The extensions properties file

In general, if you change the data model, PolicyCenter automatically upgrades the database the next time that you start the application server. It detects changes to files in that directory by recording a checksum each time the application server starts. If the recorded checksum and the current checksum differ, PolicyCenter upgrades the database.

Sometimes you want to force PolicyCenter to upgrade the database without making changes to your custom data model extensions. The configuration > config > Extensions folder in Guidewire Studio™ contains an extensions.properties file that contains the numeric property version. The value of the version property represents the current version of the data model definition for your instance of PolicyCenter. It controls whether PolicyCenter performs a database upgrade on server startup.

Whenever PolicyCenter upgrades the database, PolicyCenter stores the value of the version property in the database. The next time the application server starts up, PolicyCenter compares the value of the property in the database to the value in the extensions.properties file. If the value in the database is lower than the value in the file, PolicyCenter performs a database upgrade. If the value in the database is higher, the upgrade fails.

Warning: If the server is operating in either production or test mode, Guidewire strictly requires that you increment the version number whenever you make changes to the data model before you restart the application server. Otherwise, unpredictable results can occur. Use of the extensions.properties file in a development environment is optional. However, as a general best practice, Guidewire recommends that you always increment the version number in extensions.properties after you make changes to the product model.