TECHNICAL INFORMATION > Technical Information

This section of the manual is only for very curious technical people.

The program is written in the programming environment Appeon PowerBuilder 2019. The database that the data is stored in is the SQL database Firebird version 2.5. (Embedded Firebird is used for the Standard version of ACCOUNTS; the full server version of Firebird is used for the Local Network and OnDemand versions of ACCOUNTS.)

Accessing your Data with Programs other than ACCOUNTS

If anyone is ambitious and wishes to access the data in the ACCOUNTS database directly, the definitions of the SQL tables in it are in the file TABLES.SQL in the program's main directory, which is usually C:\Program Files\Accounts or C:\Program Files (x86)\Accounts. (Users of the OnDemand version cannot access that directory - just contact us if you need a copy of that file.) There is a login that you can use for read-only access to all of the tables, which is username "accounts_reader", password "reader". There is an ODBC datasource set up on installation, called "ACCOUNTS_FB_READONLY", which already has this login defined in it.

Note: To use the ACCOUNTS_FB_READONLY datasource from other programs, you may first have to copy the three files icudt30.dll, icuin30.dll, and icuuc30.dll from the program's installation directory (normally C:\Program Files\Accounts, or C:\Program Files (x86)\Accounts on 64-bit computers) to the Windows System directory (generally C:\Windows\System32).

Also, if you have the Standard version of ACCOUNTS, you may not be able to access data through that datasource while ACCOUNTS is running at the same time. That should not be a problem if you have a Network version of ACCOUNTS.

Another ODBC datasource "ACCOUNTS_FB", also exists, with a different username and password that allows for changing data, not just reading it. ACCOUNTS works without using that ODBC datasource, though the datasource does still exist. Sorry, we do not give out the username and password for that datasource, because we do not want you to be modifying data other than by using the program! That would be very likely to cause errors. A better way to make custom changes to the data, with our assistance, is by using the Database ⇒ SQL Select menu option.

Editing the ODBC Datasource Before you can Use it

If you want to use the ACCOUNTS_FB_READONLY ODBC datasource, you will actually have to edit it first, to specify the actual filename of your current database. (When that ODBC datasource was created during the installation of the program, it could not know what you would choose to name your organization and database!)

To make that change, go to Windows Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then "ODBC Data Sources (32-bit)" if that option is there, or otherwise "Data Sources (ODBC)", then switch to the System DSN tab, click on ACCOUNTS_FB_READONLY, and click Configure. You will be able to change the Database name there.

Unfortunately, there is a complication on some computers. If your computer has a 64-bit processor, and there was not an option for "ODBC Data Sources (32-bit)" in the Administrative Tools, you will not find ACCOUNTS_FB_READONLY by following those instructions above. Instead, use the Run option from the Windows Start menu, and run the following, without the quotes: "C:\windows\syswow64\odbcad32.exe". (In some versions of Windows, there is no Run option - enter that same command in the "Search programs and files" entry box in the Start menu.)

This topic was last edited on Aug 16, 2021