Pervasive.SQL V8 Product Information

Important Note: Pervasive Software has discontinued selling the Pervasive.SQL V8 database engine product as of July 1, 2006, including both new server licenses and user count increases. The product becomes completely unsupported by Pervasive Software after December 31, 2006.

Goldstar Software will continue to provide services for and to support this product release for as long as we can, and will sell licenses only while we still have them in stock. Of course, we do urge all Pervasive.SQL V8 users to begin migration plans to Pervasive PSQL v9 or Pervasive PSQL Summit v10 if possible.

Pervasive.SQL V8.7 is the last release in the Pervasive.SQL V8 product line from Pervasive Software. The original PSQLV8 product started shipping in December 2002, and this release from August 2005 will be the last update available.

Pervasive.SQL V8 builds on the success of Pervasive.SQL 2000i by providing some great new features. Here's a short list:

• Improved Btrieve Performance: The combination of improved server-side code and a new workstation-side caching engine gives new life to older Btrieve applications! Most applications will seem some performance gains. However, applications which normally experience some performance drag from client/server engines will see a HUGE performance gain with the new caching engine! I've actually witnessed 4x performance gains in one customer application, but Pervasive has estimated 20%, which seems about right.
• Improved SQL Performance: Pervasive Software developers reworked portions of the SQL optimizer to improve performance for many types of queries. The net result should be better performance overall for most users!
• New SQL Syntax: They even added some neat new features missing from Pervasive.SQL 2000, such as the TOP and ROWCOUNT features, TIME ZONE support, DECIMALSEPARATORCOMMA support for European numeric formats, SQL_TIMEOUT support, and the ability to put DDL in stored procedures. This last one alone is worth the upgrade for some developers!
• No More Workstation Engine: The death of an engine is a feature? In this case, YES! The old single-user WSE is now history, only the WorkGroup Engine (WGE) is available. This allows for cheaper pricing than the Pervasive.SQL 2000i WGE and should result in cost savings for everyone!
• New File Format: An optional change, the new 8.x file format can also provide more performance gains. However, I'd personally wait until I get some tools to deal with them, should they ever get corrupted.
• Simpler Configuration: Even more of the configuration settings are disappearing as the engine self-tunes the memory requirements. This just makes it easier for end-users to do the initial setup!
• Debug Requesters: While not exactly new, for the first time, Pervasive plans to ship the Debug Requesters with the engine. Should make for some interesting times when people start to "play".
• Simpler Licensing: Instead of the 33-byte UCMGR.KEY file, licensing is now accomplished by 24-character ASCII codes, a la Microsoft. The jury is still out on which is easier, but personally I think applying the file took far less time than typing those lengthy codes...

• Price: What, you expected it to be free? This is a paid upgrade, but one which should be well worth the money, IMHO.
• Lack of Windows 95 Support: You knew it would come -- Microsoft already killed this OS -- and now Pervasive stops supporting it as well. It might work, but they won't help you if it doesn't.
• Increased Prices on Unlimited Engines: Whereas previous engines became "Unlimited" at 200 licensed users, the new P8 engine has license counts at 250, 500, and Unlimited users, with higher prices for each. Users with less than 250 users won't notice the change, but sites with over 250 (and especially over 500) users will definitely notice the price increases.

Unlike with the upgrade from Pervasive.SQL 7 to Pervasive.SQL 2000i, this upgrade is more evolutionary in nature. In fact, we cannot think of ANY reason to date why a user would not be able to immediately upgrade to Pervasive.SQL 8. While this will probably scuttle the PSQL2000i sales, the good news is that end users and developers won't have any reasons to hold back and NOT upgrade, so everybody wins!

Pricing can be found on our Pervasive.SQL V8 price list, or you can BUY IT NOW from our on-line store. If you want to try it out before you buy it (and who doesn't?), or if you just need to replace a broken or missing installation CDROM, you can get an evaluation download to get started with the product for 30 days. Of course, we also recommend making sure that you meet the Pervasive.SQL V8 Pre-Requisites list on your network before attempting this.

