CopiaFacts Version 9.1
The current version of CopiaFacts is [9.1.0.367].
The version history for CopiaFacts 9.1, released in April 2024, has a long list of new features, enhancements, and minor fixes in Appendix M of this manual.
 | There should be no need to make any changes to user command files and scripts to upgrade from version 8 to version 9 |
| If you run more than one COPIAFACTS node on a single machine (with nodename on the command line) an upgrade to version 9 on that machine will of course upgrade all the nodes there. |
The principal changes and enhancements in version 9 are:
New Build Tools
We have once again upgraded all our development tools to current supported versions, with enhancements to performance, efficiency and maintainability. These upgrades also extend the set of Windows operating systems which CopiaFacts supports. At the same time we have simplified all applications by removing support for hardware and environments which are no longer in use.
We expect the compilers, newer libraries, and other development tools to introduce even more benefits in future releases and to further extend the platforms in which future versions may operate.
New Usability Features
All of the programs in the CopiaFacts suite have been reviewed, and many have received enhancements which make them easier to use. A summary of all these enhancements appears in Appendix M.
Version 9 CopiaFacts applications and scripting should run without any change after upgrading, but some changes may be visible to staff who manage the system, such as a few program and DLL name changes. The most significant of these changes are described below.
Discontinued Features
| The Support for some legacy hardware and earlier operating systems has been dropped in version 9. See Version 9 Discontinued Features for details. |
New Activity Summaries in COPIAFACTS and CFCP
The $display_box configuration command has been enhanced to allow the replacement of unused summary counts on the COPIAFACTS status tab with counters which may be more relevant for your site. Three new counters, for worker-box operations performed and failed, and for FS syntax errors, are included in the first release of this feature, and suggestions for others are welcomed.
At the same time, the display of the same counters in CFCP, for sites where COPIAFACTS is run as a service application, will now show the same headings and values as those which would be displayed in a desktop instance of the engine.
Changed DLL names
To clearly identify the new support libraries, all the CopiaFacts program libraries (.DLL) have names starting CF9 in version 9, instead of CF8. In FFTRACE, if you have specified that for example CF8EMAIL transactions are to be traced, this references will automatically be changed to CF9EMAIL when you install version 9. You must run FFTRACE once to make this change. From the version 8.3.1.346 installer onwards the names will also be changed back should you need to revert to version 8.
For the small number of users who have written custom applications which call functions in CopiaFacts DLLs, it will be necessary to change CF8 to CF9 in the name of the DLL to be loaded. DLL Function names have not changed.
If you use text-to-speech in your applications, you will need to change the name on the $tts_dll configuration command to use cf9, not cf8 in the DLL name.
New Smart-Retry File
A similar change of name applies to the CF8.SMR file which provides the documentation of the built-in smart-retry settings in version 8, and now becomes CF9.SMR. If you have your own named custom SMR file and open it in COPIAEDIT, this editor will offer to compare it alongside the current CF9.SMR file to allow you to make any changes in your custom file. There are very few differences between CF8.SMR and CF9.SMR.
New Install Manager Names
For version 9, COPIAINSTALL has become COPIAINSTALL9 and COPIACLIENTINSTALL has become COPIACLIENTINSTALL9. The version 8 install managers (without the 9) can be used to download the older installers and run them to re-install version 8 if needed.
Other New Features, Enhancements and Changes
A list of enhancements and changes to individual components is available in Appendix M.
Version 9 of CopiaFacts does not yet appear in the 'Check for Updates' list of version 8 updates in COPIAINSTALL. Instead, users of version 8 should upgrade by downloading the new installation manager COPIAINSTALL9.exe from:
http://cdn.copia.com/files9/COPIAINSTALL9.exe. (case sensitive)
You should download this program to your current \\COPIA\NETBIN folder and run it from there, but when you use it to select and run CopiaServerInstall910nnn.exe, a copy of COPIAINSTALL9 will also be installed in your Program Files (x86)\Copia folder for later use as the 'check for updates' program for version 9.
CopiaFacts Client (FFCLIENT) Upgrades
It is safe to install version 9 applications over version 8, but all Copia applications running on a machine or VM must use the same version. The version 9 server and client installers will uninstall the DLL files with names starting CF8.
| Because the CF8 DLLs are deleted by the server installer, if you also use the CopiaFacts Client software on the same machine as the server software you MUST run COPIACLIENTINSTALL9 to upgrade the client software to version 9 also. It is also recommended, but not essential, to upgrade other client machines running version 8. |
Close down all CopiaFacts applications and services on the machine before upgrading.
The version 8 COPIAINSTALL and COPIACLIENTINSTALL programs are not removed by the version 9 installers, in case you need to revert to version 8. But their shortcuts will be changed to point to the version 9 versions.
Trace file settings for CopiaFacts DLLs
The first run of FFTRACE in version 9 will automatically change the saved names of DLLs for which tracing is enabled from CF8... to CF9...
If you need to revert to CopiaFacts version 8 for any reason, version 8.3.1.341 and later of FFTRACE will change them back to CF8 if found.
Certain option changes made in FFTRACE v9 might cause the File/Applications menu in FFTRACE version 8 to fail to load if you need to revert. Deleting the registry key "TRACE EROR" in HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\Copia\FFTRACE should fix this.
Detailed V9 Changes List
See the Version History in Appendix M
