Compatibility Issues with QW 4.5 Applications
QW 5 can access all Quality Window applications created under QW 4.5 without a data conversion being required. This means that you can run QW 4.5 and QW 5 together in the same environment. This makes migrating from QW 4.5 a simple process that you can ease into rather than a messy conversion process.
The compatibility of the two products allows for a number of interesting combinations such as continuing the highly structured and fixed automated data collection process that may be more difficult to convert and combining that with the powerful new features available in QW 5.
There is a simple set of rules to follow in QW 5 to maintain compatibility with QW 4.5 on an ongoing basis. The rules are based on not taking advantage of a couple of new features in QW 5 when creating or maintaining QW applications using the new QW 5 Setup program. These are as follows:
- Do not make Text variables longer than 40 characters
- Do not make Numeric variables longer than 8 characters
- Do not make Variable Names longer than 30 characters
- Do not use Long file names - 8 character names
Additional information on why you should upgrade to QW 5.0, including maintenance release info and validation documentation can be found in the Updates section: