/components dedicated to this legacy UI

Outdated implementation patterns to refactor

These implementation patterns that used to be possible, but already strongly discouraged, in previous versions must be now refactored:

Any usage of any hard coded URLs (see bellow) in your code or configured items (e.g. shortcuts, UI zones, actions, ...) must be avoided, you must use the HTMLTool methods instead (directly in your code or using `[EXPR:(...)] in configuration items).
Specific JSP pages are not supported anymore. You must now rewrite them as external objects
As for any previous version making DOM structure assumptions in generic web pages (e.g. using custom low-level JavaScript/jQuery statements to dynamically change inputs, buttons, etc... using their generated DOM Id) is a very bad approach, you should use the client JavaScript APIs instead. If you have any legacy code making such assumptions you must refactor it as many web components have been completely refactored at DOM level.
Legacy synchronous JavaScript services have been removed (these functions used to be defined in the service.js script and were only versions 2.x's backward-compatibility synchronous wrappers of Simplicite.Ajax, this script does not exist anymore)
Adding custom global styles using the static application.css file is not possible anymore, this is replaced by the disposition-level STYLES resource
Adding custom global JS scripts using the static application.js file is not possible, this is replaced by the disposition-level SCRIPT resource
When using external authentication (e.g. OAuth2) the user data is now updated automatically, you don't need to handle the SESSION_INFO parameter anymore (except if you have something more specific to do with it)
The deprecated $ client JavaScript function in legacy UI, $ is now the usual alias to jQuery (the old $j alias is kept for compatibility but it is recomended to change it to $), if you have some legacy JavaScript code using the deprecated $ instead of the $ jQuery alias you must refactor them (e.g. $("myid") must be rewritten as $("#myid")[0])
In scripted expressions, the deprecated syntax [<field name>] is not longer supported, you must use the syntax [VALUE:<field name>] instead
The legacy UI platform components (e.g. ObjectList) have been removed from default packages imported in Rhino scripts (if you use some of them you need to add an explicit package import statement importPackage(Packages.com.simplicite.webapp) or an individual class import statement (e.g. importClass(Packages.com.simplicite.webapp.ObjectList)

Deprecated implementation patterns

These implementation patterns are to be considered deprecated, their usage is to be avoided (and any existing usage is to be refactored) as they will be removed in next version:

Using any of the legacy JavaScript functions and variables not in the Simplicite namespace is strongly discouraged
Developping custom pages/components with the legacy UI patterns: the responsive UI pattern for developping custom page/components is very different from the legacy UI patterns, the legacy UI will be removed in the future, so a refactoring of such custom components is strongly encouraged, see this document for details.

Warning: The legacy UI is scheduled to be removed in release P25, you now need to consider refactoring all code/components dedicated to this legacy UI

URL patterns

The version 4.0 includes a complete refactoring of the legacy UI URL patterns.

Note: With the responsive UI manipulating URLs does not make sense anymore, you need to use the client-side UI APIs, see this document for details.

Prerequisites

If you are using traditional realm-based or JAAS authentication, make sur to update your web.xml accordingly to the one provided.

In particular make sure to have both /ui/* and /jsp/* as protected URL pattern in the <security-constraint/> bloc:

<url-pattern>/ui/*</url-pattern>
<url-pattern>/jsp/*</url-pattern>

And if you are using a form-based authentication make sure your web.xml has the following login page declaration in the <login-config/> bloc:

<form-login-page>/login</form-login-page>
<form-error-page>/login?error=true</form-error-page>

You will also need to make sure you have the following error mappings in your web.xml:

<error-page>
    <error-code>404</error-code>
    <location>/error?code=ERR_HTTP404&amp;status=404</location>
</error-page>

<error-page>
    <error-code>500</error-code>
    <location>/error?code=ERR_HTTP500&amp;status=500</location>
</error-page>

Custom code impacts

If you are already using the HTMLTool methods (which you should), the changes are transparent.

If you have any hardcoded URL (which you should not), you must now use the HTMLTool methods instead.

URL pattern changes

The changes are described bellow (the new URL patterns are given for information and must not be hardcored but designated using the available HTMLTool methods):

