Release upgrades and compatibility

This section addresses compatibility issues with different version of Robotware.

You should be aware that the FlexPendant SDKs are developed and tested for a specific RobotWare release. The general rule is therefore that you develop an application for a certain release.

Compatibility between revisions is however guaranteed (for example FlexPendant SDK 5.11.01 will be compatible with FlexPendant SDK 5.11).

At some time during the lifetime of your application, a robot system that your application targets may be upgraded with a later RobotWare version.

As for a FlexPendant SDK application this means that the runtime will change, that is, the FlexPendant SDK assemblies located in RobotWare will be different from the ones that were used when the application was developed. Generally, the only way to be sure that the existing application will work with a newer RobotWare version is to compile the source code with the FlexPendant SDK version that matches the intended RobotWare version.

Note
You find all the details about compatibility between different FlexPendant SDK versions in the Release Notes.

Tip
When compiling your project notice any warnings of obsolete methods, as these will probably be removed in the next FlexPendant SDK release.

To sum up, it is important to keep source code safe and available for maintenance.

Tip
Ildasm is a Microsoft tool, which comes with the installation of Visual Studio, that you may find useful. It enables you to open the manifest of a specified assembly and quickly find out about dependencies for example. Find out more about it at www.msdn2.microsoft.com