One of the most frustrating experiences for a computational chemist or structural biologist using SAMSON is launching the software—only to discover that a required SAMSON Extension doesn’t load. This typically happens not because of bugs, but due to version incompatibility between your extension and your SAMSON installation. The good news: this is entirely avoidable once you understand the compatibility rules.
Understanding Compatibility: The Semantic Versioning Rule
SAMSON follows a strict semantic versioning scheme for both its own version and its Software Development Kit (SDK), which is used to build Extensions. Each version follows the format major.minor.patch. For example, SAMSON 1.7.8 and SDK version 1.5.2.
The crucial rule is:
- SAMSON can load a SAMSON Extension if the Extension was built with an SDK version with the same major version number as SAMSON, and with a smaller or equal minor version. Patch versions don’t affect compatibility.
This means that if SAMSON is version 1.7.8, it can load Extensions built with SDK versions like:
- 1.3.5 ✅
- 1.7.7 ✅
- 1.5.2 ✅
But not with versions like:
- 1.8.1 ❌ – minor version is greater than 1.7.x
- 2.0.0 ❌ – major version is now 2, incompatible with SAMSON 1.x
Why This Matters for You
If you’re sharing Extensions with colleagues or downloading them from SAMSON Connect, you may occasionally encounter a situation where your Extension doesn’t appear or fails to load. Clicking around might not show any visible errors, but behind the scenes, SAMSON has quietly rejected the Extension due to version incompatibility.
This can lead to confusion if you’re unaware of how semantic versioning impacts your workflow.
Practical Tips
- Always update your SAMSON installation to stay compatible with the latest Extensions.
- If you’re an extension developer, document the SDK version used to build your Extension so users know what’s compatible.
- Before distributing Extensions, test them on the SAMSON version most commonly used in your lab or community.
Here’s a real-world scenario:
You’ve installed SAMSON 1.7.8. You download an Extension built with SDK 1.6.4—everything works fine. Later, the developer publishes a new Extension version built with SDK 2.0.0. SAMSON does not auto-update to this new version unless you yourself update SAMSON to version 2.0.0 or higher. Until then, it sticks to the latest compatible version (1.6.4).
Conclusion
Understanding how SAMSON and its Extensions handle version compatibility saves time and avoids confusion. Whether you’re using Extensions or developing them, keep a close eye on SDK versions—especially the major and minor components.
To dive deeper into SAMSON’s versioning and compatibility rules, visit the official documentation page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.