This page offers a quick overview of the planned Investor/RT transition from a 32 to 64-bit environment
Investor/RT Roadmap (published on July 16th, 2020)
Now that Investor/RT 14 is available as a general release, it is a good time to provide an overview of the road map ahead for the RT platform. First, let’s start with some history.
Investor/RT was originally designed and developed to utilize a powerful database management system (DBMS). Investor/RT was the first charting platform for personal computers to employ a commercial DBMS system to house all user setups and market data. The database system used by Investor/RT was chosen because it is high performance and cross-platform, enabling Linn Software to publish versions of Investor/RT over the years for both Windows and Apple Macintosh systems.
Investor/RT 13 is the final release of the RT platform that utilizes the original database system. Because both RT 13 and the original database software are 32-bit, RT 13 is subject to database file size limitations (2GB max per db file). While this limitation is not an issue for user content, it does limit the amount of intra-day historical data RT can maintain locally on the database. The 32-bit DBMS is highly optimized for use with data residing on slower hard drives.
Investor/RT 14 is 32-bit, developed to use a more modern 64-bit compatible database system. The move to a 64-bit DBMS is a necessary first step in transitioning the Investor/RT platform to 64-bit. Although the content of the RT 14 database is very much the same, a migration of RT 13 content is required the first time RT 14 is run after upgrading.
During recent beta and candidate testing some users have reported that RT 14 operates faster, seemingly with better performance characteristics. Others have reported the opposite. RT 14 runs best when the database files are located on a SSD (solid state drive) rather than a HDD (hard disk drive). Older computers with limited memory and rotating storage media, especially older laptops that typically have slower drives, may not run some database tasks as quickly in RT 14 as they do in RT 13. For this reason, RT 13 will remain available, fully supported for a period of time, although new features may require upgrading to RT 14. In general, ongoing enhancements to Linn Software RTX® Extensions will continue to be available to RT 13 users. New features and enhancement within the core platform will be released in subsequent maintenance releases of RT 14.
Work has been underway for some time on transitioning RT to 64-bit. Modern PCs use 64-bit processors. Investor/RT will soon be able to take full advantage of the 64-bit processing speed and larger memory footprint 64-bit apps can have.
We will begin public beta testing of RT 15 for Windows x64 soon. Initial beta test releases will have more limited support for market data sources and brokerage connectivity than RT 14. When beta testing begins, we expect to support IQFeed, CQG, and Rithmic, with other data sources to follow during the beta testing period.
Additionally, for RT 15, the RTX software development toolkit (SDK) has been updated to 64-bit. Upon initial beta release, all Linn Software developed RTX extensions will be available on the RT 15 64-bit platform.
William Linn, Founder and President of Linn Software
About the database migration tool built in Investor/RT 13.6 (released in Sept. 2019)
Investor/RT 13.6 is the final release that utilizes the 32-bit database engine incorporated into the software since inception. It incorporates a new built-in database migration tool. Indeed, the transition to a full 64-bit software will be achieved in two phases:
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First, Investor/RT 14 will be released, still with a 32-bit infrastructure, but with a more modern 64-bit compatible database system.
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Then, with Investor/RT 15, we will complete the transition (to a 64-bit infrastructure) of all other Investor/RT features (including the SDK)
Linn Software will soon initiate beta testing of Version 14. This major new release incorporates a new database engine that eliminates the database file size limitations inherent in RT 13 and earlier. RT 14 will thus permit more tick data and one minute interval data to be retained per symbol and generally will permit more symbols to be tracked with those retention settings. To achieve a smooth migration from RT 13 to RT 14, it is essential that all users update to Version 13.6.
This release includes a migration function accessible from the File > Functions menu. The Migrate Database Content function is run automatically periodically so that all setups will be available to RT 14 upon upgrade. Or you can run this function manual from the File menu just before moving forward onto RT 14. This function will create migration files in the admin directory that will be detected the first time RT 14 is run.
The migration files will be used to setup the new database with all charts, historical data, and other user settings exactly as defined in RT 13. RT 14 will have the same features as RT 13.6 and will look and feel exactly the same. RT 14 will undergo a month or two of public beta testing before general release to all customers later this year. This transition to RT 14 under a 64-bit compatible database engine is an essential first step in moving the platform to a full 64-bit implementation.
By default, the migration files are created daily to ensure that all of your setups are ready for update to Investor/RT 14. This process also involves creating a restore point of your database. The process adds a few seconds to the startup process each day. You may turn off the migration process by going to File > Preferences > Configuration and setting AutoCreateRT14MigrationFiles to zero. Or you may also set the frequency by setting AutoCreateRT14MigrationFiles to some number of days. e.g. set AutoCreateRT14MigrationFiles to 5 and the migration process will only occur every 5 days.