|
<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: BACKING UP AND RESTORING YOUR DATA > Restoring Old Backups |
The database format, and database filename, was changed after the release of version 2.70b of DONATION. In that and earlier releases back to 2.30, the database filename and backup filename were both DONATION3.DB. In version 3.00 of DONATION (first released in late 2007) and all later releases, however, the database filename is DONATION4.DB, and the backup filename is DONATION4.DB.GBK, DONATION-YYYY-MM-DD.DB.GBK, or DONATION-YYYY-MM-DD.HH.MM.SSDB.GBK, where YYYY-MM-DD is replaced by the date the backup was made and HH.MM.SS is replaced by the time.
There are a few situations in which you may need to restore an old-version database file to DONATION. The most common is when your organization has been running a much older version of DONATION on a computer, and you buy a new computer (or switch to a new Treasurer or Envelope Secretary) and put a new version of DONATION onto that other computer.
If you try to use the normal Backup/Restore ⇒ Restore Database menu option to restore the backup file from the previous computer, it will not work, because the backup file is named DONATION3.DB but the normal Restore Database option is looking for a new-style backup file with a name ending in ".GBK". Don't try to rename your file to be like that - that certainly won't work! Instead, use the menu option Backup/Restore ⇒ Restore Old Database (DONATION3.DB).
If you use the Database ⇒ Switch Databases menu option to maintain multiple databases on one computer, and your current database is named something else (say DONATION4.OTHER), then the title of this menu option changes accordingly, for example to Backup/Restore ⇒ Restore Old Database (DONATION3.OTHER). (The filename of the database file you need to restore also changes accordingly, to DONATION3.OTHER, but the rest of the instructions below will refer to the standard filename, DONATION3.DB, for simplicity.)
This is a slightly complex routine, so please read the various messages and questions that come up as you run it carefully.
One main issue you may run into using this option is that you can only use it if an earlier version of DONATION (2.70b or earlier) has also been installed on this same computer that you are running it on, or at least the database software that it used has been installed. If it hasn't been, you will be informed of this, and offered an option to have the program automatically download and install the version 2.70 database software for you (the installation file name for that is named DB27C.EXE, and is only about 4MB). You should answer Yes to this, then let the program download and run that installation file. Just accept all of the defaults in the installation program as it steps through its various screens. That will then make it possible to re-run this menu option successfully, without otherwise affecting your current version of DONATION. So, there's nothing to worry about in doing this. After you have done that installation, you will be prompted to re-run Backup/Restore ⇒ Restore Old Database (DONATION3.DB) to actually do your restore.
Once this routine has ensured that you have the version 2.70 database software installed on this computer, it will prompt you for the DONATION3.DB file to restore, with a "Restore Backup File" dialog box. Navigate to the directory that holds your backup file (named DONATION3.DB) from the earlier version of DONATION, and select it there.
After this, it will give you a couple of further confirmation messages about what it is doing, and finally (if everything has been successful so far), it restarts the program, and it will prompt you with a large message box to convert the data from the old database format in the DONATION3.DB file to the new database format in the DONATION4.DB file. Answer Yes. (This triggers the Converting Data from Prior Versions of the Program routine.)
Once the conversion is completed, your old database file will have been fully restored, and converted into the new database format.
Restoring for users of the Network Version of DONATION
Only a user on the computer that has the Network Server version installed on it can do restores of old (or new) database backups. Users of the Network Client version will receive a message explaining that they cannot do restores.