What Is a Resolution, and Why Does It Matter to You?
A resolution is a technical solution designed to handle a single, specific problem with no implied relationship to other resolutions unless otherwise specifically stated.
Welcome to the Cincom Smalltalk Support coaching clinic. For a quick review of previous sessions:
- Self-study with the Release Notes
One way to receive coaching on how to move forward from an old release to the latest Cincom Smalltalk release is to do a little bit of self-study with the release notes. The release notes contain new feature descriptions and changes, and the bug fix files list the ARs addressed. A little reading can go a long way toward a smoother, less-frustrating upgrade. - Upgrading Cincom Smalltalk
How do you determine when you should upgrade your application? We feel that there is some planning you should think about and even document before taking the step to move your application forward. To avoid unnecessary frustration, do your homework before you begin. Become one with your Smalltalk application. The upgrade itself will go smoothly, but if you would like Cincom to help in the upgrade process, look into our Cincom Smalltalk Consulting and Services option.
Coaching Session Three: Resolutions
Technical problems come in all forms. Some are easily re-created in any environment, some are not reproducible outside the production environment and others only occur with a certain operating system or a specific version of other third-party software. The more information you provide to Cincom Smalltalk Support the higher the chances of finding a solution. Support’s primary job is to give you a technical solution that results in the application functioning within the boundaries of Cincom® ObjectStudio® or Cincom® VisualWorks®.
Once the solution is found, the Technical Support Engineer creates a “resolution.” A resolution is a technical solution designed to handle a single, specific problem. Resolutions are considered temporary solutions until the product addresses it in a future release. Many resolutions list no prerequisite resolutions because of the nature of the problem being addressed. We provide support for resolutions that are made available to our customers. However, resolutions are to be evaluated by you, our customer or partner, just as if your staff had created them and wanted to apply them to the production environment. We recommend only applying those resolutions that actually solve a problem that you are experiencing. It will underscore the need to make it part of your production efforts. Otherwise, unnecessary resolutions may cause regressions. An example of this is a resolution that is only needed for a Mac environment causing regression in a Windows environment.
All resolutions are submitted for consideration for inclusion into an upcoming release. Some resolutions are included and others are not because the problem is architecturally solved a different way. Other resolutions are too specific to a rare situation and much more time is needed to understand how the product should be adjusted. Yes, there are even resolutions that are unique to a specific application design pattern of a customer and will not be included in a future release.
Want an easy way to learn about available resolutions? Here are two ways:
- Our monthly Cincom Smalltalk Resolutions newsletter is exclusive to current Cincom Smalltalk customers and partners. The email communication lists the latest resolutions available for the most recent Cincom Smalltalk versions, which are currently Cincom ObjectStudio 9.2 and Cincom VisualWorks 9.2. To be included on this mailing list, visit: https://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/main/users/support/customer-submission-for-cincom-smalltalk-resolutions/
- A second way to list available resolutions is to visit the Resolutions Portal at our website: https://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/ResolutionsApplication/CincomResolutionsPortal.
Remember, a resolution is a technical solution designed to handle a single, specific problem with no implied relationship to other resolutions unless otherwise specifically stated.
If you have further questions, contact us via:
- Cincom SupportWeb for immediate support.
- HelpNA@cincom.com and EuroTSC@cincom.com to file new support cases.
You can reach the Cincom Smalltalk Product Team at CSSTARTeam@cincom.com if you need anything else.