Old URL pattern	New URL pattern	`HTMLTool` method(s) to use
/index.jsp	/ or /main	`getPublicMainURL`
/init.jsp	n/a (cf. `ServletTool` class)	n/a
/logon.jsp	/signin or /login	`getLoginURL`
/logout.jsp	/signout or /logout	`getLogoutURL`
/PUB_work.jsp	/home	`getPublicHomeURL`
/PUB_content.jsp and /jsp/ALL_content.jsp	/content	`getStaticContentURL`
/PUB_resource.jsp	/resource	`getResourceURL` and variants
/PUB_document.jsp	/document or /dbdoc	`getPublicDocumentURL`
/PUB_extobject.jsp?extobject=<external object name>	/ext/<external object name>	`getPublicExternalObjectURL`
/PUB_zone.jsp	/zone	n/a
/PUB_gcalendar.jsp	/googlecalendar	`getGoogleCalendarURL`
/PUB_gmap.jsp	/googlemap	`getGoogleMapURL`
/PUB_agenda.jsp	n/a (removed)	n/a
/PUB_print.jsp	n/a (removed)	n/a
/PUB_data.jsp	/raw/data	n/a
/PUB_json_app.jsp	/json/app	n/a
/PUB_json_obj.jsp	/json/obj	n/a
/PUB_json_pcs.jsp	/json/pcs	n/a
/PUB_error.jsp and /jsp/SYS_error.jsp	/error	`getErrorURL`
/GDG_logon.jsp	/connect	n/a
/GDG_gmap.jsp	/map	`getMapURL`
/GDG_news.jsp	/news	`getPublicNewsURL`
/GDG_rss.jsp	/rss	`getRSSURL`
/GDG_media.jsp	/media	`getMediaURL`
/webContent.jsp	/web/	n/a
/webContentPage.jsp	/web/page	n/a
/rss.jsp	/web/rss	n/a
/io.jsp	/io	n/a
/health.jsp	/health	n/a
/blank.html	/blank	n/a
/scripts/core.js (static)	/scripts/core.js (dynamic)	n/a
/scripts/common.js.jsp	/scripts/common.js	n/a
/images/main.css.jsp	/images/main.css	n/a
/images/work.css.jsp	/images/work.css	n/a
/jsp/index.jsp	/ui/ or /ui/main	`getMainURL`
/jsp/init.jsp	n/a (cf. `ServletTool` class)	n/a
/jsp/index.jsp?_header=true	/ui/header	`getHeaderURL`
/jsp/index.jsp?_shortcut=true	/ui/shortcuts	`getShortcutsURL`
/jsp/SYS_mdlchooser.jsp	/ui/modulechooser	`getModuleChooserURL`
/jsp/SYS_subhead.jsp	/ui/subhead	`getSubHeaderURL`
/jsp/index.jsp?_footer=true	/ui/footer	`getFooterURL`
/jsp/SYS_scope.jsp	/ui/scopes	`gestScopesURL`
/jsp/SYS_work.jsp	/ui/home	`getHomeURL`
/jsp/SYS_work.jsp?view=<view name>	/ui/home?view=<view name>	`getViewURL`
n/a	/ui/menu	`getMenuURL`
/jsp/index.jsp?_extra=true	/ui/extra	`getExtraURL`
/jsp/SYS_extrapref.jsp	/ui/extrapreferences	`getExtraPreferencesURL`
/jsp/ALL_view.jsp	/ui/view	`getSimpleViewURL`
/jsp/ALL_export.jsp	/ui/importexport	`getImportExportURL`
/jsp/ALL_doc_edit.jsp	/ui/editor	`getEditorURL`
/jsp/ALL_index.jsp	/ui/indexsearch	`getIndexSearchURL`
/jsp/SYS_log.jsp	/ui/logs	`getLogsURL`
/jsp/GDG_treeview.jsp	/ui/treeview	`getTreeviewURL`
/jsp/GDG_print.jsp	n/a (removed)	n/a
/jsp/GDG_chat.jsp	n/a (now an external object)	n/a
/jsp/patch.jsp	/ui/undoredo	`getUndoRedoURL`
/jsp/GDG_news.jsp	/ui/news	`getNewsURL`
/jsp/SYS_zone.jsp	/ui/zone	n/a
/jsp/SYS_about.jsp	/ui/about	n/a
/jsp/SYS_calculator.jsp	/ui/caclulator	n/a
/jsp/ALL_docblob.jsp	/ui/document	`getDocumentURL`
/jsp/ALL_extobject.jsp?extobject=<external object name>	/ui/ext/<external object name>	`getExternalObjectURL`
/jsp/ALL_search.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/search/<object name>	`getSearchURL`
/jsp/ALL_list.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/list/<object name>	`getListURL`
/jsp/ALL_form.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/form/<object name>	`getFormURL`
/jsp/ALL_panel.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/panel/<object name>	`getPanelURL`
/jsp/ALL_select.jsp?object=<object name>&type=R	/ui/obj/reference/<object name>	`getReferenceSelectURL`
/jsp/ALL_select.jsp?object=<object name>&type=O	/ui/obj/objectref/<object name>	`getObjectRefSelectURL`
/jsp/ALL_select.jsp?object=<object name>&type=M	/ui/obj/datamap/<object name>	`getDatamapSelectURL`
/jsp/ALL_help.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/help/<object name>	`getHelpURL`
/jsp/ALL_update.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/updateall/<object name>	`getUpdateAllURL`
/jsp/ALL_merge.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/merge/<object name>	`getMergeURL`
/jsp/ALL_chart.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/chart/<object name>	`getChartURL`
/jsp/ALL_crosstab.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/crosstab/<object name>	`getCrosstabURL`
/jsp/ALL_graph.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/graph/<object name>	`getGraphURL`
/jsp/ALL_print.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/print/<object name>	`getPrintTemplateURL`
/jsp/ALL_agenda.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/agenda/<object name>	`getAgendaURL`
/jsp/ALL_placemap.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/placemap/<object name>	`getPlaceMapURL`
/jsp/ALL_timesheet.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/timesheet/<object name>	`getTimesheetURL`
/jsp/SYS_template.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/formpreview/<object name>	`getFormPreviewURL`
n/a	/ui/obj/docpreview/<object name>	`getDocPreviewURL`
/jsp/SYS_objpref.jsp?object=<object name>	/ui/obj/preferences/<object name>	`getObjectPreferencesURL`
/jsp/PCS_start.jsp?pcs=<workflow name>	/ui/pcs/start/<workflow name>	`getProcessStartURL`
/jsp/PCS_search.jsp?pcs=<workflow name>	/ui/pcs/search/<workflow name>	`getProcessURL`
/jsp/PCS_list.jsp?pcs=<workflow name>	/ui/pcs/list/<workflow name>	`getProcessURL`
/jsp/PCS_form.jsp?pcs=<workflow name>	/ui/pcs/form/<workflow name>	`getProcessURL`
/jsp/PCS_help.jsp?pcs=<workflow name>	/ui/pcs/help/<workflow name>	`getProcessURL`
/jsp/SYS_json.jsp	/ui/json/app	n/a
/jsp/ALL_json.jsp	/ui/json/obj	n/a
/jsp/PCS_json.jsp	/ui/json/pcs	n/a
/jsp/ALL_soap.jsp	/ui/soap	n/a
/jsp/ALL_wsdl.jsp	/ui/soap?wsdl=true	n/a
/jsp/ALL_xsd.jsp	/ui/soap?xsd=true	n/a
Legacy webservices gateway webapp URLs	/api/*	n/a

