On 7th April 2022 Click Studios released Passwordstate Build 9493 which supported the storing of Unicode characters in the Passwordstate Database. The change to Unicode ensures the unique representation for every character, no matter the language. Unicode forms the foundation for the representation of languages and symbols in operating systems.
Prior to Build 9493 Passwordstate’s character encoding used Extended ASCII. The first time a V9 upgrade is performed, from Build 9471 (or earlier), to Build 9493 (or later), it will upgrade the database to Unicode format as a once only operation.
What Are The Implications?
Customers should be aware that during the upgrade the Passwordstate SQL Database and transaction logfile will increase in size by approx. 300% to 400%. You’ll need to ensure there is adequate free space available before you start the upgrade, and the location used for your backups can support the additional size of the backups.
If you’ve previously capped the Autogrowth of your Passwordstate database then it’s recommended you temporarily set this to either Unlimited growth, or set the Maximum File Size by multiplying the existing size by a factor of 6 (allowing for additional contingency). This will need to be done for both the database and the logfile.
To confirm if you’ve capped Autogrowth, or to set the Maximum File Size, start Microsoft SQ Server Management Studio and select the passwordstate database. Right click on the database and select Properties. From the Database Properties box click on Files, select the first entry. If the Autogrowth/Maxsize column shows Unlimited at the end then Autogrowth is uncapped. If it shows Limited to… then it has been capped. To change the settings simply click on the box containing … and change the settings as indicated in the image below
Don’t forget to check both the entries and adjust them if necessary.
Shrinking The Database
Once the Passwordstate upgrade has been completed successfully you can shrink down the database and logfile. Please note, you won’t be able to obtain the same file size you had originally. Unicode requires more space to store characters than Extended ASCII.
The easiest and quickest way to shrink your database and logfile is to do the following,
- Start Microsoft SQ Server Management Studio,
- Select the passwordstate database and right-click,
- Select New Query,
- Enter DBCC SHRINKDATABASE (Passwordstate)
- Click the Execute button
When the query has finished executing, you’ll see results in the format shown in the green box below. Note the figures will be different based on your database and logfile,
Alternatively, you can shrink the database and the logfiles from within SQL Management Studio Tools User Interface without executing a SQL Query. Please see section 15 of this guide if you’d like to follow this method https://www.clickstudios.com.au/downloads/version9/Installation_Instructions.pdf.
Share your feedback by emailing it through to support@clickstudios.com.au