A Comparison of Elliott 7.5, 8.2, 8.5, and 8.6 DDF Files
Version: 7.5 & Up
DDF Files are used to define the PSQL database schema. Generally speaking, we distribute four different types of DDF files for different versions of Elliott releases:
- 7.5 DDF: These are the DDF files that reside in the <ElliottRoot>\DDF40 folder. We no longer distribute these DDF files.
- 8.2 DDF: These are the DDF files that reside in the <ElliottRoot>\Bin\DDF40 folder. They are identical to 8.6 DDF files except the document number fields are defined as numeric. If you have not converted your database to use alphabetic document numbers, then you will use these DDF files to create the database. The naming convention is ELIDATA*.
- 8.5 DDF: These are the DDF files that reside in the <ElliottRoot>\Bin85\DDF40 folder. They are identical to 8.6 DDF files except the string key fields are case insensitive. The naming convention is ELI85DATA*.
- 8.6 DDF: These are the DDF files that reside in the <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40 and <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDFROOT folders. The DDF files in the <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDF40 folder are identical to 8.2 DDF files except the document numbers are defined as strings. They are identical to 8.5 DDF files except the string key fields are case sensitive. We discovered there are some disadvantages in making string key fields case insensitive as in 8.5 DDF and hence reversed course with 8.6 DDF. The naming convention is ELI86DATA*. The DDF files in the <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDFROOT folder will be used to create database ELI86ROOT which contains the definition of BTR files in the <ElliottRoot> folder. In Elliott 8.6, features like Report Desk, PowerSearch, and Avalara rely on BTR files in the <ElliottRoot> folder, which relies on DDF files in <ElliottRoot>\Bin86\DDFROOT to access.
We no longer distribute 7.5 DDF files. On the other hand, we continue to distribute 8.2, 8.5, and 8.6 DDF files. During an Elliott 8.5 installation, the system will install updated 8.2 and 8.5 DDF files. During an Elliott 8.6 installation, the system will install updated 8.2 and 8.5 DDF files. We no longer distribute 8.2 updates. But we do distribute 8.2 updated DDF files.
After Elliott 8.6 installation, we require that the admin user login to Elliott 8.6 as SUPERVISOR to synchronize DDF files for 8.2 and 8.6. Please see the following KB article for more details:
EMK