Deploying database structures and application files

The following figure illustrates the steps required and options available when deploying new database structures and application files. When deploying a database, Progress Software Corporation recommends that you first create an empty database at the deployment site, then load the .df files to create the database structure. This method of deployment will help you avoid any difficulties resulting from incompatibility between platforms, operating systems, or software versions at the development and deployment sites.

When deploying application files, you can choose to deploy either unencrypted source code, encrypted source code, or r-code. An important consideration in which method you choose is whether there is a full development product (4GL Development System, OpenEdge Studio, Progress Developer Studio for OpenEdge, or WebSpeed Workshop) capable of compiling code at the deployment site. Users with OpenEdge products that cannot compile unencrypted source code will have to deploy encrypted source code and compile it at the site, or deploy r-code. If you deploy r-code, you must ensure that the platforms, operating systems, and software versions at the deployment site match those at the development site. Otherwise, you will have to compile the r-code at the deployment site to ensure compatibility. The following sections address these considerations in more detail.