Application Support for American Medical Software

QUICK LINKS FOR ACTIAN ZEN v15 USERS:

• AMS Installation Document for Zen: Our Installation Document is specifically designed to help American Medical Software users get their database software installed quickly and easily.
• Download Zen v15: This link allows you to download a 30-day evaluation license and patches for the Zen v15 database engine. Smaller sites (under 5 concurrent users) want the Workgroup Engine. Larger sites (6+ users) should download the Enterprise Server Engine instead.

QUICK LINKS FOR ACTIAN ZEN v14 USERS:

• AMS Installation Document for Zen v14: Our Installation Document is specifically designed to help American Medical Software users get their database software installed quickly and easily.
• Download Zen v14: This link allows you to download a 30-day evaluation license and patches for the Zen v14 database engine. Smaller sites (under 5 concurrent users) want the Workgroup Engine. Larger sites (6+ users) should download the Enterprise Server Engine instead.

QUICK LINKS FOR ACTIAN PSQL v13 USERS:

• AMS Installation Document for PSQL v13: Our Installation Document is specifically designed to help American Medical Software users get their database software installed quickly and easily.
• Download PSQL v13: This link allows you to download a 30-day evaluation license and patches for the PSQL v13 database engine. Smaller sites (under 5 concurrent users) want the Workgroup Engine. Larger sites (6+ users) should download the Server Engine instead.

The American Medical Software application uses the Actian PSQL/Zen database engine to provide world-class performance and flexibility to their application development efforts. At this time, AMS is not selling this software directly, and they are referring users to resellers such as Goldstar Software to obtain the correct licenses. We have worked extensively with AMS over the years and are in an excellent position to help you get your software installed and running quickly.

Installation of the Actian database is easy -- download the installer, follow the prompts, then reboot. (If you are upgrading an existing environment, you would uninstall the old components and reboot before installing the new ones.) This process is fairly easy and well-documented on our web site, so you can do it yourself or have your tech guy (or gal) handle it for you. You can even start with the 30-day trial download available on the Actian web site (see links above) that can be converted to a full license.

If you have a small site with fewer than 5 concurrent users, then the Workgroup Engine (WGE) is for you. You need a license for the number of concurrent users, at approximately $300 per user. The database engine and the license goes onto the SERVER, or the computer on which your WINDIR directory resides. All other computers get the PSQL/Zen Client installed to them.

If you need more than 5 concurrent users, then you need a Server Engine instead. The Server Engine has user counts of 6, 10, 20, 35, and more, and it also provides additional performance and security over the Workgroup Engine for these larger systems. Additonally, if you expect to exceed 5 users in the near future, you should consider the Server Engine now to save money later on. The Server Engine requires the use of a Windows or Linux database/file server for best operation, but smaller systems can also work with Windows workstation-class OS (Windows 10/11) on the server computer, as long as you don't exceed the Microsoft licensing limitations on these operating systems.

For pricing, please refer to our price list for Actian Zen v15, which also has a Product Selector tool (look for the BIG button) that can help you figure out exactly what you need, or call/Email us to request an exact quote!

Older versions of AMS worked on older versions of Pervasive, including the (very old) Btrieve 6.15, Pervasive.SQL 2000i, Pervasive.SQL V8, Pervasive PSQL v9, Pervasive PSQL Summit v10, Pervasive PSQL v11, and Actian PSQL v12. These old engines are no longer supported by Actian Corporation (formerly Pervasive Software), and AMS has also stopped supporting releases older than v13.30 for their products. If you have a version 13.00 through v13.21, then you should apply the FREE Service Pack 3 (R2) and latest Update to be compatible. If you have an older version (i.e. v12 or older), upgrading to Actian Zen v14 or Actian Zen v15is required at this time.

Actian PSQL v11 was released in 2010 and became unsupported in 2016. While this version will work with 2021 and older releases of AMS, you will need to upgrade to be compatible with 2022 and above.

Actian PSQL v12 was released in 2014 and became unsupported in 2019. While this version will work with 2021 and older releases of AMS, you will need to upgrade to be compatible with 2022 and above.

Actian PSQL v13 was released in 2017 and is a paid upgrade from older versions. Although it has been formally discontinued by Actian, it will be supported through December 31, 2022, so it may be a viable option if you are still running Windows 7. Please note that PSQL v13 software is NOT supported on Windows Vista or older, so sites with older computers may need to upgrade their computers or operating systems first.

Actian Zen v14 was released in 2019 and is a paid upgrade from older versions. Zen v14 is the best platform if all of your workstations are Windows 10 or newer. Please note that Zen v14 software is NOT supported on Windows Vista or older, so sites with older computers may need to upgrade their operating systems first.

Actian Zen v15 was released in 2021 and is a paid upgrade from older versions. Zen v15 is supported with Windows 11 workstations. Please note that Zen v15 software is NOT supported on Windows 7 or older, so sites with older computers may need to upgrade their hardware or operating systems first.

Actian Zen v16 was released in 2024 and is a paid upgrade from older versions. Zen v16 has NOT been formally tested by AMS, so you may wish to avoid this for now. If we find that some users are able to run successfully on this release, we hope to update this chart in the future.

