Note: Instructions about how to link to files can be found in Linking To An External File.
Actinic Business/Designer can create and maintain an external link with the following data sources:
· A Microsoft Access table (versions 95, 97, 2000 and 2003)
· A Microsoft Excel workbook (versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 97, 2000 and 2003)
· A table in an SQL-based database that provides Level 2 ODBC-compliance.
· Some non-SQL databases can also be opened via the SQL option in Catalog. A useful test to perform is to connect the database driver to something like Microsoft Access. If the database can then be read from and written to then using it via Business will be fine.
o Superbase: generally works OK, though there will be problems connecting to fields with complex formulas attached as that data is not available via ODBC.
o Filemaker: read-only. Filemaker is an SQL database but the ODBC driver has very limited functionality. The linked file must have 'Local Access Data Companion' sharing specified and Filemaker must be running with the linked file open for the ODBC driver to connect to the data.
Support is also available for the following databases:
· dBase III, IV and 5
· FoxPro 2.0, 2.5, 2.6, 3.0 and DBC
· Paradox 3.x, 4.x and 5.x
However, as we have had mixed success with the above databases, correct linking and operation cannot be guaranteed. If they do not work for you, we recommend you convert these databases to Microsoft Access (95, 97, 2000 or 2003).
Product References
Note 1: Actinic requires that you use your own product references which means that in 'Business Settings | Options', 'Auto Generate Product References' must be off. You must define the maximum character count of your product reference codes in 'Product Reference Character Count', e.g. 6 and then assign a reference to each of your external products. The maximum length permitted is 20 characters.
Note 2: If you are linking to Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access, your Product Reference field/column must be set to being 'Text' data, even if your product references are numeric. The field/column needs to be set to 'Text' before any data is entered into it.
Note 3: Your references can contain (- hyphen), (/ forward slash) and (\ back slash). The following characters are invalid ! " ' : _ | % * and should not be used to manually generate or import your product references.
Prices and Stock
Note 4: Prices must be in the lowest denominator of your selected currency. For instance, if you are selling in US Dollars, then your prices must be in cents in order for Actinic to link to them correctly.
Note 5: If you are linking to Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access then you need to make sure that any fields/columns you want to link to that contain numerical data (e.g. Price, Estimated Stock In Hand, Warn If Below, Suspend Orders If Below etc.) are set to being 'Number' data. This should be done before any data is entered into them. Also, the number of decimal places for these fields should be set to zero.
Linking to SQL Data
Note 6: If the external file is an SQL database, then the ODBC Data Source has to be set up, either in advance, e.g. through Windows Control Panel, or using the ODBC screens that will appear in Actinic.
Note 7: If the external file is an SQL database, you will also need to define a 'Primary Key' field for your data, or else Actinic will not be able to create the external link properly. You can use your 'Product Reference' column as your primary key if no other field is available.
Note 8: If you are using MS SQL server then you must use VARCHAR data type for the columns of the linked table. With other database systems use the equivalent syntax. This is so that a value in the external table, which is shorter than the size of its corresponding table column, will not be right-padded to the size of the column. Also, the 'int' type should be used for numeric fields such as 'Product Quantity', 'Stock in hand', 'Stock warning level' and 'Stock checks enabled'.
Maximum Number of Characters
Certain fields in Actinic have a limit to the number of characters that can be stored in the field. Before linking, you should check through your data to ensure that you do not exceed the maximum number of permitted characters in any of the following fields.
|
Text Field |
Max. Number of Characters |
|
Product reference |
20 |
|
Short description |
255 |
|
Full description |
20,000 |
|
Report Description |
20,000 |
|
Image Filename |
50 |
|
Date prompt text |
50 |
|
Other info prompt |
50 |
|
Detail Link Text |
20,000 |
|
Extended Info Text |
20,000 |