Upgrading Grain Trader
Software updates to Grain Trader are distributed as Patch files, which can be downloaded from our website by users with a current Software Subscription. Patch files are executed in the same way as a setup program, and install only those program and support files that have been changed. They cannot be used to install a fresh copy of Grain Trader.
Provided you are connected to the internet, you can see whether you have the most current version of Grain Trader by selecting the Help | Check for Updates menu from within Grain Trader.
If your installation is in a Terminal Server environment and you have granted CDA a remote administrative login on your server, we offer to perform your upgrades for you at a mutually agreeable time as part of your Software Subscription. If you would like to take advantage of this service and have not yet done so, please contact us.
Patch updates are safe by default - any files to be replaced are backed-up before being overwritten, and the operation will automatically be rolled back if any step fails.
Patch files are produced in one of two variants:
- To upgrade a specific version to the current version. For example, a file of this variety might be named GT3Patch3-1-0To3-1-5.exe. This patch would upgrade your existing installation from version 3.1.0 only to version 3.1.5.
- To upgrade multiple versions to the current version. For example, a file of this variety might be named:
- GT3Patch3To3-1-5.exe - this patch could be used to upgrade any version 3 or later installation to version 3.1.5. It could not however be used to upgrade a Grain Trader version 2 installation.
- GT3Patch3-1To3-1-5.exe - this patch could be used to upgrade any version 3.1 or later installation to version 3.1.5. It could not however be used to upgrade a version 3.0.9 installation.
You can determine the version number of your current installation by selecting the Help | About menu from within Grain Trader.
If your existing installed version is lower than the “from” version of any available patch, contact us for a special patch build. Do not attempt to use a patch whose “from” version is later than your current version. If you do, the patch would most likely fail altogether, or at the very least break your existing installation.
All users accessing the same database(s) must be using the same version of Grain Trader. As we continue to add new features and improve the program we often need to incorporate design changes to your database(s) which are automatically implemented the very first time each database is opened after an upgraded version is run by any user. Any user who is still running an older version after a database has been upgraded may experience errors which could result in CDA having to get a copy of your database and make manual adjustments.
Preparing to Upgrade
1. Login to our website and select the Downloads menu. Navigate to the CDA Grain Trader | Program Updates area and download the correct Patch to suit your existing version as discussed above.
It’s a good idea to download the Patch program into a permanent location on the workstation (for single-user installations) or (file) server (for all other installations) in case you need it again in the future and to make it easier to install the patch on multiple workstations. We recommend a folder named Updates inside the folder where your database(s) reside.
2. If you are upgrading the program for all existing users, ensure that everyone has closed Grain Trader on their computer. If you are installing the patch for a single user only in a single-user or peer-to-peer network, the program needs to be closed on that user's workstation only, ie other users can continue working.
3. Backup your database. Even though we have taken precautions to ensure your data is safe, you can never be too careful!
Irrespective of which environment the upgrade is being installed in, you must be logged in as an Administrator at each machine on which the following procedures are to be carried out.
If you are installing the upgrade in a Terminal Server environment, jump to the Terminal Server Upgrade section below. Otherwise continue with the Workstation Upgrade below.
Workstation Upgrade
4. At each workstation on which the upgrade is to be installed, use My Computer or Windows Explorer to navigate to the folder where you saved the downloaded Patch program file in step 1 above.
5. Double-click the Patch program file to start the EasyPatch Wizard. In a default installation of Grain Trader you can just follow the wizard prompts, accepting the default choices. If your Grain Trader program is installed into a non-default folder you will need to modify the default settings.
6. If the EasyPatch Wizard encounters any problems it will automatically roll back any changes already made and exit.
By default, the EasyPatch Wizard creates a log file titled EasyPatch Operations.log in the same folder as the Patch program file. You can review this file in Windows Notepad or another text editor and scroll to the most-recent entries at the bottom of the log for more information about why the process failed.
The most common cause of errors in the EasyPatch process is that Grain Trader is still running on the workstation. Occasionally it may be another program (including GT Weighbridge) that uses the same support files that the Wizard is trying to update. Close all running programs and start the EasyPatch Wizard again. If you continue to have problems contact us for assistance.
