Editor Documentation improvement

[Svilen Ivanov]

I would like to suggest minor improvement of Applogic 2.4 Editor documentation (http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic24/RefEditor.html). I wasn't able to find how to change the Class of particular instance on the canvas. I recalled that you can do this by Ctrl + Shift + Drag of a Class from Catalog into the Instance on the Canvas. Also I recall that there were certain limitations of this operation (you can't do it if terminals are different). It would be helpful if they are documented there

[PeterNic]

Svi,

It was good to see you over the holidays!

Thanks for noticing this is missing (the command was shift-drag). We will add it to the topic.

Starting with 2.4.x, it is also possible to change the class name by editing the ADL descriptor (http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic24/AdvADLSpec.html) manually (which can be used to avoid some of the more obsessive-compulsive checks done by shift-drag and/or to clean up some of the differences). To do that:

in the application, you can use "Application | ADL main descriptor";
in an assembly (non-catalog/branched), use "Assembly | ADL class descriptor";


To edit a class descriptor of an appliance (subordinate of main or an assembly, whether it is an assembly itself or not), you can use "Appliance | ADL class descriptor".

(Stern warning about editing ADL descriptors: this is an advanced feature, use with caution; read all message boxes/questions popped by the editor carefully before choosing OK or Cancel.)


Best regards,
-- Peter

[Svilen Ivanov]

Peter,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I don't feel comfortable (yet) editing descriptors and Shift+Drag works for me in the following use case scenario:

I've created custom appliance based on LUX64 (a Postfix-based mail server) and created few instances. This appliance have read-only /usr volume.
Then I branched my custom appliance to (a) apply CentOS package updates (b) add few more properties to the Class.
After testing the branched appliance I decided to apply those changes to my instance. I brought it back to Catalog and then Shift-Dragged it over the old instances of the appliance.
After application restart, all the appliances had been updated! (cool)


-- Svilen

[PeterNic]

Svi,

Yep, that was the idea (being cool and useful). Another reason to change a class name -- other than version/update change -- is to change the functionality/scale: IN with INSSL, WEB4 <-> WEB5, WEBx <-> WEBx4 <-> WEBx8.

Regarding the ADL descriptors: with a little care, and with a saved copy into notepad/your favorite text editor, should be no problem. But if shift-drag works for you, no need to mess with the descriptors!

Best,

-- Peter