A fix for the Sitecore 7.1 Upgrade Process

This is a fix for the Sitecore 7.1 upgrade process, where Rules fields may not have their Source (Rules Context) updated correctly during the upgrade. The fix was originally posted on my Github repo and should be used when upgrading from Sitecore 7.0 to Sitecore 7.1.
It has been assessed and approved by Sitecore Support.

How to Fix the normal process

Follow the initial steps (Steps 1 to 9) in the Sitecore update installation instructions here.
Before installing the Sitecore 7.1 update package in the Update Installation Wizard (Step 10,11):-

• copy the Hedgehog.SC71Upgrade.DLL file from the __install files directory into your Website’s /bin directory.
• make a change to the App_Config/FieldTypes.config file with the following change.
  • change
    <fieldType name="Rules" type="Sitecore.Data.Fields.TextField,Sitecore.Kernel" resizable="true" />
    to
    <fieldType name="Rules" type="Hedgehog.SC71Upgrade.Data.Fields.RulesField,Hedgehog.SC71Upgrade" resizable="true" />
  • Note: This change can be seen in the example file located here __install files/FieldTypes.config.
• Now install the normal update package (Step 10,11 in the Sitecore update installation instructions) and complete the remaining steps for the upgrade.

What is the problem with the normal upgrade?

I discovered that the Sitecore Update Installation Post Steps for Sitecore 7.1 was trying to find Actions and Conditions used in Rules fields by using the Link Database.

The problem here is that while these steps are run, the site is still using Sitecore 7.0’s FieldTypes.config file, which determines how the Links Database uses field values for references to other items. Here, the Rules Field uses the TextField type, which…long story short…means that Actions and Conditions aren’t ‘Linked’ to the Rules Field that’s using it (according to the Links Database).

Sitecore 7.1 fixes this…. but the installation Post step (using Sitecore 7.0’s configs and code) can’t find any Actions and Conditions used by the Rules….as it’s doing a linksDatabase.GetReferrers(ruleItem).

If the code could find the linked Actions and Conditions…it would appropriately setup the ‘Rules Context’ for it (the Source for the field). But because the code fails, the ‘Rules Context’ is never set properly…and your Actions and Conditions aren’t available in the Rules field where they should be.

What does the fix do?

The fix is basically telling Sitecore’s Links Database how to properly deal with Rules fields. It’s a duplicate of Sitecore 7.1’s RulesField code, self contained in the Hedgehog.SC71Upgrade.DLL.
The Installation Post Steps can then correctly find the links between Rules fields and Actions and Conditions…. so it can update the Rules Context items appropriately.

Post Install

One of the further steps in the Update Installation Instructions is to update the FieldTypes.config with Sitecore’s changes. Because our code has already been run by this stage, you can overwrite our changes with Sitecore’s suggested one.
You can also remove the Hedgehog.SC71Upgrade.DLL file as well, as it will no longer be used.

What if I’ve already upgraded?

You can manually update the Rules Context’s for your custom Actions and Conditions by following this blog post – How to fix missing Conditions and Actions in Rules fields in Sitecore 7.1