Updates
How a new release reaches this station: the two switches, the check, the download, the restart that installs, and the mark on the status bar.
Updates is the first row of the APPLICATION group on the Settings page. The station checks the release feed on the Ganter site when it starts and every four hours after that; this section decides what happens with what it finds, and is the one place a release is downloaded and installed by hand. The card opens with the policy: "Staying up to date is the recommendation: releases are one continuous line, and older versions are not maintained. What this station chooses is when." The page takes the Change settings permission.
The two switches
| Field | What it is | Values / default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic updates | "Off by default. On, a new release downloads in the background and installs the next time Ganter Lab restarts. Off, you are told a release is there and install it from here when it suits this station." | On or off. Off by default. | Flipping it re-checks the feed at once. On: a found release is downloaded in the background (a delta when possible) and applied at the next exit. Off: the feed is only consulted, and nothing downloads until you press Download update. Turning it off does not undo a download already made: that release still installs at the next restart. |
| Receive preview versions | "Get each new release before everyone else and help validate it on this machine. Switch back anytime. The app returns to the regular track on the next regular release (it never downgrades itself)." | On or off. Off by default. | Flipping it re-checks at once. On: the station reads the preview channel, which receives each build first; off: the regular channel. Switching off never downgrades: the station keeps the preview build it has until the regular channel offers a newer version. |
While the runtime is stopped this page is not drawn at all (see Settings). A release marked as carrying important fixes changes only what the surfaces say, never what they do: with automatic updates off it still waits to be taken.
What the card shows
The updater is inert on a build that was not installed (a development or portable run) and when no feed is configured: the card then shows only the switches. After a check, the card adds one of these:
- nothing more, when this station runs the latest release;
- "Version X is available. Automatic updates are off, so nothing downloads until you choose to." with the Download update button, when a newer release exists and automatic updates are off;
- "Version X is downloaded and will be installed the next time Ganter Lab restarts." with the Restart and update now button, once the release is on disk;
- above either, for a release flagged as important: "Version X contains important fixes. Installing it when convenient keeps this station protected. Nothing installs that this station did not ask for.";
- the information banner Worth a look after updating: "System symbols you never copied belong to the app, so a new version can change how they are drawn and where their connection points sit, and components can have changed too. Nothing you configured is lost. Open the screens this station runs on once after updating and you will know it landed well.";
- "What's new in X:" followed by the release notes, the same text the site's release page shows.
| Command | What it does | Greyed when (situation) | Not drawn when (role) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download update | Downloads the release found by the last check; reads "Downloading…" meanwhile. A failed download leaves the release available, re-offers the button and puts the reason in the status bar. | While a download runs. | Drawn only while a release is available and not yet downloaded. |
| Restart and update now | Exits the app through the normal teardown and lets the updater swap the files and relaunch. | In a browser on another device: "Available on the station's local desktop only." | Drawn only while a release is downloaded. |
The restart refuses calmly while a recording runs: a notification titled "Update deferred" says "A recording is running. The update installs on the next restart, or restart from here once the recording finishes." A downloaded release also installs on any ordinary exit, from the tray's Exit included: the updater waits until the process has fully left and then swaps the files, so nothing is replaced under a running app.
The mark on the status bar
A waiting release is announced by one line at the right end of the status bar, beside the clock: "Version X available", or "Version X · important fixes" in the caution tone. Its tooltip adds whether the release is already downloaded and that clicking opens Settings, Updates, which the click does. The mark is drawn per screen for the identity looking at it: only a role holding Change settings or Edit dashboards answers for the station's version, so an operator at a remote tablet never sees a decision that is not theirs. It is never a notification card and it interrupts nothing.
The release line and the feed
Releases are one continuous line: a fix ships in the next release, never back into an older version, which is why staying current is the recommendation and why the moment is this station's choice. The feed is open regardless of subscription, so every install can take security fixes; entitlement is enforced at runtime, never by withholding updates. The app is installed per user with no administrator, and it updates the same way.
What this section does not do
There is no version list to pick from, no rollback and no downgrade, no "skip this version", and no way to install a release the feed does not offer. Leaving automatic updates off is the way to stay on a version, and the documentation keeps a snapshot per release for a station that does.