Updating Zionworx's database.

[Malc]

I mostly add songs to Zionworx at home and take the 2 database files with me to our church where I overwrite the files on the PC where we actulaly project the songs.
This can be a problem if the one other guy who knows how to add songs manually does so and I am unaware. I come along and overwrite his new additions!
I guess the answer is for me to just move back and forth 'container' files that just hold my newly added songs and then rather that overwrite the database files with them at the church, I just import the new songs from my files.
So, the question is (after all that waffle) how can I create the two database files empty for me to use as 'containers' for my new songs OR if I copy the files and rename them to use, how can I delete the almost 1800 songs from the copies - other than one at a time.

[andy2002]

it actually doesnt take that long, unlock database

select song - f7 - return - arrow down - f7 - return etc.

[Tekman]

'Two cooks spoil the broth'.

You have hit upon a classic computing dilema that is connected with updating, additions, and ammendments of records in a file (or database).

This is one very good reason why Christain - software developer of ZionWorx - made the songs database accessible via a password.

Generating your own database would mean having your own database software and also being competent in setting up (writing) the files; this is no easy task.

My best advice is that you should stick to one person being in charge of the database i.e. having a password that only one person knows. Just imagine if you or the other guy makes exstensive changes to the songs database, then you will be eternally, either having to tell each other exactly what you have done, or be faced with incredible frustration each time you come to use ZionWorx. Having said that, we use a laptop and someone else, other than myself, in our church does add songs or edits the database. He takes the laptop home with him sometimes to do this sort of work. Needless to say, I have discussed this at length and so far we have not had a problem.

The only suggestion that I can make, and Christian might need to ratify this, is to temporarily rename the two database files on your church computer and then load your files that you bring from home. This means they can be named with the name that ZionWorx expects, otherwise it will not be able to locate them.

After you have finished you would then remove your 'files from home' and rename the 'original' database files. The bottom line is which set of files do you really want to use 'yours or the other guys'. It would also be vital that you rename the 'original' files to exactly what ZionWorx expects them to be called.

As you can appreciate, whatever you do; it could be a recipe for disaster.

If all you want to do is add songs to the ZionWorx database or to edit them (if the latter is OK with everyone else), then I would suggest adopting the following practice.

Type any new songs into your word processor and make sure that you save the file as plain text. (You could use Notepad to do this - a plain text editor.) Save the file onto a floppy disc or CD ROM disk. A 3.5 floppy should be adequate size-wise.

Likewise, copy any songs from the ZionWorx database and edit them to how you want them and then save them to your floppy or whatever.

At your church you can open up your file on your floppy disk and then copy and paste the data into the ZionWorx database. I realise this takes time and that time is not always available before a Service; however, it is the trade-off in being able to use a brilliant presentation package such as ZionWorx. The alternative is to maintain songs as PowerPoint files, and who wants to do that when there is ZionWorx

[Malc]

Hey Tekman
I sat at my PC Sunday afternoon. I opened a copy of the database (having safely stored the original in another folder) and with no other decent alternative, set about deleting all 1800+ files from the 'spare' database.
Well, the Lord knows me and He knows what I was trying to achieve.
So, I deleted the first file - F7, delete, cursor down F7 ..uh, oh. It wouldn't delete any more! Huh!
So I came out of Zionworx, opened it up again and Praise the Lord! Empty database! Just what I needed. (True - very true) (I actually tried replicating this little phenomenon so I could alert all to this 'wierd key combo' that must have deleted the whole database in a stroke. But, nah. It wasn't a wierd key combo - The Lord did it.)
All I have to do now is add my news songs to my 'blank database', take that with me to church on a my 32Mb USB memory stick (file's small enough now I could use a floppy) and import from the Church Zionworx database the new files straight off the memory stick. Works a treat! No overwriting and no faffing about with word files and adding them ad hoc - zip! in they go.
Oh, the other thing I need to do - is praise the Lord.
He knows.

[Tekman]

Well Malc, I am absolutely amazed. I think that you must have surely experienced a true miracle.

As you rightfully point out, it would be great if we could all somehow have this facility.

I am now sorry that I laboured the point so much about how it was not wise to mess with the database files.

