Hi all,
I'm currently visiting a topic which seems to have attracted a lot of posts - but one for which I can't seem to find the specific answer I'm looking for ... that of updating a remote database installation with updates to layouts, reports, files etc.
Everything except changes to the file structure appear to be catered for by creating a backup (without data files), and sending it to the remote user to restore. So far so good ...
However, if I make changes to files (such as adding / lengthening fields) things get quite complicated, quite quickly.
General advice seems to be to maintain a log of any changes made, then provide the user with an update script which makes the relevant changes on the remote installation, mirroring that of the master. However, if the application is installed at many points, with users at different versions, it can again become a minefield.
Back in the day, I used Clarion Prof. Developer. Not a patch on A5 overall, but it did have a really useful utility to automatically update any remote database to the same spec. as the master (developer) latest version.
The Clarion utility worked by comparing file and field stats from the developer's machine (which were stored in a database file), with those of the target machine. Any deviations simply triggered a corrective action - add, remove, re-structure a field etc.
So, looking at A5, the Table Statistics screen shows just the sort of data needed - but there doesn't seem to be a way to save this data simply into a database (although it probably exists within the dictionary somewhere).
Am I missing something, or will I have to create the this functionality from scratch ?
... and any thoughts on how to create a database containing the spec of each field within each file - would be gratefully received. There appear to be a number of a5_ functions to help out at least ....
Regards Jem
I'm currently visiting a topic which seems to have attracted a lot of posts - but one for which I can't seem to find the specific answer I'm looking for ... that of updating a remote database installation with updates to layouts, reports, files etc.
Everything except changes to the file structure appear to be catered for by creating a backup (without data files), and sending it to the remote user to restore. So far so good ...
However, if I make changes to files (such as adding / lengthening fields) things get quite complicated, quite quickly.
General advice seems to be to maintain a log of any changes made, then provide the user with an update script which makes the relevant changes on the remote installation, mirroring that of the master. However, if the application is installed at many points, with users at different versions, it can again become a minefield.
Back in the day, I used Clarion Prof. Developer. Not a patch on A5 overall, but it did have a really useful utility to automatically update any remote database to the same spec. as the master (developer) latest version.
The Clarion utility worked by comparing file and field stats from the developer's machine (which were stored in a database file), with those of the target machine. Any deviations simply triggered a corrective action - add, remove, re-structure a field etc.
So, looking at A5, the Table Statistics screen shows just the sort of data needed - but there doesn't seem to be a way to save this data simply into a database (although it probably exists within the dictionary somewhere).
Am I missing something, or will I have to create the this functionality from scratch ?
... and any thoughts on how to create a database containing the spec of each field within each file - would be gratefully received. There appear to be a number of a5_ functions to help out at least ....
Regards Jem
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