Gupta SQLWindows Support, Migration & Modernisation
the upgrade path is real, and so is the staged way out.
For businesses running an application written in Gupta SQLWindows or Centura Team Developer, often on SQLBase. We assess the code and its database, keep it supported, bring it up to a current version where that is the better answer, and replace it in stages where it is not.
More about this service
We are an Australian team working remotely with businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Every engagement starts with a scoped technical assessment, so the estimate that follows is based on your code and your data.
- Assessment A scoped technical review before any estimate
- 18+ yrs Building business software
- Independent No licence commission, no reseller agenda
- US UK NZ AU Australian team, working remotely
Built here. Your data stays here.
- No offshore development. Everything is written by our own team in Australia. Nothing is subcontracted overseas.
- Your data stays onshore. Hosted in Australia, on infrastructure you own, under Australian law.
- Every state, not just ours. Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and everywhere between.
The application stayed the same while the product kept changing its name
SQLWindows was one of the first tools for building Windows business software on a shared database, and systems written in it during the 1990s are still in daily use. The product was later sold as Centura Team Developer and then as Team Developer, and it now belongs to OpenText. Many of the applications never moved with it.
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The obstacles are practical, not mysterious. The source needs SQLWindows itself, in a matching version, to open and build. Old versions stored text one byte per character, where current ones use Unicode, the standard that covers every alphabet. The database is often SQLBase, which has its own way of writing queries, and the reports are templates only the Gupta report tool reads. Each has a known answer.
Our Gupta SQLWindows developer service is for businesses in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. It covers three kinds of work: code fixes and updates, migration to a modern technology stack, and ongoing maintenance and support.
Three ways forward for a SQLWindows application
The second is the one most often overlooked.
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Keep it and support it
The application stays on its current version. We set up a build environment on a machine kept for the purpose, fix faults, make changes, and write down the runtime files, database settings and report templates it needs. This suits a system that works and mainly needs somebody who can change it.
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Bring it up to a current Team Developer
The same code is moved to a current OpenText release. Text handling is updated for Unicode, old controls and outside libraries are replaced, and a 64-bit build becomes possible. Staff keep the screens they know, on a product that is still being updated.
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Replace it in stages
Where people need to work from a browser, from other sites or from a phone, or where the business no longer wants to depend on Team Developer skills, modules are rebuilt as a web application one at a time against the same data.
What we do with SQLWindows applications
Six kinds of work. Most engagements are two or three of them.
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SQLWindows maintenance
Faults fixed and changes made in existing windows and SAL code, the SQLWindows language, from the application source.
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Source and runtime audit
Every source file, library, outside component and runtime file listed, with the version each needs and whether it can still be obtained.
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Version migration
Code moved from SQLWindows or Centura Team Developer to a current Team Developer, including the change to Unicode text and the option of a 64-bit build.
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SQLBase moves
A SQLBase database brought up to a current SQLBase, or moved to SQL Server or Oracle, with the queries checked and totals reconciled.
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Report rebuilds
Report Builder templates (.qrp files) carried forward, or rebuilt in a reporting tool the rest of the business already uses.
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Staged replacement
Modules rebuilt as a web application one at a time, where a desktop program no longer suits the work.
Supporting it, upgrading it and rebuilding it are different projects
Each trades cost against how much the business still depends on Team Developer afterwards.
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Stay on the old version
Lowest cost. The application is documented and supported. It stays on a runtime, a database version and drivers that date from several owners ago.
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Upgrade within Team Developer
Most of the code is reused and staff keep the screens they know. The application ends up on a product that is still updated. The business still depends on a small market for the skills and on the licence terms OpenText sets.
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Rebuild as a web application
Nothing depends on Team Developer or SQLBase afterwards, and the application can be used from anywhere. It takes longest, and the risk is in business rules that live in the old code and in the database.
What a SQLWindows assessment looks at
Team Developer the product is still developed. The risk is in the version gap, the database and the reports. The ownership and 64-bit facts are from OpenText.
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Which version
SQLWindows, Centura Team Developer, or a later numbered Team Developer release. OpenText says 64-bit builds arrived in version 7.0. The distance between your version and the current one is the size of the upgrade.
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Whether the source is complete
Application files (.app, or .apt when saved as text), the libraries they include (.apl) and any compiled libraries (.apd). A site that holds only the compiled program (.exe) can run it but cannot change it.
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The runtime and licences
A SQLWindows program needs the matching Team Developer runtime installed beside it, and SQLBase is licensed separately. We check what is installed and whether you hold the installers and licence keys.
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The database
Usually SQLBase, sometimes Oracle or SQL Server. SQLBase has its own flavour of SQL, the language used to query a database, and keeps its settings in a file called sql.ini. Code that leans on either needs care when the database changes.
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Text handling
Current Team Developer stores text as Unicode, and old versions did not. Older code that counts bytes, reads and writes files, or passes text to outside libraries needs checking, and so does the text already in the database.
