When managing concatenated databases, be aware of the following:
•Index and reindexing need only be done on the Primary database; all others are automatically indexed/reindexed.
•Pack need only be done on the primary database; all others are automatically packed.
•File updates and data imports, either from drag and drop or the Import feature, append to the very last database in the file set.
•DCB, DAT, and PST files that are dragged and dropped onto the primary database are automatically added to the concatenated file set.
•Exports only use a selected database’s field structure from a concatenated set.
•Each users' field rights and menu access settings need to be the same for every database in the concatenated file set.
•Productions can be run for a concatenated file set by running them on the Primary database only; all other database in the file set are automatically included
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You can export from a concatenated set of databases as long as the field names are the same; however, the field type is inherited from only one selected database, so data may be truncated if the field size and data size of one of the concatenated databases exceeds the field size of the selected database structure. |
Limitations for Concatenated Databases
Using concatenated databases includes the following limitations:
•You can join databases with differing structures and they can be edited, sorted, and printed. However, the structures must be identical to use certain options such as Overlay and Export.
•When exporting concatenated databases, only the data in fields that are identically named and formatted in the concatenated set will be exported.
•When importing records into a concatenated database, records are updated when the fields of an imported record match an existing record. When the fields do not match, the imported record is appended to the main database, which is the first database in the concatenated set. However, when using the Overlay option, importing records with mismatched fields can cause a loss of data.
•Only the "Primary" database of a concatenated file set can be opened. If a user attempts to open a database that is part of a concatenated file set, they receive a message stating that they cannot open a "non-primary" database.
User Management Guidelines for Concatenated Databases
Setting up user management for concatenated databases includes the following guidelines:
•Each users' user name and password must be the same for all databases in the concatenated set.
•When the user name and password in the primary database does not exist in a secondary database, the concatenated database will not open. The user receives a message that they do not have access rights to the specific database.
Automatically Launching Concatenated Databases
The concatenated text file (.CAT file) is used to keep track of concatenated databases. The file contains the list of database names and their file paths for the databases in the concatenated database. If you attempt to open a database and Concordance Desktop finds a database .cat file by the same name in the same directory as the .dcb file, the databases in the list are automatically opened and concatenated. Since the Reindex function updates all actively concatenated databases, you can search, edit, and use the group as if they were one.