XTreme Computing Data XChange Lite beta release 1.0 Readme Text Contents Copyright XTreme Computing Disclaimer: XTreme Computing makes no guarantees with respect to the functioning of this software, its interaction with your operating system or other software products, or its interaction with source data to which it is applied or target data it creates. By using this software you indicate acceptance of all terms and conditions mentioned herein and hold XTreme Computing harmless in the event the software described herein fails to function as expected or, through its use or installation, leads to conflicts or problems of any kind on your machine. The Lite edition of Data XChange may be freely distributed on the condition that an unmodified copy of this text file is included. Data XChange Lite functionality is limited to support for database conversion between versions of Access (Jet). Updates and Feedback: Please visit the XTreme Computing web site at http://www.XTremeComp.com regularly for updates on Data XChange. XTreme Computing welcomes feedback on Data XChange. Please send comments to data@xtremecomp.com. Some Technical Stuff: Data XChange was originally created using Visual Basic 4.0a and has subsequently been ported to Visual Basic 5.0, Service Pack 3. The supporting files for Data XChange derive from VB5 SP3, and if the relevant files are present and registered as needed on a target machine, copying the executable, help file and this text file may result in a functional copy of the product on the target machine. The program was compiled for distribution on a clean Windows 95 machine with nothing installed but the OS and VB5 updated to SP3. The setup distribution was created using the Visual Basic 5.0 Setup Wizard to create a single directory distribution. Data XChange was designed to run on current 32-bit Windows operating systems. It will not run on 16-bit Windows and has not been tested at all on Windows NT 3.51 machines. It was not designed to run on machines using RISC processors or on machines running Windows emulation software. Extensive testing has not been done to determine the minimum configuration requirements for Data XChange, and it will be subject in part to which edition you use, the database format and size, and potentially other factors beyond XTreme Computing's control. We suggest a minimum of Pentium or better with greater than 16 megabytes of RAM. Disk space and RAM required will depend in part on the size and type of databases involved in conversions with Data XChange. Description: Data XChange is a utility for replicating data from one database format into another, supporting conversion between versions of Microsoft Access, various ISAM data formats, and ODBC data sources. Data XChange Lite is limited to support for database conversion between versions of Access (Jet). Data XChange is planned for release in three editions: - Data XChange Lite, a shareware trial edition which you have downloaded. - Data XChange Professional, with the complete product functionality. - Data XChange Developer, an SDK edition that allows you to incorporate its functionality into your own applications or create custom, unattended replication/conversion scenarios. Usage: This text file will take you through the basic steps of how to use the Lite and Professional Editions of Data XChange as a supplement to the help files. Step 1: First, choose the type of database from which you wish to convert. In the Shareware edition this will be some version of Access, while in the professional version this will be some version of Access, an ISAM data source such as dBase, Paradox and others, or any correctly configured ODBC data source, such as Oracle, SQL Server and many others. Next, you need to tell Data XChange which specific database you want to convert from. In the Shareware version this will be something along the lines of "C:\Microsoft Office\Access\Samples\NWind.mdb" (the sample database that ships with Microsoft Access and Microsoft Visual Basic). In the Professional edition you will be able to specify other databases in addition to Microsoft Access, in most cases you will indicate a directory such as "C:\Database\dBase\." Once you have indicated the above information click the button labeled "Next>." Step 2: Choose what type of database you want to convert into. Once again, in the shareware version this will be some version of Microsoft Access and in the Professional version the options will be similarly expanded as noted in step 1. Next, you need to tell Data XChange which database you want to convert into, either a Microsoft Access MDB file or, in Professional edition, another type of target database. For example: "C:\Backups\backup1.mdb" or "C:\Backups\Paradox\Backup\." Once you have indicated the above information click the button labeled "Next>." Step 3: Now you get to determine which data you want to convert. You will see two listboxes. The listbox on the left will contain all of the convertible objects from the source database. You can either double-click the listed items, or single-click them and click on the button labeled ">." To choose everything click on the button labeled ">>." When you have selected an object to be converted it will appear in the listbox on the right. If you have chosen an object to convert and then decide you don't want it converted, you can simply double-click on it in the listbox on the right or single-click and click on the button labeled "<." This will send it back to the listbox on the left. The button labeled "<<" will deselect all selected database objects. When you have selected all the objects to be converted, click on the button labeled "Next>." Step 4: Verify the information. This page will have information about the source and destination databases such as what type of database and the database names. If the information looks correct then click on the button labeled "Finish." When Data XChange is done converting the database a textbox will display information about the conversion, documenting all objects that were converted and also any errors that occurred. This file will be saved into the directory that Data XChange is installed to with a "log" file extension. You can open this file in any word processor and print it out or print it directly out of Data XChange at the time of the conversion. Additional Information: If you have any problems using Data XChange you may email data@xtremecomp.com with your questions or problems. If you have any suggestions we welcome your input and feedback, also to data@xtremecomp.com. Be sure to check our web site for further information or updates. Thank you for using XTreme Computing Data XChange. Copyright 1998 XTreme Computing