Upgrade Page

If you're a registered user of SMART, you can retrieve and apply upgrades from this page (so you might want to bookmark it and check back from time to time). If you are not a registered user but would like to see SMART in action, ask for a guided tour.

Download the current Smart 4 build by clicking here.

Download the current Smart 3 build by clicking here. (Please note that support for Smart 3 has now been discontinued.)

Other builds, and a detailed list of changes in each build, are available here.

If this is your first visit here our you are not familiar with the upgrade procedure we recommend you read the notes below first.

What's new in this upgrade?

Changes are listed on the support page.

Backups

Before installing any new version of Smart, be sure to take a backup of your database. If you haven't upgraded for some time, it's also a good idea to do some acceptance testing to familiarise yourself with changes.

Interim versions

Currently, you may apply any upgrade version to any version of Smart from 3.200 without applying the upgrades in between. (To see which version you are using, select \Help \About from the main Smart menu.)

Enabling code policy change

As of 1 October 2007 you will not be able to apply a Smart 4 upgrade unless your maintenance and support payments are up to date.

If you rent Smart and your rental payments are up to date, no special arrangements are required.
If you have purchased Smart you will require a new enabling code before you run the upgrade. Please contact us by email or phone to obtain the code.

Automated upgrades

There is now a facility which will enable your Smart workstations to upgrade themselves (so don't have to manually upgrade each workstation). It's explained here.

Release numbering

Release numbers which end in 00 (e.g. 4.200 or 4.300) usually represent a big step forward in functionality and may require some degree of operator retraining for normal use.

Release numbers which don't end in 00 (e.g. 4.205 or 4.301) represent small changes and/or bug fixes. Although new features may be introduced which you can use if desired they won't affect existing use of the system..

Because we pride ourselves on our quick response to customer needs, we frequently issue new builds which include new features, changes, or fixes. Before approving these builds as suitable for general use we require that they have trouble free use for a period ranging from days to months (depending on the nature of the change). The links above are to builds which have met this requirement.

You are welcome to try interim builds - they give you a chance to view forthcoming changes and offer your input into them. Your feedback at this stage is likely to be quickly adopted. Interim builds may be found on the support page.

Backing up your database

You must take a backup of your database immediately before running your Smart upgrade. Although problems are unlikely to occur, this is cheap insurance!

Because Microsoft SQL files are constantly in use (even when there is no user activity they are performing various housekeeping tasks) they cannot be backed up by simply copying the files using Windows Explorer, or using most backup programs. They must be backed up using their own built in utilities. These utilities can be operated from SMART (go to \Maintenance \Smart Setup \Backups), either manually or automatically. They can also be operated by using the tools that come with SQL Server, or many third party programs.

SMART versions from 4.300 have a popup window which notifies the operator if a backup has not been performed for a specified period (24 hours, by default).

Automated upgrades

Once you have installed build 4161 (Nov 2007) on your workstations they can be set to upgrade themselves automatically.

Instead of running the Smart upgrade on each workstation you simply upgrade a shared folder on your server. The next time Smart is started on each workstation the operator will be asked if they want to upgrade. You can also 'downgrade' them to a previous version if you wish.

The steps to setup are as follows:

1. Ensure that workstations have build 4.161 or later installed. (To see which version is installed, go to \Help \About on the Smart Main Menu.) If not, install it by following the instructions above and download it from this page.
   2. Create a Smart upgrade folder on your server, and share it so that all users can see it. To share a folder, right click on the folder and choose 'Sharing' or 'Sharing and Security'. For maximum security, configure the folder so that users can read from it but not update it.
   3. To test that sharing is configured correctly, go to a workstation and use Windows Explorer or the \Start \Run box to find the folder. The address of the folder will be something like \\Servername\SmartUpgrade, where ServerName is the network name of your server, and SmartUpgrade is the name you gave the shared folder.
   4. In Smart (on the server or any workstation) select \Maintenance \Smart Setup \General Configuration, and go to the System tab.
   5. In the Automated Upgrade box at the bottom of the window, tick Enable Auto Update and enter the name of the shared folder or use the lookup [...] button to find it.

To perform an upgrade.

Before upgrading the workstations you should install and run the upgrade on the server and carry out acceptance testing to ensure there are no unexpected problems (see also If the upgrade fails, below).

If your Windows logins allow your operators to run a program on the server, simply copy the Smart installer (e.g. Smart4100.exe) to the shared directory. You do not need to delete previous upgrades, the latest one will always be used by the upgrade process.

If your Windows logins do not permit operators to run a program, install Smart into the shared directory (select that directory when running the upgrade on the server). The necessary files will be simply copied across to the workstation. This method will almost always work but occasionally we add functionality which requires the installer to be run on each workstation. If so this page will instruct you to run the upgrade manually on each workstation.

If the upgrade fails

If for some reason the upgrade is not successful you can return to an earlier version of Smart.

Remove any installers (filenames starting with Sm and including numbers, e.g. Smart41.exe, sm4161.02.exe) from the shared directory
Install your selected version into that directory.

Operators will be prompted to downgrade to the previous version.