Before You Start

This document covers the following topics:


General Information

Natural is available as

  • a development edition for Windows,

  • a runtime edition for Windows.

Natural can be installed on single PCs or on a file server, thus making it accessible to any number of client PCs. You can choose between three types of installation: Standard, Development Client for Single Point of Development (SPoD) and Custom. Depending on your choice, different parts of Natural will automatically be installed. The custom installation additionally offers a variety of optional packages that you can select during the installation process. This is described in detail in the relevant installation sections.

If you have purchased Natural Runtime, only a subset of the Natural functions can be performed that enable you to execute previously created Natural applications. If both the development edition and the runtime edition are installed, their environments are entirely separate.

Parallel installations of two different Natural versions on a single PC are possible. For example, you can install version 6.3 in parallel to version 6.2. For each version of Natural, you can install exactly one instance of the development edition and one instance of the runtime edition on a single PC. For each instance, you can either install the full version or just the client part of a server installation.

Natural Security is an add-on product that can be installed after the Natural installation is complete. For information on how to install Natural Security, see the section Installing Natural Security.

Installation Prerequisites

Before installing Natural, ensure that your PC fulfills the following requirements.

See also License Key File Handling in the Release Notes.

Administrator Status

The person performing the installation must have administrator rights.

Security Settings for User Account Control

The following information applies to all supported Windows platforms except Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server.

To install Natural on Windows, you have to enable the following local or domain security setting: User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation.

On Windows 7, for example, you can find this setting under Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policies > Security Options.

Hardware

Processor Intel or compatible processor with at least 1GHz.
Hard Disk Space Approximately 500 MB (NTFS recommended) for Natural itself, plus the size of the Natural application.
RAM 1 GB recommended.
Display SVGA graphics adapter and SVGA monitor.
Resolution 800 x 600 or higher. 16-bit true color mode is recommended.
Mouse Windows compatible mouse.
Drive A DVD drive to install the software.
Communication Board Ethernet (required if you want to use Natural's Single Point of Development or Natural in a multi-user network environment).

Software

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Before Natural can be installed with the Natural Web I/O Interface, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 must have been installed on the PC. This can be found on the installation medium in the directory \Windows\DotNet\.

Important:
When Natural is installed on a file server, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 must be installed on each client PC.

See also: Supported Operating Systems in the Release Notes.

Compiler Used to Build Natural

The delivered Natural for Windows was built and tested with the following compiler:

  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2003

Related Products

Natural 6.3 requires:

  • Entire Access 5.3 or 6.1 to access SQL databases. For scrollable cursors and Unicode support, Entire Access 6.1 is required.

  • EntireX 8.0 or 8.1 when using Natural RPC.

  • Entire Net-Work 2.6 Windows to access remote Adabas database systems.

    For remote access to Adabas 6 (Open Systems) or 8 (mainframe), Entire Net-Work 7.3.2 is required.

  • Tamino 4.4 when using Natural for Tamino.

  • HTTP server, like Apache or IIS when using the Natural Web Interface.

Natural 6.3 includes interfaces to:

  • Adabas 3.3.

  • Adabas 5.1.

  • Adabas 6.1.

Important Information on FUSER Usage

As of Natural Version 6.2, the structure of the Natural library directory file FILEDIR.SAG has changed. For detailed information, see Portable Natural System Files in the Operations documentation.

When you install Natural Version 6.2 or above and Natural Version 6.1 is already installed, version 6.2 or above uses the same FUSER as in version 6.1 by default. In this case, existing objects which are modified with version 6.2 or above can no longer be read by older versions of Natural. If you want to prevent this problem, you have to define a new FUSER during the installation. A new FUSER can be defined in the Database Settings installation screen. When installing on a PC, this screen appears only with the setup type Custom.

Installation on Windows Vista and Windows 7

The information below applies when installing Natural or Natural Runtime on Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Installation Path

During installation, you are asked to specify a destination location.

When you specify a destination location within the folder which is defined by the setting of the system variable %ProgramFiles%, the subfolders of Natural are installed at different locations. In this case, the following subfolders are installed in the specified destination location:

bin
terminal
trace
debug

All other subfolders are installed in the following folder, according to your %ALLUSERSPROFILE% system variable setting :

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Software AG\Natural

If you specify a destination location which is not within the %ProgramFiles% folder, all subfolders are installed in the specified destination location. In this case, they are not installed at different locations.

Windows User Group

This information applies only when you install Natural or Natural Runtime on a PC (it does not apply to a file server installation).

The Natural installation creates a local Windows user group with the name "SAG Natural Users". The user "EVERYONE" is assigned to this user group by default.

The user group "SAG Natural Users" receives full write permissions for all installed objects. Due to the user "EVERYONE", all users have write permissions for all installed objects. You can limit these permissions by removing the user "EVERYONE" from the user group "SAG Natural Users", and then manually adding all required users to this group. To do so, go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management; in the resulting window, select Local Users and Groups.

When the Windows user group "SAG Natural Users" is created, a reboot is required when the installation finishes. When this user group has already been created (due to a previous installation), this reboot does not occur.

Compatibility Mode

When you invoke the Properties dialog box for Setup.exe, you can open a page on which it is possible to define the compatibility mode. This mode can be defined for the current user or for all users. For example, you can define that an application is to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP.

Since the Natural installation distinguishes between the different Windows operating systems, the compatibility mode does not work with a Natural installation on Windows Vista or Windows 7. Therefore, you have to make sure that the compatibility mode is neither defined for the current user nor for all users. Otherwise, the installation will be canceled.