Re: Version of BPCS client for 6.1

[DAsmussen@xxxxxxx]

Driss,

In a message dated 1/25/00 6:21:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, DrissH@Eicon.com 
writes:

> We are currently testing eBPCS 6.1 full client/server with the intent of
>  going live in less than 8 weeks. We are doing a simple upgrade (no new
>  functionality) from BPCS 6.0.02. However, we do have some problems getting
>  the right version of the client and SSA helpline seems to have problem
>  telling us (and providing us) with the latest version of the client (yet
>  they seem to imply we do not have the latest version and this is the source
>  of our problems).
<<snip>>

With all due respect to those like Genephyr that _ARE_ doing a good job, I 
think that both SSA _AND_ IBM have gone overboard with the "are you running 
the latest version?" question.  They've gone beyond common sense, anyhow.  
Probably a combination of low unemployment versus an increased call level for 
both, but that response should _NOT_ be what they try to pawn off on us for 
every single question we ask.  The question from SSA is particularly onerous 
regarding client questions, as they ask you if you're on the latest version 
in one breath, yet cannot support IE5 on OGS in the next -- the last time _I_ 
checked, 5 _was_ the latest version of Internet Explorer and has been out 
longer than some of the latest client versions of BPCS.

IBM did the same thing with both BPCS and BRMS when they failed at the system 
level at my last account.  I would say to both "look, the stuff worked for 
the past six months straight, we've neither installed nor removed any 
hardware or software, no configuration settings on either the client or 
server have been changed, everything's communicating to everything else as 
normal, WE DO NOT NEED A BMR OR A PTF!"  I installed some 6.1 Y2K BMRs at my 
last account that did not change the version as it appeared on the client.

Now that I've gotten _THAT_ out of my system, you might want to look at 
reloading your Data Access Controls from Microsoft.  At my previous client, 
we thought that we had their destruction narrowed down to the installation of 
Synquest, until the problem showed up on _MY_ PC, which wasn't running 
Synquest.  An indeterminate "something" was overwriting our MS/DAC with an 
older version that didn't work with BPCS.  Be careful, too, with the 6.0.02 
BPCS client -- uninstall doesn't work properly so alternately loading it and 
the 6.1.00 client on the same PC will produce unpredictable results unless 
you manually delete the 6.0.02 client library and all of the associated ODBC 
elements via Windows after uninstall prior to your 6.1.00 installation.  Your 
best bet for 6.1.00 prototyping is to take one or more "clean" PC's and use 
them, rather than trying to use an old 6.0.02 version PC.  Don't get me 
wrong, you'll still need to come up with a procedure for upgrading your 
6.0.02 PC's.  The problem both we and SSA have is that PC's vary so much from 
installation to installation.  Experiment, keep good notes, and write a 
formal procedure for upgrading a 6.0.02 PC in _YOUR_ environment to 6.1.00...

JMHO,

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com

"A friend is a lot of things, but a critic he isn't." -- Bern Williams
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