Android Question How can I easily downgrade B4A?

[JohnC]

I am running B4A 9.01.2 and everything is working just fine.

However, some projects are kind of large and take time to compile, so I am thinking of upgrading to the latest version of B4A to take advantage of the 64-bit speed.

But I have seen posts of all sorts of problems that other users have after they do an upgrade.

The last thing I want to happen is to do the upgrade, then spend hours "fixing" issues I run into due to the upgrade - or run into new compatibility issues requiring me to rewrite code or use a different library.

So, can I simply just make a backup copy of selected directories (which ones?), and if the upgrade causes too many problems, I can simply delete the new versions of the directories and restore the original version?

Or are there other things like newer DLL versions and registry changes that would require me to completely re-install the older version (after uninstalling the newer version)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[toby]

1. Backup the main drive or main disk containing B4A11.8 with a disk image backup tool like Acronis True image. Save the image file to an external disk.
2. Uninstall B4A 11.80
3. Install B4A 9.0.1
4. Backup b4A 9 disk image.

Now you can switch between B4A versions with ease by restoring the desired disk image.

 

[drgottjr]

pretty much agree with what member @toby says, althought i think he is too trusting.

i tend to have faith in erel in a number of matters (platform upgrades with backward-facing
compatibility being one of them).
i've upgraded from 9 to 11.80, with all stops in between, without issue. the issues
you mention usually seem to be a result of not following installation instructions or of
having made unfortunate decisions relating to the sdk.
that you have not run into any issues by virtue of NOT having upgraded is amazing.
and a tribute to the platform's soundness.

if you're curious about 11.80, install it on a separate device or a different vm.
hardware is cheap; ebay is always there to help.

if you can't afford a second device, at least clone your current pc's drive(s) and
make sure you can boot the system from them, should your experiment with
11.80 not go as planned and you have to "go back". make sure you try booting
more than once before putting the clone(s) in a safety deposit box at your bank.

i don't think you can "go back". for the very reasons you're asking about. at best,
you can only restore state. but i wouldn't even trust that on a single computer.
i wouldn't even let a second pc with 11.80 on it see the pc with 9.01.2. and if
one of them asked, i would laugh and deny the other existed.

 

[Erel]

I recommend you to upgrade to the latest version. In some cases you will also need to update Android SDK (download the complete package again) and it is a good thing.

There are exactly 0 serious issues in v11.8.

 

[klaus]

If you want to keep both B4A versions you can install the new version in another folder than the default folder.
When i upgrade to a new version i always install it in a new folder.
That way i have always at least the two last versions.
I got this habit with beta version and kept it.
But, i never had any trouble when i upgraded to a new version following the instructions given by Erel.