Using multiple versions of a plugin at the same time (branching??)

Solved!
MRvLuijpen
Using multiple versions of a plugin at the same time (branching??)

Hello Community.

I have a question regarding the usage of plugins. We are developing some plugins, and were wondering if it is possible to use multiple versions of the same plugin at the same time.

As an example, we would like to compare the outcome of newer version of the plugin, with a previous version to see the difference. Is this possible, and if it is, how to achieve this. We were experimenting with branching, but we haven't figured out how to get this to work.

Thanks for your help.

Marc Robert

0 Kudos
1 Solution
AlexT
Dataiker

Hi,

With branches only can have only a single active branch.

https://doc.dataiku.com/dss/latest/plugins/reference/git-editor.html#working-with-branches

What could work for you but does require a few manual steps is essentially create clones of the plugins with a specific branch. The steps below assume you are using remote git branches. 

1) In the remote dev branch of the plugin.json, change the id and label to something unique.  This can be done outside of DSS and changes should be pushed to the branch. 

Screenshot 2021-06-18 at 08.54.13.png

2) Import a new plugin from the Git repo and specify the branch and click clone. 

Screenshot 2021-06-18 at 08.44.08.png

3) Now you will have a plugin created from a specific branch you A/B test. 

Depending on the exact plugin components,  may a few additional minor changes like renaming the directory within python-connectors to something unique. But those errors would usually be surface in the UI once the plugin is cloned. 

Hope this helps. 

View solution in original post

3 Replies
AlexT
Dataiker

Hi,

With branches only can have only a single active branch.

https://doc.dataiku.com/dss/latest/plugins/reference/git-editor.html#working-with-branches

What could work for you but does require a few manual steps is essentially create clones of the plugins with a specific branch. The steps below assume you are using remote git branches. 

1) In the remote dev branch of the plugin.json, change the id and label to something unique.  This can be done outside of DSS and changes should be pushed to the branch. 

Screenshot 2021-06-18 at 08.54.13.png

2) Import a new plugin from the Git repo and specify the branch and click clone. 

Screenshot 2021-06-18 at 08.44.08.png

3) Now you will have a plugin created from a specific branch you A/B test. 

Depending on the exact plugin components,  may a few additional minor changes like renaming the directory within python-connectors to something unique. But those errors would usually be surface in the UI once the plugin is cloned. 

Hope this helps. 

RoG
Level 1

Hello, 

 

I came across the same issue. 

However, renaming all directories (such as recipe) does not comply with version control standards.

Do you have an other solution where we can use different versions of a same plugin on different projects ?

 

Best regards,

Romain

0 Kudos
Turribeach

"Do you have an other solution where we can use different versions of a same plugin on different projects?

Use a different environment (ie a different DSS installation). You can run multiple DSS instances in the same server as long as you use different ports. 

0 Kudos