Skip to content

Elliott 8.6 Database Convention & Report Desk/PowerSearch

← Elliott Version 8.6
Release Date: 08/27/2021
Revision Date: 4/11/2022
Version: 8.6 

Elliott 8.6 Database Naming Convention

Elliott 8.6 now supports Report Desk and PowerSearch, features based on the PSQL relational database engine.  Databases must be created for Report Desk and PowerSearch to work.  By default, Report Desk and PowerSearch require the following database names to be created on the PSQL server:
  • ELI86ROOT - This is based on the DDF files in the <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDFROOT\STDDDF folder.  <ElliottRoot> refers to your Elliott root folder, like "M:\Elliott7."  The EL86ROOT database points to the BTR files in the <ElliottRoot> folder for those tables shared across all companies.  This includes Report Desk database tables (i.e. SYRD*.TR files), security and other miscellaneous tables.
  • ELI86DATA?? - This can be ELI86DATA for the database in the <ElliottRoot>\DATA folder (i.e., company 01) and EL86DATA02 to EL86DATA99 for databases in the <ElliottRoot>\DATA_02 to DATA_99 folders for companies 02 through 99.  This is based on the DDF files in <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40\STDDDF.
The Elliott86.exe installation utility can create the EL86ROOT and ELI86DATA?? databases automatically on the PSQL server when Elliott 8.6 is installed for the first time or for future updates.  You can also run EL860DB.EXE by browsing to the <ElliottRoot>\Bin86 folder to create the databases.  Lastly, you can manually create these databases through the PSQL Control Center.  If you did not create these necessary databases, you will not be able to use the Report Desk or Power Search features. 

Report Desk, PowerSearch and Avalara also use the database from the <ElliottRoot> folder.  Elliott assumes the Elliott root database name is ELI86ROOT.  If the root database name needs to be different, you may define the following entry in <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\EL860.CFG file to override:
[Database]
Root=<AlternativeRootDatabaseName>

Transactional and Relational DDF Files

DDF files are the definition of Elliott's database schema.  You will need these DDF files in order to access the Elliott database through the PSQL relational engine.  There are two types of DDF files: transactional and relational.

Transactional DDF Files Folder
There are *.DDF files in the following two folders:
  • <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40
  • <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDFROOT
Do not use them to create any PSQL database.  Elliott will use them at the transaction engine level.  The Elliott 8.6 startup will read the transactional DDF files and cache them into memory and then close the DDF files when done.  Therefore, Elliott only opens these DDF files for a short period of time.  For this reason, the Elliott 8.6 installation always updates the transactional DDF files since we do not expect any update conflicts.

Relational DDF Files Folder
There are *.DDF files in the following two folders:
  • <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40\STDDDF
  • <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDFROOT\STDDDF
Transactional and relational DDF files are identical and the only difference is the folders where they reside.  The DDF files in these two folders are used to create ELI86ROOT and ELI86DATA?? databases.  These databases will be used for relational engine access for Report Desk, PowerSearch, the Avalara Interface, Crystal Reports, Excel Query, Elliott Web Services and any third party application that accesses Elliott's data through ODBC or ADO.NET.  There is a much higher chance a conflict will occur if the installation updates the relational DDF files, so relational DDF files are installed only if it is a new Elliott 8.6 installation.  They are not installed for updates (when the <ElliottRoot>\Bin86 folder already exists) unless you choose the "Custom" option. 

Updating Relational DDF Files
Since relational DDF files should be updated too, it is up to your IT to compare transactional DDF files and relational DDF files after the update installation.  The easiest way is to simply compare the date of the DDF files in the corresponding folders.  if they are different, the solution is to copy those DDF files from the transactional DDF files folder (e.g., <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40) to the relational DDF files folder (e.g., <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40\STDDDF):  


But before you do this, you need to check to see if the relational DDF files are open in the PSQL monitor utility.   See sample screen below:



If you are unable to find who opened these DDF files, then you may consider stopping and restarting the PSQL Relational Engine Services to clear the connection.  It won't affect Elliott's operation, but it will affect all other applications that depend on the PSQL relational engine.  We suggest doing this during the evening. See sample screen below:



Alternative to Update 8.6 Relational DDF Files

To make it easier to update 8.6 relational DDF files, you can log into Elliott as SUPERVISOR after the Elliott 8.6 installation.  Elliott will automatically check if the DDF files for the transactional engine are the same as the files for the relational engine.  If not, Elliott will attempt to perform the update.  See the following KB article for more details:
https://support.elliott.com/knowledgebase/articles/1993777-login-supervisor-to-update-ddf-files-after-elliott

To ensure a successful update, it is best to update in the evening or weekend when no one is using Elliott.  If you have a web presence that accesses the Elliott data continuously, then you may have to restart your PSQL services.  Also, you need to ensure the Windows user that logs into Elliott as SUPERVISOR has sufficient privileges to update the relational DDF files.

EMK


Feedback and Knowledge Base

(thinking…)