A Good Database Just Got Better!

After 9 months of solid engineering work, Pervasive is pleased to announce the availability of Pervasive PSQL v9 Service Pack 2. See the detailed discussion of Pervasive PSQL v9.5, below for more information.

If you're already a PSQL v9 user, you can download SP2 for free. In case you're still running an older version of Pervasive.SQL or Btrieve, this is the time to upgrade! From now until June 30th we're offering great upgrade deals you can't afford to miss, so act fast and call us today!

Pervasive PSQL v9.1 (Service Pack 1)

Pervasive PSQL v9 started shipping in April 2005. This new release builds on the success of the entire Pervasive.SQL product family by providing some great new features. Here's a short list:

• Larger Database Support: The new V9 data file format offers three improvements, specifically the ability to use 8K page sizes for better performance, the ability to have a single database file get up to 128GB, and the ability to store all data in a single extent (without seeing the ^01, ^02, etc. file extensions). This last feature will make system maintenance of large environments much easier!
• Improved Linux Support: The database is now much faster on Linux systems!
• Improved SQL Performance and Syntax: Pervasive Software has again reworked the SQL engine to provide substantial improvements in performance, as well as adding numerous features and functionality common to those "other" SQL engine environments. This provides developers with existing SQL database experience with a much lower learning curve .
• New DBA Features: The new capabilities in System Stored Procedures, User Defined Functions, and the ALTER syntax changes are all designed to make your DBA life easier. Add the ability to make some engine changes on the fly, without a restart, as well as some new command-line tools, and you'll see great time savings!
• A New Control Center : The new Control Center is Java-based and provides much of the same functionality of the previous PCC. However, functionality is vastly improved in most areas, with many new features to play with!
• Improved COBOL Support: With the addition of the new OCCURS and REDEFINES support, you can access data structures defined with these constructs natively from the SQL engine.
• Drive Letter Redirection: This "hidden" feature of PSQLv9 can make your old Btrieve-based system much more secure than it is today. Ask us how!
• New Developer Features: In addition to the new developer-level features in the SQL engine, the Rename and Delete File API calls arenow exposed, allowing you to do more from within the Btrieve API.

Some of the application vendors we work with have already embraced the Pervasive PSQL v9 update and are fully supporting this release already! Others are still in the evaluation phase. If you are not sure, check our Application Support pages or contact your application vendor directly.

What are the downsides to upgrading? Well, there are a few minor issues...

• Price: This is a paid upgrade. Pervasive is getting on track for a paid release every two years. This gives developers and end-users alike a way to forecast new upgrades and product purchases, as well as a way to budget their database expenditures. You can mitigate this by purchasing Upgrade Maintenance with your product which provides all updates at no additional charge for a flat yearly maintenance fee. Ask us for details!
• Testing: Like most prior versions, it will probably takes some database developers a few months to get their application tested and approved on Pervasive PSQL v9. If your developer has not yet announced support for this engine, we recommend that you specifically ask them about it. Otherwise, you may need to do some limited testing. Because of the high level of backward compatibility that Pervasive still retains, we expect no problems with Btrieve-level applications at all!

Pricing can be found on our Pervasive PSQL v9 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?), you can get a downloadable evaluation license to play with the new product for 30 days from Pervasive's Web Site.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pervasive PSQL v9.1

Q: My vendor doesn't support the new version yet. What can I do?
A: You can still purchase Pervasive.SQL V8, which will be supported for 18 months after the release of Pervasive PSQL v9. Then, you can choose to upgrade the engine later on, if needed. If you plan on upgrading eventually, but you just want some price protection, then check out Pervasive's special pricing deals! These promotional bundles allow you to purchase BOTH V8/v9 at the same time for a discounted rate!

Q: Are all of the Ecosystem products (AuditMaster, DataExchange, Backup Agent) supported on Pervasive PSQL v9?
A: These products ARE supported, but you need a newer version than what is used with PSQLV8:
- BA 1.0 Not supported - Requires BA 1.1 - Download the updated code HERE.
- DX 2.7 Not supported - Requires DX 2.8 - Download the updated code HERE.
- AM 6.2 Not Supported - Requires AM 6.3 - Download the updated code HERE.

Q: Is Pervasive PSQL v9 backward compatible with my older applications?
A: In many cases, yes. Here are a few possible exceptions:
- Active Connector for ACUCOBOL-GT Not supported - Requires update - More info in March
- JCL Not Supported - Requires update - More info in March
- OLEDB - Required patches on the website for download (these must be installed for v9 capability) There is a v8.6 FTF that needs to be applied first (if you haven't already). The second FTF is an add-on for V9 compatibility.
- PDAC - Required patches on the Pervasive website (these must be installed for v9 capability)

Q: Are there any known problems with Pervasive PSQL v9?
A: To date, the only major issue that we have seen is the new default setting for "Embedded Spaces", which can cause some applications to return Status 11, 12, or 35 messages. If you get any of these status codes, disable this setting in the PCC on each computer and see if that helps!

