Starting in v20, all binary databases must comply with object notation. If your binary database does not have this setting explicitly enabled before upgrading to v20, you will get a -10537 error code with the following message: Cannot open database because it is not used in object notation.

In order to prevent this, you must manually set the compatibility settings. You can follow the steps below:

1. Open your binary database in an earlier version of 4D (e.g., v19, v18, etc.)


2. Open the database settings, and go to the Compatibilty tab.


3. Look for the option, Use object notation to access object properties (Unicode required). This option only shows up in legacy databases that have been converted from much older versions of 4D.
   
   
   
   • If applicable, you may need to also enable the Unicode mode setting.
   
   
   • If you do not see this option, then the database should be compatible with v20.
   
   
   
   
4. Save these settings, then open your binary database in v20. The same error message should not pop up.
   

More information on this can be found in the Non-compliance with object notation section of this documentation page here: https://doc.4d.com/4Dv20/4D/20/Deprecated-or-Removed-Features.100-6259787.en.html.