I get questions all the time from users who are confused about our release cycle and product versioning.  I think I may finally have come up with a good analogy thanks to some conversations with users.

Single Version?

The Single Version moniker on the VistaDB Personal and Lite editions can be confusing.  These are both single releases of the platform.  You get all the builds within that major.minor, but when a new release of the platform comes out they are not included.  The “dot release” is not simply a rollup of the previous builds with a new name.  They are a new feature set and release point for functionality.

Maybe they should be called a single release edition since a release to us is a major.minor.  But I think that term would be even more confusing to most users.

A Release is a promise of functions and features

Our goal is to ensure all major.minor builds are compatible with each other in both API, and functionality.  We strive very, very hard to never break an API until the next bump in the version.  Otherwise you could end up with two builds of the same major.minor that behave differently, or are not runtime compatible.

Each time we need to change an API we bump the product minor to ensure that everyone knows they are going to need to compile their app, not just replace the DLL.  Normally for builds within a single release you can just drop in the new DLL and continue to run (with whatever fixes, updates were included of course).

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BETA Level Release

This initial release has some warts and problems that we wanted to address before releasing a DMW for 4, but I am putting this out there so people can convert basic databases to VistaDB 4 in the meantime.  We plan to make several changes to the tool before it is declared complete.

This is a port of the 3.x DMW with almost no changes just to get something up quick.  It does not know anything about UAC (you had better run it as Admin), it does not know anything about the Windows 7 Libraries of VistaDB 4, etc.  Basic port to get new users up and running.

Data Migration Wizard 4

This is a beta level release.  It is posted on the public downloads area of our account manager website.  You can’t install or use it unless you have a valid VistaDB license on your machine.

Start Menu Shortcut

Launch the tool from the VistaDB 4 Data Migration Wizard folder in your start menu and you will see the familiar starting screen.

Yes, there is a typo where it still says VistaDB 3 on the initial dialog.  It does not work with 3.x at all.

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The first VistaDB 4 trial is now available.  You have to provide a valid email address in order to receive the trial.  

Request Trial Email

Signup for the trial online

Professional Limits on all Trials

All trials are of the VistaDB Professional license.  Once you download the trial you enter the same email address you used for the trial signup in order to get your temporary license.  If your email bounces or is from a temp email service the trial will be blocked.

Also keep in mind that the limits of the Professional are not the same as all other licenses.  See the online comparison page for pagesize limits for more information.  If you plan on using VistaDB Lite, don’t use the Visual Studio tools or build with pagesizes larger than 1kb.

Unlimited Installs for single trial email

You may install the trial on as many machines as you need from a single email address.  Keep in mind this is not how it works with a full license, each developer machine must be licensed to compile applications that use VistaDB.

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VistaDB 4 includes a number of improvements to SQL syntax, engine enhancements, and many API changes. 

The VistaDB Edition Differences page should help explain most of the changes in the versions of VistaDB that are available.

Data Builder 4 includes syntax highlighting

Data Builder now uses the fantastic Actipro Software ActiPro SyntaxEditor control for syntax and colorhighting in the SQL Editor dialog (and some others). 

This change provides a much more user friendly SQL Editor with support for collapsible regions, find and replace, goto line, block comment and uncomment, and many more features.

Our customization of the syntax editor includes colors to match closely what users are already familiar with in SQL Management Studio, and includes new hot key support for things like ctrl-e for execution.

Works with Windows 7

VistaDB 4 has passed all the Windows 7 compatibility tests from Microsoft!  SQL Scripts are now kept beside the target database by default (same directory), but you can override this directory as well.  The default for all scripts now uses the Public Document Library in Windows 7 to avoid UAC issues for users. 

We currently run Windows 7 64 bit internally on most developer workstations, and test the 32 bit version in Virtual Machines.  We have found that Windows 7 performs very well with VistaDB 4.

AssemblyVersion vs FileVersion

VistaDB 4 uses a new schema for versioning the numbers of the assemblies similar to how Microsoft versions the system assemblies for .Net.  The AssemblyVersion attribute will stay 4.0.0.0 for all builds that implement the interfaces to be compatible with 4.0.  The individual builds have a FileVersion attribute set that includes their specific build (4.0.6.1).

The list of VistaDB Assemblies in the GAC shows that the 3.x line included the build number.  This would often cause problems with applications built against one version, but that now need to run under another (ORM and other third party tools).

Looking in the GAC you will find an entry for VistaDB.4 that shows 4.0.0.0.  That is to avoid the whole binding redirect problem of the 3.x line.  This also means you can only have a single 4.0 assembly in your GAC at a time (avoiding build binding problems).  If you want to see the specific FileVersion of the assembly you can right click the entry, select properties and then view the Version tab.  It should look something like the entry shown.

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