Replacing a version to roll back to a milestone

Before replacing a version, compare versions to view the differences between two of the same versions.

If your team must roll back to a previous version, a comparison between the latest and an older version visually illustrates the products that are included or missing between the two versions.

About this task

To compare two versions, right-click on an older version and select Compare with Previous Version. Check the differences and similarities between the two versions to be sure that the older version is the one you need. For more information about comparisons, see Comparing products.

Procedure

  1. In the product tree, right-click the latest product and select Replace Version.

    You can replace a version only in a specified parent product. Top-level products cannot be replaced.

  2. In the Replace Version dialog box, look at the version choices. Double-click a version to replace the current one.

    When you create a product version, it becomes a read-only product. All child products in the hierarchy become read-only. All products in the product hierarchy are given the version name that was specified at creation.

Example

Teams can use versions to roll back to a previous milestone for a number of reasons. For example, a car part might be recalled or an improved valve for a heart device might be developed, and a team might need to replace a faulty product or use a newer product.

When a team replaces a faulty product, the product might be included in one or more products. Likewise, when a team wants to use a new product, the product might be included in products that are old, current, and in development. The following steps show how to replace products.

  1. Find all the products that use the product to be replaced.

    In the product tree, right-click the product to replace and select Find Use.

  2. On the Find Use page, look through the list of products that use the product you want to replace.

    Products are often child products in other products. View the results of the find use operation, and use the icons to the left of the output to perform actions on the products. You can view history, find where else a product is used, and show the product in the product tree.

  3. Compare the version to older versions by viewing the audit history.

    See Comparing products.

  4. Back in the product tree, right-click the product to replace and select Start Analysis.
  5. On the Impact Analysis Diagrams page, click Start Analysis to start the analysis.

    View all of the artifacts that have a relationship to the specified product. Additionally, each product can have multiple artifacts (work items, design models, test cases) that must be updated to reflect product changes.

    Use the relationship information to help you decide different factors of replacing the product, for example, cost, time-to-market, staffing, and other products and teams impacted by the change.

  6. After viewing all supporting information (impacted products and other artifacts), replace the version.

    In the main menu, choose Products > Browse > Recently Viewed Products.

    Right-click over the product to be replaced and choose Replace Version.

    In the Replace Version dialog box, select the version to replace the current version.

    If you look at the product tree, the pin icon shows the pinned state for the product you replaced. The pin indicates that the product is not replaced automatically, even if newer versions of the same product become available. If you want to replace the pinned product with the latest version, you must explicitly unpin the version. Unpin by selecting the Unpin and Replace With Latest Version icon. To select a different version without unpinning, right-click the product version and select Replace Version, which opens the Replace Version dialog box. After you select a different version, the new version is displayed in the product tree and is pinned.

    In version 4.0.4 and earlier, the selected version is pinned to the product, and the pin icon displays to the left of the product name in the product tree. The pin is a visual reminder that you replaced a version. If you right-click the replaced version, an option called Unpin Version displays. If you unpin the version, the latest version and its hierarchy replaces the pinned version. If you do not unpin the product after you replace a version, but a newer version becomes available, the newer version is not used and pinned.

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