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Upgrade Help Needed

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    Upgrade Help Needed

    We have developed a database to track sales activity. The data files are currently stored on one machine in a peer network, and accessed via mapped drive from the 2 other machines.

    We currently use A5v7 with a 3-user license. We need to add a couple more users, and it looks like the best way is to upgrade to v10.

    I have recently installed an HP ML310 with MS Foundations Server, and I want to install A5v10 on this server and give all users access.


    What steps are necessary to reconfigure the data files so they will run properly from the clients?

    ie:
    1) I have installed the evaluation version of v10 on the server

    2) What is step-by-step process for making a copy of the live data files and porting to the new machine?

    3) Do I need to package the data files as an "application" and use run-time on the clients?

    2) *OR* Should I set up A5 as a Terminal Services remote app on the clients so they all just open the main data set?

    Sorry for the newby questions, but please try to keep advice as simple as possible: I know almost nothing about Alpha development and very little about server setup :-)

    #2
    Re: Upgrade Help Needed

    Step 1:
    get a copy of the main database folder to your computer
    open it in V10
    test it extensively!!!!
    the odds that it will run in V10 without some modification are very slim!

    Step 2:
    I am not familiar with "MS Foundations Server" - so far I have only used server 2003, but we are going to upgrade to server 2008 before september

    If you will have never more than maybe 10 concurrent Alpha users, T/S would be very good - but you will need to buy the T/S licenses for the users, and find out beforehand if that OS will permit T/S. I really like T/S - when practical. It is very fast and simplifies making changes to the program - however, there can be printing issues, and setting up the primnter drivers (or for 2008 the universal driver.) I would also recommend using a 10/1000 network instead of a 10/100 if you use T/S.

    Otherwise, when you are ready to deploy, after extensive testing, at night when noone is there, get *.dbf/*.cdx/*.fpt from the main file and copy to your development copy - and then paste back to the new server.

    From each workstation, open the app on the new server with the runtime, and make a shadow copy, and then a shortcut for the shadow copy for the W/S desktop.

    Or - just test extensivly and then holler at me and I'l help you deploy it.
    Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
    972 524 8714
    [email protected]

    ____________________
    "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Upgrade Help Needed

      Thanks.

      I also wanted to rename the database file in this conversion, so I created a directory c:\data\alpha5\newname on the Server, and copied all files from the old data directory. I then renamed all files in this new directory " oldname.* " to " newname.* "

      The evaluation version opened the "newname.adb" properly, and everything seems to work fine so far. Will continue testing to see if any changes are necessary because of the upgrade from v7 to v10.

      I bought the Developer + Runtime package and installed both on the server (in different directories.) The documentation with Runtime specifically says to avoid using one copy of runtime on the server, but I guess this would apply if NOT running RemoteApp through TS...

      So I have set up the TS Remote App for A5 Runtime, and set up shortcuts on a couple clients. Seems to work. I will continue to test the access and peripheral capabilities using TS, and if I run into any problems, I will install A5_Runtime on the clients and use it that way.

      If running A5_Runtime locally, does the optimization shadowing significantly improve performance on a LAN with 5 or 6 users?



      Any suggestions on potential problems or improvements in this setup are muchly appreciated... Also any warning about specific problem areas when using data created on v7 in v10...

      Thanks again.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Upgrade Help Needed

        Yes - but not faster than T/S
        Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
        972 524 8714
        [email protected]

        ____________________
        "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Upgrade Help Needed

          Originally posted by martinwcole View Post
          ... when you are ready to deploy, after extensive testing, at night when noone is there, get *.dbf/*.cdx/*.fpt from the main file and copy to your development copy - and then paste back to the new server.

          OK, so after being sidetracked and delayed, we are about ready to go live with version 10 on our server.

          We decided to use RunTime with shadowing on all the workstations, rather than Terminal Services Remote App. ( Mostly due to issues with printing and sending email from within Alpha, and the fact that speed seemed just as good without T/S.)

          The issue now is how to get the CURRENT DATA into the development copy. Current Data is in Alpha5 v7, and developmental database is Alpha5 v10. We have made extensive changes to the structure of the database in the v10 developmental version over the last month, and now need to update that database to include all the data which has changed.

          I followed advice above and just tried to copy *.dbf, *.cdx, & *.fpt files from v7 data directory into v10 data directory. Problem was that some of those files tried to overwrite files in the v10 directory which had newer modification dates. I kept the newest version of each file in the v10 directory. When I opened the data file, I got warnings, and the main menu form would not open, so I know the process did not work properly.

          So, in a nutshell, the question is:

          Exactly how is the best way to import/copy/overwrite all the records from an Alpha5_v7 database into v10? (without affecting the structure of the v10 database...)

          Thanks

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Upgrade Help Needed

            soubds like you changed the structure of the files in V10
            field names/new fields, field lengths, etc

            if so

            then you can empty the tables in the v10 copy, and make an append operation for each table to append from v7 adb to v10 adb

            or

            go to the v7 copy and change all the tables to match the v10 copy (my preference)
            and then copy and paste as I originally suggested

            hopefully you made a copy of the v10 before you did the copy and pastes - if so, get everything from the backup copy and paste back to your v10 copy

            if not, you've got a mess, and will have to edit every table and be sure all the changes are there and if not add them
            Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
            972 524 8714
            [email protected]

            ____________________
            "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Upgrade Help Needed

              Yeah, I did copy the existing development directory before I started monkeying around with it, so now it is restored and working properly, only without the last month's worth of data.

              I will try to empty and append tables.

              Thanks.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Upgrade Help Needed

                no, I meant the v10 copy

                presume eveyone was using the v7 til you deployed the v10

                did you make a copy of v10 before pasting files to it from v7?
                Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
                972 524 8714
                [email protected]

                ____________________
                "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Upgrade Help Needed

                  Originally posted by martinwcole View Post
                  no, I meant the v10 copy

                  presume eveyone was using the v7 til you deployed the v10

                  did you make a copy of v10 before pasting files to it from v7?
                  Yes. I made a copy of the v10 data directory before attempting any pasting of v7 files. Have now restored that to the BEFORE version.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Upgrade Help Needed

                    good - then your data should be uptodate - but do I understand that you wan to "add" records from the v7 adb to the V10 adb?

                    if that is the case you are stuck with making append operations for each table - but, if it was me, I would still go to the v7 or a copy of the v7 and change the tables to match the v10 (not the field rules, but the structure)

                    the reason is that you could have made changes to v10 tables that will make it tricky to append from V7
                    Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
                    972 524 8714
                    [email protected]

                    ____________________
                    "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Upgrade Help Needed

                      Yes, we want to add records from v7 into the new v10.

                      Will try copying v7 data and changing these table structures to match v10 as you suggest, and see how it works.

                      Thanks

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Upgrade Help Needed

                        as long as the structures match absolutely making the appends is easy - but double check the structure in V7 to match V10
                        Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
                        972 524 8714
                        [email protected]

                        ____________________
                        "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

                        Comment

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