Changes to template IDs in HotDocs Hub 1.3.0

HotDocs Hub version 1.3.0 contains a significant change to how Hub assigns IDs when you upload templates. This change requires the installer to perform a database migration when you upgrade from an earlier version of Hub.

Overview

Templates uploaded to Hub are now identified using the same template ID as in their template package file; they are not assigned a new, Hub-specific ID when uploaded to Hub. The upgrade changes existing template IDs to the ID from the template package file.

Template IDs

Uploading a template from HotDocs Developer to HotDocs Hub creates a new template package file (.hdpkg): a compressed file package that contains all the content and metadata files required to use a template in HotDocs Hub.

Each template in Developer is assigned a template ID (a GUID). This ID is referenced in the template package file. In previous versions of Hub, when a template is uploaded, it is assigned a new, Hub-specific template ID that is different to the ID in the package file.

The downside of creating a Hub-specific ID is that when the same template is uploaded to multiple Hub instances, the template has a completely different ID in each instance. This can make it difficult to identify a specific template only using its ID.

The 1.3.0 version of Hub uses the package file template ID to identify templates. Therefore, when you upload a template to multiple instances of Hub, the templates all use the same ID. This makes templates easier to identify across multiple instances.

Upgrade Process

The upgrade to Hub 1.3.0 performs a database migration to change the template IDs for existing templates in the Hub to use the template ID from their template package file.

Implications

If you currently use the Template Hub API and are directly referencing a template ID in your application, the template ID will no longer be valid when you upgrade to Hub 1.3.0. You will need to update your references to the new template IDs.