More Information On The Recent Version Numbering Scheme Announcement

Matt Crawford

You may recall that when we announced the release of Blackbaud CRM 4.0 SP 16, we added a note about a change to the version numbering scheme:

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A quick note about versioning in Blackbaud CRM and BBIS:


Blackbaud CRM follows a numeric versioning scheme to identify the latest software release and the type of update. The versioning scheme structure is the major release number, minor release number, security number, and build number, with each number separated by a period: major.minor.security.build.  For additional information on how application changes determine changes to our builds, please review the Versioning Scheme section of our PA-DSS Implementation Guide.  

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We've since received a couple of questions regarding how hotfixes are treated in this numbering scheme.

It is important to first know that the numbering scheme for our Service Packs and Hotfixes will appear in this way moving forward: Major.Minor.Security.Build Hotfix  4.0.180 58 4.0.180.1600  1601 4.0.180.1700  

SP

15

16

17*

*Please note SP17 is unreleased and is included here only as an example of how the versioning will appear, moving forward.
 
As you can see above, with Service Pack 16 we also changed our numbering scheme for hotfixes.  Moving forward, our Hotfixes will increment the build portion of the base Service Pack numbering scheme. 

For example, the first Hotfix built on SP 16 has the numbering scheme of 4.0.180.1601 and will be referred to as  “Hotfix 1601.”  (Note: If there is a hotfix built on Service Pack 17, it will be referred to as “Hotfix 170X.”)  Please also be aware that not all builds of a hotfix may be released, which could lead to gaps in the sequential order of released Hotfixes.  For example, if quality testing discovers an issue with the build for Hotfix 1602; then we will not release it and the second released Hotfix on SP16 may be identified as "Hotfix 1603" or "Hotfix 1604"


The most important thing to remember is that hotfixes are cumulative, and we will only make available the most recent hotfix on blackbaud.com.  You will be still be able to find information on when changes were released by viewing the Release Notes.
 
For Service Packs, this will appear in the UI, below.  On the left is the Help > About screen for the base SP 16 installation, while the one on the right is from “Hotfix 1601."