Versions and Cross-Component References
5/10/2007
Within the database, cross-component references, such as dependencies, always use the version-independent globally unique identifier (VIGUID). A VIGUID component reference within the database refers to the version of that component with the greatest revision value and the greatest revision value always belongs to the latest version. Therefore, if a new version of a component is imported into the database, all VIGUID references to that component refer to the new version.
When a component is added to a configuration, all of the cross-component VIGUID references within the component are converted to version-specific globally unique identifier (VSGUID) references in the new component instance. This allows the component instance to refer to specific versions of components. This in turn ensures that configuration builds remain consistent regardless of changes made to the database. Even if a new version of a component is imported into the database, the configuration continues to refer to the earlier version.