StarQuest Technical Documents

Upgrade Considerations for StarSQL 6.1 & Later

Last Update:30 March 2020
Product: StarSQL
Version: 6.1
Article ID: SQV00SQ058

Abstract

StarSQL 6.10 is a major release. This document describes in detail some of the differences between StarSQL 6.1 and earlier versions of StarSQL. See the StarSQL Release Notes for the latest information.

• ODBC Data Source Changes
• IBM i Stored Procedures must be Registered
• SSL Encryption
• Installer Modernization
• Deprecated Features
  
• Deprecated ODBC Data Source Keywords

ODBC Data Source Changes

The default values for the following keywords have changed; you may wish to modify existing data sources to take advantage of improved performance or new features.

• QryBufSiz (under Expert Settings) - default is now 2097151; maximum is 10485760. The previous default was 262143 (StarSQL 6.10 thru 6.40) or 32767 (prior to StarSQL 6.10); examine existing data sources (Expert Settings) to verify that this setting is 2097151 or higher.
• UseEncryption - the default is now Any (Encrypt when supported by host). If you have an existing older data source configured as UseEncryption=No, you will not be able to take advantage of the new support for XML data types. You can examine and change this setting either in Expert Settings or the Security/Accounting panel.

Character Substitution

To identify problems with character conversion, StarSQL detects if one or more characters cannot be converted between the host and client character sets and substitutes a question mark, ?, in place of the character(s).  A warning is generated when the substitution occurs, which may be problematic for certain applications that are not anticipating this warning.  To avoid character conversion warnings, either correct any character conversion issues or, if the character substitution is acceptable, set the CharacterSubstitution value to Silent in the StarSQL DSN.

Dynamic SQL for Catalog Queries

To improve performance when connected to DB2 for zOS servers, StarSQL executes dynamic SQL statements for catalog queries.  This behavior differs from versions of StarSQL prior to v5.36, where static SQL located in the driver's host packages was used to perform all catalog queries.  In order for StarSQL to use dynamic SQL for catalog queries, users must be granted SELECT privileges to the catalog tables, such as SYSIBM.SYSTABLES, SYSIBM.SYSCOLUMNS, SYSIBM.SYSROUTINES, etc.  If you want the StarSQL driver to use static SQL for catalog functions, set the UseDynamicCatalogSQL parameter to No in the StarSQL DSN. Refer to the StarSQL technical document SQV00SQ051 - StarSQL User Requirements for Dynamic SQL Catalog Queries for details.

IBM DB2 for i Stored Procedures must be Registered

Users of older versions of StarSQL could call stored procedures on DB2 for i that had not been registered on the host by supplying the fully-qualified name of the program. Registration is now required; otherwise an error indicating that the procedure was not found is returned.

See Sample SQL for Registering a Stored Procedure on the AS/400 for details.

SSL Encryption

To use SSL encryption, you will need to

• Prepare your host to accept SSL connections - see the Host Preparation chapter of the StarSQL for Windows User's Guide.
• Install certificates on the StarSQL client machine if necessary; see the Certificate Management topic of StarSQL Help.
• Modify your data source with ODBC Administrator:
  • On the Network panel, choose SSL from the dropdown menu item for Network Option.
  • Enter the Port Number on which your host database server accepts SSL connections (typically 448).

Installer Modernization

The installer has been simplified and rewritten as a Basic MSI installer. This offers enhanced robustness and better integration with deployment systems such as Active Directory/Group Policy and SMS, compared to the InstallScript MSI installer used by StarSQL 5.x and 6.0.

Updating from StarSQL 5.51 and later is automatic. If you are updating from a version of StarSQL earlier than 5.51, you will need to remove StarSQL through the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel (for all earlier versions of StarSQL 5.x) or through the StarSQL Program Group (for StarSQL 4.x and earlier).

Existing ODBC data sources are preserved during updates, including updates that require removing the older version of StarSQL first. However, any global configuration customizations that have been made in the swodbc.ini (or swodbc64.ini) file may not be preserved; please review this file before performing the upgrade. This file is located in the Windows folder (StarSQL 5.50 and earlier) or in the Program Files\StarQuest\StarSQL\Programs folder (StarSQL 5.51 and later).

If you have both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of StarSQL installed on a 64-bit Windows system, these may updated independently.

The removal of the older version of StarSQL begins as soon as you start the new installer. If you begin an upgrade from StarSQL 5.51 or 6.0 and cancel it before completion, the removal of the older version will not be rolled back, and neither version of StarSQL will be present on the system. On a slower system, the removal of the older version may not complete before the new installer attempts to copy new files and you will see an error dialog that another installation is already in progress. In this case, exit and restart the installation.

See Silent Installation of StarSQL for details about silent installation and upgrades.

Deprecated features

The following features have been removed in StarSQL 6.1 & later. StarSQL 5.6x will continue to be supported for a reasonable amount of time on a case-by-case basis.

SNA Support

If you need SNA connectivity to your host, the StarQuest StarPipes software can serve as a gateway between clients on a TCP/IP network and DB2 hosts on an SNA network.

Support for older versions of DB2

Refer to the System Requirements section of the Release Notes and the StarSQL for Windows User's Guide for the list of supported DB2 versions.

Support for DB2 for VM and VSE (SQL/DS)

Support for Windows 2000 (deprecated in StarSQL 6.10)

Support for Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008 (deprecated in StarSQL 6.30)

StarSQL 6.30 and later is supported on Windows 7sp1/Windows Server 2008R2sp1 and later.

StarAdmin Classic

StarAdmin is typically only installed by one user (the DBA) and used infrequently. The original version of StarAdmin (a Visual Basic application) appeared as an option when performing a custom install of StarSQL 6.0, 5.x and earlier. This has been replaced by the portable (Java-based) version of StarAdmin, available as a separate download for Windows or Linux; it is also included in the SQDR Plus installer. The Classic (Visual Basic) version of StarAdmin is available on request from support as a separate Windows installer, requiring the separate installation of StarSQL.

Static SQL support

Stored procedure-based password change mechanism

This option was supported only on OS/400 hosts, and used only by SNA connections.

Deprecated ODBC Data Source Keywords

The following keywords are related to deprecated features and can be removed from existing data sources:

PasswordProc
ExpirationWarning

UseStaticMatch
ParameterMarkersOnly
Capture
CaptureQryOnly
CaptureDDL
LiteralConversion
PackageFile

LocalLU
RemoteLU
ModeName
RemoteTPName
SymDestName
HostSystemName
NMFix
HostSec

CmdBufSiz