Software update

[ENA]

Hello!
It has been a while since I had time and need to develop application in Advanced HMI and I was very pleased to see how much it was developed. Great job, I really like this software and I'm looking forward to using it.

Related to that, I made an application based on Advanced HMI version 3.50 over a year ago. It involved a great amount of programming (I must thank Archie again for his advice on multiple occasions) and now I must upgrade my application with new functionality. While at it, I would like to upgrade the Advanced HMI software itself, since there have been upgrade to data subscribers etc. My question is, what is the most painless way to upgrade from version 3.50 to current 3.98t? I noticed, the placement of the HMI system files in not the same in both versions, so I'm not sure how to interchange between them.

[Archie]

Since 3.5 there has been quite a few significant changes, especially at version 3.8. Which unfortunately makes it somewhat tedious to do an upgrade from 3.50 to the latest version. Some items have name changes and others have been moved to different namespaces.

If you are familiar with .NET and namespaces, it is not too terribly difficult, just time consuming. I recently did a similar upgrade and it took me about 30 minutes with a lot of Search and Replace.

You can start by opening a fresh copy of the latest version, then right click the AdvancedHMI project in Solution Explorer, and selecting Add->Existing Item. The browse to your main form in your older version. Once that form is added, take a look at the errors you get.

For example you may see something like BasicLabel control not found. Open yet another fresh copy of the latest version, then add a BasicLabel to it. You can then examine the .designer.vb code behind the form to see what name changing has occured. After a doing this with a couple items, you will see the name change pattern which can be used for Search and Replace.

[ENA]

Since this application is working properly for months now, considering what you wrote, I think I won't be upgrading it to newer version, I'll just add the functionalities required. However, when building a new application, I'll start from the current version of AdvHMI and use parts of my code that will be applicable. This should be the best way to save on time.

[Noe]

Since this application is working properly for months now, considering what you wrote, I think I won't be upgrading it to newer version, I'll just add the functionalities required. However, when building a new application, I'll start from the current version of AdvHMI and use parts of my code that will be applicable. This should be the best way to save on time.

I agree with you, this is actually how I have been doing it. If your application is working fine and the new additions do not need any of the new functionalities, then better leave it like that. New apps can usually be easily  updated when Archie releases a new version, but also only if you need the patches or additions... "If it aint broken, don't fix it".