The old live Baan Server Environment:
OS: Win NT4.0
DB: MS SQL Server
Baan: Baan IV c4 with SP4

The new Baan Server Environment
OS: Windows 2000 Server
DB: MS SQL Server
Baan: Baan IV c4 with SP9

The following steps(rough) are my idea,
(1) Install OS&DB&Baan with SP9 in the new server
(2) Apply for Licence
(3) Dump live company data from the old server
(4) Create tables from dump file in the new server

My Questions are,
(1) What is the difference between BaanIVc4 with SP4 in Nt and BaanIVc4 with SP9? Can Data import succefully?
(2) How to deal with the customization in the old server?

Any recommend or advice will be appreciated.
Thank you anyway.

you have to do it slightly different:

The data dictionary for SP9 will differ in small things (here and there an additional field, here and there a new table, for the PMC for example, and also some changed domains.

So just dumping on SP4 and loading on SP9 will fail. You can do it like this:

a) install Baan + SP9 on your new server
b) create or import your customizing on the new server
c) create your Package combinations on the new server
d) create a dummy Package combination on the new server. Copy the DD files from your old server on top of the DD files from this dummy package comb.
e) dump your data on your old
f) load your data into the dummy PKG. This will work, as the runtime files are the same (see d)
g) Perform a "change PKG by company"
h) create missing tables

finished!

Dear Markus Schmitz,
Thank you very much for your kind reply,
Still, I have several questions need your help.
(1) Is the so called dummy package combination just for testing?
(2) As far as I know, the customization is stored in corresponding DD, so, in your refered the second step, where we import our customization? Because in that time point, package combination is still not present.
(3) When I want to have data immigration, I always create package combination and VRCs, export DD from the old server, and then import the dump file into the new server, and finally, create to RDD. While, what you told me is copy DD files from the old server to the new one directly. Then, what is the different between the two ways? I also found friends here also do it as what you said.

The following procedure is the new version of my idea according your kind advice,
(1) Install OS and SQL in the new server
(2) Install Baan IV c4 with SP9 in the new server
(3) Create test package combination in the new server
(4) Export DD from the old server
(5) Import DD dump file in the new server
(6) Generate a company with the same company number of the old server in the new one linked the package combination
(7) Dump table file from the old server
(8) Create tables from dump file in the new server
(9) If it works, then finished.

Please give me some advice. Thanks you again.

Hi Gigaman,

1) the dummy package combination is not used for testing. It is just a step on the way to get your data into the new system in the first place!

Explainantion: The DD in SP9 and the DD in your old system is different, so you can not just dump your data and load it into SP9

2) Your customization is actually not in a DD or a PKG it is in VRCs. But anyway, you have to differentiate between customization of SW and customization of the data dictionary. In regards to gtransfering data from the old system to the new, you foremost care about customization of the DD.

So what is the dummy PKG needed for? On the new system your DD is different and even if you import all your customization to the new system, it is still different, because Baan changed it in SP9. So by copying the runtime DD files into the dummy PKG you make the bdbpost executable belief, that the DD is the same like on your old system.

3) You do not want to export the whole DD from your old system and import it into your new. This way you would overwrite changes from SP9. What you want to do, is to transfer your customizing from the old to your new system.

If these are only new tables and domains, than you can do this with export/import DD. If you changed tables, than you have to check first, wether SP9 also changed them. This might very well be the case especially in regards to indexes.

