Will an integration written to access Connect in one version continue to work without changes in subsequent new versions of Oracle B2C Service?
Environment:
Oracle B2C Service Connect API
Resolution:
An integration written to access Connect in one version will continue to work without changes in the next release of our product. This has been true since the first release of Connect in our May 2010 release. This shall be true going forward.
This does not mean that our product remains stagnant. When we wish to introduce new capabilities and new features we will do so as long as those additions will not break any existing integration. Thus sometimes we create a new version of the product in which to place the new features so that existing integrations will not be broken. We still continue to support the older versions, but express new features in the newer versions. If customers wish to take advantage of the new features, then they will need to use the newer versions. If not, they can stay using the version they were using previously.
The new feature about CustomFields is associated with version 1.2 of Connect. If you wish to use version 1.2 and the features it presents, then the usage of CustomFields will need to be adjusted for the new structure that is outlined in the documentation. However, previous integrations using versions 1 or 1.1 can continue to use the old syntax in their integration. The version of Connect is selected using either the specific namespace for Connect Web Services for SOAP, or with the "use" statement within Connect for PHP.If the customer wishes to continue to use the older syntax (e.g. c$pet_name), then they should use version 1 or 1.1. If the customer wishes to use the new syntax, that is associated with version 1.2. Please note that you cannot mix versions in SOAP requests. Mixing versions in Connect for PHP web pages is not a best practice and is not recommended.
Lastly, version 1 and version 1.1 have been deprecated, but will be supported for a minimum of two years.
