andrewrichards
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:03 am

Which update is detected as the newest?

Tue Mar 21, 2023 11:14 am

Hi all

I've been getting to grips with using Advanced installer to install a database application for my clients. It's been a learning curve, but I'm about there, I think.

However, I have now realised that I've made an error. I've been using an application version in the style of yyyy.mm.dd.x, so a new release today would be 2023.03.21.1 and so on. But having completed the original release and then about 5 minor updates in order to get used to the tool, I realised that I've somehow started the process with a typo, and not having checked carefully enough, ever since, I've been using version numbers starting 2023.07 instead of 2023.03.

So my question is this. When the update tool looks at the updates.txt file, this contains all the version history. But how does it know which is the most recent update? If it's based on the highest version number, then if I revert to setting the version numbers as they SHOULD be (now 2023.03.x.x.x) then they'll be detected as older than the current (incorrectly numbered) version. But, if the updater.exe file assumes that the first update listed is the most recent (based on position in the .txt file) then there shouldn't be a problem as the 2023.03.x.x.x update will be listed first. Then I just need to make sure not to end up with duplicate version numbers come July!

Any help gratefully received...

Andrew

Catalin
Posts: 6542
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2018 7:49 am

Re: Which update is detected as the newest?

Wed Mar 22, 2023 4:59 pm

Hello Andrew and welcome to our forums,

Latest update is basically the one with the highest version number.

In your case, if 2023.7 is installed, it will not detect 2023.3 as an ugrade.

If you did not roll this to your clients, then simply change the version with the correct ones.

If you did roll the setups to your clients, then you could try using the "Allow downgrade" option from the "Upgrades" page.

Additionally, please note that you are not respecting the best practices of the "ProductVersion" property.
The format of the string is as follows:
major.minor.build

The first field is the major version and has a maximum value of 255. The second field is the minor version and has a maximum value of 255. The third field is called the build version or the update version and has a maximum value of 65,535.
This might lead to some unexpected behavior.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Catalin
Catalin Gheorghe - Advanced Installer Team
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