7. Once the EasyPatch Wizard has completed successfully, run Grain Trader and confirm that everything is OK. As mentioned above, the very first time each database is opened after a Grain Trader upgrade has been installed, you will be prompted to allow the program to implement any required database changes. You will not be able to open a database until it has been upgraded to the latest design.
8. Repeat from step 3 at any other workstations to be upgraded, remembering to log in as an Administrator. (Note that if you allowed the program to update the database design if required, you will not be prompted about that again.)
Terminal Server Upgrade
It is not normally sufficient for a user to simply close the Terminal Server session desktop on his or her computer by clicking the X button in the top right-hand corner prior to installing an upgrade as this only disconnects their session and does not close any running programs. An upgrade cannot be installed if the program is running in any user's session. Users must specifically close Grain Trader (the TS session can in fact remain open).
4. Log on to a Terminal Server session as an Administrator. Stop the Grain Trader Licence Service using either of the following methods:
- Click Start and select Administrative Tools | Services. Locate and select the entry CDA Grain Trader Licence Service in the list and click the Stop service link (or right-click and select Stop from the context menu); or
- Open a Command prompt window and navigate to the folder where the Licence Service Manager is installed, commonly either
C:\Program Files\CDA Software\XYWinService
or
C:\XYWin
then run the following command:
xywinservice -k
5. Check that there are no CDA Grain Trader processes running: click Start and select Administrative Tools | Terminal Services Manager. Select the Processes tab and click on the Image column header to sort running images alphabetically. If you see any CDA Grain Trader 3 entries in the list, identify the user, contact them and ask them to close Grain Trader so you can install the update. You will not be able to proceed until all running Grain Trader processes have been closed.
If you cannot contact the user, select the Sessions tab and locate the user in the list. If Disconnected is shown against that user in the State column, the user may have closed their Terminal Server session desktop without closing Grain Trader. We recommend under these circumstances you defer the upgrade until a later time and jump to step 9 below. However if the value shown under Idle Time is significant you might at your own risk wish to end the user's Grain Trader process and proceed: go back to the Processes tab and click in the User column for the Grain Trader process to select the username. Right-click the selected value and select End Process from the context menu. CDA Software will take no responsibility for database corruption or other problems that might arise from ending a user's Grain Trader process.
Close the Terminal Service Manager window.6. Use My Computer or Windows Explorer to navigate to the folder where you saved the downloaded Patch program file in step 1 above.
7. Double-click the Patch program file to start the EasyPatch Wizard. In a default installation of Grain Trader you can just follow the wizard prompts, accepting the default choices. If your Grain Trader program is installed into a non-default folder you will need to modify the default settings.
8. If the EasyPatch Wizard encounters any problems it will automatically roll back any changes already made and exit.
By default, the EasyPatch Wizard creates a log file titled EasyPatch Operations.log in the same folder as the Patch program file. You can review this file in Windows Notepad or another text editor and scroll to the most-recent entries at the bottom of the log for more information about why the process failed.
The most common cause of errors in the EasyPatch process is that Grain Trader is still running somewhere. Occasionally it may be another program (including GT Weighbridge) that uses the same support files that the Wizard is trying to update. Close all running programs and start the EasyPatch Wizard again. If you continue to have problems contact us for assistance.
9. Once the EasyPatch Wizard has completed successfully (or if you are deferring the upgrade due to some other reason), start the Grain Trader Licence Service again using either of the following methods:
- Click Start and select Administrative Tools | Services. Locate and select the entry CDA Grain Trader Licence Service in the list and click the Start service link (or right-click and select Start from the context menu); or
- Open a Command prompt window and navigate to the folder where the Licence Service Manager is installed, commonly either
C:\Program Files\CDA Software\XYWinService
or
C:\XYWin
then run the following command:
xywinservice -r
10. Run Grain Trader and confirm that everything is OK. As mentioned above, the very first time each database is opened after a Grain Trader upgrade has been installed, you will be prompted to allow the program to implement any required database changes. You will not be able to open a database until it has been upgraded to the latest design. Log off and log back on as a user and confirm Grain Trader runs OK.