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Reports
Report Builder templates (.qrp files) and how each one gets its data. Users notice changes to reports first, so every report in use is listed and compared after any change.
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Outside components
ActiveX controls, calls into Windows libraries (.dll), automation of Word and Excel, and files exchanged with other systems. A 64-bit build, possible since version 7.0, needs a 64-bit version of each.
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Windows and security
Which Windows versions the program and the database server run on, how users sign in, and whether the database still has its default administrator account or passwords kept in plain settings files.
A Centura or SQLWindows application nobody can rebuild from source?
What the assessment needs from you
A fixed-scope piece of work with a written result: the options, the risks of each, and a staged estimate. No production data is sent by email. We agree a secure way to share it first.
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Version
The SQLWindows, Centura or Team Developer version it was built with, and the Windows versions it runs on.
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The source
Whether the application and library files exist, where they are kept, and when the program was last built.
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The database
SQLBase or another database, its version and size, and where it lives.
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Licences and installers
Any installers, licence keys or support agreements you still hold for Team Developer and SQLBase.
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Reports
How reports are produced, and which ones the business cannot do without.
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Users and machines
How many people use it, and how it gets onto a new computer today.
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Integrations
Files in and out, devices, and other systems that share the database.
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What is hurting
The two or three problems that started the conversation.
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The way back
How long the business can run on the old system if a cutover has to be reversed.
From assessment to a supported application
Done remotely, with meeting times agreed to suit your time zone.
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Technical assessment
We establish the version, what source you hold, what the program needs installed beside it and how it reaches its data. You get a written list of options with the risks of each and a staged estimate.
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A working build
The application is made to build and run on a machine kept for the purpose, against a copy of the database, and the result is compared with what you run today. Until that works, no change is safe.
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Proof of concept
One representative piece, usually a few windows and a report moved to a current Team Developer or rebuilt for the web, is taken end to end on a copy of your data.
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Staged work
The work is done in stages agreed from the assessment, each with its own scope and estimate, starting with whatever is hurting the business most.
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Comparison and user testing
Old and new are run side by side on the same data, reports are compared line by line, and your staff test the work they do every day.
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Cutover and support
Each switch is planned with a way back. We watch the first days of live use, then maintain the system for as long as it stays in service.
What people ask us about SQLWindows
Is Gupta SQLWindows still supported?
The product is. It is now OpenText Gupta Team Developer, and OpenText still sells and develops it. An application built with SQLWindows or Centura Team Developer is many versions behind that, on a runtime from before OpenText owned the product.
Is Centura the same thing as Gupta?
Yes. The company was called Gupta, then Centura, then Gupta again, and the product has been sold as SQLWindows, Centura Team Developer and Team Developer. OpenText still calls the programming tool inside it Gupta SQLWindows.
Can old SQLWindows code be opened in a current Team Developer?
Usually, with work. OpenText describes the product as protecting old code from version to version. Unicode, old controls, outside libraries and 64-bit still need attention, and everything is tested. It is a project, not a file conversion.
Do we have to stay on SQLBase?
No. SQLBase is still an OpenText product, so it can be upgraded. Team Developer also works with Oracle and SQL Server, so the data can move if the business prefers one of those. Queries written the SQLBase way are what have to be reworked and tested.
Should it become a web application?
Only if remote access, working across sites or mobile use is a real requirement, or if depending on a small skills market worries you more than a rebuild does. For a fast internal tool used at desks, a current Team Developer build can be the cheaper answer.
We only have the compiled program. Is that fatal?
It rules out an upgrade, because an upgrade needs the source. It does not end the conversation. The database survives, the screens and reports can be recorded from the running program, and a replacement can be built from what the system does today.
Do you provide Gupta SQLWindows developers in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane?
Yes. We are an Australian team and we take on Gupta SQLWindows work for businesses in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and elsewhere in Australia. Most of the work is done remotely, by video call and screen share, with secure access to a copy of your system. The service is the same in every city: code fixes and updates, migration to a modern technology stack, and ongoing maintenance and support.
How does this work from the United States, the United Kingdom or New Zealand?
Remotely. We are based in Australia and do not have offices elsewhere. Discovery is done by video call and screen share, with meeting times agreed to suit your time zone. Confidentiality, who can reach your systems and where your data is held are agreed in writing before work starts.
What does it cost?
The assessment is a fixed-scope piece of work with an agreed fee. The estimate for anything after it comes from what the assessment finds, in stages, so you are not asked to commit to a whole project on a guess.
Sending your details…
You can stay on this page while we send it.
Tell us about your SQLWindows application
What the application does, the version, the database behind it, whether you hold the source, and what is forcing the question. Include your country so we can suggest meeting times. Please do not send production data.
Prefer a quick chat? Call 0425 531 127. We answer the phone in Perth.
Kasun Wijayamanna, founderYou deal with Kasun from scope to delivery. No account managers and no offshore handoff.