Convert Btrieve 6.15 App to Pervasive.SQL?

[Fleabit]

I have a commercial database application that runs on a peer-to-peer network using the Btrieve 6.15 engine. I am upgrading my network to client-server. Can I install a Pervasive.SQL client-server database engine on my new network and run my old application? Will I have a performance improvement if it works? I have the DDF files for the Btrieve database, but no access to source code for the application.

 

[mirtheil]

Your application should work correctly with the updated engine although it depends on the application. Some applications, like Peachtree, make a version call and will not allow anything other than the version they ship to be used. In terms of increased performance, it's going to depend on the application, network, number of users, and a few other factors as to how much performance will be affected. The DDFs will only be needed if the application uses ODBC. For a Btrieve API based application (like most v6.15 applications), you won't need the DDFs. info@mirtheil.com
Custom VB and Btrieve development.
Certified Pervasive Developer
Certified Pervasive Technician

 

[ramsys]

If your application use DDFs maybe it is necessary to convert the DDF-files. On

http://www.pervasive.com

you an download a tool DDFCONV to convert them.
A increasement of performance can be given by converting the files to the new 7.0-format.
The performance depends on your server. Btrieve 6.15 runs on an old server (maybe a Pentium-200-MHz with 64 MB) in good performance. SQL needs much more!

 

[Fleabit]

Thanks for the info. To convert to 7.0 format do I only have to convert the ddf files or do I need to convert the data files also

 

[Linda84]

You are not required to convert your data files - Pervasive.SQL 2000i can access Btrieve files in v7, v6, and even pre-v6 format. You can even have a mixture of file formats in your data set. We definitely recommend your files be in at least v6 format for reliability. Some new features require the v7 format, and the best optimization occurs under the latest version.

DDF versions are an added requirement to the actual file version. Here is an excerpt from the CNVDDF tool mentioned earlier in this thread...
T
he dictionary system tables for Scalable SQL 3.01 and Scalable SQL 4.0 or later differ slightly in the data types that represent system columns and index definitions. For example, datatype “Xf$ID” is an Integer in Scalable.SQL 3.01, but an Unsigned Integer in later versions. Refer to the SQL Reference manual for a complete description of the system tables for your version of Scalable SQL.

To verify whether or not you need to convert your DDFs, open the dictionary with SQLScope or the SQL Data Manager utility (for Pervasive.SQL 7 or Pervasive.SQL 2000, respectively). Issue the following SQL statement:

SELECT * FROM X$Field

The results from this query should include a row with a field name of Xf$Id. If the data type value for this field is a 1, then the dictionary is in the old 3.01 format, and needs to be converted. If the datatype for this field is a 14, then this dictionary is already in the correct format.

Your dictionary files must be in a Btrieve file format of version 6.x or greater. To change the format of the dictionary files, specify the Create File Version setting in the MicroKernel Database Engine as 6.x or higher and run the Rebuild utility for your dictionary files: File.ddf, Field.ddf, and Index.ddf.


I suggest you try out the new engine first before converting your data files just to make sure everything runs correctly, and then consider updating your files. Linda
Pervasive Software Support

 

[Fleabit]

I'd love to try it out first. Does Pervasive still offer a free demo download?

 

[Linda84]

Yes. Go to

http://www.pervasive.com/downloads/

Both the Pervasive.SQL 2000i trial versions and the new v8 release candidate versions can be downloaded for trial. Linda
Pervasive Software Support