Data Sources

 

This is an Advanced Topic. You do not need to understand any of the information presented below in order to use the CCS Accouning program. This information is provided primarily for System Administrators or MI personnel and is provided for those who seek a deeper understanding of the CCS data management tools.

CCS Accounting uses ADO (Active Data Objects) and ODBC (see below) to gain access to a myriad of Database Management Systems (DBMS). The first time you run a CCS Program, two Microsoft Access ODBC data sources, named CCSCNTRL and CCSDATA, are created. You can view these two definitions via the Windows Control Panel.

The CCSCNTRL datasource contains Tables (see below) that are shared and utilized by all CCS Accounting Modules (applications). CCSDATAXX (where XX equals your company number) contains the data tables that are normally not shared between modules. Multiple Companies can (and generally should) use a separate data source. For example, COMPANY# 10 and COMPANY# 20 should use data source CCSDATA10 and CCSDATA20 respectively. (Note: All tables for companies can be kept separately within a single data source if desired. See COMPANY Form for details.)

CCS can support an infinite number of data sources; however, additional data sources (i.e., data sources other than CCSDATA) must be set up via the Control Panel. When you define a COMPANY via the COMPANY Form, you should use the "AUTO" mode and let the program automatically create a datasource to be used by the new company. A data source need not be local: it can be a source that is accessed via a gateway or even a TCP/IP connection to a data source an ocean away. (Note: The trial version does not support dial up connections.)

The Microsoft Access ODBC driver is a very capable, network ready DBMS driver. However, it cannot efficiently handle very large databases over networks, nor is it a client/server driver. Therefore, if you need better efficiency over a network or would like to upgrade to a client/server DBMS, CCS recommends Microsoft SQL Server. An ODBC driver for SQL Server has already been installed for you by the CCS Setup program. To utilize this driver and make the switch to SQL Server, you must first install SQL Server 6.5 or later (available from Microsoft or most any software reseller) . After SQL Server is installed, simply redefine the two datasources (CCSCNTRL, and CCSDATA) as SQL Server data sources via the ODBC panel (Windows Control Panel) . For more assistance in setting up alternate data sources please contact CCS. Once installed, the CCS Accounting shell will automatically make the necessary internal changes to provide full client/server support.

 

Definitions :

Client/Server: See Client Server databases.

Column: A column defines the data type, size, and other attributes of one field of a row (record) of data. All columns taken as a set define a row (record) in the database. An individual column contains data related in type and purpose throughout the table; that is, a column's definition does not change from row to row. A good visual representation of a table, row and column might be that of a spreadsheet. The Column (field) runs vertically, the Row (record) runs horizontally, and the spreadsheet page itself is the table. Although not exact (individual cells under a particular column in a spread sheet may be defined differently), this analogy provides a good representation of these terms.

ODBC (Open Database Connectivity): A standard protocol that permits applications to connect to a variety of external database servers or files.