TROUSERS Software for Bible Schools and Seminaries


	TROUSERS	Academic Record-Keeping Software for Small to Medium-Sized Bible Schools and Seminaries
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Trousers and Windows Vista

Summary

Trousers versions 2.0 thru 2.2 have two compatibility issues with Windows Vista. Both issues have simple workarounds, so Windows Vista users should not hesitate to use Trousers.

Problem Statement

Trousers has two points of failure under Windows Vista:

Administration Menu, option to Migrate Data from Trousers 1.0. The action fails and an error message appears. Few if any users are affected by this because by now few schools are using Trousers 1.0.
Administration Menu, option to Define New Trousers School. Upon completion Trousers displays a successful completion message. In reality the action partly succeeds and partly fails.

If you do not need to migrate data from Trousers 1.0 or define a Trousers school, you are unaffected and Trousers will run with no problem under Windows Vista.

Underlying Cause

Windows Vista has many features which help protect a PC from viruses and other malicious software. One feature is that Vista is more protective of the Windows Registry than previous versions of Windows. Broadly speaking this is a welcome development. However Trousers versions 2.0 thru 2.2 were created prior to the release of Windows Vista. These versions of Trousers include programming to update the Windows Registry when migrating data from version 1.0 or defining a new Trousers school. Vista prohibits Trousers from performing these Registry update and therefore the processes misbehave.

Plans for Future Fix

This requires a little research and the author is investigating. A fix is targeted for the next version of Trousers.

Until Then, a Simple Workaround

If you need to migrate data from Trousers 1.0, please contact the author who will work with you individually. If you need to define a new Trousers school, please see the following explanation.

Workaround for Defining a New Trousers School

When you click the “Define New Trousers School” button Trousers does two things: Trousers creates an empty Trousers database for the school name you specify and Trousers creates a Windows ODBC Registry entry for that school.

Under Windows Vista the action to create an empty database succeeds but the action to create a Windows ODBC Registry entry fails. So the workaround is to use Trousers to define the school but then use Windows itself to create the Registry entry. Following is an explanation of how to create the Registry entry.

1.   Invoke the Control Panel: LeftClick Start | LeftClick Control Panel. (If you are using a PC which is configured for the Classic Start Menu, do this instead: LeftClick Start | LeftClick Settings | LeftClick Control Panel.)

At this point you will see a window that looks like this.

2.   LeftClick Additional Options (lower right corner).

3.   LeftClick ODBC Data Sources.

At this point you will see a window that looks similar to this.

4. LeftClick the System DSN tab.

5. LeftClick the Add button.

At this point you will see a window that looks similar to this. Your list of driver names may vary but one choice will be Adaptive Server Anywhere 7.0.

6. LeftClick “Adaptive Server Anywhere 7.0” to highlight it and then LeftClick the (perhaps misleadingly-named) Finish button.

At this point you will see a window that looks like this. Please note the five tabs (ODBC, Login, Database, Network, Advanced).

7. Perform the following actions on each tab, LeftClicking to move from tab to tab. LeftClick the OK button when you are through.

ODBC Tab

Data Source Name: Type the school name as you specified it when you define the school to Trousers. This name must be 1-8 characters in length. Case (upper/lower) does not matter.
Leave all other options unchanged.

Radio Button: LeftClick "Supply User-ID and Password."
User ID: Type this: DBA
Password: Type this: SQL
Leave the "Encrypt Password" button unchecked.

Database Tab

Server Name: Type same text as Data Source Name from ODBC Tab.
Start Line: Copy/paste this text: C:\Program Files\Sybase\SQL Anywhere 7\win32\dbeng7.exe -d -c8m
Database Name: Type same text as Data Source Name from ODBC Tab.
Database File: Specify the complete path and file name. You can type it but it is simpler to click the Browse button and navigate to the file and then click the (perhaps misleadingly-named) Open button.

Network Tab, Advanced Tab

(Ignore these tabs.)

Remember to LeftClick the OK button when you have finished this step!

8. Close the windows you have opened during this process.

Academic Record-Keeping Software for Small to Medium-Sized Bible Schools and Seminaries

[Home] [Samples] [Two-Thirds World] [Change Log] [Version?] [Windows Vista] [FAQs] [User Support] [Statement of Faith] [Downloads] [About the Author] [Credits]