Smalltalk / Pharo Image Persistence - How To Deploy?

Question

how would I really start deploying an application using image-based persistence? Here is my scenario: I am writing CMS in Smalltalk. In this case, the data is mostly read, rarely written. Now every time someone writes data, I can take a picture of the image. But how can I introduce a new version of my application and transfer the state of the running application? Don't I need some kind of formalization of serialization / data other than an image? Thanks

Answer 1

The easiest way is to simply insert the new version using Monticello.

This should not affect your existing data, except when you changed the form of classes (for example, removing or renaming instvars) - and in these cases you will need a migration strategy, regardless of your save mechanism.

And, of course, if you shoot the image before the update, then rolling back is simple.

Answer 2

In Pier3, we can simply convert the CMS data to code and write it as a Monticello package. We can write content in the local image Pier, commit and git push the new version to the server in the cloud. There we run a simple loop that polls the git directory to find the new version and download it.