Upgrading Your Exported Database To A New Installation

In this procedure, we will manually upgrade a Collect! database into a fresh installation of CV11. This includes a step-by-step walk through for installing the new version of Collect! and performing an upgrade on your exported database.

If you are upgrading to Collect! Version 11.1.1.1 or newer, you can use the automatic one-click upgrade procedure rather than the manual upgrade procedure described below. Please refer to Help topic, One Click Upgrade for the simplest way to upgrade your database.

Manual Database Upgrade

For most upgrades, the one-click upgrade is the simplest way to upgrade your database. As a technician or database administrator, you might choose to do a manual database upgrade instead if you need to compact your database files. Database files grow in size over time and the one-click upgrade process does not shrink the size of Collect!'s database files.

To manually upgrade a CV8 or CV10 database into Collect! Version 11, using the following instructions, you must be running Version 8.1.16 or newer, or 10.1.5 or newer. This may require upgrading or applying a patch to your existing Collect! version before proceeding.

These steps should be performed in a TEST location, BEFORE upgrading your live Server.

To prepare a test copy of your database, please refer to the Help topic for your version of Collect! listed below.

CV10 Testbed Setup - How to make a test copy of your CV10 database
CV8 Testbed Setup - How to make a test copy of your CV8 database

Prepare your Database
- Recalc your database and run a thorough maintenance.
- Back up your database to a safe location.
- Export database.
- Back up your export folder to a safe location.

Install Collect! and Perform a Test Upgrade
- Install CV11.
- Upgrade your database to CV11.
- Test the new version thoroughly.

These steps for performing an upgrade are explained in detail in the remainder of this document.

Prepare Your Database

There are a few basic requirements for preparing any database for upgrading into Version 11.

Your database must be a version 8.1.16 or newer, or a 10.1.5 or newer.
You must have a User with ID: 99, Password: 99 and User Level 99 in the database you intend to upgrade.
Make sure every Operator in your database has a Password.

Prepare for your upgrade by exporting your database as outlined in the Exporting document for your version of Collect!. There are instructions for

- Exporting Your CV11 Database
- Exporting Your CV10 Database
- Exporting Your CV8 Database.

This will generate an export folder containing all your data. You must be able to access this folder freely.

Although this procedure does alter the export folder, it is advisable that you have backed it up and saved it to a secure location, as a precaution.

Install Collect!

This procedure requires that you have obtained an upgrade version of CV11 from Comtech Systems Inc. and that you have saved it on your Server.

Please install CV11 to a TEST location. It is recommended that you do NOT use your live server.

The upgrade takes about as long as a full maintenance. The best time to perform this operation is after hours, when exclusive access to your Collect! database is practical. If you are unsure of any part of the procedure, please do not proceed without getting help.

1. Ensure that all users are out of Collect! and that the Lock Manager, CV10 Server or CV11 Server is shut down. Disconnect all active users from your Server. To be sure, reboot your Server machine.

2. When your Server machine is up again, double-click the self-extracting file that you obtained from Comtech and saved in on your Desktop.

3. The Collect! installation screen will appear in a moment. Select the NEXT button to begin the installation. Please follow the prompts and proceed until you reach the Setup Type screen.

4. By default, this CV11 installation installs to c:\CV11. If this is not acceptable to you, please select Custom and then select the NEXT button. This will bring you to the Choose Destination Directory screen where you may select a different installation directory.

Select the CHANGE button to display the Choose Folder prompt.

5. Select the OK button when you are ready to proceed. The directory you created will be displayed. If you are satisfied with this, select NEXT to continue.

6. Please follow the prompts and keep selecting the NEXT button to proceed until Collect! begins to install the files to your computer.

This will take a few moments as the installation extracts all of Collect!'s files to your new directory and updates your Desktop icons to point to this new location.

7. When installation is finished, you may choose to view the Readme.txt. It describes the new features in this new version, or select the FINISH button to close the installation screen and return to your Server Desktop.