Notes:

Some of theses changes were already done in previous versions (typically 3.1 and 3.2) and the main HTMLTool methods already exists in these previous versions. You can start anticipating these changes even if you are using a previous version.

Any relative reference to a old JSP page located in the /jsp/ folder must now be done using an absolute reference (e.g. /jsp/SYS_work.jsp) but, better, should be refactored using the HTMLTool class methods decribed above

Dispositions

Responsive UI

In then version 4.0 responsive UI the former "disposition" concept has been split into 2 distinct concepts:

Disposition: that now corresponds only to the page layout (and which uses dedicated HTML resources for that)
Theme: that corresponds to the page's styles (CSS, logos, ...)

In the responsive UI it it thus absolutely not required to create a custom disposition if you just want to change some styles. Doing this, as you would have done in versions 3.x, is an anti-pattern that must be avoided (unless you actually want to change the page layout).

Legacy UI

The version 4.0 legacy UI pages structures and CSS styles have been deeply refactored, if you had a 3.x custom disposition with custom styles chances are it will no render the same in 4.0. You should reset to default disposition and create new CSS styles overrides.

Warning: the legacy UI is scheduled to be removed in release P25, you now need to consider refactoring all code/components dedicated to this legacy UI

Upgrade procedure

Prerequisites

The update MUST be done on an up-to-date 3.2 version.

This means that all maintenance releases patches of version 3.2 have been sucessfully applied and verified.

To avoid issues the following system parameters must be reset to their suitable values for 4.0:

DISPOSITION must be set to default
DISPOSITION_RESOURCES must be set to yes
PUBLIC_PAGES must be set to no
SHOW_MOBILE must be set to either yes (once migrated you will be able to change it to default, always or no if you want but not before migration)

Procedure

The following upgrade procedure is only applicable to instances managed on an instance manager (SIM), it MUST be done using command line.

Connect on your instance's account: sudo su - myinstance
Make a final update of your instance: sim upgrade
Make a backup of your instance: sim save
Make a complete backup of the instance's tomcat folder (in order to be able to revert manually to previous version if needed): cp -r tomcat tomcat-fefore.version.upgrade
Change your instance's version in the manager's database: sqlite3 /var/simplicite/data/apps.db "update instances set version = '4.0' where name = 'myinstance'"
Apply all database-level patches: sim ant-upgrade-configuration-db-only
Stop your instance: sim stop
Manually check and update if needed your instances's deployment descriptors META-INF/context.xml and WEB-INF/web.xml by comparing them to the default ones of version 4.0 (that you can find in /var/simplicite/template-4.0)
Upgrade tour instance's webapp: sim ant-upgrade-war
Restart your instance: sim start
Remove the patch level property file rm tomcat/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/patches/V4.0/patches.properties
Apply all configuration-level patches: sim ant-upgrade-configuration-xml-only

It is recommended to do a manual global clear cache using the generic web UI at the end of the process.