Switching Databases

Starting in version 2.30, it is possible to maintain multiple databases for multiple charitable organizations on your machine. To do this, use the Database à Switch Databases option.

This option brings up a window that lists all of your organizations. There are three columns of information. The first is the Extension, which is the ending of the filename for the database. All database filenames start with "DONATION4.", and live in the "C:\Program Files\Donation\Data" directory (unless you did not accept the default installation directory when you installed DONATION). Your standard database is called DONATION4.DB, so you will see "DB" in the Extension field.

The 2nd column of information is the Organization Short Name. This may be the same as the full Organization Name entered in Maintenance à Organization Info, or may be a shortened version of it. (It holds a maximum of 40 characters).

The 3rd column is a checkbox labelled "Current". Whichever line has a check mark in this checkbox is the current database. To switch databases (once you have more than one database on the list), just check the Current checkbox on your desired database, then Close the window. It will confirm that you wish to switch to it, and if you answer Yes, the old database will be closed, and DONATION will be restarted with the new database open.

So, how do you create additional databases? Just click the New button, and fill in an Extension (which should not contain spaces, and must be different from all of the other databases on your list) and an Organization Short Name. Click Save to save your change. As usual, you can click Cancel to cancel the addition of the new database. After you click Save, it will ask whether you want to create a new database by copying from an empty database. In most cases, you would answer Yes to this question.

You can also change the Extension or Organization Sort Name of an existing database by just editing the data then clicking Save. Be very cautious about changing the Extension of an existing database, however, as it does not rename the file for you. In most cases this will mean that you will lose access to that database, and just have to change the Extension back to its correct value. (Or, you can rename the file yourself, using My Computer or Windows Explorer.)

If you wish to remove a database from the list, click anywhere in its row (so that the pointing hand points to it) and click the Delete button. This will confirm that you want to delete the row, then do so. It does not delete the database file. If you wish to do that, you may do so from Windows Explorer.

When you are done in this window, make sure you have the Current checkbox checked for the database you wish to resume working on, and click Close to close the window. As mentioned, if you have changed which one is Current it will confirm that you want to switch to it, then do so. The Organization Name is now displayed in the title bar of the DONATION program's main window, so you can easily see which organization's database you are using.

If you used version 2.70 or lower of DONATION, there is one thing to beware of when creating new databases and switching to them. The first time you switch to a database, if you had a database with that same extension in the earlier version, it will give you the same prompt it gave you when you started version 3.00 or later for the first time. That is, it will ask whether you wish to convert the database from your earlier version of DONATION into this new empty database. In most cases you will want to answer Yes to this question.

Note on Software Licensing and Switching Databases

The software licensing in DONATION is associated with your Organization Name. When you use Database à Switch Database to create or switch to additional databases for other organizations, you may no longer be licensed and DONATION will go back to being an Evaluation version. You will have to request another license key for the new organization name. To make this request immediately, you can either exit and restart DONATION, which will bring up the Evaluation and Licensing window, or use Help à Request or Install License Key which will also bring it up.

There is a small additional charge for maintaining databases for more than one organization on the same computer - please see the PRICING web page for details.

Network Versions and Switching Databases

If you are using the Network versions of DONATION, only the Network Server version can create new databases. Once it has done so, users of the Network Client version can also access those new databases. However, to get access to them, you need to manually copy the file named databases.txt from the DONATION installation directory (usually C:\Program Files\Donation) on the computer with the Network Server version to the installation directory of any computers with the Network Client version.