A Case Where PSQL 13 Client Is Not Compatible with PSQL 15 Server

A Case Where PSQL 13 Client Is Not Compatible with PSQL 15 Server

Release Date: 02/04/2025
Version: 8.6

Do Users Need to Upgrade to PSQL 15 Client When Upgrading PSQL Server?

We were often asked in the past if our users should upgrade their PSQL 13 client when they upgrade to the PSQL 15 server. In our past experience, we assumed that the PSQL 13 client was compatible with the PSQL (Actian) 15 server, and we had not seen any issues that would make us believe otherwise. However, we just discovered a case where the PSQL 13 client failed to work with the PSQL 15 server.  

In this case, when the user chose to run a Report Desk report by going to I/M -> Inventory Transfer Management -> List -> UDR Transfer Trx History Summary , the user encountered the following message:
      DataReader.GetFieldType(13) returned null. No qualifying records found...

But we know there were records in range.  On the other hand, if we upgrade this machine's PSQL 13 client to the PSQL (Actian) 15 client, then the problem is resolved.

We also tested the scenario if we use the PSQL 13 client against the PSQL 13 server with the same report; we confirmed it also works.  So it seems this issue only happens when the PSQL client and server are not of the same version.  Elliott Report Desk, Power Search, or Avalara features require PSQL 13 or 15 servers.

Conclusions

So our latest understanding is that PSQL 13 client is MOSTLY compatible with the PSQL 15 server, but not all the time. We believe if you only run Elliott with a  transactional (Btrieve) engine, then your PSQL 13 client should continue to work because we have not see a failed case in that scenario. On the other hand, if you need to use a relational engine for applications like Elliott's Report Desk, Power Search, Avalara, or third-party tools like Crystal Reports...etc., then we do recommend that you upgrade your workstations to the same PSQL client version as the server.


EMK

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