I guess that we all need to pray to the Lord. Then should we ever need to operate our database files the way you do, then He will bless the good works we are attempting to do in His name and all will work according to His divine plan.

God Bless You,
The Tekman

[Christian]

Well Malc, I am absolutely amazed. I think that you must have surely experienced a true miracle.

As you rightfully point out, it would be great if we could all somehow have this facility.

I'm sure Malc did experience a true miracle! But in fact there is another way to re-create this stroke of divine intervention:

You can create an empty ZionWorx database as follows:

1. Close ZionWorx if it's running.
2. Move your existing database files (songs.dbf and songs.dbt) from the program directory (e.g. C:\Program Files\ZionWorx) to some other safe location.
3. Start ZionWorx
4. Close ZionWorx
5. Voila - a new empty database will have automatically been created!

Hope that helps,

Christian.

[apwood]

I'm new to Zionworx, and maybe have not fully understood the question or response above, but I think it is easy and quite safe for more than one person to create new songs in their own copy of Zionworx (and therefore their own database) and to import them into a master database at Church. This only assumes you are reasonably computer literate.

Here is what I would do

A) YOU ONLY NEED DO THE FOLLOWING 4 STEPS ONCE

1. Create an empty database as described above. Alternatively, you can just use the database files (songs.dbt and songs.dbf) from the "ZionWorx 2_0 Full Install" folder obtained by double clicking the Zionworx installation packaged you downloaded when you first got Zionworx v2. (You just need to look in the "program files" and then in the "Zionworx" folder to find the database files - they only contain 10 songs that can easily be deleted).

2. If you have an old database you want to keep, just take a backup copy as described in the Zionworx help "Backing Up the Database". You could perhaps rename the database files to songsOld.dbt and songsOld.dbf).

3. Restore the Zionworx database as described in the Zionworx help "Backing Up the Database", but use your empty database files instead of the backup you took above at step 2. If anything goes wrong you can always just restore the backup you took at step 2, making sure you rename the files to songs.dbt and songs.dbf.

4. (Optional). Take a backup copy of the empty database files you created at step 1, perhaps rename them as songsEmpty.dbt and songEmpty.dbf. So you have an empty database ready for future use if needed.

B) DURING THE WEEK

5. Start zionworx and create new songs as normal. If you wish, first delete any songs you have already imported to the master database at church.

6. When you've finished copy the database files onto a floppy or something to take to church.

7. I suggest you rename the copied files so no one can mistake them as being the master database eg, if you're called Ian, rename them songsIan.dbt and songsIan.dbf. It is important that both files have the same name (other than the .dbt or .dbf extension).

C) AT CHURCH

8. Start Zionworx on the master computer using the master database.

9. Unlock the database (enter the password).

10. Launch the database import facility (click on Import in the Database menu).

11. Click the Select button and browse to where you have saved you database files you brought to Church. Select the file and press Open.

Note: If you have renamed the file for example to SongsIan.dbt and SongsIan.dbf, just click on the dbf file, it doesn't make any difference what it is called, as long as both the.dbf and .dbt file both have basically the same name (in this case SongsIan).

12. Highlight the songs you want to import to the master database, and press Add (or press Add All if you want import all the songs).

13. Press the Import button to import the new songs. If any of the songs has the same name as one already in the master database, it will not be imported.

14. Close the import window.

A lot of steps, but actually very easy. There is no danger of messing up your master database at church as long as you don't actually try to overwrite or delete the master database files, and there really would be no reason ever to do such a thing.

To be doubly safe, you probably should take regular backups each Sunday of the master database, as described in Zionworx help.

Hope this helps someone. God bless.

[Williamting]

Zionworx does allow multiple copies of database to be run - indirectly from the same PC. In this way, perhaps, you can have different groups owning their own respective db.

To achieve this, all you need is to copy the whole Zionworx directory to another directory anywhere on any disk. Then, make sure that you run zionworx.exe from the respective directory. Shortcuts of zionworx.exe from the respective directory can be created and placed on the desktop. Therefore, each group could manage their own song list and background.

Therefore, you can overwrite it as often as you wish, home<->church.

I hope this helps for those who needs multiple versions of db.

God bless,
William