The physical location of your Instant Database Files is displayed in a tab marked "File Locations" in the Instant Database tab of the 'All Settings' screen. On that screen, you can see the current location of your files and, if desired, you can repoint the current pointer to a different location. Do so, of course, if you have moved (or desire to move) your records.

   This screen can be accessed in three equally acceptable ways.

Via the Pathagoras drop down features list:

Click the Instant Database entry and then click Instant Database Settings and Options from the sub-menu.

From the IDB screen:

From the Utilities and Setting Screen

1. Click the Utilities/Setting entry from the Pathagoras drop down features menu.

2. Click the All Settings' button on the front page of the resulting screen.

3. Click the Instant Database tab.

   The default location of the Instant Database records is "C:\Program Files\Pathagoras\IDBs". If you have a single Pathagoras license, you will not likely be changing the location of your Instant Database records. But if you have purchased the Network version of the program, you may wish to share records via a common folder. Here are the steps:

1. Display the IDB File Locations tab following any of the steps outlined above. (The screen shot below is what you should see.) Then follow step 2 or 3 below:

2. Type (manually) the full path to the 'common' folder into the text box next to "Data Records"; or

3. Click the navigation button at the right side of the screen adjacent to the Data Records text box. Follow the prompt and navigate to the desired folder.

4. When finished, click the Save icon to lock in your changes.

NOTE: The Input Masks and Data Records can be stored together or stored separately. It is a personal choice.

NOTE 2: There simply are no rules or 'best practices' when it comes to sharing common Instant Database records. It all depends upon how your office is run. Some offices share everything, some offices share masks but not client or customer data records. Some offices share nothing, and run all instances of Pathagoras as totally independent operations.

 

IDB Tools (File Locations tab exposed).

It does not matter where you locate your Data records or Input Masks,

or what you call the folder in which they are saved

(although we do recommend using 'IDBs' as part of the path name).
If you wish to use a common set of records among all users, all users must point to the same location.

 

Tree Service:

  If you wish to save Instant Database records within sub-folders of the parent IDB folder, click the Settings tab and check the Tree Service box. Activating Tree Service for Data Records will allow you to organize the IDB records by major client or customer by creating a subfolder for each one and storing IDB records that pertain just to that client or customer in that subfolder. See this page for more.

Networking Issues:

 Sharing of Instant Database Data Records and Masks is further discussed here.