Using the extension Auto Update setting

Overview

There are two extension** Auto Update** settings available for use:

Global level (all extensions)

When enabled (the default position is enabled), this option provides a global (i.e. for all Applications managed in CAST Imaging) method of ensuring that all applications will always use the latest release for all “included extensions” - i.e. those required for analysis, including Force Installed extensions. All extensions will be listed with the Auto Update slider set to enabled (unless they have been manually overridden):

CAST Imaging will also respect the setting applied via the extension Stability Level slider (see Stability Level) - in other words, if you only permit LTS or funcrel releases via the slider, the “latest extension” will be the most recent LTS or funcrel release - any other more recent alpha or beta releases will be ignored.

Extension level

This option automatically follows the global Auto Update setting - i.e. by default all extensions will be enabled. However, auto update settings for individual extensions can be set by moving the slider, therefore overriding the global setting.

When are new extensions installed when Auto Update is enabled?

When CAST Imaging detects that an extension update is required (i.e. a new release is available) an icon will be placed in the Included Extensions panel to highlight that an update is available:

The extension update itself will be applied when a new scan for an existing application is actioned, in a dedicated job step:

A new scan is when new source code is delivered for an existing application and the update occurs during the analysis of this new source code. If a new analysis of existing source code in an existing application is actioned, then extensions are NOT updated even if they are set to auto update. Extension update is done in this way (only when new source code is added) to maintain stability of your existing analysis results for a given set of source code: new releases of extensions will contain bug fixes and new features, which can impact future analysis results. Adding new source code will also impact analysis results, therefore extensions are also updated at this time.

Note that it is possible to run the update extension job as part of a new analysis on existing source code if required, via the “advanced” Update Extensions option available in the Application Overview panel in the Run Analysis section.

When should I disable the Auto Update option?

The choice to disable auto updates (at global and/or extension level) is primarily a balance between the need to maintain result stability and the ability to quickly take advantage (without having to specifically do anything) of new features and bug fixes for extensions that are regularly published by CAST. For the vast majority of cases, using the default settings will retain result stability for the same set of source code and extension updates will be introduced only when new source is added.

What happens when the Auto Update option is enabled/disabled at global level?

When you enable/disable the global level option, you will be prompted whether you want to apply the same setting to all extensions via the Force all extensions to this option tick box:

Ticking this option will ensure that ALL individual extensions are ALSO set to the same setting (either enabled or disabled), overriding any settings set at the extension level. Do not enable the tick box if you prefer to retain the individual Auto Update setting that you have manually applied:

Can I see which extensions are set to Auto Update?

Use the filter column: