Blocs has built in functionality designed to help developers manage the distribution of updates for custom Brics, this ensures a more streamlined and user friendly update approach for Blocs users.
The Update Process
The update process works as follows.
• Blocs will ping the developers server looking for an XML file containing the relevant current version for a Bric.
• If a newer version is available, Blocs will notify the user.
• Using the Extension Manager, the user can now download and install the latest version of a Bric with a single click.
Custom Bric XML
The XML file located on the server of a developer should be formatted in the following way and accessed over HTTPS. You can download an update XML example file here.
XML Attribute Keys
title – The main title for the XML file.
description – A description of the current version, including any changes.
pubDate – The date that the latest version of the Bric was published.
downloadURL – The download URL for the custom Bric file. It must be to a .bex file.
version – The current version of a Bric.
minimumBlocsVersion – The minimum version of Blocs the Bric supports.
Remember to set the downloadURL attribute to point to a URL that ends with the .bex or .zip file extension, any other file extension will not work.
When pointing to a .zip, the file must be a .bex file that has been renamed to a .zip.
Connect A Bric To XML
To connect a custom Bric to a hosted XML update file, simply paste the live XML URL into the update field for that custom Bric using the Bric Builder.
To help protect its location, the XML update URL will be encrypted so it is no longer readable, when the Bric is saved.