How to update the composite genie instances with new template

Hi Petr,

A very good set of questions.

1. If you plan to modify the composite genies, then yes you should definitely create a copy of them and change their unique ID (Guid) at the top of the file (as per guidance in help). That is absolutely critical otherwise you will forever have a conflict with our libraries.
2. If you do take a copy please, realise it will now be your responsibility to merge template changes that we may do as part of Updates.
3. Yes, if you make modifications to templates it will keep your values. We put work into supporting this scenario and the Comp Genie Presentation Options form will guide you on what needs to be fixed. This is why that little checkbox at the bottom of the form exists - "Show only parameters with invalid input".
Obviously you will have work to do if your changes are too damaging. e.g. change a parameter from a string to a number type for example.
4. Now can you migrate from one template to another? Hmm. I will have to get back to you on this. My gut feel is yes, as the key information is held in your composite cache (which is really your CG instance data) folder in your active project. You can see each instance xml lists which template it is using.
I will need to check with the dev team whether it is safe, and/or there other things in place to prevent you from doing this.
If we are able to do this, then a simple Update Pages should be all you need.

Cheers,
bradley

Hi Petr,

I've had a chat with the team, and the answer is that we would need to add a feature in to allow you to change the template of your composite genie instances.

Modifying the template in the instance data, or touching the signature section (likely to stop you anyway) will lead to problems. Apparently the template id is also referenced in the genie cache.ctm.

cheers,
bradley

Hi Bradley!

Thank you for detailed answer. So currently we've got two options: a) modify standard library objects b) manually replace every instance with another one.
Obviously it is really necessary to keep several references on the template for each instance: folder name, instance xml, cache.ctm.

Probably it's better to work with a copy of standard templates from the very beginning of the project, like it recommended with archestra for example? But since we have no inheritance it will lead to update troubles.
Looking forward to seeing this feature available.

BR
pf

Hi Petr,

Yes starting with a copy is the better option (just make sure you change the ID). If we made changes to our Composite Genie templates or genies, say for bug fixes, they would be done in a non-breaking way. As it is a XML file (not a graphics file) merging of changes is significantly easier.

If a breaking-change was necessary we would most likely consider publishing a version 2 of the particular template.

cheers,
bradley