Civil Air Patrol - Encampment Management Program

Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

1. Why do the programs have to be loaded into a directory named c:\capwatch?
2. Why isn't the entire system in one database?
3. Why are there multiple data databases? (Data, History, Medical & Finance)
4. How easy is it to move data from one computer to another?

Answers

1. Why do the programs have to be loaded into a directory named c:\capwatch?
   
   There are several databases that make up the Encampment Management Program. The programs must know the location of the related databases. The Link Manager has been set to "c:\capwatch". If you wish to change the location, you will have to manually change the pointers in Access/Link Manager. [Back to the top]
    
    
    
2. Why isn't the entire system in one database?
   
   Initially all programs and data did reside in one database. And at the end of the season, I do re-merge all the tables back into the Program database. I can then rename the database and move it to another directory for historical purposes. However, as more programs were developed, the database was getting too large. It was becoming difficult to email. I separated it into two databases, programs and data. A different individual was doing the pre-encampment registration, and she was able to send just the data to other people who needed to have access to the latest information. [Back to the top]
    
    
    
3. Why are there multiple data databases? (Data, History, Medical & Finance)
   
   Since different individuals may be entering different kinds of information at different locations, separating the databases allowed us to email just the piece that each person was responsible for. Data contains the Participant Information. This is the foundation of all the others. Finance includes payment information - in some wings the money is handled separately from the applications. Medical information is maintained by the medical staff and is not generally viewable by the rest of the staff. The History allows keeping this data from one year to the next. [Back to the top]
    
    
    
4. How easy is it to move data from one computer to another?
   
   The programs were developed for ease in passing the data to other computers. We have a registrar in in a different city who processes all the applications. The Encampment Commander and I (and any other staff member who wants to have a copy of the database) each install the system on our computer (all databases). But we do not make any changes to the data. We can do inquiries, run reports, etc. The registrar sends us one of the databases (DATA.MDB) periodically. This database holds all the changeable information. This is small enough that it is easy to email. We simply replace that file on our computer with the new one. There are some exceptions. The finance information (record of payments, etc) is in a different database (FINANCE.MDB). It depends who needs to see that information. If you want the updated data and finance, you need to replace both databases. The medical information is entered and maintained by our medical people. There is a desire to keep this information private. That is held in the MEDICAL.MDB. The medical people receive updated DATA.MDB from the registrar, and then enter medical information. This database is shared only with the commander. Again,it is simply a matter of replacing the most current copy of MEDICAL.MDB on his computer. The National information is held in CAPWATCH.MDB. New copies of this simply replace the old version. The only caveat to this working properly is that each computer system using the programs must install the databases in the C:\CAPWATCH directory. [Back to the top]
    
    
    

[Back to the top]