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Brief Connect v2.6.4 Release Notes (Draft)

Release date - 23rd October, 2024

Package version: 2.6.4-rc.1

This patch release improves Open Records and Closed Records dashboard queries for Azure DocumentDB.

Improvements

  • Faster Open Records and Closed Records dashboard queries

    Brief Connect now stores the DashboardState field (whether a record is open or closed) and the IsArchivedNormalized field (whether a record is archived) on each record. Previously, each query read the record stage and the NoFurtherAction, Cancelled, Withdrawn, and Superseded closure flags when you opened the dashboard.

    The Open Records and Closed Records views and their filter counts now query these indexed fields directly. This change reduces query time and database load in Azure DocumentDB environments.

    During deployment and scheduled maintenance, DashboardStateFieldsMigration populates these fields on existing records. If a record changes while the migration runs, the migration skips that record and updates it on the next run. This behavior prevents the migration from overwriting new changes.

Upgrade instructions from v2.6.x

These instructions apply to environments that use Brief Connect v2.6.x.

Manual pre-deployment steps

Review release pipeline variables

Apply changes to pipeline variables before you create a release. Each release stores the current variable values at creation.

If you change a variable later, create a new release.

  1. In Azure DevOps, open your Brief Connect project.
  2. Go to Pipelines -> Library -> Variable groups.
  3. Review the variables for each target environment.
  4. Update the values where required.
  5. Save the changes.

Create a new release

  1. In Azure DevOps, open your Brief Connect project.
  2. Go to Pipelines -> Releases.
  3. Open the Deploy Brief Connect Application release pipeline.
  4. If no release uses version 2.6.4-rc.1, select Create Release.
  5. Set the Package Version variable to 2.6.4-rc.1.
  6. If the release needs a description, add one.
  7. Select Create.
  8. Refresh the page.
  9. Make sure that v2.6.4-rc.1 (n) appears in the release list.

Pipeline deployment steps

  1. Deploy the latest v2.6.4-rc.1 (n) release to the target environment from the Deploy Brief Connect Application release pipeline.

Manual post-deployment steps

No manual changes are required.

Smoke tests

After deployment, follow our Basic testing of Brief Connect guide.

Release-specific tests for v2.6.4

Dashboard state migration and views

  • Verify dashboard state migration health - Requires: System Administrator.

    1. After deployment, open App Health.
    2. Make sure that DashboardStateFieldsMigration and ComputedFieldsMigration finish without an unresolved error.

    Expected result: All existing records receive the normalised dashboard state fields without migration errors.

  • Verify Open Records and Closed Records views and refiners - Requires: a user with access to open, closed, closure-flagged, and archived records.

    1. Open the Open Records dashboard tab and confirm that open, non-archived records appear as expected.
    2. Apply refiner filters on the Open Records tab and confirm that the record counts and filtered results match.
    3. Open the Closed Records dashboard tab and confirm that records in the Closed stage and records marked as No Further Action, Cancelled, Withdrawn, or Superseded appear as expected.
    4. Apply refiner filters on the Closed Records tab and confirm that the record counts and filtered results match.
    5. Confirm that archived records do not appear in either the Open Records or Closed Records tab.

    Expected result: Both dashboard tabs and their refiners return accurate record sets and exclude archived records.

  • Transition a record from open to closed - Requires: permission to progress or close a record.

    1. Create or open an active record and confirm that it appears on the Open Records tab.
    2. Complete the workflow to close the record (or mark it as Cancelled, Withdrawn, No Further Action, or Superseded).
    3. Return to the dashboard and check the Open Records and Closed Records tabs.

    Expected result: The record no longer appears on the Open Records tab and immediately appears on the Closed Records tab.

Rollback

If deployment validation fails, redeploy the previous stable package version.

  1. In Azure DevOps, open your Brief Connect project.
  2. Go to Pipelines -> Releases.
  3. Open the latest successful release that used the previous stable version of the package.
  4. Redeploy that release to the affected environment.
  5. Make sure that the core smoke tests pass.