Announcing significant improvements to version compatibility in Alfresco Digital Workspace (ADW) 7.2.0 and Alfresco Content Application (ACA) 7.2.0. These enhancements ensure that ADW/ACA now seamlessly supports both the latest and one previous major version of ACS.
What's new
ACA/ADW 7.2.0 introduce intelligent version detection and adaptive feature support, allowing the interface to automatically adjust based on the backend ACS version. This means you can confidently upgrade your frontend while maintaining compatibility with your existing ACS infrastructure.
Key Improvements
Intelligent Version Detection
ACA/ADW now includes a new store selector that retrieves the exact ACS version at application startup using the Discovery API. This real-time version detection enables the application to automatically enable or disable features based on backend capabilities, ensuring a consistent and error-free user experience.
Feature-Specific Compatibility
We've analyzed backend changes between ACS 23.x and 25.x and implemented version-aware feature handling.
1. Folder Size Calculation API (Available in ACS 23.4+)
- ADW now hides the folder size calculation feature when connected to ACS versions below 23.4
- When available, users can leverage this powerful capability to understand storage consumption at the folder level
2. Preferences API Enhancement (Available in ACS 25.1+)
- Support for the PUT method in the Preferences API enables more flexible user preference management
- Backward compatibility ensures handling on older ACS versions
3. Legal Holds API (Available in ACS 23.3+)
- Complete support for Legal Holds v1 API, including bulk update capabilities
- Features automatically adapt based on ACS version availability
4. AGS Roles API (Available in ACS 25.2+)
- New Alfresco Governance Services Roles V1 API support
- Seamless integration when available, with fallback behavior for earlier versions
Compatibility Notes
- 25.x (latest): Full feature support including AGS Roles API
- 23.4 to 23.x: Full support with folder size calculation
- 23.3: Full support including Legal Holds API
- 23.x (< 23.3): Core features supported; advanced capabilities hidden
Technical Implementation
The implementation leverages the Discovery API "getEcmProductInfo" method to retrieve repository information at startup. This data flows through the application state management, allowing components to make decisions about feature availability. The approach ensures minimal performance impact while maintaining robust version compatibility.
Learn More
For detailed technical documentation and upgrade guides, please visit the Alfresco Documentation Center and ACA GitHub project If you have questions or need assistance, our support team is ready to help.
