Database documentation

[PatchworkRabbit]

Hello all!

I searched about on the forum looking for database documentation, and several references were made to contacting Actinic support to get it.

It seems they no longer give it out. Does anyone have a copy?

I'm trying to create some reports and things.

Thanks

[PatchworkRabbit]

So, I can take that as a no?

[Mike Hughes]

It seems they no longer give it out.

I don't have a copy but it seems an odd decision.

I'd go back to Actinic and ask again. If you get the same answer I'd then escalate this up to Actinic management as if you have a genuine reason for needing this then they really should be willing to help you.

Mike

[leehack]

Its provided (if wanted) to all people with a developer subscription as I understand, I'm presuming you don't have that and this is why you can't have it. If actinic don't want you to have a copy, it would surely be wrong for anyone to give you a copy. Its not a document that wants to be widely available from my perspective, thinking of 'security' here.

[Mike Hughes]

I can't really think of any security issues. Anyone with an Actinic database can look through it and see the field headers and contents. If there's stuff that needs to be kept out of harms reach then Actinic could easily produce a 'User' version that only details the information related to products and orders.

All most users want the database diagrams for is to help tie the different fields together when creating custom queries. It seems a valid request to me.

I can see Actinic being concerned about support issues though. I don't know if they get any "Help, I mucked about with the database and now it doesn't work" calls or not, but I'd be surprised if it was much of an issue.

Mike

[leehack]

It's not really an out and out security issue, although i'd argue the database password is actually. If we liken the database to your house, you could produce plans of your house, showing where all the rooms are, where the valuables are and where the cash is stashed. It doesn't help people break in as much, but it does show the overall plan for when they get in. Any document that shows how the software works far easier than working it out yourself, has to have some sort of risk attached to it. Maybe it's as simple as them not wanting competitors to understand it easily, if they want to understand it, they'll need to go the arduous route.

[Duncan Rounding]

If Actinic Support won't pass it on then I'm afraid it would be incorrect for me to do so either. I believe an NDA may be required for this information.

What specifically are you wanting to know about the database?
What reports are you wanting to create?