Upgrading

Upgrading from pre-9.5 versions

This information applies to products running on Linux (platform codes 57 and 58) ONLY.

The header information of certain Recital data tables (.dbf files) with MEMO fields needs to be updated for use under Recital 9.4 and later product lines. If you see the following message when you attempt to use a table, it needs to be converted:

Table must be converted for large file support.

The conversion can be done by using the dbconvert utility.

Use the dbconvertutility by issuing the following command from the operating system prompt:

$ dbconvert largefile <table name>.dbf

or, to convert all dbf files in the current directory:

$ dbconvert largefile

Recital Corporation strongly recommends that you perform a full backup of your Recital applications before upgrading and converting your tables. The dbconvert utility will attempt to backup your existing data tables prior to converting, so you will need sufficient disk space available to hold these files. The Table (.dbf) file, the Memo (.dbt) file and the Index (.dbx) file will be backed up (to a <basename>.o_dbf file, a <basename>.o_dbt file and a <basename>.o_dbx file respectively). The Data Dictionary (.dbd) is not backed up as it remains unchanged. Production tag index files are recreated by the dbconvert process, but single index files (.ndx) will need to be rebuilt manually.

Note: The dbconvert utility is included with the Recital Terminal Developer product distributions. If you have a Recital Server only installation, please contact Recital Support for further advice.

Upgrading from pre-9.0 versions

Database tables (.dbf files) used by the Recital 9.0 and later product lines use a different file structure to previous Recital versions.

Therefore, before you can use your existing Recital data tables, they must be converted to the new file structure. This can be done by using the dbconvert utility or CONVERT. The dbconvert utility is used from the operating system prompt:

$ dbconvert ver90 <table name>.dbf

or, to convert all dbf files in the current directory:

$ dbconvert ver90

Recital Corporation strongly recommends that you perform a full backup of your Recital applications upgrading and converting your tables. The dbconvert utility will attempt to backup your existing data tables prior to converting, so you will need sufficient disk space available to hold these files. The Table (.dbf) file, the Memo (.dbt) file and the Index (.dbx) file will be backed up (to a <basename>.o_dbf file, a <basename>.o_dbt file and a <basename>.o_dbx file respectively). The Data Dictionary (.dbd) is not backed up as it remains unchanged. Production tag index files are recreated by the dbconvert process, but single index files (.ndx) will need to be rebuilt manually.

Upgrading dbx indexes from pre-8.3 versions

The permissible path and filename length stored in a .dbx multiple index file was increased in Recital 8.3.

All multiple index files (.dbx files) must be deleted and rebuilt when upgrading from pre-Recital 8.3 versions.

Example

erase file company.dbx
use company nodbx
index on co_code tag code
index on lower(co_name) tag name

NOTE: Recital Corporation recommends that program files are recompiled and indexes rebuilt whenever a new version of the software is installed.

Upgrading from pre-8.0 versions

As part of Recital Corporation’s Year 2000 Certification Program, the Recital 8.0 release was enhanced to provide date field storage up to the Year 2270. Because of this, the database tables (.dbf files) used by the Recital 8.0 and later product lines use a different file structure to previous Recital versions.

Therefore, before you can use your existing Recital data tables, they must be converted to the new file structure. This can be done by using the dbconvert utility from the operating system prompt:

$ dbconvert year2000 <table name>.dbf

or, to convert all dbf files in the current directory:

$ dbconvert year2000

Recital Corporation strongly recommends that you perform a full backup of your Recital applications upgrading and converting your tables. The dbconvert utility will attempt to backup your existing data tables prior to converting, so you will need sufficient disk space available to hold these files. Note that only the .dbf file will be backed up (to a .v73 file), as the Data Dictionary (.dbd) and Memo (.dbt) files remain unchanged.