*Items with a NO are not supported by the application vendor at this time. Items with YES are supported. Items with R are Recommended, and NR are NOT recommended, but will work. Items with no entry are unknown at this time.

There are a few points of interest:

1. System Requirements: If you are moving the AMS environment system to a new deployment in-house, please note the following minimum requires for smaller systems (under 5 concurrent users) or larger systems (6+ users). Meeting the recommended requirements will result in a much better experience with the software.
2. Installation Tip: AMS has found a possible conflict with the Cache Engine feature of PSQL. This feature is disabled by default, but you may wish to disable the Client-Side Cache feature entirely on each workstation by following these steps from each computer:
   • Start the Pervasive Control Center (Start/Run/PCC.EXE)
   • On the Welcome screen, click on the option "Configure Microkernel Router".
   • Click on the heading (on the left) for "Performance Tuning".
   • On the right side of the window, Uncheck "Use Cache Engine" to disable the CCE.
   • Click OK or APPLY, exit the PCC, and restart your computer to ensure that the changes take effect.
3. Performance Tip: If the Workgroup Engine is used, the machine with the data files physically on it (also called the peer server) should be designated as the permanent gateway using the Gateway Locator Utility, which will provide the best performance and stability. See our white paper on this topic for more information, or click HERE for the instructional video!
4. Performance Tip: Periodically rebuilding or defragmenting your X*.BTR data files may provide performance gains. See our white paper on this topic for more information.
5. Status Code 161 -- License Is Not Applied: If you are getting a Status 161 (Licensing Error) after installing the engine, then your database license may not be properly applied. On the database server, start the PSQL/Zen License Administrator (which you'll find in the Start Menu) and check the license count showing on this screen. If you do not see a permanent license with the correct user count, then you will need to apply your license. See your invoice or packing slip for your Registration Keycode, and enter this string into the boxes provided, then click "Add License". You should then see the proper license count.
6. Status Code 161 -- Wrong Version Is Installed: In some cases, we see sites get Status 161 after properly installing a license. On the database server, start the PSQL/Zen License Administrator (which you'll find in the Start Menu) and check the license count showing on this screen. The the left column shows a number (such as "625") instead of a product name, then the new software license was applied, but the software was never updated! You will need to uninstall the old version and install the purchased version to correct this situation.
7. Status Code 161 -- Users are taking TWO licenses: This issue is present in older versions of PSQL v10 and PSQL v11 and has been fixed by Actian. Please update your environment to the latest PSQL patch on both the server AND the client computer.
8. ODBC Error after moving PSQL to a new server or upgrading: When upgrading or migrating to a new server, AMS needs to be updated so that it knows the proper database location in order to find the data. If you receive an "ODBC Connection Error" after the upgrade/migration process, then you will need to run the ODBCADMIN.EXE application on the server. This tool is located in the AMS application directory (commonly WINDIR), and it properly creates the ODBC DSN and populates the XODBC.BTR file with important information to help the workstations find the server. If needed, you can safely delete this XODBC.BTR file from your database and this tool will re-create it with the new data.
9. Multi-Tenant Systems: If you have a multi-tenant system, with files under FILES1, FILES2, etc., then you will want to copy the ODBCAdmin.EXE tool from WINDIR into each folder and run it there, where it will be able to populate the full data path properly. You should delete the ODBCAdmin.EXE tool when this is done. Alternatively, it MAY be possible to run this from a command prompt using a sequence like this:
   • Open a Command Prompt
   • CD WINDIR\FILESxx
   • ..\ODBCADMIN.EXE
   • Repeat for each FILES folder
10. Error message received: Maximum Number of Users Exceeded - Please check all workstations. This error is generated by the AMS application indicating that you have exceeded their internal license count. It is NOT related to your PSQL/Zen database, which would provide an error like "Pervasive SQL's Maximum number of User Licenses has been exceeded." Please contact American Medical Software for details about your product license.
11. Yesterday's Date Appears on the AMS Login Screen: Some sites have experienced problems with the wrong date showing up on the screen. To clear this, shut down all users out of AMS first. Then, start up the PSQL/Zen Monitor on the server and select Microkernel/Active Users. If any users are still showing in here, select each user and click "Disconnect" to drop the database connection. Finally, restart AMS on ONE machine and log in -- this will set the date correctly. To avoid this problem, all users should properly log out of AMS each night, and the first user in the morning should fully log in before other users launch AMS.
12. Error from AMSMEDS: "Your Connection to the Server is no longer working.": This error can be returned if you have a newer PSQL/Zen Client version that the version that is running on the server. For best results, apply the latest to BOTH the database server AND all client workstations.
13. Zen v15 SP2 Update 3: There may be an unresolved issue with this specific patch. If you update to this version or later and see some issues, try rolling back to the unpatched SP2 release instead and see if that helps.

If you need help with installing or patching your database engine, Goldstar Software also provides update services via the Internet for a fixed fee. See our Installation Services page for more details. If you are running PeachTree Accounting, then we strongly recommend using our installation services, as PeachTree can make installing a bit more of a challenge.

If you are a software vendor and would like to add, remove, or modify your information on these pages, we'll be happy to oblige. Simply contact us directly!