How your software is installed and maintained
What you must know:
1. Links on our Downloads page are limited
The downloads section of our web site provides links to the latest version of the software. This is available for both the Windows and Mac OS X platforms. How to initially install the software is detailed on that page.
You will note that only the latest versions are listed there. There are no download links to update your current version to the latest version of the program. The latest update links are maintained within the Budgets GetReal program. The downloads page does, however, show you the latest build and its release date.
Similarly, there are no links to bonus material or to programs like the Small Business edition. This is because Budgets GetReal automatically downloads the latest version of all such resources as they are required. Before one of these assets can be accessed from the program, any current version stored on your computer is checked against the latest digital signatures. If the file does not exist, or is out of date, a new version is downloaded. Resources downloaded in this manner are digitally signed to protect you against virus threats.
2. Registration is required for Small Business edition
You need to install and register the Budgets GetReal application to be able to access the Small Business edition.
3. The Windows Installer is “one-off” only
The Windows installer that initially installs the Budgets GetReal application is a “one-off” installer. Attempting to use the current installer to upgrade your files usually won’t do anything. The installer has been deliberately designed NOT to overwrite any existing files and simply add missing files. This ensures that you can’t rerun the installer and destroy your database!
Similarly, we have not provided an Uninstaller for Windows. We have been unable to find an reliable uninstaller that can 100% guarantee not to remove critical files if you have renamed or moved them.
4. Always backup your database
When you update your software, or even totally reinstall the Budgets GetReal application, you should NEVER throw away or delete your originally registered database. The database is the unit of license and can be opened on any computer with the Windows or Mac OS X operating systems. Refer to Backup and restore your database for more details.
Updating to Version 2.01 of the program
Version 2.01 was released August 26, 2008. One of the significant features it incorporates is to allow for automatic updates of the Budgets GetReal application, its libraries and your database. It does this in a way that always ensures that older databases can be opened and used without requiring update to the latest version.
Accordingly these instructions only apply in upgrading to Version 2.01.
The links to update your application to Version 2.01 are accessed from the main Operation Monitor. They can also be accessed from the in-program Help Contents index. The links you are looking for will be titled Version 2.01 released. You should update now or Important latest news and known issues.
Opening one of these links will provide the update links for all versions of Windows, Mac OS X 10.2 and Mac OS X 10.3+ . The page contains latest update instructions that should be read in conjunction with the following.
Clicking on the appropriate link will download the appropriate file, checks its digital signatures and then decompress and save it within the Updater sub-folder of your main application folder.
Before proceeding to describe how to perform the update we must reiterate the following:
Do not attempt to update your version of Budgets GetReal by downloading and installing the latest version of the program. Do not delete your database. We suggest you archive a copy of your latest backup before proceeding with the following update.
Applying Version 2.01 of the program
Once you have downloaded the latest version:
1. Close your Budgets GetReal application. We strongly suggest you backup your database before performing this update.
Note: Your database remains common between all versions. It’s structure may be automatically updated on opening in a later version of the application. For this reason a backup is essential.
2. Locate your currently active Budgets GetReal folder and the downloaded file within the Updater sub-folder.
3.You may have to extract the downloaded file from within its download container.
Window users will have a file titled BudgetsGetReal_2.01.exe within the Updater folder. No further extraction is necessary. Move BudgetsGetReal_2.01.exe to the location of your current application. Do not rename BudgetsGetReal_2.01.exe.
OS X 10.2 users will have a file titled BudgetsGetReal_2.01.dmg. Open the .dmg archive by double-clicking on it. It will create a disk image with contents BudgetsGetReal_2.01.app and a help file. Move the BudgetsGetReal_2.01.app application bundle to the location of your current application. Do not rename BudgetsGetReal_2.01.app. You can then delete the .dmg file.
OS X 10.3 users and above will have a .zip archive. Simply double-click the BudgetsGetReal_2.01.zip file. This will extract the BudgetsGetReal_2.01.app application bundle. Move BudgetsGetReal_2.01.app to the location of your current application without renaming. You can then delete the .zip file.
4. You now have Version 2.01 of the application installed. You now need to update any shortcuts or aliases to point to this version.
For Windows users: Change your shortcuts on the Desktop and in your Programs Menu to point to the new BudgetsGetReal_2.01.exe application.
For Mac OS X users: Change your aliases and links in the Dock to point to the new BudgetsGetReal_2.01.app application.
5. Open the latest copy of Budgets GetReal. Budgets getReal will then automatically download all missing libraries and will update to Build 032. You can still run Build 032 with version 1.01 of the program.
6. Users of both Windows and OSX will need to download both application updaters. Note that the Libraries are the same on both platforms - only the application kernel changes with platform. Copy the Libraries folder, and all its files, to avoid a second download of these components.
How does Version 2.01 work. What is in the Libraries folder.
Version 1.01 comprised a single program file of around 5MB that required replacing whenever a new build was released. Often the changes were minor and this was inefficient and limited the frequency with which new features could be released. Version 2.01 now consists of a smaller kernel application and many digitally signed Libraries that are individually and automatically updated to the latest build as required.
The original build number designation has been retained, however it is now combined with the Application Version and the build number of the database. The credentials for the libraries required for each build are included within a digitally signed Manifest file within the Libraries folder. This tells Budgets GetReal what libraries are required for each build.
The first manifest file released has the name ApplnManifest-2.01-032-032.ich where the 3 numbers of the name represent the application version, the build number and the database release number respectively. The Library files files follow a compatible designation eg bgrhelp-032.mc indicates the library belongs to build 032.
The designation of Library files has been chosen so you can delete earlier versions of a library. This is not recommended practice since you may have to download the file again if you ever access an earlier backup that requires this file. Similarly we suggest you do not delete old versions of the application.
Do I need to keep my old Version 1.01 applications
Up to build 031 there has been no necessity since the database is backward compatible with previous versions of the application. As a general principle we suggest that you keep your latest build of the Version 1.01 application, at least until you confirm that your database opens correctly with the latest version of the application (Step 5 above).
The only time older versions become important is when you decide to maintain backups extending years into the past. To open these backups you may need an older version of the application. With the new structure of Version 2.01, Informed Choices can automatically provide manifests and Libraries as far back as Build 032. We will not be providing archives for Version 1.01 builds. Older archives must be updated to Build 032 (unless you have kept the older applications).
