Release of GeODin 9.5

Dear GeODin customers,

we are pleased to inform you that the new version, GeODin 9.5, is available for you as of today. The update to this version is free of charge for all GeODin 9.0 customers. In addition, we are offering discounted update prices to all GeODin 7 and GeODin 8 customers until 30th April 2022. If you are interested, please visit our webshop at www.geodin.com/shop and read the information in our Help Centre on switching to GeODin 9.

With the release of the new version, we would also like to inform you that the planned end of technical support for GeODin 9.0 coincides with the end of 2022.

What can you expect in the new GeODin version?

GeODin 9.5 is now available as a 64-bit application and uses a software-only licensing system developed by Fugro Germany Land. This will replace all USB-HASP licences as well as the existing software licences.

Another new feature is the more user-friendly plugin interface with extended customisation options.

We will also briefly introduce the user management already available in GeODin 9.0 and give an outlook on new features.

The new licensing system

With the new licensing system, single-user and network licences can still be used offline. An internet connection is only necessary for the activation or update of licences, as with the previous software licences.

GeODin licensing is carried out on your PC or server with the help of a service called the GeODin Licensing Service. You can manage and update your GeODin licences via the GeODin Licence Manager, which you open via an internet browser. Information such as the licence serial number, the available number of licence packages and the expiry date of your licence can be conveniently displayed using the licence manager. In addition, you can view the active GeODin users and log out if necessary.

Why did we develop our own licensing system?

Some time ago, the manufacturer of the HASP dongles, which we currently use for licensing GeODin, informed us that technical support would no longer be offered for them in future Windows updates. The changeover to a new HASP licensing model proposed by the manufacturer would have meant a similarly high effort for us as the development of our own new licensing system. However, the latter has the advantage that we are independent of third-party providers and their decisions, particularly in regard to future operating system developments.

In addition, our new exclusively software-based licensing system enables us to provide licences to you as GeODin users and administrators much more quickly, as the postal dispatch of dongles is no longer necessary. The installation of various drivers and dlls is also no longer necessary for the new licence model.

What do you have to do as a GeODin 9.0 user for the licence update?

GeODin support will contact you in the next few weeks and provide you with your new licences for GeODin 9.5 as well as the corresponding installation and update information. We ask for a little patience for the delivery of the licences. However, if you have not received any message from us by 28th February 2022, please contact us via our e-mail address support@geodin.com.

Customers with HASP HL licence keys are kindly requested to return them to us by registered mail in a padded envelope after successful setup of your new software licence for GeODin 9.5, so that we can provide you with your perpetual licences.

The advantages of 64-bit

Basically, 64-bit applications can theoretically use the entire available working memory of a system, whereas the working memory for 32-bit applications is limited to between 2 GB to 4 GB maximum. In concrete terms, a 64-bit version of GeODin thus enables the processing of much larger amounts of data compared to the former 32-bit version.

The changeover to 64-bit also supports the use of current versions of database systems, some of which are now only available as 64-bit. Furthermore, any compatibility problems with 64-bit operating systems and programmes are eliminated.

As GeODin 9.0 user what should you consider when updating to GeODin 9.5?

For all databases (desktop and client/server) the corresponding database drivers for GeODin 9.5 must be provided in 64-bit.

With regard to Microsoft Access databases, please note the following:

• If you use Microsoft Office in the 64-bit version, the additional installation of the 64-bit driver for Access databases is usually not necessary.
• Customers with Microsoft Office in the 32-bit version must provide the 64-bit drivers for Access before updating to GeODin 9.5. Please contact your system administrator regarding this matter.

For more information on compatibility between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Office as well as the Microsoft 365 Access Runtime, please refer to the relevant Microsoft websites.

The new GeODin plugin interface

In GeODin 9.5, plugins are now configured under the system tab in the GeODin user interface. This simplifies their deployment and at the same time offers more individual customisation options. The ability to configure plugins via the GeODin configuration file GEODIN.INI has been disabled.

As a result of these changes, the transfer parameters for plugins have been standardised. Therefore, it may be necessary to adapt existing plugins for the use with GeODin 9.5. For more information, please refer to the relevant chapters of the GeODin help.

No longer brand new - The GeODin user administration

With the already in GeODin 9.0 available user administration, it is now possible to configure the visibility for GeODin methods, system databases, system and user queries, as well as object groups directly via the system tab in GeODin or at the respective elements. You can find more in this article.

Preview

Information on new features and further developments (e.g. GeODin Portal, multilingualism in dictionaries and layouts, print preview) will be sent to you in the next newsletter and further newsletters as well as blog entries on our website.

We wish you all a good start in 2022.

Stay safe and healthy,
Your GeODin team