Version numbers and compatibility

Each structure has a member that indicates the version number. You should use this version member to hold the version of the DBTools library that your application was developed against. The current version of the DBTools library is defined when you include the dbtools.h header file.

To assign the current version number to a structure

  • Assign the version constant to the version member of the structure before calling the DBTools function. The following line assigns the current version to a backup structure:

    backup_info.version = DB_TOOLS_VERSION_NUMBER;
Compatibility

The version number allows your application to continue working against newer versions of the DBTools library. The DBTools functions use the version number supplied by your application to allow the application to work, even if new members have been added to the DBTools structure.

When any of the DBTools structures are updated, or when a newer version of the software is released, the version number is augmented. If you use DB_TOOLS_VERSION_NUMBER and you rebuild your application with a new version of the DBTools header file, then you must deploy a new version of the DBTools library. If the functionality of your application doesn't change, then you may want to use one of the version-specific macros defined in dbtlsvers.h, so that a library version mismatch does not occur.