Hi Jim,
You can't lock the database in the sense you mean - I hadn't realised
that Legacy now took a read only database and assumed you wanted to
open it so changed the attribute for you - certainly easier for those
who are less computer literate but annoying if you thought you were
looking at a read only database.
Legacy is based on Microsoft Access and I think this is an Access issue.
Re knowing whether there are any changes since you last backed up -
the back up reminder on exit in Legacy is smart. It only asks if you
want to backup if there are changes. So you can always be sure you've
backed up changes.
Writing a log is another thing. I'm afraid I don't keep a log.
However, I never add data without adding a source immediately. If I
want to note something but haven't the time to enter it properly with
source I drop it in a To Do or in the Research Notes for the person.
If you want to check what the changes were (or at least who was
involved) you can search for modified date equal to todays date - or
after date x. Note you may inadvertently change modified dates if you
click the Save button rather than the Cancel button after looking at
something. You may not be so absent minded.
I also add the date to my database backups.
Cheers,
Cathy
At 08:57 AM 18/09/2007, you wrote:
I'm a new Legacy user looking for an alternative to FTM which I've
used for years. I've had no problem importing my main database and
am enjoying the tools that Legacy has for cleaning up my sources and
locations. The Legacy tools are far superior to what I've had to
work with in FTM. The recent thread on locking the database caught
my eye as I have been using the read only file attribute to lock
down my FTM databases unless I am actively updating them. There is a
certain comfort level in knowing that your database has not changes
since the last time you took a backup and locked the database down.
The earlier notes said Legacy would not open a read only database.
Not so! Legacy v. 6 will not only open a read only database it
resets the read only attribute. This is definitely not standard file
handling behavior and could be a real disaster for any user who
expects a read only flag to protect their data.
This is the one aspect of Legacy that I'm not real happy with.
Normally, my FTM databases stay locked as read only. When I make
edits or changes, I unlock the database, make the changes, lock the
database, take a dated backup and update a change log of what was
done. Since the main database is read only, it is easy to tell from
the file date that it hasn't been changed from the last backup. I
began this process because I had too many forgotten changes slipping
into my databases. It was too easy to make a change while browsing
the database and forget to either document it or back it up. Is
there any way to do the same sort of file lock down with Legacy?
Thanks,
Jim Rickenbacker
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