Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:05 pm

I, being a somewhat cautious person, like to have both the current and new versions of a program installed, with two distinct file sets so that if the newer version fails, I simply go back to the current version and continue. At the moment, this is impossible with CMUD, once one installs a version, any reference to a previous version is obliterated. This is due, mainly, to the fact that CMUD does not use version-dependent entries in the Registry but, rather, just one entry that gets overwritten with new installs.
With the advent of version 3.0, and I already have noticed changes to the help files in preparation for this, there will be many new and untested features. Yes, these features will have been run through the Beta version, however, experience tells us that it will not be enough (proof of this is that we are now running release 37 of Version 2). There may exist the case that the use of the version will cause errors catastrophic enough to impair the use of CMUD for what the user intended.
I suggest that separate Registry entries be kept for Versions 2 and 3 so that the user may immediately fall back to whatever version he/she was running at the time he/she installed Version 3. This way there will not be any interruptions in the use of the application for normal purposes.
One advantage of this will be that Version 3 will continue to be tested in a production environment because there will be less fear that one will not be able to recover sufficiently to continue one's normal operation.
Certainly, using the new features of Version 3 will make the previous releases antiquated. Be that as it may, I , for one, rather run with an old and less capable version that with no version at all while whatever bugs that were found in the new version are fixed.

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 5:01 am

I've never bothered installing two different versions at once, but I know Zugg keeps every old version installed, so I know it's possible. I would imagine it's as simple as choosing to use the install directory to store your data files when you install it.

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:45 am

Maybe, but as I pointed out in a different post, the pcre being updated doesn't work with 2.37, and therefore makes it a hassle to revert back... Just a thought.

Charneus

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 5:08 pm

Charneus: I have no idea what you are talking about with PCRE. v3.01 uses PCRE78.DLL and 2.37 uses PCRE76.DLL. So 3.01 and 2.37 will work fine on the same computer. There is no problem or "hassle" with going back to 2.37. If you are having a problem with PCRE, please make a separate post about it in the Beta forum.

Back to Anaristos: I understand what you are saying. The main issue is the "DataFiles" setting in the registry that tells CMUD where your data files and packages are stored. However, since v2.x and v3.x use the same file formats for the sessions and package files, there isn't any problem switching between using the same versions at this time. In the past there were problems with some versions when the package file format changed, but that hasn't happened in a while.

As Fang mentioned, I have all sorts of different versions of CMUD installed on my system. I tend to install them in folders like C:/CMUD237 or C:/CMUD301 and then choose the %DOCUMENTS% option for my DataFiles. This allows me to run any CMUD version that I want using the same sessions and packages. And that works fine without any registry changes. Since the v3.x versions use a completely different map database format and filename, you can have both sets of map files in your session folder without any problem.

So basically, nothing in v3.x is going to effect your v2.37 files at this time. I've thought about having different registry entries for v3.x, and I might still do that. But the main reason I don't use version-specific registry entries is that I tend to dislike software that does that because it starts to make a mess of the registry when you have dozens of different versions. Most software does not release as many update versions as I do, and I don't really want 34 v1.x, 37 v2.x, and some future number of v3.x entries in my registry. However, I *might* create separate registry entries for the *major* version releases, like 1, 2, 3.

Anyway, in conclusion, while you raise an interesting point for the future, right now there isn't any problem running both v3.01 and v2.37 on the same computer because I do it all the time.

Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:38 am

Zugg: Interesting. I thought I had posted it previously, but I cannot find a mention of the post anywhere unless I've overlooked it.

I just did the revert and it didn't pose a problem. But the first two times I did this, it mentioned something about pcre not being registered or some such. I wish I had saved it now. So, I guess the point is moot. :\

Charneus