Feature Toggle mechanism

Feature toggle is a software development technique. The purpose of the feature toggle is to manage the additional feature status in a live application.

Feature toggle lets you use continuous integration while preserving the working capacity of the application and hiding features you are still developing. The application source code contains the additional feature block and the conditional operator that checks the feature status.

Learn more about the Feature toggle mechanism in Wikipedia.

Store the feature details 

Creatio stores the feature details in the following database tables:

• [Feature]. Stores the list of features you can toggle. Empty by default.
• [AdminUnitFeatureState] (the [FeatureState] column). Stores the is the additional feature status (turned on/off). The [AdminUnitFeatureState] table connects the [Feature] and the [SysAdminUnit] database tables. [SysAdminUnit] is the additional feature status for Creatio users and user groups.

View the relationship chart between tables that store the additional feature details in the figure below.

View the primary columns of the [Feature] database table below.

View the primary columns of the [AdminUnitFeatureState] database table below.

Turn on the additional feature 

You can manage the additional feature status in several ways:

• for current Creatio user
• for all Creatio users

Turn on the feature for current Creatio user 

1. Open the Features page that lets you use to turn the feature on selectively.

   [Creatio URL]/0/Nui/ViewModule.aspx#BaseSchemaModuleV2/FeaturesPage
   

   http://mycreatio.com/0/Nui/ViewModule.aspx#BaseSchemaModuleV2/FeaturesPage
   

2. Turn on the corresponding switch for the needed feature.
3. Click Save changes.

The tooltip displays the status of the feature for the user group of the current user. Changing the feature status on the page does not change the feature status for the user group of the current user. In this case, Creatio adds an extra rule only for the current user. This rule has a higher priority than the rule for the user group.

View the example of the Features page in the figure below.

Turn on the feature for all Creatio users 

To turn on the feature for all Creatio users, execute a database query. You can use one of example queries below.

DECLARE @featureCode varchar(max) = 'NewEmailSettingsWithoutAutoSynchronization', @featureId uniqueidentifier;
set @featureId = (select top 1 Id from Feature where Code = @featureCode);
IF @featureId is null
    BEGIN
        insert into Feature
            (Name, Code)
        values
            (@featureCode, @featureCode);
        set @featureId = (select top 1 Id from Feature where Code = @featureCode);
    END;
delete from AdminUnitFeatureState where FeatureId = @featureId;
insert into AdminUnitFeatureState
    (SysAdminUnitId, FeatureState, FeatureId)
    values
        ('A29A3BA5-4B0D-DE11-9A51-005056C00008', 1, @featureId),
        ('720B771C-E7A7-4F31-9CFB-52CD21C3739F', 1, @featureId);

do $$
    DECLARE
        featureCode varchar(100) = 'EmailIntegrationV2';
        featureId UUID;
    BEGIN
        featureId = (select "Id" from "Feature" where "Code" = featureCode limit 1);
        IF featureId is null THEN
            insert into "Feature"
                ("Name", "Code")
            values
                (featureCode, featureCode);
            featureId = (select "Id" from "Feature" where "Code" = featureCode limit 1);
        end IF;
    delete from "AdminUnitFeatureState" where "FeatureId" = featureId;
    insert into "AdminUnitFeatureState"
        ("SysAdminUnitId", "FeatureState", "FeatureId")
        values
            ('A29A3BA5-4B0D-DE11-9A51-005056C00008', 1, featureId),
            ('720B771C-E7A7-4F31-9CFB-52CD21C3739F', 1, featureId);
end $$;

DECLARE
    existObject NUMBER := 0;
    v_featurecode VARCHAR2(50) := 'LoadAttachmentsInSameProcess';
    v_featureid VARCHAR2(38);
BEGIN
    SELECT COUNT(1) INTO existObject FROM "Feature" WHERE "Code" = v_featurecode;
    if existObject = 0 THEN 
        INSERT INTO "Feature" ("Name", "Code") VALUES (:v_featurecode, :v_featurecode);
    END IF; 
SELECT "Id" INTO v_featureid FROM "Feature" WHERE "Code" = v_featurecode AND rownum <= 1;
DELETE FROM "AdminUnitFeatureState" WHERE "FeatureId" = v_featureid;
INSERT INTO "AdminUnitFeatureState" ("SysAdminUnitId", "FeatureState", "FeatureId") 
    VALUES ('{A29A3BA5-4B0D-DE11-9A51-005056C00008}', 1, v_featureid);
END;
/

featureCode specifies the name of the needed feature.

You can use SQL queries to turn on the feature for the user group, turn off the feature for current user and vice versa.

Run the SQL query that has 0 in the [FeatureState] column of the [AdminUnitFeatureState] table to turn off the feature for all Creatio users.

Implement a custom feature 

1. Add a custom feature.

   1. Open the Features page that lets you turn the feature on selectively.

   2. Fill out the properties of the feature to add:

      • Enter the custom feature code in the Feature code property. Required.
      • Enter the custom feature name in the Feature name property.
      • Enter the custom feature description in the Feature description property.
      
   3. Click Create feature.

   As a result, Creatio will add the custom feature to the Features page list.

   

2. Implement a custom feature in the source code. Implement the custom feature in the block of the conditional operator that checks the feature status (i. e. the [FeatureState] column value from the [AdminUnitFeatureState] database table).

   You can implement a custom feature in several ways:

   • In the front-end. To do this, follow the guide in a different section: Implement a custom feature in the front-end.
   • In the back-end. To do this, follow the guide in a a different section: Implement a custom feature in the back-end.

Implement a custom feature in the front-end 

1. Create a view model schema. To do this, follow the guide in a separate article: Client module.

2. Add the source code in the Module Designer. You can use the template below.

   Template to implement a custom feature

   /* Method that defines the additional feature. */
   someMethod: function() {
       /* Check if the feature is connected. */
       if (Terrasoft.Features.getIsEnabled("FeatureCode")) {
           /* Implement the additional feature. */
           ...
       }
       /* Implement the method. */
       ...
   }
   

   The getIsFeatureEnabled method of the BaseSchemaViewModel base view model schema lets you streamline the workflow. As such, you can replace the Terrasoft.Features.getIsEnabled method with the this.getIsFeatureEnabled("FeatureCode") method.

3. Click Save.

Refresh the page to add the custom feature to the client code and display the feature on the browser page.

Implement a custom feature in the back-end 

1. Create a Source code schema. To do this, follow the guide in a separate article: Source code (C#).

2. Add the source code in the Source Code Designer.

   The Terrasoft.Configuration.FeatureUtilities class provides a set of extension methods to the UserConnection class. These methods let you use the Feature toggle functionality in the source code schemas of the Creatio back-end. You can use the template below.

   Template to implement a custom feature

   ...
   /* The namespace that lets you toggle a feature. */
   using Terrasoft.Configuration;
   ...
   /* The method that implements an additional feature. */
   public void AnyMethod() {
       /* Check if the feature is connected. */
       if (UserConnection.GetIsFeatureEnabled("FeatureCode")) {
           /* Implement the additional feature. */
       }
       /* Implement the method. */
       ...
   }
   

3. Set the feature status by calling the SetFeatureState() method. You can use the template below.

   Template to call the SetFeatureState() method

   UserConnection.SetFeatureState("FeatureCode", FeatureState);