Versioning Best Practices

This page outlines some best practices for versioning.

1. Overview

This page details a few best practices concerning version history in Cinchy. These recommendations are important because they can help:

• Minimize your database bloat/size.

• Make it easier to parse through version history when there aren't hundreds of redundant records.

2. Best Practices

• When doing any type of update statement, it is best practice to include an opposite “where” clause to avoid creating unnecessary history for unchanged values.

  • For example, if your update was “set name to Marc”, you would include a “where name does not already equal Marc”. Doing so prevents a redundant update in your version history.

UPDATE
	[Contacts].[Employees] 
SET [Name] = Marc
WHERE [Name] != Marc

• When writing an update statement, run it more than once. If it results in an update each time, return to your query and troubleshoot.

  • This is especially relevant anywhere the statement can be run repeatedly, such as in APIs or Post Sync Scripts.

• In data syncs, ensure that your data types are matched properly.

  • For example, if the source is text and the target is data, even if the values are the same, it will update and create unnecessary version history.

• When performing a data sync, run it more than once. If it creates an update each time, return to your configuration and troubleshoot.