D3 Windows 10.4.0 ReadMe =========================== READ ME Version: March 2024 This document provides important D3 Windows 10.4 product information. For all D3 Windows 10.4 Enhancements and Resolutions, see the Release Notes located on the Rocket website. WARNING: Upgrading D3 10.4.0 from D3 10.3.X is supported. However, if you are upgrading to 10.4.0 from 10.3.X running with any hotfix, you need to uninstall D3 before installing 10.4.0. The installation and upgrade procedure for D3 Windows 10.4 has changed. We strongly recommend that you read this Read Me, the Release Notes, and the Installation Guide before installing or upgrading. D3 Windows 10.4 requires that you have Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 Redistributable(x64) and Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 or higher installed on your system. D3 Windows 10.4 is certified on the Windows releases detailed in the Installation Guide, under the topic Software Requirements. The installation documentation is available on our Web site at: https://docs.rocketsoftware.com IMPORTANT: D3 Windows is no longer supported on any version of Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or any 32-bit version of Windows. See the Release Notes for other relevant information. For the latest information about this product, see: http://www.rocketsoftware.com/products For product certifications, see the Rocket Web site at: https://www.rocketsoftware.com/rocket-d3-database-management-system-products-status-sheet *********************************************************************************** CONTENTS WARNING: Important Information Regarding Uninstalling D3 Shutting Down Windows Decimal Separator in Windows for FlashBASIC Default Location for the D3DATABASE and D3VIRTUAL Directories Administrative Rights Windows Desktop Interaction on Windows Downgrading from D3 Windows 10.4 to a Previous Version of D3 Windows Activating Multiple Server Licenses on a Laptop Before Uninstalling a Previous Release Configuring the Windows Installer Accessing the System Debugger FlashBASIC Code Shutting Down D3 on Windows Running d3vme.exe on Windows Python Version Known Issues *********************************************************************************** WARNING: Important Information Regarding Uninstalling D3 *********************************************************************************** Starting with D3 9.1, the InstallShield application used to install and uninstall D3 requires that the entire D3Programs directory be removed during an uninstall. Because of this, any programs or files you have added to the directory will be deleted. As such, it is highly recommended that you back up these files prior to uninstalling. Shutting Down Windows *********************************************************************************** It is always recommended to cleanly and completely shut down D3 before shutting down Windows. Failure to do so might leave the database in an inconsistent state, which could lead to data errors (GFEs) or other data problems. You cannot depend on a Windows shutdown to leave enough time for the database to completely clear all memory and write all data to the file system. Shutting down Windows while D3 is running is strongly discouraged. This includes automatic restarts that occur when installing Windows updates. Because of this, it is strongly recommended that automatic Windows updates are disabled on the Windows server running D3. Automatic updates frequently require a reboot of Windows, which could interrupt database jobs that are running and might not leave enough time for all write-required buffers to be written to disk. Windows updates should be set to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". Any updates that are required should be installed after D3 has been shut down. The D3 service should be set to manual start while updates are being installed. This prevents an automatic start of the database if a Windows reboot is required during the installation of the updates. Decimal Separator in Windows for FlashBASIC *********************************************************************************** An enhancement was added to D3 7.5 to improve the accuracy of results from FlashBASIC math when dealing with numbers greater than a 32-bit integer. To ensure that results returned from a calculation are correctly formatted, you must set the Decimal Symbol to a decimal point (.) for the user account that is running the D3 VME. Ensure that the decimal separator for this Windows account is configured correctly using the "Regional and Language Options" item in the Windows Control Panel. To change the decimal separator, do the following: If D3 is running as a user account: 1. Open the "Regional and Language Options" item in the Windows Control Panel. 2. Click Customize. 3. Change the Decimal Symbol to a decimal point (.). 4. Click Apply. 5. Click OK. If D3 is running as the localsystem account: 1. Complete steps 1 through 4 of the previous task ("If D3 is running as a user account" instructions). 2. Click the Administrative Tab. 3. Click "Copy to reserved accounts". 4. Select "System accounts (local system, local service, and network service)". 5. Click OK. 6. Click Apply. 