How You Plan for Application Issues
To ensure your previous OpenROAD applications can be tested in the new installation, do the following:
• Before starting the upgrade, take an application and database inventory. You must have the complete and current source code for all applications. If the source code does not match what users are running, problems can result.
• Ensure that each application still builds successfully from the source code because you will eventually recompile your applications under the new version.
• If an application cannot be rebuilt, test the original executable with OpenROAD as soon as possible. If the application has no upward compatibility issues, it may be possible to run the old application against an OpenROAD installation and Ingres database. Otherwise, you will have to recreate the application or do without it.
• Try to synchronize the test and live Ingres upgrades with an appropriate point in the application's life cycle. If application development is underway, plan how to coordinate new development with OpenROAD compatibility. Upgrades from newer versions may be able to move quickly enough to avoid the issue. Preparing an upgrade from OpenROAD 3.5 or 4.1 can take longer and may halt development work.
The Test Plan for Applications
You must test your applications with the new version of OpenROAD before performing a production upgrade. The cost of testing every function in every application can be prohibitive, but fortunately, such testing is rarely necessary. A proper test plan can reduce testing time to a week or two even for a large application.
A successful test plan uses the following process:
1. Rank the importance of each function in each application.
2. Test only the most important functions of each application.
3. Fix problems found after the upgrade as quickly as possible.
For more information about testing, see 2. Testing.