Characteristic
Short description | Experimental
Experimental features in PTV xServer serve to provide access to new functionality as early as possible, before the API or behavior have been fully stabilized.
This allows you to integrate and test these features while still enabling us to react to user feedback. And it enables you to be ready for the stable feature faster.
Short description | Deprecated
Deprecated features are subject to removal or incompatible modification after 6 months of deprecation.
If you already rely on deprecated features or plan to use them, migrate to alternative features if available. If no alternative is available please contact us via support.xserver.de@ptvlogistics.com
Detailed Consideration
When developing a new feature its new API is introduced "experimental" until finished. Then the API turns "stable". In very rare cases a "stable" API may be declared deprecated when discontinued or replaced by a more powerful new API.
How do experimental and deprecated features differ from stable ones?
| Experimental feature | Stable feature | Deprecated feature | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marking | Specially marked in documentation as "Experimental". | Not specially marked. | Specially marked in documentation as "Deprecated". |
| Compatibility | Naming and structure might get changed in the process of evolving the API according to growing feature capabilities. On rare occasions experimental features might be removed in future versions. Therefore no backwards compatibility guarantee is made. | Guaranteed to be backwards compatible in future versions. | Feature might be removed or changed in an incompatible way after 6 months in all API versions. Therefore no backwards compatibility guarantee is made. |
| Impact | Feedback can be considered quickly on all aspects of the feature and API. | Backwards compatibility considerations constrain reaction to feedback. | Will be removed or changed in an incompatible way. |
Accessing experimental features
Experimental features are deployed on a distinct URL. Each service provides URLs of the form
http://[SERVERIP]:[PORT]/services/[ws|rs|rest]/[SERVICE]/experimentalSo for example you can access experimental features of xroute on a localhost using SOAP
SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the context of Web services. XML is used for definition of the message format, and it is based on other application layer protocols, like Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). with this URL:
http://localhost:50000/services/ws/xroute/experimentalAccessing deprecated features
There is no special way to access deprecated features. They can be accessed in the same way as stable features, but when being modified or removed, this change will affect all API versions. There will be no way to access a formerly deprecated feature by using an older API version.
Good to know
Feedback on experimental features
We are very interested in your feedback about experimental features. Of course, this also includes bugs and scalability issues you notice and which are not mentioned as known issues. The easiest way to provide feedback is through your PTV representative.
Feedback on deprecated features
If a deprecated feature is removed or modified it will not be possible to access its functionality by switching to an older API version.
If you rely on a deprecated feature please contact us via support.xserver.de@ptvlogistics.com
Related Topics
| Administrator's Guide | Configuring the versioned API |