Reporting to the MAX Windows products check the version of the data files for each installed module when CMSMAIN is launched. If a non-current data file version is detected, CMSMAIN automatically runs the Windows to Windows conversion program. This will occur the first time into the software after a new module is installed or an updated version is loaded. When working correctly, the conversion process is done one time and then does not come up again until another module or upgrade is installed.

CMSMAIN keeps track of the modules, file names, and version numbers for each company code in a file named VER???.DBF. The VER???.DBF file is located in the subdirectory with the company data files. The VERSYS.DBF is located in the directory with the executable files. When WIN to WIN conversion executes, it writes a backup of each file needing conversion to a subdirectory named BACKUP.DAT. It then deletes the existing data file, creates a new data file in the data directory, and copies the records back, field by field, from the BACKUP.DAT subdirectory. If conversion is interrupted in the middle of the process, it starts over the next time CMSMAIN is executed. When the conversion program finds that a file already exists in the BACKUP.DAT subdirectory, it assumes that the file in the subdirectory is the correct file and does not overwrite it. It then copies the records from the backup file into the blank file in the data directory. If a file needing conversion is not found in the BACKUP.DAT subdirectory, it makes the backup copy and recreates from the copy. Thus, a file that was converted before interruption is recreated from the copy in the BACKUP.DAT subdirectory and a file that was not converted is recreated from the original in the data directory. Therefore, no data is lost and all files are converted. This process works very well for keeping the data file and program version in sync.

There are situations in which you would want to force a conversion even though CMSMAIN doesn’t detect the need for it. This is the case if you restore old version data files. CMSMAIN would not detect the older version because it checks the VER???.DBF which shows the newer version. You can force a conversion by deleting the BACKUP.DAT subdirectory and the VER???.DBF and VER???.MDX files. The next time you run CMSMAIN, the WIN to WIN conversion will run and convert the old data files to the new structure. It is important to delete the BACKUP.DAT subdirectory before forcing a conversion. Otherwise, the old data records from BACKUP.DAT will overwrite the restored files in the data directory.

In some installations we have experienced problems in which the conversion program ran every time CMSMAIN was launched. Some of these problems in early versions were due to discontinued or changed file names being left in the VER???.DBF file. This problem has been resolved in the current version so invalid file names are removed from the file. The only known situation where this can still happen is on networks where the programs are loaded on each workstation.

Some or all of the workstations will run the conversion process each time CMSMAIN is run. This is a problem with the upgrade procedure, not the program. In this situation, each workstation has its own copies of CMSMAIN, VERSYS.DBF, and VERSYS.MDX and the VERSYS files are not agreeing with each other. So when an upgrade or new module is installed, you should install it on one workstation, run CMSMAIN so that the data files are converted, and then copy the VERSYS.DBF and VERSYS.MDX to a temporary directory on the server. Then install the programs on the other workstations and copy the VERSYS files from the server to the appropriate directory on each workstation.