If you’ve been extending SAMSON to develop molecular modeling tools, build workflows, or simply automate processes, you may have encountered this scenario: you update SAMSON, but one of your Extensions refuses to load. The platform starts up, skips the Extension, and leaves you wondering what went wrong.
This situation is frustrating because it interrupts your work, especially when you’re relying on custom functionality. Fortunately, the cause — and the fix — is usually linked to version compatibility between SAMSON and the Software Development Kit (SDK) used to build your Extension.
How SAMSON Ensures Compatibility
SAMSON follows semantic versioning for both its core platform and its SDK. Each has a version in the form:
|
1 |
major.minor.patch |
Here’s how compatibility is determined at startup:
- The major version number must be the same between SAMSON and the SDK that built the Extension.
- The minor version number of the SDK that built the Extension must be smaller than the minor version of the installed SAMSON.
If either of these conditions isn’t met, SAMSON won’t load the Extension. This protects you from unexpected function calls or behaviors that could result from version mismatches.
Practical Examples
To make this clearer, suppose:
|
1 2 3 |
- SAMSON version = 1.7.8 - Extension SDK version = 1.5.2 ⇒ ✅ Compatible - Extension SDK version = 1.8.5 ⇒ ❌ Not compatible (minor version higher than SAMSON’s) |
It’s also worth noting that if SAMSON moves to version 2.0.0, no Extension built with SDK version 1.x.x will be compatible — even if minor versions align. That’s because the major version has changed, indicating a non-backwards-compatible update. You’d need to recompile the Extension using SDK 2.0.0.
Automatic Updates Help (Usually)
If your Extension is hosted on SAMSON Connect, updates are applied automatically when a compatible one becomes available — as long as SAMSON has an internet connection.
Say a user is running SAMSON 1.7.8 and your Extension was built with SDK 1.5.2. If you release version 1.6.4 of your Extension using SDK 1.6.4, SAMSON will detect the update and load the new version. This ensures that your users always benefit from your latest bug fixes and improvements — as long as you’re building with a still-compatible SDK.
Common Pitfalls and Quick Checks
- Extension isn’t loading? Check the SDK version used to build it against the major and minor versions of your installed SAMSON.
- Planning an update? Make sure your SDK version targets the currently available SAMSON versions if you want wide compatibility.
- Testing on multiple systems? Confirm that all instances are running compatible versions of SAMSON to avoid discrepancies between environments.
Conclusion
As a molecular modeler or Extension developer, understanding how SAMSON handles SDK compatibility can save you time, avoid broken functionality, and help deliver stable extensions to your users. This versioning policy may seem strict at first, but it ultimately ensures a more reliable experience when working with complex molecular models.
To learn more, visit the full documentation on versioning.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON here.