Aimeos Long Term Support Version 2023.10 is Released - What's New?

Aimeos released its 2023.10 LTS version for Laravel and TYPO3 on October 25, 2023. This version has been made to simplify developers’ work and it fully supports scalable cloud setups such as Kubernetes natively. The 2023 version has myriad noticeable changes along with older bug fixes and new security patches. Also, the 2023 LTS version will get support for the next four years with extended support (ELTS).

Let’s explore more about Aimeos Long Term Support version 2023.10.

Latest enhancements in Aimeos LTS 2023.10!

• Laravel 10 distributions

  Aimeos LTS 2023.10 supports the latest Laravel 10 which was released in February 2023. One thing to note here is that Aimeos ecommerce headless and full stack distribution (2023.04) is based on Laravel 10. The feature allows you to bootstrap an Aimeos application quickly using the Aimeos 2023.04 distribution feature to own a fully functional Laravel 10 application. Pre-configured authentication setup for full stack and headless distribution is also included in this feature.

• Kubernetes/Serverless support

  Aimeos 2023.10 is the first cloud-native ecommerce version of Laravel. File imports and all other data can be safely distributed across the cloud environment such as Google Cloud, Azure, AWS, Kubernetes, and other serverless environments. Aimeos for Laravel is cloud-ready; previously it used to offer the facility to store images/CSS/JS files in S3 or similar cloud storage services. However, the files were available in read-only format from a local file system. Now, storing files for importing products, categories, users, etc. from any remote server is possible regardless of the file’s format (CSV or XML). Aimeos also moved its server infrastructure to a private Kubernetes cloud from traditional hosting.

• TYPO3 12 support

  The latest Aimeos 2023.10 supports the TYPO3 12.4 version as well. TYPO3 version 12 has many changes compared to version 11. The deprecated code has been removed in TYPO3 12, and because it is an updated version, Aimeos 2023.10 supports it fully.

• Readily creates managers

  Earlier, developers needed to work on a lot of boilerplate code to create new managers for data domains. But now in Aimeos 2023.10, creating new managers is as simple as extending existing ones.

  Create a setup task for the database migration:

  namespace Aimeos\Upscheme\Task;
  
  class Test extends Base {
    public function up() {
      $this->info('Creating test schema', 'v');
      $this->db('db-test')->table($name, function($table) {
        $table->engine = 'InnoDB';
        $table->id()->primary('pk_mstes_id');
        $table->string('siteid');
        $table->string('label')->default('');
        $table->int('position')->default(0);
        $table->smallint('status')->default(1);
        $table->meta();
      });
    }
  }
  

  After that, create the manager for the new domain named “test”:

  namespace Aimeos\MShop\Test\Manager;
  
  class Standard extends \Aimeos\MShop\Common\Manager\Base implements \Aimeos\MShop\Common\Manager\Iface {
    public function getSaveAttributes(): array {
      return $this->createAttributes([
        'label' => [],
        'status' => [
          'type' => 'int',
        ],
        'position' => [
          'type' => 'int',
          'label' => 'Position for sorting',
        ],
      ]);
    }
  }
  

  And the new manager creation is done. You can begin working with the new manager and it will execute like any other manager from the Aimeos core:

  $manager = \Aimeos\MShop::create($this->context(), 'test');
  $item = $manager->create()
      ->set('label', 'test label')
      ->set('position', 2)
      ->set('status', 1);
  $item = $manager->save($item);
  $label = $item->label;
  
  // or using get() with default value
  $label = $item->get('label', 'default value');
  

  If you want to know more about manager creation, read Aimeos documentation.

• Merged order and order base

  The new version of Aimeos is focused on simplifying the platform and it is the biggest architectural change. The order data domain merged the order and order base tables/managers/items.

  Initially, when the order and order base segment was created, the idea behind was that the platform should be able to manage several invoice/refund entries for each stored order base item (=basket). However, it didn’t work well and complicated order management. Therefore, now in Aimeos LTS 2023.10, the data will be stored in the order record.

  This change is not backward compatible. Thus, it may cause some trouble for the JSON: API. The reason behind not keeping it backward compatible is that the makers want this version to be stable for a longer time now and with JSON: API, it could remain backward compatible for a certain duration only.

  Also, an application using JSON: API does not need to use the order endpoint to create an order item because the basket endpoint must have done that already. Additionally, the property names in the basket changed, and “.base” has been removed.

• DB-based translations for type names

  With previous versions of Aimeos, attribute-type translations were possible only by translating them statically in the Gettext translation files or the Aimeos configuration. Thereby, only developers could do those translations and the translations were difficult to update if they had been delivered by ERP systems.

  Whereas, now with Aimeos 2023.10, type translations are saved in the database along with the types. That can be edited in the admin backend and updated by ERP systems. Also, the change is available for all types and not only for attribute types.

• Stored basket panel

  The predecessor of Aimeos 2023.10 had customer baskets stored in the database. But now, the admin backend contains a new panel of “Sales > Baskets”. Thus, now it is easy for administrators and editors to check saved and abandoned baskets and send emails to third-party applications to remind customers about their abandoned carts.

• VueJS and GraphQL in the backend

  Aimeos 2023.10 has many rewritten panels in the admin backend to use VueJS components. It is an initiative for better code quality and to remove all jQuery code in the next versions.

  Older VueJS components have been replaced by better-supported combo box select components of Vue Multiselect. This change will help make an upgrade to VueJS 3 in the next versions.

  Moreover, requests to the JSON admin API have been replaced by requests to the new GraphQL API. The makers have indicated that they will continue to extend the GraphQL API and replace the existing JSON admin API until they are completely omitted. It is expected that Aimeos 2024.x will deprecate the entire JSON admin API. However, the frontend JSON: API will be not replaced and that will be the only way for frontends to interact with Aimeos servers. Since GraphQL is not suited for read-heavy applications such as ecommerce apps.

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Wrapping up

It is recommended to use stable releases for production. Thus, upgrade your system to Aimeos LTS 2023.10 to maintain its efficiency.

We are official international ecommerce expert partners of Aimeos.

We provide complete Aimeos ecommerce development services including store design, development, customization, content management, upgrades, migration, multi-channel multi-vendor marketplace, multi-tenant SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions, maintenance, and support. Our expert Laravel developers are experienced in handling multidisciplinary and multi-technology projects of all sizes. In case if you have any requirements, feel free to share all your requirements by requesting a quote or email us at [email protected].