Can't provide Name when adding a Referenced Package

When I add a Referenced Package to a custom step template, the Name input is only visible when the “Select specific package” option is chosen. When “Let the project select the package” is chosen, the Name input disappears (it is still possible to set it by juggling these two options, but it is inconvenient and confusing).

Screenshot with the Name input missing:

image

Octopus Cloud 2020.2.11.

Hi Jakub,

Thanks for getting in touch! I’m sorry about the confusion here, but this is by design. When selecting the “Let the project select the package” option on this reference a package feature, this will then defer the package selection to when the step template is added to a project. This is done by adding a parameter to the custom step template with control type Package. When the step template is added to the project, the package name selection will be done there.

This feature was added to allow you to avoid having to “hardcode” the package name into the custom step template in order to more easily reuse the same template across multiple projects that require different packages.

I think this brings up a very valid point that this isn’t clearly described in the UI here, so I’ll try to think of some change to hopefully explain this better and help avoid confusion in the future.

I hope this helps. Let me know how you go or if you have any further questions going forward. :slight_smile:

Best regards,

Kenny

Hi Kenneth,

I’m not reporting a problem with the Package ID input (which you are describing), but with the Name input. This is the name of the Package Reference you’re creating, not the name of the actual package.

Hi Jakub,

Thanks for following up, and my apologies for letting your recent answer slip through the cracks. I can see what you mean, and I agree it looks possible that this is an unknown bug. I’d like to bring this up with my team to get more of a consensus on it and to see what change might be required to fix up this feature.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns as we discuss this. :slight_smile:

Best regards,

Kenny

@Kenneth_Bates is there any news on this? It seems pretty simple to me, just make the Name input always available, regardless of the selection in the radio buttons.

Hi Jakub,

You’re absolutely right, and my sincere apologies about dropping the ball on this one. I did repro it and confirmed it’s a bug, but raising it as an issue just slipped off my radar there. I’ve raised this as a bug at the following issue link which you can track.

The way to workaround this which you might already know is to swap the radio selection back to Select specific package, update the Name as required, then change it back to Let the project select the package. This is a bit annoying though as it clears the package parameter so you have to select that from the dropdown again, but I’m hoping that prevents you from being blocked.

Thank you kindly for bringing this to our attention, and I appreciate your patience. If there’s anything else we can assist with, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Best regards,

Kenny

Thanks for the GH link.
This isn’t a blocker, the workaround is usable - no worries!

Hi Jakub,

You’re very welcome! Please let us know if there’s anything else we can assist with in the future. :slight_smile:

Best regards,

Kenny

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