Customization Guidelines for BMC Helix Portfolio Management

When customizing definitions in BMC Helix Portfolio Management, it's essential to follow specific guidelines to ensure your changes are preserved and function correctly through updates.

1. Use Best Practice Mode for the development activities

The Portfolio Management application is now available in Base Mode, and developers are advised to make customizations and changes in the Best Practice Mode. This helps ensure that your customizations are protected from being overwritten by application updates.

By default, BMC Helix Innovation Studio opens in Best Practice Mode. To check or switch to Best Practice mode, follow the steps below.

1. Log in to the BMC Helix Innovation Studio.

2. On the navigation bar, go to the Customization Layer . Hover and see if the tooltip says "Development Mode: Best Practice".

3. If not, click Customization Layer and select Best Practice (recommended) in the dialog box.

4. Click Select.

2. Understand Update Impacts

Customizations made in Best Practice mode are safe from being overwritten during updates, which only affect the Base Layer version of definitions. However, be aware that updates might still have unforeseen effects due to the interdependencies of definitions.

Example

Consider, in version 23.3.04, a view contains a button, which triggers a specific process when it is clicked. If you customize this view (e.g., by changing text colour) in Best Practice mode, the customized version will be marked as "Customized" and used by default in the application.

Now, in a future version, the Base Layer definition of the view is updated in a way that a different process is triggered after clicking the button. However, the changes are not merged into the customized version of the view. Therefore, an end user would still trigger the formerly used process when clicking the button. This process might not even exist any longer if it was removed as part of the version update.

3. Monitor Base Layer Changes

Because of the potential side effects of updates, it is recommended to check if (and which) the customized definitions have been altered in the Base Layer after an update. If so, revert your customizations to incorporate the latest Base Layer changes. Document your customization steps thoroughly to facilitate this process and make it easier to reapply your customizations manually if needed.

4. Avoid Manual Field ID Entries

When creating new fields, avoid manually entering field IDs. Innovation Studio will automatically assign these IDs to ensure compatibility with future updates.

5. Consider Using Out-of-the-Box Definitions

For new functionalities, consider creating new definitions (e.g., views or processes). This reduces the likelihood of issues from future updates. However, be aware that updates might still require adjustments. For instance, if an out-of-the-box process's parameters change, you may need to adjust the custom view that interacts with this process.