I hope the above cleared matters a bit. I also hope this was not too complicated explained. If so, maybe somebody else might be able to explain it in clearer ways :-)

Good luck,

Markus

Dear Markus,

Thank you very much for your kindly reply. :)

According to your explanation, I want to say it again in my own words.

for example, there are four levels or VRCs in old system. B40sc4->B40Uc4stnd->B40Uc4V1->B40Uc4V2.
Some customizations for example, tf package, in B40Uc4V1, and some customizations for example, tf and ti package, in B40Uc4V2.
So, first of all, I should create the two package combination and VRCs: B40Uc4V1 and B40Uc4V2;
And then, import data dictionary dump files which exported from the old system to the above two package combination respectively.
And then, Create two dummy package combinations named, for example, B40Uc4dum1, derived from B40Uc4stnd, and B40Uc4 dum2 derived from B40Uc4dum2
And then, copy DD files from the old server to the new one. (files in [BSE_old]\application\**B40U_c4_V1 copy to [BSE_new]\application\**B40U_c4_dum1; and files in [BSE_old]\application\**B40U_c4_V2 copy to [BSE_new]\application\**B40U_c4_dum2)
And then, create a company, for example 888, linked package combination B40U_c4_dum2.
And then, load dump data exported from the old system to the new system’s company888
And then, Convert to RDD
And then, change package combination of company888
And then, create missing tables.
Then, the company 888 will have table structure like SP9 and data the same as in the old system.
Is the above right?

Thanks a lot.
Sincerely yours,

Hi Gigamen,

In principle your process is correct now, but

a) skip the RDD in between. This is not needed and wil change your data alreay. The Change PKG session (not in General Table Maint) will do this for you!

b) As I said, you can not just export your old customizations and import them on top of B40U_c4_stnd. This way you might overwrite change of SP9, if you customized table, which were also changed by SP9.
You will have to analyze this and merge your changes with the new tables.

Regards

Markus

Dear Markus

Thank you very much.
I understand some of what you said.

About the dummy package combination and something else, I still have a puzzle.
As you said, and I understand, if I changed tables in customization, and SP9 also changed the same tables, then, these tables’ customization should be customized once more. Which tables are under this condition need my check.
Well, let’s suppose I have finished the checking task, then, I should create the dummy package combination in SP9, and copy old DD files to the new server. After generating a company linked this dummy package combination, I’ll find the company, for example, 888, are able to work, except table customization uncompatible with SP9. In other words, those customizations should be expired, while, others, for example, new tables and domains will work if I created corresponsing tables. If the above is correct, why I need to create live package combination, and import old DD dump files, and change company 888’s package combination? I think, it is not necessary. What I should do next is re-customize the customization which uncompatible with SP9.
On the other hand, if there is no customization in the old server, then, just dump tables and create tables from the dump file(s) will be OK, right?

I’m sorry to trouble you too much, but, I need your help.
Thanks a lot

Best wishes,
Gigaman

Hi Gigaman,

the subject is really not so complicated, maybe I am just not explaining it well.

The dummy package combination ist needed to be able to load your old data. When you load a dump, then the DD of the Package combination into which you load, must be the same as the DD of the source. Otherwise the load will fail.

Now the "Change PKG" is a session, which will compare the current PKG of a company and the destinationPKG. All tables, which are found different, will be changed by converting the data automatically.

The normal load can not do this conversion on the fly!

I hope this helped! Just try it with a small company, you will see yourself very fast.

Dear Markus,

Thanks a lot!

Since SP4 is something different with SP9, package combination and VRCs created in SP4 and SP9 are also different. As a result, company dump from SP4 will fail to load in SP9.
So, I need a dummy package combination.
First create the dummy package combination in SP9, but this package combination is different with the one in SP4, so I need to copy DD files from SP4 in order to make dummy package combination are the same as in SP4. thus, company dump from SP4 will succeed to load in SP9. On the contrast, if I import DD dump files, then, dummy package combination is still different from SP4, so compay dump load will fail. I suppose, if I do not do the steps below, then the company will link with SP4 instead of SP9. Right?
And the second step is create the live package combination and import DD dump file. And then change company’s package combination. Company will link to the package combination in SP9.
Moreover, all of above are under condition of no table customizations are un-compatible with SP9, if any, should check first, and re-customize them if necessary.

Thank you for your patient help.

Gigaman