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30.3 Updating Acinta

Updating means installing the new version of the programs, and upgrading the projects to it. All programs that use a project – Datashop, Modeller, Enterprise Manager and Acinta Server – should run the same version.

  1. Make a Backup of each project – see 26.4 Backup, Restore and Moving a Project.
  2. Stop Acinta Server and update the server with the server installer.
  3. Update one administrator PC, log in to each project in Modeller as the user administrator, and confirm Upgrade project.
  4. Run Repair if Modeller advises it, and save – see 26.3 Repair.
  5. Update the other PCs, and start Acinta Server.

Version Messages When Opening a Project

The project remembers the version that last upgraded it. From build 20242 only the administrator can open a project with another version:

Who Project from an older version Project from a newer version
The user administrator in Modeller, Enterprise Manager or Datashop Expert Asks to continue, with Upgrade project ticked Warns OLDER VERSION and asks Continue anyway?, with Downgrade project unticked
All other users, and Datashop Workbook Wrong application version: The project must be upgraded to version before you can open it with this program. Only the administrator can upgrade it. The project isn't opened. Wrong application version, asking to install the project's version. The project isn't opened.
Acinta Server Writes the mismatch to its log and doesn't load the project Same

So only the user named administrator (upper/lower case doesn't matter) can upgrade a project, and everyone else – including the server – can only use it once it's upgraded to their version. A registration can be set to AutoUpgrade, which upgrades without asking, for any user.

An administrator who continues with an older version without downgrading can still save.

[!NOTE] Before build 20242, every user got the Continue anyway question with Upgrade project or Downgrade project, and the version check compared build numbers as text – so e.g. build 9999 counted as newer than 10000.

When the Project Is Upgraded While a Program Is Running

New in build 20242.

If someone upgrades the project while you have it open with the older version, your program stops saving changes and stops loading changes made by others – an older version could damage the newer project. You get this warning:

The project "" has been upgraded to version by on (). This program is version . It can no longer save changes to the project or load changes made by others, because that could damage the project. Changes you have not saved yet cannot be saved. Close the program and install version .

Changes you haven't saved are lost – close the program and install the new version. Acinta Server writes the same text to its log as an error and keeps running, but no longer saves to that project; update and restart it.

The exception is an administrator who chose Continue anyway with an older version at login: they can keep saving, unless the project is upgraded once more.

This applies to projects in a database repository – folder and project-file repositories are single-user, so nobody can upgrade them while they are open. Upgrade outside working hours, or ask users to close Acinta first.

Changes That Need Attention After Upgrading

Distributions – SQL recipient lists with their own connection (build 20185). Recipient lists whose SQL query used its own OLE DB connection string aren't converted automatically. They're set to Custom connection and don't work until the connection is set up again: open the list, click the ... button next to Database: – the old connection string is shown first, so you can copy its settings – and test the connection. Acinta Server writes a warning to its log for each such list. Lists that ran on the data warehouse keep working unchanged. See 18.3.

Distributions – merge fields (build 20177). Merge fields are now the additional columns of the recipient lists. Existing distributions are converted automatically; where a merge field had another name than its column, the e-mail texts now use the column name, e.g. {url} instead of {Website}. See 18.4.

Automatic Updates of the Clients

The clients can update themselves from a shared folder:

  1. Copy the new Datashop.exe, Modeller.exe and EnterpriseManager.exe to a share.
  2. Add the share to projects.dspx on each PC: <Autoupdate-path>\\server\acinta\update\</Autoupdate-path> – the path must end with \.
  3. Make sure UpdatingHost.exe is in each PC's Acinta folder.

At start, a program compares its version with the share; if they differ, it closes, copies the new files and starts Datashop again. Writing to Program Files needs administrator rights, so Windows may ask for permission.

[!NOTE] Automatic updates copy only the three programs – not DLLs or Datashop Web files – and also go back to an older version if the share has one. Test the setup before relying on it; for larger updates use the installer.