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 RackForms UPDATE HELP
 12/12/11
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** IMPORTANT **
Please note that if you are using RackForms or 2 and want to update to RackForms 3, you MUST
install RackForms 3 into a new database instance, as well as a new file system location.

Your jobs will still work (for the most part) with the new RackForms version, but you should make
plans to copy all jobs you want to "update" to XML files and then use the Load XML File feature in 
RackForms 3. 


IMPORTANT GENERAL NOTICE
==================================
RackForms is a web application, which means that all of its files are suseptable to 
your Web Browsers caching machanisms. This means it's quite common to update to the newest build
but NOT see the new features in the editor strait away. Why? Your Browser chache is still showing old files! 

This is why it's important to clear your browsers web cache after an update. This will make sure that
when you run RackForms you load the newest files.

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FINALLY < !THE MOST IMPORTANT NOTE! > : ALWAYS MAKE FULL BACKUPS OF YOUR DATABASE AND FORMBOSS FILES BEFORE YOU PROCEED!

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Updating RackForms will consist of one or more of these three actions:

1. Update the application files.
2. Update the database. 
3. Migrate Forms

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UPDATE THE APPLICATION FILES #
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Unless explicitly stated, almost all updates to RackForms will require you to overwrite your 
existing /app directory. The easiest way to perform this step is to simply replace the 
old /app directory on your server with the new one from this download. 

Before you replace the /app directory however, please be sure to perform the following important steps:

--
Within the /app directory on your live copy of RackForms (the one on your web-server), create a copy of each
of these files on your local desktop: 

config.php
/movefiles/config.php
--

Be sure to not mix these two config files up, as they have slightly different formatting but are named the same.
The best method is to move these files to a convinent location, such as to your desktop. Place the config file
from the /app folder directly on your desktop, and the /movefiles config file into a folder called /movefiles/

Thus, on your desktop you should have:

config.php
/movefiles/config.php

--
Now replace the /app folder on the server with the new one from this build.
--

--
Now replace the two config.php files on your server with the 'old' ones on your desktop.

Of course we want to use the same locations, so the config.php file sitting directlly on the desktop
goes to /app/config.php, and the other one to /app/movefiles/config.php
--

Your version of RackForms will now be fully updated as far as application code is concerned. 

Some updates require database changes as well, please read on to learn more. 


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 UPDATE THE DATABASE
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When you update the RackForms /app directory you may need to update your RackForms Database as well. 
Determining if you need to update the Database is as follows:

------------------------
 DATABASE UPDATE RULES
------------------------

If you are running** a version older than 541 and are updating to build 559, you will need to run: 
Update-541.sql, then run Update-559.sql. 

If you are running a Build 542 through 558, you only need to run the Update-559.sql file.

**your build number is located in the page footer of the RackForms editor

------------------------
 DATABASE UPDATE RULES
------------------------

To run your database update: 

All SQL update files are located starting in the same place as you found this document, in the /Updates directory, in the following format:

/Update To Build xxx/<database_vendor>/Update-xxx.sql
/Update To Build xxx/<database_vendor>/Update-xxx-phpMyAdmin.sql

Following the DATABASE UPDATE RULES above, open the folder with the correct build number and find the proper SQL file for your database.

For example, if I was running build 557 using MySQL, I would open and run:
/Update To Build 559/mysql/Update-559.sql

If I was on Build 539, I would have to run:
/Update To Build 541/mysql/Update-541.sql
and then run:
/Update To Build 559/mysql/Update-559.sql 

In each folder, along with the .sql files you will see an 'Instructions' file. Open and follow the instrucitons in that file to update your database.

Please note the SQL update files do not erase or remove data, only table and stored procedure updates are performed.


Alternatively, you can run the RackForms installer with the 'Clean' option checked, as this will completely erase and rebuild your RackForms database to the most recent version. Be aware however, that this clean sweep approach will cause you to loose any existing data, but not /output directory items such as saved forms.

Finally, you can always choose the migration path, in that you would install RackForms to a new schema and keep the old schema as you slowly phase out old forms. In fact, you can go one step further and install the RackForms application files to a different folder as well, such as /fb. That way you keep your current install and slowly move to the new one.

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 MIGRATE FORMS
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While I encourage all users to upgrade, users of earlier versions may find some of the new 
features will not be compatible with existing forms. 

The easiest fix for this is to simply rebuild old forms if need be, as the upgrade process does not require you to overwrite your /output folder that contains existing forms. Thus, just open and view existing forms in one web page, and in the other, rebuild the form with the updated RackForms editor. The short time-investment of this process is well worth the newest build includes.

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 EXTRA HELP
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Please visit us at: www.rackforms.com/forum
or Contact support at:
support@rackforms.com

