Updates

Chemistbook does not update itself. The version on the shop PC stays exactly as it is until whoever looks after the PC puts a new one on, and that happens only when the owner says so. There is no morning when the till looks different and nobody knows why.

How an update arrives

Firmitek sends a short release note when a new version is ready. It says, in the shop's words, what has changed, whether anything is asked of the owner first (a new setting, say), and how long the till will be off. Most updates need nothing from the shop and take about a minute of downtime.

The owner decides when. A quiet morning is better than a Saturday afternoon.

On the day

Whoever looks after the PC runs the new version's installer, and then:

1. The installer keeps a copy first. Before it changes anything it copies the shop's records aside, and if it cannot, it stops and changes nothing. An update changes how the records are stored, and the old version cannot be started on records the new one has already changed; that copy is the way back if something is wrong.
2. The new version goes on. The till is off for about a minute while it starts. It asks nothing: the settings from the first install stay.
3. They check the till: sign in, make a sale and void it, print a receipt, open yesterday's figures, and press Back up now.

If anything looks wrong, they put the copy from before the update back with the previous version, and tell Firmitek. The shop keeps trading on the old version meanwhile.

What is in a version

Every version is tested before it is offered to a shop: the whole system is put through its tests, it is scanned for known security holes and a serious finding stops the release, and it runs on Firmitek's own test shop first. The release note is written after all that.

The steps for whoever does the update are under Backups, restore and updates.