Photo images, signature images,1 and binary data2 can be stored in the database or they can be stored as files outside of the database. If they are stored as files, two storage options are available:
• Use ID Works Path — Only the file name is saved in the database. The current setting for the photo, signature, or binary path is used as the path to store the file when the record is inserted into the database and as the path to find the file when the record is read from the database. This option is useful when you want to move the files to different locations over time. You can use the ID Works Administrator application to specify where photo image, signature image, and binary files should be stored. See the Administrator help topic “Set the system paths” for step-by-step instructions. • Select Path — The entire path is saved in the database. If your
ID Works project will be used on more than one computer and you select the path for image files, you can use universal naming (starting with \\) for the path specification. Using universal naming means you do not have to ensure that all computers in your system map drives the same way.
You can also specify a Production Form field to use as the file name. Specifying a Production Form field may help you
1. Signature fields are not available in ID Works Basic Edition. 2. Binary fields are available only in ID Works Enterprise Edition.
Use caution when changing between Use ID Works Path and Select Path or using the System Paths utility in ID Works Administrator to change the ID Works path after you have begun capturing images. Changing any of these settings may cause the software to not find previously-captured images.
Using Databases with ID Works Projects
find files when using another application. For example, if you specify that the Employee Number field be used as the file name for a photo, the image for the person whose employee number is 12345 would have the file name 12345.jpg. If you have multiple photo fields on the Production Form, you can use a composite field to differentiate the photos. For example, you could create a composite field that combines the employee number field with the constant string “left” and specify that composite field as the Field to Use as File Name for the left profile photo. See Composite Field on page62. and the online help topic “Add a composite field to a Production Form” for more information.
If you do not specify a Production Form field to use as the file name or if you specify a field that does not yield a unique file name, the software will construct a unique file name.
If the field used to name the file is empty, the file name will be created as if no field name was selected. To prevent this, mark fields used to name photos as Mandatory and do not use fields connected to AutoNumber database columns. See Production Form Field Options on page 72 and the online help topic “Set field options” for more information. To use a unique number for the file name, consider using the ID Works auto sequence field instead of a database-generated value. See Auto Sequence Fields on page100.
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Creating a Database from an ID Works
Designer
If you do not currently maintain a database for cardholder
information, you can use the ID Works Designer application to create a Microsoft Access database for your ID Works project. The Create Database from Production Form command on the Tools menu is available if the current project is not attached to a database. See the online help topic “Create a database” for step-by-step instructions. Create Database from Production Form lets you select the location and name of the database. See About the Created Database on page 109 for a list of characters that are not allowed in the database name. To have the same folder offered as the location for future databases you might create with this command, select Use this path as default database folder.
Alternatively, you can select Keep with project to keep the database that is created for a project in the project directory with other project files. This has the following advantages.
• It allows a project to function without alteration after it is copied or imported to a different path.
• If the project is exported, the database is included in the export file. This eliminates the extra step of copying the database if you move the project to another computer.
The Keep with project option requires that all photos, signatures, or binary data be stored as BLOB fields in the database.
Using Databases with ID Works Projects
CreateDatabase from Production Form presents a list of Production Form fields that can be included in the database table. You select which fields to add to the table.
You must also select a Primary Key field from the set of text fields you specified to be included in the database table. The Primary Key field must contain information that is unique to a given record, such as an employee number.
You can specify that the Primary Key field you selected should be automatically incremented for each record added to the database. If you select Make Primary Key an AutoNumber field, the Production
Only simple variable Production Form fields are available to add to the database table. Static text, static graphic, and composite fields are omitted from the list.
108 ID Works Version 6 Online Reference Library The first record saved to the database will have a value of 1 for this field; the second record saved will have a value of 2, and so on.
When you have made selections in each field, the OK button becomes available. When you click OK, a Summary dialog box opens that allows you to review your selections and either back up to change them or finish the database creation task.
When you choose Finish, Create Database from Production Form creates the database and the table, adds the specified fields to the table, adds the database to the project properties, opens a connection to the new table, and connects each Production Form field to its
corresponding database field. If you selected Make Primary Key an AutoNumber field and if the Production Form field designated as the Primary Key field was not designated as Read Only, Create Database from Production Form selects the Read Only option for that field.