Operations Centre Menus

Back Up

Installation

Introduction

Getting Started

Operations Centre
   Branch Details
   Meetings And Contacts
   Committee Button
   Members' Details
   Information About Divers
    New Diver Wizard 
   Operations Centre Menus

Subscriptions

Training Records

Dive Logs

Equipment

Resource Databases

Customising DiveData

Database Maintenance

Compact Database

When you delete records from the database, the space they occupied is not immediately recovered. Instead it leaves “holes” in the file which cannot be reused. The compact database option copies DIVEDATA2000.MDB to a temporary file, removing these holes in the process. The old file is renamed to DIVEDATA2000.BAK and the temporary file becomes the new, smaller, DIVEDATA2000.MDB.

After compacting the database, Dive Data 2000 will exit. The next time you run it will use the compacted file.

Repair Database

Occasionally the database file can become corrupt. Typically this is caused by things like the PC being switched off unexpectedly. The repair database option will attempt to repair the database, although it does not always succeed. It depends on how badly damaged the database is. For this reason it is imperative that you make regular backups of the database file so that you can restore a backup version if necessary.

The database is compacted as part of the repair process, so a DIVEDATA2000.BAK file will be created which is the original (corrupt) DIVEDATA2000.MDB

Resources Menu

The resources menu gives access to a number of screens that manage secondary or supporting database information, rather than information that relates directly to a branch member. This includes databases of dive shops, dive sites, training records and agency subscriptions.

Make sure you set up a resource before you refer to it. For example, if PADI launch a Full Face Mask course you must enter it to the Available Training database before you try to record that a club member has taken the course.

The various resource screens are described in later chapters.

View

The list of members can display current; prospective or ex- members by selecting the required list from the View menu.

Prospective Members are people who have expressed an interest in joining the branch allowing you to record their contact details and follow up with a phone call or mail-shot. If they decide not to join you can delete them from the database, using the Delete Diver button. If they do join they can be "promoted" to current members using the "Join Diver" button. The New Diver Wizard will then prompt for additional information such as membership subscriptions.

Current Members are your branch membership. In a nutshell these are the people who have paid up subscriptions. When a subscription is due within the next month their name is shown in bold on the list of members and a $ symbol is shown next to their name. If their subscription is overdue their name is shown in red bold and a red $ is shown next to their name. You can drop people who don’t pay from the current membership list by pressing the Drop Diver button. This makes them an ex-member.

If you have entered the date of birth and date of last medical for a member, Dive Data 2000 will track the date their medical is next due. Like subscriptions, names are shown in bold and red bold when medicals are due or overdue and a symbol is shown next to the name.

Ex-members are people who you have dropped from current membership. This allows you to retain all of their details, dives and training records without them cluttering up the current membership list. If they rejoin in the future then you can reinstate them by pressing the Reinstate Diver button.

Its difficult to know how long an ex- diver should remain in the database. You can delete an ex-diver at any time by pressing the Delete Diver button, but you will also delete all of their training, dive, and equipment records. For this reason Dive Data prompts you to confirm as each type of record is deleted.

Sort Order: You can also set the sort order (by Firstname or Surname) and the display style as either Firstname Surname (e.g. Eddie Grundy) or Surname, Firstname (e.g. Grundy, Eddie).

Mugshots: The mugshot option is a feature that causes a picture of each member to be displayed when you select their record. This can be very useful if you have a large club and, like me, are bad at remembering peoples’ names.

Dive Data 2000 looks for a picture file in a directory called Mugshots below the directory into which you installed it. So if you installed in C:\Program Files\Divedata2000 the mugshot files would be in C:\Program Files\Divedata2000\Mugshots. Pictures can be .JPG, .GIF or .BMP files and should be 200 pixels high by 200 pixels wide. The file naming convention is FirstnameSurname.* (e.g. EddieGrundy.JPG)

Reports

Dive Data 2000 has a host of predefined reports that are accessed through the Reports menu. They are written using Seagate Crystal Reports and you can customise them if you buy a copy of this program – but be sure to take a copy of the original report first!

 

© 1999 Energico Associates Ltd
Last Updated: 31 December, 1999