Upgrading Builds
Navigation: User Guide ➔ Upgrading Projects ➔ Project Upgrade Procedure
| SysCAD Project Upgrade | Project Upgrade Procedure | Upgrade Tag Changes | Changes that Affect Results | Discontinued Models and DLLs |
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Latest SysCAD Version: 25 October 2024 - SysCAD 9.3 Build 139.36522
Related Links: SysCAD Version History, Revision History
Introduction
This page describes steps for upgrading Major Build within a SysCAD Version. For example, from SysCAD version 9.3 Build 138 to Build 139.
For SysCAD version upgrades, such as from SysCAD 9.2 Build135 to SysCAD 9.3 Build 136, see Upgrade to SysCAD 9.3.
Refer to SysCAD Version History for Build release notes and to Revision History for Build update notes.
Installing the new SysCAD Build
- For a Major Version Change, such as going from Build137 to Build 138, we recommend a full install.
- The default installation path for SysCAD 9.3 Builds are: SysCAD93(for Build136) and SysCAD137, SysCAD138 and SysCAD139.
- A new Build will have updated example projects as well as updated utilities and referenced files such as those contained in Basefiles folder.
- Please see SysCAD Installation Instructions for more information.
Recommended Project Upgrade Procedure
In general, projects will upgrade smoothly between Major Builds with little or no user action required, nevertheless, please do check the release notes for any exceptions or changes that may affect your project.
New Major Builds primarily have new features, new options and improved usability all of which are enhancements that rarely effect existing models and the upgrade process. However, a general rigorous procedure is described below.
Some errors/warnings will report at project load or solver startup, it is often best to make the changes or fixes in the original project (before upgrade). Then upgrade to the new Major Build to allow project comparison between the Major Builds.
Step 1 - Backup
Create a backup of your entire project folder, including the CfgFiles folder. This is important, as you may wish to return to the previous Major Build to compare results and configuration with the upgraded project.
Step 2 - Edit Configuration File
This step may not be required with every new Build.
Start SysCAD and go to Edit Project Configuration and edit the project configuration file. Ensure that the models list and species list are as required.
IMPORTANT: This step is REQUIRED when upgrading from SysCAD 9.3 Build 136 to Build 137, user needs to select the Solve mode for the project in the configuration file. Steady state and dynamic projects NO LONGER share the same configuration file.
Before opening any dynamic projects, user must first edit the configuration file to select the dynamic solve mode, alternatively, user can select to edit the configuration from the Project solve mode mismatch dialog box (as a result of solve mode mismatch).
Step 3 - Resolve Database Issues
This step may not be required with every new Build.
Resolve all species database issues, if there are any, by editing the species database:
- The user may click on the Species DB button on the bottom of the 'Project Configuration' dialogue box, or
- Go to menu item Species - Edit Project Database and then browse for the required species database.
Tip: The upgrade will usually be smoother if you make as many of the required changes in the original build prior to upgrading. This may mean doing a test upgrade to identify the issues, then going back to the original project in the original build to make the changes, and then doing the upgrade proper.
Step 4 - Open Project (Part a - do not save)
Open the project. Do not save the project.
BEFORE saving the projects you will want to resolve any errors related to loading referenced pgm and mp files, as well as other load errors in referenced files.
There may be many messages related to the upgrade, so you may need to scroll past these to look for errors and warnings related to PGM and MP for the project load.
The first important error to look out for is any PGM or MP files that fail to load. The errors in the PGM code that prevent a PGM load must be resolved first. If the project is saved without correcting these then the state (values) of the pgm or mp variables are lost. The best approach is to resolve PGM an MP load errors (by editing the text files), exit SysCAD without saving the project, then reload the project.
There may be other errors loading reaction (RCT) files or the species database that can be resolved at this time.
During this step you are fixing any errors in external files. You are not changing or fixing anything in the project itself so you do not need to save the project. Close the project and reload as often as may be required.
Step 4 - Open Project (Part b - Save As)
Open the project again and then carry out a Save Project As command and select a new project name.
Continue reviewing warnings and errors, making the required corrections. Save and reload the project as often as may be required. Many of the potential issues are described in the release notes for the specific Builds. The aim of this step is to resolve as many errors as possible before attempting to solve the project.
Step 5 - Solve the Project (Part a - Solver Startup)
Once previous steps are complete, that is:
- the configuration file, species database & project have been upgraded;
- the project saved to a new name; and
- all important load errors and warnings have been resolved and/or reviewed.
Then you are ready to resolve any potential errors that may occur when you solve the upgraded project.
There may be warnings and error messages when solving a newly upgraded project. These may be related to tag name changes, discontinued tags, rearranged options or other changes in the new Build. These may be described in the release notes for the specific Builds.
Rather than solve the project, select the menu option Actions|Idle as this performs the solver startup tests before solving any iterations. Then you can resolve any solver startup issues before looking at any issues that occur while solving. If there are errors, stop the solver then make corrections, select Idle again and repeat.
Save the project. Exit the project and reload, checking the messages as you proceed.
Step 5 - Solve the Project (Part b - Solve)
Having resolved errors at solver startup, you are now ready to solve the project. During this step you are reviewing the errors as they occur during the solver iterations.
Once any issues have been resolved, the project results can be compared to previous results to determine if there are any significant differences that need investigation. With some new Builds, small differences in results may occur because of improvements see release notes for the specific Builds.
Remember to also check the Excel inputs and reports to check that these still work as expected and don't have any messages about invalid tags.
Step 6 - Other Projects
For all other projects which use the same species database and configuration file, repeat step 4 and 5 only. The configuration file and related species database only needs to be upgraded once for all the projects that reference this.
Tag Changes
- Some tags may have been renamed either to achieve consistency across different models or to provide a better description of the tag.
- When an old tag is referenced, e.g. in a PID, general controller, Excel report, trend page, Quick View, graphics annotation, historian, etc., in most cases SysCAD will generate a message that the tag has changed and use the new tag.
- The messages will continue to be generated until the user changes the reference to the new tag. For the historian, it is a good idea to delete the historian (Push the Delete button on the Historian page for Project Settings).
- A few tags that were rarely used may have been removed.
- Some conversion types have been changed or discontinued. If an old conversion type has been used in a PGM for a variable declaration then this will need to be manually changed to the equivalent type.
Please see SysCAD Tag Changes for a summary of tag changes for SysCAD 9.3.
Changes that may affect results
If there are any changes that may effect results, these will be described in the release notes for the Build.