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 embedded Firebird version 2.5. (Embedded Firebird is used for the Standard and legacy Lite versions of DONATION; the full server version of Firebird is used for the Local Network and OnDemand versions of DONATION.)

Some earlier versions of DONATION used earlier versions of PowerBuilder. Versions prior to version 3.00 used the Sybase SQL Anywhere or Adaptive Server Anywhere database.

Accessing your Data with Programs other than DONATION

If anyone is ambitious and wishes to access the data in the DONATION 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\Donation or C:\Program Files (x86)\Donation. (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 "donation_reader", password "reader". There is an ODBC datasource set up on installation, called "DONATION_FB_READONLY", which already has this login defined in it.

Note: To use the DONATION_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\Donation, or C:\Program Files (x86)\Donation on 64-bit computers) to the Windows System directory (generally C:\Windows\System32).

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

Prior to version 3.30, the program itself used the ODBC datasource "DONATION_FB", with a different username and password. From version 3.30 on, it 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.

Note for users of Multiple DONATION Databases

If you maintain multiple databases in DONATION for multiple organizations, via the Database ⇒ Switch Databases menu option, and you want to use the DONATION_FB_READONLY ODBC datasource, please be aware that starting in version 3.30, it will always point to your main database, DONATION4.DB, unless you explicitly change it. (Previous versions of DONATION changed it as you switched databases, but that required running as an Administrator, which DONATION no longer does.) If you need to modify that datasource yourself, 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 DONATION_FB_READONLY, and click Configure. You will be able to change the Database name there.

Unfortunately, there is a complication getting to the Data Sources (ODBC) tool to edit the data sources 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 DONATION_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 Feb 17, 2023