On 10/27/2003, Pervasive Software released two items of note. The first is a set of Hotfixes for Pervasive.SQL V8 SP1 that should be applied at all sites, especially larger ones. This hotfix update bundles a number of bugfixes and performance tunes to make your system more stable. The second release was the long-awaited Security Feature Pack for Pervasive.SQL V8.

Also known as Pervasive.SQL V8.5 Security, this feature pack provides some wonderful new security features, including across-the-wire encryption and access to database files without the need to maintain OS-level access. This last feature alone will save lots of agony by system administrators, as the data files can now be hidden and protected from incorrect usage (like from Notepad or Microsoft Word) that can seriously damage those files.

Pervasive.SQL V8.5 Security is available as a FREE download from Pervasive Software that can be applied to your database engine. By default, it also includes the bugfixes provided by the hotfix release, but it also provides the new features for you to use. Of course, all of the features are disabled by default, so you can install this feature pack safely today, then enable the features you wish to use in the future.

In August 2004, Pervasive released Service Pack 2, or Pervasive.SQL V8.6. This release merges the code paths from V8.1 and V8.5 and provides a number of bug fixes to both versions. This is a FREE download for anyone who cuirrently owns Pervasive.SQL V8! Click HERE for this update!

In June 2005, Pervasive released Service Pack 3, or Pervasive.SQL V8.7, providing bug fixes to the 8.6 release. This is a FREE download for anyone who currently owns Pervasive.SQL V8! Click HERE for the latest updates from Pervasive Software! If you are a Goldstar Software customer needing the patch, click HERE instead.

Common PSQLV8.7 Update Questions
Several people have had questions about upgrading to Pervasive.SQL V8. Here are some of the frequently asked questions:

Q: On the Pervasive web site, I get a "Log In or New User" screen.  What do I do?
A: If you have downloaded from Pervasive in the past, enter your login data (Email address and password) and continue.  If you've never downloaded from Pervasive before, click "New User, Register Here" and complete the forms.

Q: I clicked on New User and filled in the form, but it tells me that the Email has already been used. Now what?
A: Go back to the login screen and provide your Email address and password used from the first time you downloaded.  If you don't remember your password, you can
   A) Click on the "Forgot password" link on this page.
   B) Try guessing, with commonly-used passwords.   
   C) Set up a new account with a new Email address.
   D) Contact Pervasive via telephone at 800-BTRIEVE for more help.

Q: Which version should I get, Server or Workgroup?
A: Get the same as the license you have purchased.  This is documented on your original invoice.  If you do not have your original invoice, start the Pervasive License Administrator tool on the server (Start/Programs/Pervasive/Other Utilities/License Administrator) and see if it states "Workgroup" or "Server" therein. The Workgroup Engine upgrade must be applied to EVERY computer in the WGE environment.  In a Server Engine environment, the server engine update gets installed ot the server, and the client update gets applied to each workstation.

Q: How long will it take to download the update?
A: This depends on your Internet link speed.

Q: I have dial-up or no Internet access.  Now what?
A: As a convenience, Goldstar Software can ship PSQLV8.7 patch CDROM's for a fixed cost of $30, shipping included. Contact us to arrange a shipment, and be sure to specify Workgroup or Server.

Q: Do I have to download the update on each machine?
A: The update must be applied to each machine, as noted above.  You can download the update ONE time, save the file to the server, and then use that copy of the download to update each computer. The the Server Engine, if you patch the server first, you can simply re-run the Client Installer from the server's C:\PVSW\CLIENTS folder.

Q: I don't know what any of this means.  What can I do?
A: Goldstar Software has a remote installation service with which we can provide the installation and update over the Internet, by a Pervasive-certified expert in their database technology.  The cost is $250 per server and $100 per workstation.  This may need to be scheduled in advance, as your application will be unavailable during the process.

If you have additional questions about the product, please contact us!