Manage an existing additional feature

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This article covers the additional feature behavior relevant to Creatio 8.0.2 Atlas and later. If you use an earlier Creatio version, follow the guide in a separate article: 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. Learn more about developing custom features in a separate article: Implement a custom additional feature. Use the Feature toggling page to manage the additional feature status.

Learn more about the Feature toggle mechanism in Wikipedia.

Store the additional feature details 

Creatio stores the additional 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 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.

Primary columns of the [Feature] database table
Column
Type
Description
[Id]
uniqueidentifier
 The unique ID of the record.
[Name]
nvarchar(250)
 The name of the additional feature. By default, matches the [Code] column value. You can change the name of the additional feature manually.
[Code]
nvarchar( 50 )
 The code of the additional feature.
[DefaultState]
int
 The default status of the additional feature (1: turned on, 0: turned off).

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

Primary columns of the [AdminUnitFeatureState] database table
Column
Type
Description
[Id]
uniqueidentifier
 The unique ID of the record.
[FeatureId]
uniqueidentifier
 The unique ID of the record from the [Feature] database table.
[SysAdminUnitId]
uniqueidentifier
 The unique ID of the user record.
[FeatureState]
int
 The status of the additional feature (1: turned on, 0: turned off).

Open the Feature toggling page 

You can open the Feature toggling page in several ways:

  • Use the [Creatio URL]/0/Features link. For example, http://my.creatio.com/0/Features.
  • Use the [Creatio URL]/0/Flags link. For example, http://my.creatio.com/0/Flags.

As a result, the browser will open the Feature toggling page.

The Feature toggling page displays the following data:

  • additional feature code (the Code column)
  • additional feature status for all users (the State column)
  • additional feature status for the current user (the State for current user column)
  • additional feature source (the Source column)
  • additional feature description (the Description column)

The additional feature source (the Source column) can have the following types:

  • DbFeatureProvider. Records of the [Feature] database table.
  • web.config. Boolean key values from the <appSettings> section of the Web.config file in Creatio root directory.
  • Metadata. Additional features registered in the source code using the class that inherits from FeatureMetadata.
  • GlobalAppSettings. Boolean properties of the Terrasoft.Core.GlobalAppSettings class. Learn more in the .NET class library.

The types of additional feature source are sorted by priority in descending order.

The rules that determine the additional feature status are as follows:

  • If an additional feature is not registered in Creatio, it is disabled.
  • If an additional feature status is specified in multiple sources, the resulting status is based on the source priority. Back-end changes to the additional feature status do not require you to refresh the browser page. Refresh the page to apply the front-end changes to the additional feature status.

View the examples of the additional feature status (true: turned on, false: turned off) determined based on multiple sources below.

Examples of the additional feature status definition
Feature source
Resulting feature status
DbFeatureProvider
web.config
Metadata or GlobalAppSettings
true
false
false
true
false
true
false
false
Not available
true
false
true
Not available
false
true
false

Manage the additional feature status 

Attention. Changes to the additional feature status can affect Creatio operability. We recommend changing the feature status only if support team approves it or you need to teat a custom feature.

You can manage the additional feature status in several ways:

  • for a Creatio user group
  • for all Creatio users

Since version 8.0.2 Atlas, Creatio lets you manage the additional feature status using the WorkspaceConsole utility. To do this, follow the guide in a separate article: Delivery in WorkspaceConsole.

Change the additional feature status for user groups 

Since version 8.0.2 Atlas, Creatio lets you change the additional feature status for user groups.

To change the additional feature status for user groups:

  1. Open the Feature toggling page.
  2. Open the page of the additional feature whose status to change for the user group.

  3. If the group is absent from the Feature status for the system administration object detail, add it.

    1. Click the button on the Feature status for the system administration object detail.
    2. Select the corresponding user group in the Admin unit field.
  4. Open the user group page.
  5. Select or clean the Feature state checkbox.
  6. Click Save.
  7. Refresh the additional feature page to apply the changes.

Attention. If the additional feature is turned on for all users and turned off for a user group, Creatio disables it only for the user group.

Change the additional feature status for all users 

To change the additional feature status for all users:

  1. Open the Feature toggling page.
  2. Open the page of the additional feature whose status to change for all users.
  3. Select or clean the State checkbox.
  4. Click Save.
See also
Feature Toggle mechanism
Implement a custom additional feature
Resources
.NET class library (UserConnection class description)
Feature toggle definition
.NET class library (the desctiption of the Terrasoft.Core.GlobalAppSettings)
FeatureUtilities class
Medium

The Terrasoft.Configuration namespace.

The Terrasoft.Configuration.FeatureUtilities class provides a set of extension methods to the UserConnectionclass. These methods let you use the Feature Toggle functionality in the source code schemas of Creatio back-end. The FeatureUtilities class also declares the enumeration of feature statuses (the [FeatureState] column of the [AdminUnitFeatureState] database table).

Note. Use the .NET class reference to access the full list of the constructors, methods and properties, parent classes, and implemented interfaces of the UserConnection class.

Methods 

static int GetFeatureState(this UserConnection source, string code)

Returns the feature status.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The feature code. 
static int GetFeatureState(this UserConnection source, string code, Guid sysAdminUnitId)

Returns the feature status.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature.
sysAdminUnitId The unique record ID. 
static bool GetIsFeatureEnabledForAnyUser(this UserConnection source, string code)

Returns the feature status for any user.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature. 
static bool GetIsFeatureEnabledForAllUsers(this UserConnection source, string code)

Returns the feature status for all users.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature. 
static Dictionary<string, int> GetFeatureStates(this UserConnection source)

Returns all feature statuses.

Parameters
source The user connection. 
static List<FeatureInfo> GetFeaturesInfo(this UserConnection source)

Returns data about all features and their statuses.

Parameters
source The user connection. 
static void SetFeatureState(this UserConnection source, string code, int state, bool forAllUsers = false)

Sets the feature status.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature.
state The new status of the feature.
forAllUsers Sets the status of the feature for all users. 
static void SafeSetFeatureState(this UserConnection source, string code, int state, bool forAllUsers = false)

Sets the feature status or creates the feature if it does not exist.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature.
state The new status of the feature.
forAllUsers Sets the status of the feature for all users. 
static void CreateFeature(this UserConnection source, string code, string name, string description)

Creates the feature.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature.
name The name of the feature.
description The description of the feature. 
static bool GetIsFeatureEnabled(this UserConnection source, string code)

Checks if the feature is turned on.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature. 
static bool GetIsFeatureEnabled(this UserConnection source, string code, Guid sysAdminUnitId)

Checks if the feature is turned off.

Parameters
source The user connection.
code The code of the feature.
sysAdminUnitId The unique record ID.

FeatureState enumeration 

The FeatureState enumeration defines the feature statuses (the [FeatureState] column of the [AdminUnitFeatureState] database table).

Disabled 0 The feature is turned off.
Enabled 1 The feature is turned on.
Established 2 The feature is established.