Release Information

Release type

This table defines the types of releases that may be available in a family.

Type	Scope
Feature release	Introduces new features, such as complete new solutions that customers can implement to add value to their organization. New features are generally only available as part of a feature release. Includes all available fixes to existing functionalities to date. Is production-oriented; quality and stability are of the highest priority throughout the life cycle.
Patch release	Supports existing functionalities with a collection of all known problem fixes to date. Generally does not include new features, unless these are strictly bound to the known problems that have been fixed within the patch.
Hotfix	Supports existing functionalities with a targeted and specific problem fix that has been found necessary to release before the next official patch. Problems of such high severity are generally detected during testing, but can be found at early availability release time, or later by customer support cases. Generally does not include previous fixes for a given release, unless these are pre-requisites for the specific problem fix target. Does not include new features.