PL400 :manage solution dependencies (Implement application lifecycle management (ALM))

The solution framework automatically tracks dependencies for solution components. Each solution component operation automatically calculate any dependencies to other components in the system. When we edit the solution we find that we cannot remove the solution component because it has a published dependency with another solution component. Or, we may not be able to uninstall a managed solution because one of the components of the managed solution has been used in a customization in another unmanaged solution.

Dependency information is used to maintain system integrity and prevent operations that could lead to inconsistent states.

As the result of dependency tracking the following behavior are enforced:

• Deletion of component is prevented if another component in the system depends on it.
• Export of a solution warns the user if there are any missing components that could cause failure when importing that solution in another system.
• Import of solution fails if all required components aren't included in the solution and also don't in the target system. 

There are three types of solution components dependencies:

Solution Internal:

It exists  when a particular solution component can't exist without another solution component.

Published:

Published dependencies are created when tow solution components are related to each other and then published. To remove this type of dependency, the association must be removed and the entities published again.

Unpublished:

Unpublished dependencies apply to the unpublished version of a publishable solution component that is being updated. After the solution component is published, it becomes a published dependency.