Formcentric for FirstSpirit with JakartaEE 10

The August release of FirstSpirit (version 2023.9) involves a migration to JakartaEE 10 (Servlet API 6.0). CrownPeak has provided full details of how to handle this migration. We recommend checking out the Jakarta FAQ before you start reading this article.

This article covers what the switch to JakartaEE means for you as a Webforms or Formcentric customer. Please contact our Helpdesk if you have any other questions.

Is Formcentric affected by the migration?

Yes, Formcentric is affected. Formcentric extends a lot of FirstSpirit components and also includes several of its own (web) components. So, this means that the Formcentric module is affected by the move to JakartaEE and is included in the automatic migration process.

The following module components are affected:

- Formcentric Web App
- Formcentric Web Editor (ContentCreator extension)
- Formcentric Analytics Backend
- Formcentric Analytics Reporting
- Formcentric Headless Web App

Can Formcentric be run with FirstSpirit 2023.9?

Thanks to the automatic migration process, existing Formcentric releases are fully compatible with JakartaEE installations. We have also tested the migration extensively using the FirstSpirit preview version. This testing did not identify any problems.

In fact, we run API incompatibility checks automatically, because Formcentric is currently being used with various FirstSpirit versions. Wherever possible, we have also expanded these tests to the Servlet API, so as to identify any incompatibilities early on.

Which versions are approved for use with JakartaEE?

We have conducted extensive testing with the current Formcentric and Webforms release lines. Before upgrading to FirstSpirit 2023.9, we therefore recommend that you migrate to a current release:

Formcentric for FirstSpirit

- Formcentric 7.0.0 (September 2023)
- Formcentric Analytics 4.1.0

Webforms for FirstSpirit:

- Webforms 6.5.3
- Webforms Analytics 3.3.11

Can in-house customizations be used with JakartaEE?

In-house changes made to the Formcentric Customization Workspace must be thoroughly checked and tested for incompatibilities with the JakartaEE migration. While the normal kinds of Formcentric customizations should be picked up properly by the FirstSpirit migration process, it’s possible that customers may have made technically incompatible modifications.

Anything critical we need to know?

To avoid derailing the migration process, the schema version in the web.xml file should not yet be updated to version 6.0 in the case of customized Formcentric components.

When is the switch to JakartaEE planned?

Formcentric will follow in FirstSpirit’s footsteps and also upgrade to Spring Framework 6 plus JakartaEE. As a result, FirstSpirit versions prior to 2023.9 will no longer be supported. We plan to migrate to JakartaEE in Formcentric for FirstSpirit 7.2.0, which will be released in Q4 2024. Prior to this date, existing customers should make sure they have migrated to Formcentric and Java 17.