How do you manage the versioning of your programs on the robot?

Samuel_Bouchard 2017-07-08

Hi Pros, I got asked the following and would like your input.

What file naming convention do you use? Why did you chose that one?
Do you use a versioning tool to manage your programs versions?

matthewd92 2017-07-08

We use a standard naming convention of CustomerName_ProjectName_Default for the default program that loads automatically. We then store our versioned programs in an archive folder. In that folder we use semantic versioning with major.minor.bugFix. We use the naming convention of CustomerName_ProjectName-vx.y.z

The CustomerName and ProjectName we abbreviate so that it's not too long, generally 3-5 letters for the customer and project names.

In the before start section of the program we use a variable named VERSION to store the current version number in so that appears near the top of the variables list. Helps us to identify quickly with customers if they are running the correct version of the program.

We do USB magic file backups at the end of each day or programming and sometimes more frequently depending on what's going on. We also have the ability to backup programs to AWS remotely so we can grab files at anytime to look at.

Samuel_Bouchard 2017-07-10

Hi Matt, thanks for sharing the tips! I am sure that these aspects are even more important for a business like yours.

Luis 2017-07-13

Hello all.

In the same way, I use a shorg name with the first characters for cell name and
then the number of the robot inside the cell -this must agree with the CAD drawings-.
After that, I store the file(s) in a separate folder for each date and time.
The last one is always the best.
Otherwise, if needed I use additional notes for alternative versions which have been not tested yet.
We usually store backups remotely
via ftp to a server, or automatocally to an external disk drive.

Colin 2017-07-13

For lab versioning (non-install), we use YYYY_MM_DD - ProjectDescription - Hardware

The ProjectDescription is identical to our Microsoft Project Opportunity title that our sales team enters. The Hardware is a quick note of the tooling used if it is an off-the-shelf part(s).

We have not yet standardized on installation versioning yet.

Samuel_Bouchard 2017-07-29

Thanks for your input @Colin and @Luis, much appreciated!

matthewd92 2020-05-13

I know this is an old post but wanted to update with some of the new features that we have released to the public. You can now use the Hirebotics mobile app to automatically and securely create versioned backups of all files on the robot. You can even restore to an older version directly from the mobile app. You do not need to keep named versions on the robot anymore. Every time the file is saved we create a secure version of it in the cloud. The data is only yours and you can control who has access to that data. Files can be shared using time sensitive, secure links directly from the app. If you need to send files to UR or the distributor to help with an issue or warranty claim you can do it right from the phone. There is no hardware to purchase, this all runs entirely on the robot natively. You can find more information on it at https://www.hirebotics.com/app