Perform A Test Upgrade

At this point, you have a brand new installation of CV11 on your test Server. A single CV11 icon has been added to your Desktop.

We will proceed to upgrade your exported database into this new installation.

1. Select the CV11 icon on your Desktop to start Collect!.

The Collect! splash screen will display. You should use the system default ID and Password 99 and 99 to sign on to the RDM Server. Collect! will confirm your IP address. You will be prompted to enter your Company Name and your personal Name. Collect! will register RDM Server and display a message for the one click upgrade if it finds a CV8, CV10 or CV11 folder on your Server.

Select CANCEL to proceed with the manual upgrade. You can perform an one-click upgrade at a future date if desired. The Welcome To Collect! screen will be displayed. At this point, the CV11 Server is running and you are ready to begin your upgrade.

2. Select File from the top menu bar and then select Upgrade Database from the drop-down choices.

3. The Upgrade Database window will open. You must select a database to upgrade into or create a new one. And you must select a database to upgrade. The other choices are up to you. Press F1 for assistance with the various choices on this form.

4. Press the SELECT button to choose a database to upgrade into. When the database list is displayed, select the masterdb database to upgrade into the master database.

There may also be a NEW button shown. You could use this to create a new database, if you have a CV11 Corporate license, but we will use one of Collect!'s default databases.

5. Select the BROWSE button next to the field labeled Location of database to upgrade and navigate to your working database directory.

6. Double-click the master or data folder to display its contents. Notice that this folder contains the export folder created when you prepared for the upgrade. Select the export folder and you should see the datcolle.imp if you are upgrading from CV8/10 or the collect.exp file if you are upgrading from Version 11.

7. Double-click the datcolle.imp file if you are upgrading from CV8/10 or the collect.exp file if you are upgrading from an earlier version 11. This selects the file, closes the window and displays the path in the 'Location' field.

8. Please press F1 for an explanation of the other choices that you see. We will simply accept the defaults at this point.

9. Select the START THE UPGRADE button to begin the upgrade process. Collect! will now perform the first stage of the upgrade importing all the database files that were detected in the export folder.

Collect! imports all client and debtor information, system settings, html data, builds database connections, record sets, keys, access rights, import field specifications and printable information lists. The time that this takes depends on the size of your database.

10. When the "upgrade successful" message appears, select OK and then select Master as the Database to open. Select the START button to sign on.

11. Now Collect! will complete the second part of the upgrade, updating your contacts, internal lists and access rights.

At this stage, the Upgrade Record Event History message may be displayed for a few moments or longer. Please refer to Help topic, Upgrade Record Event History, for information about the contact updates that are taking place.

At this stage, the Import Modification window may pop up displaying fields that have changed in this version. This may affect import maps. Please make note of the changes. You may print this list if it applies to you. Select the OK button to continue.

When this phase is finished you will be at the Main Menu in your newly upgraded database.

Importing External Libraries

During the upgrade process, new devices will be created to accommodate any external libraries. The prefix on the alternate library names, x00 or r00 may change if there are already alternate libraries on the server containing the destination database.

After upgrading, normal maintenance will be performed on them as well. This includes rebuilding optional keys, printable information lists and import field definitions.

Updating Web Host Content

The upgrade process upgrades your existing Web Host to use new features in Collect!, but it does not update the content of the Web Host in your working database. To update your Web Host content please refer to the Help topic, Updating To The Latest Web Host.

Upgrade Financial Changes

You may seen an HTML page explaining financial improvements since your last upgrade. This only relates to upgrading a Collect! Version prior to cv8.2.2 or cv10.2.2.

Summary

This document walked you through upgrading Collect! to a new version - preparing for the upgrade, installing Collect! and performing the upgrade to run tests on the new version. Following these steps ensures a smooth transition to enjoying the functionality in your new version of Collect!

If your upgrade was not successful, please see Troubleshooting Upgrading.