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Users Manual

Some guidance may be helpful with the admin script, so the following points are offered.
  1. The authorized administrator needs the password.
  2. Choose the Database (if more than one database exists, they will all be listed here).
  3. Choose the Mode. With a large database, a search is more efficient than displaying all records, but sometimes that is necessary as well. In Search Mode, define the field you wish to search, then proceed to the search options. If you chose a text field to search, you will see these options: (the hyper-links are help screens)
    1. Exact match. Spelling counts, but searches are case-insensitive.
    2. Pattern Match. Enter partial words, like "Smi" for Smith. Searches are case-insensitive.
    3. Boundary Match. Enter a range of letters, like "Aa" to "Ae". "Aa" to "Zz" returns the entire database.
If you chose a date field, you will see two sets of drop-down lists for you to define the boundaries of the date range you are seeking. You may use only the TO dates (all records up to that date), FROM dates (all records from that date forward), or BOTH date sets (all records that fall between those dates). Note that you may use the left three dropdowns, the right three, or all six, but no other combinations.

In all cases, all matches found (if any), are returned in a table, with a minimal set of information. Each record has a checkbox with it, that is used to mark that record for various functions. The name is also hyper-linked. Clicking it takes you to the EDIT screen for that record. That is the only way to see all the data for that record, but you need not make changes. The BACK button will always take you to the previous screen. If you have returned a large data set and wish to refine your search, click the Search button again. Subsequent searches will act only on the previously selected data, so searches are actually recursive, with no limit. Note that, if you have searched for something, and decide to search a different way, subsequent searches will not act on the entire database, but only on the most recent subset of data. You must "Return to Table" to get out of the search, and start another series of searches.

If you chose "Display All Records", the first 100 records are displayed. Along with the buttons described below, there is a "Next 100" button. On successive pages you will see, in addition, a "Previous 100" button. On the last page of the display, only the "Previous 100" button will be seen. There is not a way to jump ahead in the database. In that case, use the SEARCH function.

The various functions related to maintenance of the database are described below. All are reached by buttons on the display pages, except EDIT, which is reached by clicking the link on a record in any table display.

EDIT
All current values in the database are displayed. If no value is displayed, the value does not exist in the database. At the top of the page is displayed the database name, the total number of records in the database, and the number of the record being displayed. At the bottom of the page are five buttons: move to the previous record (<<), move to the next record (>>), Update, Overwrite, and Return to Table. Update means to change any information which you have changed or added. If you make no changes, no action is taken. Overwrite, however, always makes changes, so this is the way to delete data. Note also that Previous and Next move in a numerical progression, so if you enter the EDIT screen from a search result, Next will not take you to the next record in that data set, but the next record numerically in the entire database. In this case, use the BACK button to return to the search result, and click the next record.

ADD
Add a new record to the database. Some fields may be required, depending on settings in the setup file.

DELETE BOXES
All records whose checkbox is checked will be deleted from the database. There is a warning message to confirm deletions.

EMAIL BOXES
Send an email to all persons whose record checkbox is checked (if the email is in the database). The following steps are required:

  1. Choose the Template Directory. Templates may be kept in any directory specified in the setup file. If you choose a directory with no templates, you may have to return and choose another. All templates are text files with the extension ".tpl" (except HTML-mail templates, which are ".htm" or ".html").
  2. Choose "bulk mail" or "mail merge" (the hyper-links are help screens). Bulk mailn sends the same message to all recipients, but with the list of addresses suppressed. Mail merge will insert first names, datestamps, database data, or subscribe links based on placeholders placed in the email templates. NOTE: some of this functionality is limited by your mailserver. You may be able to send to 500 addresses, or 30. If you are using an inexpensive webserver, Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) may be disabled.
  3. Choose a template. The drop-down box will show all templates currently in the directory you chose. NOTE: if you manually paste in your message, no template is used, even if chosen, so steps 1 and 3 are moot. The only templates installed by default are the ones used when visitors submit forms, so you will need to create new ones for use from the Administrator Interface.
  4. Enter the subject, and the return email if different from the default.
  5. If the template has an extension of .htm or .html, the message will be sent as HTML mail. Text messages may be pasted in the text box, but HTML mail should be sent using a template, written in HTML, with full paths to all images.

EXPORT DATABASE
After clicking this button, select which fields to export (the default is all). The next step will write the selected fields of all records to a temporary comma-delimited text file, and take you to a link to view (left-click) or download (right-click) this file. The old temporary files are deleted in subsequent instances of running this routine. Note that when extracting a recursive search of the database, the button on that page reads "Export This Search". In that case, only the results of that search are exported, not the whole database. You can therefor export either the entire database, or a defined subset of the database.

ADD FIELD
Add a field to the database, specifying the data type and name. An empty field will be permanently added to all records in the database.

BULK UPDATE
Insert or change a value in any one field in the database, for all records, or any selected subset of records.

SORT DATABASE
Sort the database by one or two predefined fields.

Final thought. Both the DELETE and EMAIL functions require that checkboxes be checked, and all records to be affected must be on the same screen. A display of the entire database will only show the records 100 at a time. Searches do not have that limitation, and will return all results on one screen. If you cannot isolate the records you need by a search, you can, as a last resort, use the global boundary search (Aa to Zz), which will display all records on a single screen. In the case of a large database, it may take a long time to build that table, but that will allow you to select records that do not fit any standard matches.