In 2020 we removed a dependency between TrakCare and the InterSystems IRIS for Health data platform that required the versions of each to be in sync. This change enabled us to increase the release frequency of TrakCare and moved us towards a more continuous release process where our clients can get all the benefits of TrakCare irrespective of the underlying platform version.
Starting in April 2021, InterSystems is changing the naming convention used to identify TrakCare releases. This change conveys that a release of TrakCare can now run on more than one version of InterSystems IRIS.
The new naming convention is:
TrakCare {year}.{minor version} on {IRIS Version}
Therefore, in April 2021 we will release:
T2021.1 on IRIS 2019
T2021.1 on IRIS 2020
What does a more continuous release process mean?
The decoupling of TrakCare from InterSystems IRIS for Health means that whenever a patch is released it contains all the most recent developments. In effect, clients will get all the content that would have been part of the maintenance release for the version they were on at the time of patching plus all the functionality added to TrakCare up to the date of release. All releases contain the same TrakCare application content and continue to be cumulative. This will allow our clients to stay current and spread their testing effort and investment in new feature adoption throughout the year.
An Example 1: The date is April 2021. The latest version of TrakCare is T2021 and the latest version of InterSystems IRIS for Health is IRIS 2020
Patching without upgrading InterSystems IRIS for Health
• Clients using T2019 will apply T2021.1 on IRIS 2019 patch
• Clients using T2020 will apply T2021.1 on IRIS 2020 patch
Patching with upgrading InterSystems IRIS for Health
• Clients on T2019 firstly upgrade the data platform to IRIS 2020 followed by applying T2021.1 on IRIS 2020 full kit
This demonstrates that there will be no more releases for T2019 or T2020. Instead, the next release applied will be T2021.1 (i.e. the version that will be current in April 2021) and it will include the same content that would have been in the next maintenance releases for both T2019 and T2020.
An Example 2: The date is June 2021. The latest version of TrakCare is T2021.3 and the latest version of InterSystems IRIS for Health is IRIS 2021
Patching without upgrading InterSystems IRIS for Health
• Clients using T2021 on IRIS 2020 will apply T2021.3 on IRIS 2020 patch
Patching with upgrading InterSystems IRIS for Health
• Clients using T2021 firstly upgrade the data platform to IRIS 2021 followed by applying T2021.3 on IRIS 2021 full kit
This story originally appeared the March 3, 2021- OnTrak News Flash No.7