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RS-SQL Version 4.0 is the exciting new release coming very soon from O'Neil Software. 

It is considered a Major Upgrade and, as such, some preparation is required.  One of the most important checks is to ensure that your infrastructure and database are all correct, and that's where the new Readiness Check program comes in...

The new Readiness Check program, ReadinessCheck.exe, will be available on the RS-SQL v.4.0 installation CD and also from today by download from the user forum.  It should be run prior to upgrading your database to RS-SQL version 4.0. The program examines your RS-SQL database, looking for unexpected objects that might interfere with the RS-SQL 4.0 database upgrade. Any unknown objects found will be displayed in the text area.

The Readiness Check program can be run at any time prior to the upgrade, so running it soon will allow you to examine any areas that come to light.  With this in mind, it is important to note that nothing that the Readiness Check program reports should be ignored.  There are three classes of upgrade impediments are reported:

a) Unexpected column dependents, such as unknown indexes or foreign keys.  If you have written programs that interface with RS-SQL, then this is an important area to examine.

b) Unexpected data type or unexpected data type dependents, such as procedures or tables that refer to a Unexpected data type that may be changed in the upgrade.

c) The Readiness Check program will also check for and report on SQL Server 2000 presence, and inform you of the RS-SQL 4.0 requirement for SQL Server 2005 or later.

The good news is that the Readiness Check program can be run at any time.  It does not require "single-user" access to the RS-SQL database, nor is it affected by database size and, in most cases, should have little or no impact on performance.

Please be aware that the upgrade to RS-SQL 4.0 will most likely fail if the Readiness Check finds and reports any issues.  The entries indicate indexes, statistics, columns, etc... that have been placed on the database by someone other than O’Neil.  Any dependencies reported should be removed by your IT or Development resources.  If required they can be put back in place after the upgrade.  Contact your local O’Neil support desk for further information or with any questions you may have.

Finally, we have made every attempt to identify objects that will interfere with the database upgrade.  However, there is no guarantee that all classes of dependencies will be detected by the Readiness Check program.  An offline trial of the database upgrade is recommended, particularly if any internal development, custom O’Neil development, SQL replication or SQL tuning has been performed at any time.  The trial upgrade will have the added benefit of providing an estimate of time and space required for the live database upgrade.

Click on this link to go to the user forum, where you can download the Readiness Check Program and associated files.  Unzip all the contents before executing the ReadinessCheck.exe program.