Edgecam and SQL 2008 R2
Edgecam 2013 R2 installs Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 Express as a pre-requisite. The SQL installation can be skipped if a domain network is being used (see step 1 below). SQL 2005 Express was installed with all versions prior to Edgecam 2012 R2.
Edgecam 2012 R2, 2013 R1 and 2013 R2 upgrade SQL from Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express. New installations will install SQL 2008 R2 directly. If an existing Edgecam installation is present on the computer, Edgecam will upgrade the ECSQLEXPRESS instance to 2008 R2.
If older Edgecam versions are installed on the computer, they will continue to work after the SQL 2008 R2 upgrade. Also, any other software that uses SQL will be unaffected and will remain on SQL 2005, after the upgrade to SQL 2008 R2. After the upgrade, the ECSQLEXPRESS instance will be running on SQL 2008 R2, which means that if the user wants to uninstall Microsoft SQL Server 2005, he can do it without any problems. If any other instances use SQL 2005 it should not be uninstalled. A database that is upgraded to SQL 2008 R2 can no longer be reverted back to SQL 2005. For instance, if the user upgrades his computer to 2013 R2 installation and still wants to work with older versions, they will work fine. However, if the user takes an older database from 2012 R1, for instance, and makes a backup, a computer with 2012 R1 and SQL 2005 will not be able to read it until they upgrade to SQL 2008 R2.
Debug
To help with the installation of SQL 2008 R2, the debug tools have been improved. The whole SQL installation is shown to the user, and if that fails, a message will be displayed:
The user can then check the temporary folder for the log files. There are two different files, one generated by Edgecam and another generated by SQL installer and copied by Edgecam. They are:
Edgecam_Installation_2013.20.0_xxxx.log and Edgecam_SQL2013 R2.log
The same file can be found in this location:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\Summary.txt" (for x64
machines)
The first file shows the Edgecam steps up to the moment that it failed. If one pre-requisite failed to install, for example, .Net Framework, it will be displayed here. The second file should have, at the end, a topic called ‘Exception summary’ where it will explain the reason for the error. See an example below:
Exception summary:
The following is an exception stack listing the exceptions in outermost to innermost order Inner exceptions are being indented
Exception type: Microsoft.SqlServer.Chainer.Infrastructure.InputSettingValidationException Message:
Attributes do not match. Present attributes (Directory, Compressed) , included attributes (0), excluded attributes (Compressed, Encrypted).
A quick search on Google shows that this error means the directory where SQL is being installed has been compressed (compress drive to save disk space), which is not supported. Similarly, any error message here can be used to search for similar errors and the way to fix them.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) Is it possible to install Edgecam without SQL?
Yes, Edgecam can be installed without the ECSQLEXPRESS instance. This is used on domain networks when it is known that all PCs will always have access to a ToolStore Server. The text below has been copied from the Edgecam Installation Guide:
Installing Edgecam without SQL Express should only be done by users with experience of configuring SQL on the company network.
Edgecam can be installed without SQL Express and the ECSQLEXPRESS instance. This means users who access the ToolStore database from a network server no longer need to install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 on the local computer.
To install Edgecam without SQL Express, choose a Custom installation (rather than 'Typical') when installing Edgecam. Select the ToolStore option and uncheck 'SQL Server Express Instance'.
Note:
To allow the client PC to communicate with the server database and ToolStore Administrator to 'find' the database, your IT department needs to manually install Microsoft SQL Server Native Client on each client PC.
Only available to Domain users as Workgroup users cannot authenticate the server.
ToolStore Administrator will pause for a few seconds, then recognise there is no ECSQLEXPRESS installed and issue an error message. Ignore the message and go to the "Activate ToolStore database" dialog. This is not a workaround for SQL installation problems.
2) The ToolStore Administrator cannot find the server in the network
There are several possible reasons for this:
a) ToolStore Server or Edgecam is not installed on the server;
Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program (also known as Add/Remove programs) and ensure that ToolStore Server or Edgecam are installed in the server.
b) The ToolStore Administrator version in the server does not match the client’s;
Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program (also known as Add/Remove programs) and ensure that the version matches the client.
c) There is no available database in the server;
Open ToolStore Administrator of the same version in the server and ensure that there is at least a single database listed in the main dialog, that it is a yellow cylinder, and there are no warnings.
d) The client and server are on different sub-nets or domains.
Ping client and server and take a note of the IPs. First, ensure that the client can ping the server and vice-versa. With both IPs, you can check the following:
10.24.50.30 - server 10.24.50.60 - client
The IPs above are OK, they belong to the same network and sub-net. 10.24.50.30 - server
10.22.70.55 - client
The IPs above probably are not OK for Edgecam, as they might belong to different sub-nets and the ToolStore Administrator will not be able to ‘Browse’ for the server. However, ToolStore Administrator gives the ability to force the server name in the database field:
Typing the IP in the ‘Database’ field is also the way to configure clients over a WAN or VPN connection. The client will not be able to browse and see the server, but once the server’s IP (or name) has been defined, it should find the database and ToolStore open correctly.
3) The Edgecam installation failed with the following message, what do I need to do?
That error message is general and it does not help to understand the reason why it failed, only that something failed. Please view the ‘Debug’ session to determine the solution.
