Upgrading - notes for existing users.

1. First - download the latest version from here.
2. Important Do not uninstall the previous version, or you will lose your settings and data
3. You should take a backup of your root folder before upgrading. One of the easiest ways to do this is with the built in backup tool, available from Tools on the menu. (Regular backups should be taken anyway)
4. Check the version you are currently running. From the Status Window, select menu item Help, and then About. If you are running a version prior to V4.0 read the notes below, otherwise, just go ahead and install as covered next.
5. Important Ensure that LetSys is not running when you perform the upgrade.
6. Install the new version by running the downloaded module. (One way is to double-click from Windows Explorer).
7. Recent versions of windows will tell you the publisher is unknown, and ask if you want to run the install module. This is because we have not purchased an expensive code-signing certificate, but it is perfectly safe to go ahead and run the install. Note that we now have an encrypted connection to our website, so check you have a green padlock, and you know you are not connected to the wrong website. Drop us a line if you are still unsure about this. Please note that we do virus check our install modules.
8. All options you have already set are preserved. Also, you should not normally need to reenter your registration details (one exception is if you want to use the system from a second user).
9. The "Demo Cottage" data is re-installed to folder C:\LetSys\Demo Cottage\ so you can use the supplied examples (for example the web sample files) This applies even if you deleted the demonstration property. Just delete this folder if you don't need the examples. If you changed the root folder and want to try out the new Demo Cottage data you need to copy the samples to an appropriate place in your new root folder.
10. If you deleted "Demo Cottage" then this property is not recreated.

That's it - unless you are upgrading from a version prior to V4.0, when you should read the following notes carefully.

Upgrading to Version 3.6 (September 2011)

(These notes can also be found, once you have installed the new version, in Help topic Upgrading – notes for existing users.)

If you installed the Beta Version of Release 3.5, then you should contact us before upgrading. We don't think there is anyone still in this position, but just check your release level from Help / About. Otherwise there are no additional items to add, but if upgrading from a version prior to 3.1 the notes below will apply. This new version has been thoroughly tested on Windows 7. Windows 7 and Vista users should note this information on our support forum about colour casts when viewing images.

Users upgrading to Version 3.1 (June 2008) should note the following:

1. Your configuration settings are now saved in a file, rather than the registry. This makes it easier to automatically back them up, and works better with Windows Vista. A copy of your settings is saved in the root folder as file LetSys.ini each time you make a configuration change, so a copy of your settings is now backed up with your data.
2. There have been some problems upgrading from earlier versions under Windows Vista. See the support forum at http://support.erwwen.com/ for the latest information.
3. If two users of the same computer use LetSys, the second user will need to re-register.
4. We've removed the ability to upgrade from V1.6 (2003) or earlier from this release. If you are running 1.6 read the note at the end.

Users upgrading to Version 2.5 (June 2007) should note that the names used for letters have changed.

1. All your letters are automatically renamed to the new naming standards, as described in the Help files under heading Letter Names in topic About automated letters eg letter 060801Balname.rtf will become 060801L1name.rtf
2. All existing letter proformas will be renamed to the new naming convention (as defined under heading Proforma Naming Convention in topic About Letter Proformas.  For example, the first letter proforma is now named Prof-L1.ext instead of ProfAckDep.ext
3. These changes should be entirely transparent.
4. You can now have as many automatically produced customer letters as you wish.
5. You may now wish to give the letters descriptions which better match the way you use them in your business. Run the configuration program and select the letter tab.

Users upgrading to Version 2.2 (Jan 2005) should note the following, if they use LetSys to publish availability status to the web:

The Rates/Availability file name (as specified in the Configuration program) has changed so that
(1) there is now only a single file specified and
(2) you need to specify the file extension. 
Previously the file extension was assumed to be ".htm".  The system now can cope with any file extension you like - eg ".html".  You will find it is now much easier to maintain the single "rolling" availability file; for example, you no longer need to create a new file each year. 

What do I change?: 

1. If you previously specified the file as rates, then you must now specify it as rates.htm.  You must also rename the availability file so it no longer has a 2 digit year.  eg rename rates05.htm to rates.htm   

2. You need to ensure you have a Table Row proforma file in your web folder.  A sample file is supplied in C:\LetSys\Web.  Copy this file $RowProforma.txt into your web folder. The supplied file contains the single line: 

              <tr><td>@RG</td><td>@R</td><td class=@S>@C</td><td class=@F>@F</td></tr> 

This proforma, if used with the supplied availability.htm file, gives exactly the same table look and feel as before, unless Fuel charges are used.  If you don't use fuel charges you need to delete the final element to make the proforma look like this:

       <tr><td>@RG</td><td>@R</td><td class=@S>@C</td></tr>

3. Note that to produce the same format table as before, then when you publish to web you ensure that Publishing options are set as follows:  Check "Compress weeks".  Uncheck all other options.

All Users upgrading to Version 2.1 (Nov 2004) should note the following:

The rates file format has changed, effective with Version 2.1.  All your existing rate files were converted automatically on installation.  Files are now named "RatesYY.hlc, where YY is the last two digits of the year they apply to. The old files are not deleted (just to be on the safe side).  These files are named RatesYY.hlr   Once version 2.1 is working fine you can delete all the files with file type .hlr from your LetSys data directories (you need to do this for the data directories for each property.)

Users with several properties may wish to consider whether they wish to use only a single set of Common Proformas - since processing of letter proformas has been improved.  You can now use a single set of common letter proformas (held in the root folder) for some or all properties. This significantly reduces the work of editing proformas when you have several properties.  You can still have property specific proformas - as was the case for previous releases. These are still placed in the data folder for the property.  When present, these are used instead of the common proformas. Existing users can just delete the property specific proformas if the common ones are sufficient. More details are in the help files.

The points below only apply if upgrading from 1.6 or earlier. They do not apply to users upgrading from a more recent version.