will a 3.8 to 6.0 upgrade with no conflict issues take a day or less

[CentralAutoBob]

I am trying to get a handle on how much time is involved in the upgrade of a 3.8 NT system with approximately 30 screens and minimal programming to a 6.0 XP system if there is minimal or no conflict issues. Any help will be greatly appriciated. Thank you in advance,

CentralAutoBob

[Doug M]

CentralAutoBob,

That is a really hard question to answer.  There are quite a few caveats to be aware of when you upgrade from Lookout 3.8 to 6.0, as described in the Lookout 6.0 Release Notes starting on page 12.  You would need to convert databases you want to continuing logging to from Citadel 3.8 to Citadel 4.0 and then from Citadel 4.0 to 5.0.  You need to convert security file and your source files, and there is a list of compatibility issues to be aware of in the Release Notes.  However, if you programming doesn't touch any of the areas mentioned in the Release Notes, the upgrade may be fairly straight forward.

[CentralAutoBob]

Thank you Doug,

I am a first time user of Outlook although I have integrated other HMI systems. I read the release notes and did not see any potential conflicts other then the database but I wanted some reassurance from someone who has actually used the product, before I jumped in with both feet.

Thanks again for your support and fast response,

Bob

[Doug M]

No problem, Bob -- good luck and let us know if you have further questions.

[erblock]

If the Lookout 3.8 processes were well written with data tables and DDE networking (as suggested by the 3.8 manual), you will have quite a bit of work converting to the TCP/IP format of the newer Lookout versions.  I would also suggest that you go straight to 6.02 and skip 6.0 and 6.01, especially if you use any Hypertrends.  You will also need to separate the server processes from client processes to be most efficient and flexible, especially if you want to run failover redundancy.

If you have a lot of dynamic graphics or data member intensive displays, It will be a lot easier to modify your processes by direct editing your .lks files and recompiling.

One day would be ok for simple processes, but I would leave more time for a complex set of processes.  You can run the old lookout 3.8 in paralell with Lookout 6.02 I believe to ease the transition.

One caution with the newer citadel 5 based Lookout....YOU CANNOT have more than one instance of Lookout running on one computer.  (hopefully, NI will be able to get by this limitation soon)

Good Luck

Ed