Release Process
In previous releases, all change requests in the Alpha, Beta and Prod phase were accumulated in each release phase and used for the release calculation. For example, in the beta phase, all CRs from the beta as well as the previous alpha release were used for the calculation. With usually 200,000 changes per release, this was a large amount, which had a strong impact on the duration and computing time in the release process. In addition, new IRDIs were always calculated with each phase.
With Release 14.0, this procedure has now been changed. In the respective calculations of the release phases, only the newly generated change requests are taken into account, which then lead to consistent IDs and IRDIs (IRDIs with new versions in later release phases, if necessary). The procedure is compatible with the Fast Track process and also the Transaction Update Files (TUF) provided by ECLASS.
Improvements in new release process briefly explained
Previous release process
In the release process up to release 13.0 all elements were copied between CDP TEST and CDP PROD system. As shown in the picture below all existing change requests (CRs) were calculated in each release phase. For example, in the BETA phase all change requests from the BETA as well as from the ALPHA phase were calculated. In each phase, the CRs from the previous phases were also recalculated. Temporary IRDIS / IDs were created in ALPHA and BETA Phase.
New release process
In the new release process, which will be active from ECLASS version 14.0, stable IRDIs will be generated in each release phase. If there is no change the IRDI is stable from ALPHA to BETA to PROD Phase except for the version. So, the innovation is that there are stable IRDIs already after the processing of the ALPHA release. This leads to less amount of calculating correct change requests again and again resulting in a faster release.
That means the following procedural changes in the generation of CRs (Footnotes in Figure 2):
- Footnote 1: CRIDs
- Change request IDs (CRIDs) are used to change CRs during the working phase.
- CRIDs are only relevant within the Phase it was generated (e.g., within the ALPHA phase), not for the complete release.
- Footnote 2: Cross-phased editing
- Cross-phased editing or correcting CRs are based on calculated IRDIs and not CRIDs.
Note: Only “editing CRs” are permitted during the ALPHA Phase. That means only CRs are permitted that edit submitted content for ECLASS 14.0 ALPHA. Only “correcting CRs” are permitted during the BETA Phase. That means only CRs are permitted that correct submitted content for ECLASS 14.0 ALPHA (and BETA). During the PROD phase, no more CRs will be considered for the current release. In case of very urgent requests or serious errors in the data, the ECLASS Head Office can be contacted so that errors can still be corrected until the release.
Display in CDP
As of Release 14.0, it is possible to switch between ALPHA, BETA and PROD release via drop-down menu in the CDP. In this way it is also possible to view the ALPHA release in the BETA phase. It works like it is shown in the screenshot.
PROD system only
As of Release 14.0, the structural elements for release processing will no longer be copied between PROD and TEST system. This means that the check of the processed CRs in the CDP hierarchy will take place on the PROD and not on the TEST system as in the past. The release process is thus further accelerated, as the copying of elements is no longer an issue. During the processing of the CRs, the PROD system will still be accessible, but the submission of CRs will be blocked. There will therefore be a "single source of truth" from Release 14.0.
Release milestones and deadlines
All published Releases
| Release Number | Release Type | Release date | No. of contained classes | No. of contained properties | No. of contained values | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | Major | 2000-04-30 | 4.785 | 2.427 | 1.986 | |
| 4.0 | Major | 2001-03-27 | 12.915 | 2.303 | 1.982 | |
| 4.1 | Minor | 2002-02-28 | 15.315 | 5.504 | 3.143 | |
| 5.0 | Major | 2003-09-02 | 24.870 | 3.667 | 1.287 | |
| 5.0.1 | ServicePack | 2004 | 24.919 | 3.699 | 1.576 | |
| 5.1 | Minor | 2004-09-27 | 25.658 | 5.525 | 4.544 | |
| 5.1.1 | ServicePack | 2005-09-07 | 27.216 | 6.941 | 4.546 | |
| 5.1.2 | ServicePack | 2006-07-12 | 27.442 | 6.964 | 4.712 | |
| 5.1.3 | ServicePack | 2006-10-26 | 30.280 | 6.967 | 4.712 | |
| 5.1.4 | ServicePack | 2007-07-01 | 30.329 | 7.136 | 4.720 | |
| 6.0 (replaced by 6.0.1) | Major | 2008-04-30 | 32.592 | 8.653 | 6.811 | |
| 6.1 | Minor | 2009-08-21 | 32.795 | 9.910 | 7.531 | |
| 6.2 | Minor | 2009-12-01 | 32.832 | 9.919 | 7.533 | |
| 7.0 | Major | 2011-02-15 | 37.868 | 15.397 | 19.123 | |
| 7.1 | Minor | 2011-11-30 | 39.068 | 15.953 | 19.874 | |
| 8.0 | Major | 2012-12-02 | 39.041 | 16.137 | 13.609 | |
| 8.1 | Minor | 2013-12-02 | 39.085 | 16.203 | 13.819 | |
| 9.0 | Major | 2014-12-08 | 40.870 | 16.845 | 14.365 | |
| 9.1 | Minor | 2015-11-30 | 41.027 | 16.973 | 14.456 | |
| 10.0 (replaced by 10.0.1) | Major | 2017-02-03 | 41.647 | 17.342 | 15.708 | |
| 10.1 | Minor | 2018-03-29 | 42.220 | 18.867 | 17.022 | |
| 11.0 | Major | 2019-07-29 | 45.293 | 19.139 | 24.979 | |
| 11.1 | Minor | 2020-08-10 | 46.135 | 19.329 | 25.779 | |
| 12.0 | Major | 2021-11-22 | 47.321 | 21.600 | 27.455 | |
| 13.0 | Major | 2022-12-14 | 47.933 | 21.730 | 27.717 | |
| 14.0 | Major | 2023-11-20 | 48.170 | 22.996 | 29.358 |
NOTE 1: Starting with Release 7.0 all releases are available in a BASIC and an ADVANCED version. The numbers of contained structural elements refer only to the BASIC version.
NOTE 2: The number of keywords is language-specific and not mentioned here. ECLASS 3.0 started with around 8.000 German keywords. ECLASS 8.0 contains more than 50.000 keywords in both German and English. More information is available in the relevant language version descriptions in the ECLASS Shop.
NOTE 3: Starting with Release 6.0.1 a ServicePack definition differs from before 6.0.1, please see: ServicePack.
Release Numbers and Versioning
The ECLASS data model defines the format of release numbers, the versioning of changes and additions as well as the consequences for the release number. The release number consists of a "MajorRelease Number" (x.0) and a "MinorRelease Number" (n.x). A ServicePack additionally comprises a "ServicePack Number" (n.n.x).
Change Requests (CR)
A Change Request (CR) is a proposal by an ECLASS user (=requestor) to change a part of the content of the ECLASS classification system. It can be a correction or even a deletion of something that is identified by the requestor as wrong or an enhancement of something that is still missing. Generally, the ECLASS classification system will never be finished as changes will always be necessary as long as markets are evolving. The number of change requests processed within a release varies according to the temporary requirements of the industry. The biggest release in regard to the number of submitted change requests was ECLASS 7.0 where more than 260.000 CR were processed. Different kinds of CR are valid in different kinds of releases, see above or have a look at the list of valid change requests per release.
All ECLASS Change Requests have to concur to specific guidelines and rules.