| Tech Tips-Backup/Restore
for the Reporting to the MAXAccounting
for Windows and Point of Sale for Windows, version 4.5 is equipped with a backup/restore
utility for backing up and restoring data files. The feature uses PKWARE’s PKZIP.EXE
and PKUNZIP.EXE to compress and store the data in a user-specified path. Backups and
restores are initiated by a menu option within the company desktop. The software
automatically backs up or restores the data for the current company code. The
backup/restore feature can archive the data on the computer’s hard drive or a network
drive, or on floppy disks, removable media drives such as JAZ drives, or a writeable
CDROM. This feature alone makes it worthwhile for your clients to move up to version 4.5.
There is no substitute for good backups and we still encounter too many customers who
don’t have them.
Version 4.5 also includes a new utility
for adjusting the Vendor Balance in the AP Master File. If you discover Control Report
errors and find that the balance in the Open Item File is correct, you can run this
utility to make the balance in the master file equal to the balance of the open items.
This is a useful utility if you have to restore the AP Master File from a backup. Without
the utility, you would have to restore the open, line, and history files with the master
file and reenter all invoices, payments, and adjustments since the backup.
Occasionally we encounter an installation
that will not run Data Exchange because of a "Can’t Find Installable ISAM"
error. This error can be caused by one of several problems, and you might have to look a
while to find the cause. Most ISAM errors can be solved with the following information.
ISAM is an acronym for Indexed Sequential
Access Method which is utilized by indexed databases such as dBASE, FoxPro, Btrieve, and
Paradox. The Microsoft Jet database engine and therefore Data Exchange can access these
different databases through user-installable drivers. If Data Exchange is unable to find
these user-installable drivers, it generates the "Can’t Find Installable
ISAM" error message.
The paths to the installable ISAMs are
stored in the [Installable ISAMs} section of the DX.INI file which is found in the folder
where CMSMAIN resides. Following is an example of the [Installable ISAMs] section of the
DX.INI file on an NT Workstation.
[Installable ISAMs]
;MS-Access 2.0 Engine DLL’s (requires
1994 version of VBDB300.DLL)
FoxPro 2.0=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\xbs200.dll
FoxPro 2.5=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\xbs200.dll
dBASE III=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\xbs200.dll
dBASE IV=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\xbs200.dll
Paradox 3.X=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\pdx200.dll
Btrieve=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\btrv200.dll
Paradox 4.X=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\pdx200.dll
The first thing to check is that each .DLL
can be found in the drive and folder specified. If the file is not there, or the drive
letter is wrong or not connected, or the folder does not exist, Data Exchange will not
find the Installable ISAM. Verify that the database name is spelled correctly and that
there are no extraneous spaces or characters in the name. For instance, verify that a
space separates dBASE and IV, and that only one space separates them. If two spaces or no
space separates them, Data Exchange will not find the Installable ISAM.
If the paths and database names check out, look for
the MSAES110.DLL, MSAJT110.DLL, and VBDB300.DLL files. These files must exist in the
WINDOWS/SYSTEM or WINNT/SYSTEM folder and have a date of 04/28/93 or newer. If one of
these files is an older version, Data Exchange will not find the Installable ISAM.
Larry Sweat
Technical Support and Information Systems Manager |