7. Click OK. Default Location for the D3DATABASE and D3VIRTUAL Directories *********************************************************************************** As of D3 Windows 9.0, the default D3DATABASE and D3VIRTUAL directories will be set to the value that exists in the %ALLUSERSPROFILE% environment variable. If you are running D3 on Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016 with UAC on, do not install the D3DATABASE and D3VIRTUAL directories under program files on the Windows boot drive. Administrative Rights *********************************************************************************** Administrative rights are required for installing D3 Windows. If the user performing an install does not have admin rights, they will be prompted for a valid user name and password with administrative rights. To uninstall D3 Windows, you must be logged on as a user with administrative rights. Additionally, administrative rights are required when running the D3 service as a user (rather than the local system account). Windows Desktop Interaction on Windows *********************************************************************************** For Windows implementations, D3 does not interact with the Windows desktop. For example: The D3 boot sequence does not display on the screen when the D3 service starts and doing a !notepad does not work due to Microsoft security changes. Downgrading from D3 Windows 10.4 to a Previous Version of D3 Windows *********************************************************************************** WARNING: Downgrading from D3 Windows 10.4 to a previous version of D3 Windows is not possible. To revert to a previous version, you must: 1. Perform a full file-save. 2. Uninstall D3 Windows 10.4. 3. Reinstall the preferred D3 Windows version. 4. Run the restore-accounts command. 5. Recompile Flash-compiled programs Activating Multiple Server Licenses on a Laptop *********************************************************************************** On some laptops, you might need to set NumLock on when activating multiple server licenses. Before Uninstalling a Previous Release *********************************************************************************** Ensure that you perform a file-save to save your data files, and VME and FSI accounts. All FSI indexes must be recreated after the upgrade by running the 'indexer (o' command. Configuring the Windows Installer *********************************************************************************** The new version of Windows Installer might request that you reboot your system after configuring the installer. If this occurs, close all applications and reboot your system. Accessing the System Debugger *********************************************************************************** Access to the System Debugger from TCL is permitted only if there is a 'd' in the options field of the dm,users, item. FlashBASIC Code *********************************************************************************** All FlashBASIC code must be recompiled on D3 10.4. The "compile.flash.all" command allows automatic recompiling of all BASIC programs currently compiled with FlashBASIC, either in one or all accounts on the system. If the source code is not available, the programs can be compiled from the object code using the (ow compile option. The (w option is available for both the "compile" command and the "compile.flash.all" command. Shutting Down D3 on Windows *********************************************************************************** If you are running D3 10.4 as a service on Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016, and you shut down Windows, you will no longer see a message box indicating that D3 is shutting down. However, D3 is being shut down properly in the background. Running d3vme.exe on Windows platform *********************************************************************************** On Windows, you need to start the command prompt window using the "Run as Administrator" option to run the d3vme.exe with one of the following parameters: - /debug - /start - /fileload - /restore If this is not done, the virtual machine will start, but you will not be able to execute any FlashBASIC programs. Python version *********************************************************************************** D3 Windows 10.4 supports Python 3.11. The recommended python version is python 3.11.6, which has been officially certified. Using a lower or higher version of python (for example, 3.10 or 3.12) on the server side may cause termination of the d3vme service or other unexpected behaviors. You should be sure to use python 3.11 when you use the D3 python module (d3py) which is limited of python 3.11. Known Issues *********************************************************************************** 1. This version is not able to communicate over RPC with releases of D3 Windows prior to 10.2.0. 2. In certain instances, printers might not be available to D3 until initialized by Windows. This depends on the initialization string that is required by the printer driver. 3. Deleting an index while the file is still open will generate errors. All such errors will be logged to the Event log. 4. If D3 services fail to install or start: * Check the Event Viewer for any errors that occurred for the D3 services. If the services are set up with a user account, and that user account does not exist, the services will not be installed. * Check for a valid password and confirm that the user account has administrator privilege. If the password is invalid or the user account does not have administrator privilege, services will not start. * Verify that D3 has been activated. 5. If you need to create more than 225 indexes on a file that came from a release prior to 10.2, then the account must be saved and restored prior to creating the additional indexes.