Pervasive PSQL v9.5 (Service Pack 2)

Pervasive PSQL v9.5 started shipping in May 2006. A free update (Service Pack 2) is available for any current Pervasive PSQL v9 user. This latest release provides quite a few new improvements, features and fixes on top of the gains in v9.1:

• Even Larger Database Support: The V9.5 data file format allows you to now use a 16K page, doubling the maximum file size AGAIN to 256GB and improving performance for data-laden servers. More importantly, two critical bugs were fixed in the large file handling, making it now safe to use the unsegmented large files for your database!
• More Indexing: The newer format also allows a maximum of 420 key segments (up from 119 key segments in previous versions). This helps you expand your system towards the maximum of 119 indices, if you need them to help SQL performance or enhance your Btrieve applications!
• New Data Types: The GUID (UNIQUEIDENTIFIER) and DATETIME data types are now supported, with appropriate changes to the SQL scalar functions to support these types.
• New Scalar Functions: The DATEADD, DATEDIFF, DATENAME, and DATEPART functions have been added, improving compatibility with code from other SQL engines. This cuts down the learning curve!
• Improved Stored Procedure Performance: Your SPs can now be cached in memory, providing a noticable performance gain.
• Improved Transactional Row-Level Locking: Low-level database developers will see big gains in this area.
• Temprary Table Support: FINALLY! The ability to create true temp tables in your SQL applications! Even better, you can use either Local or Global temporary tables.
• Improved Performance: Pervasive found an issue affecting performance on some systems in v9.1. This is now fixed!

Frequently Asked Questions About Pervasive PSQL v9.5

Q: If my application worked on PSQLv9.1, will it work on v9.5?
A: While it is still a good idea to test it, we've found no incompatibilities between PSQLv9.1 and PSQLv9.5 so far in our own testing. The new features can easily be ignored by older applications. One noted issue may result in the reduced support for page sizes, since fewer page sizes are now supported (1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, and 16K). Older apps should be transparent to the page size changes, but we've seen at least ONE application that can be sensitive to these changes. Also, older applications that do a BUTIL -STAT operation on tables may experience some problems with files over 119 key segments -- so be careful.

Q: Are all of the Ecosystem products (AuditMaster, DataExchange, Backup Agent) supported on Pervasive PSQL v9?
A: These products ARE supported, but you may need a newer version. See the Pervasive web site for current downloads for Backup Agent, DataExchange, and AuditMaster.

Q: Is Pervasive PSQL v9 supported on Windows Vista?
A: Windows Vista adds a whole new level to the security game. See our Vista Support page for more information and a link to the Pervasive White Paper on running PSQLv9 with Vista.

Pervasive PSQL v9.5 Service Pack 2, Update 1

Pervasive Software has released a new update to their database, known as Service Pack 2, Update 1. This HotFix patch provides additional bug fixes and improvements to the PSQLv9.50 database engine and is strongly recommended for ALL sites running Pervasive PSQL v9.5.

Pervasive started posting copies of Update 1 to their web site in October, 2007. Unfortunately, they have decided to post ALL updates as "Update 1", even as they continue to update it with new releases and make it even better! This means that if you downloaded Update 1 in October when it first came out, your "Update 1" download will probably be v9.52.043. If you got it a few weeks later, you got v9.52.045. Another week or two later and you would have seen v9.52.047. As of this writing, the current download is v9.52.051 (actually, the NetWare engine is still v9.52.050), with future releases to have higher build numbers.

In short, you ***MUST*** check the version of your engine BEFORE you apply any updates. If you go to the Pervasive Control Center and select Help/About, you should get your version information for that computer. If you see v9.50.077, then you have v9.5 Service Pack 2, and you can apply the update. If you see v9.52.050 or earlier (.049 or earlier for NetWare), then you should re-download the "Service Pack 2, Update 1" Hotfix from Pervasive's web site and apply it. (You're actually not applying the patch again, but rather you're applying a newer version of the patch.) More importantly, you may wish to check back to this link from time to time to see how far it has advanced, and to see if any critical issues have been resolved.

One other thing -- please note that the README file that is posted on this web site is was only recently updated from the 9.52.043 release. As such, it is NOT guaranteed to match the other downloads, as some files may get updated while others do not. You should always re-download the Update 1 patch to see if it has been changed (until Pervasive posts the exact version on the web page, anyway). Interestingly, there is no way, once you download the file, to see which version it is, or to access a README file for the download itself. (We've looked at a patched system and have been unable to find any README in the typical locations.)

I'm told that this may get easier, especially if Pervasive opts to make the actual version number and release date a bit more obvious on the download page. However, until then, it will continue to be a bit confusing, and you'll have extra steps required to make sure that you are fully patched.

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