ToyBase

ToyBase 7.0.95 allows your I.T department to move the database file to a folder of their choice – perhaps to a network drive for backup or security purposes.  To do this you need to know about Windows Explorer, Windows paths, and INI files.

ToyBase will store its database file and stock images in the location of your choosing.  The location needs two sub-folders:

• data
• images

ToyBase will try and create these but depending on file permissions it would be safer if you make them.  For example if you have a network drive mapped to N: and you want to store the data in N:\ApplicationData\ToyBase then create these folders:

• N:\ApplicationData\ToyBase\data
• N:\ApplicationData\ToyBase\images

Once you have made the folders follow these steps:

1. Start ToyBase
2. Locate the folder where ToyBase currently stores its data (see this article for more information). The quickest way is the Tools…Backup menu and click the yellow folder next to the line ‘Your data is always stored in this folder’.  Or you can look in the Help…View log menu
3. Find the toybase.ini file in the config folder ‘…toybase.net\ToyBase\home\config’.  If this file does not exist just go to the Tools…Options menu and hit the [Save] button to create it
4. Close the ToyBase application
5. Open the toybase.ini file and locate the [System] section
6. Add a new line DataBasePath=
7. Write the path where you want ToyBase to store its data (e.g. N:\ApplicationData\ToyBase)
8. Save and close the toybase.ini file

The next time you start ToyBase it will create an empty database file in the folder you chose.  If the users already have data then you should copy the existing database file (which has the extension .abs and is named in the Tools…Backup menu) into your new folder.  You can also copy the existing images from the local c: drive (in the images subfolder of the path you discovered above) to your network drive.

Start ToyBase, choose Help…View Log and you should see an entry that ToyBase is using your new folder. Have a look at the Toys…View menu to see that ToyBase has found the old records and their pictures.

I have just ordered Windows 7 with the intent of making sure that ToyBase runs on it without problem.  Microsoft generally do a very good of ensuring that older software runs on the latest version of Windows – if you do have any problem on Windows Vista make sure your user is a Power User or an Administrator or run the software in XP Compatibility Mode.

ToyBase 7.0.95 runs without problems on Windows 7.

ToyBase was originally commissioned by the Ravensbourne and Greenwich Toy Libraries to manage their large stock database. This was before the days of Microsoft Windows!

Ravensbourne Project no longer run a Toy Library, they now provide a Short Break Service. I have created a new web site for them which you can see at ravensbourneproject.org.uk Notice the prominent calendar on the front page where families can quickly see the days where services are available for them, and which the administrators can easily manage.

If you need a website and would like me to create it for you then please contact me at james@toybase.net

In the ‘Application’ section :

• Type the name of your organisation – this will appear in the title bar of the software and on your printouts
• Choose whether you use branches or not – check the box if you have more than one location.
• ToyBase can work with more than one currency – choose your local currency.
• ToyBase normally refers to your stock as ‘toys’ – you can change this to ‘items’ by choosing Leisure Library in Vocabulary

In the ‘Loan’ section :

• Choose how fines are calculated on overdue toys (see section 5.7.4 for more information)
• Enter how many days that you normally lend toys for

In the ‘Presentation’ section :

• Choose the font that your organisation uses (default is Arial)
• Choose the size of the screen and printer font (the printer font should be a few points larger than the screen font for best results)
• Choose whether to underline links on the screen and use background wallpaper
• Choose whether you want to show pictures of toys on screen and the size of the images as a percentage of screen width

If you have your monitor running in a small resolution (e.g. 640 x 480) you can turn off the pictures on the menu bar to save space

Click the [Save] button to save your changes. If you cannot see a save button you need to scroll down the page a bitusing the scrollbar on the right hand side of the window.

Pressing Home takes you to the welcome page of ToyBase. It provides quick links to each stock category and highlights members with overdure items. The search box allows you to clickly find member or stock records both by their numbers and words from their names. If you run several branches of your organisation (for example play centres in different locations) you can define them and allocate stock and members to the branches.

When you load ToyBase you will see the welcome page. It shows the name and maybe the logo of your organisation.

There is a search box at the top of this page. To use it type one of the following in the box and press Return:

• A toy or member number
• One or more words from a toy name
• One or more words from a member or child’s name.

You will see a short-list of toys, members and children who match the search. If only one record matches the search the view page will appear automatically. Here are some tips on using thesearch:

• ‘Ms. Smith’ will not match ‘Ms Smith’ so just search for ‘Smith’ instead
• ‘jane’ will also find ‘janet’; if you just want ‘jane’ then place a space after the name i.e. ‘jane ‘

If you work with branches then you can tell ToyBase that you would like to work with one particular branch in the current session. Choose the branch from the drop down list and click the Change button. Then on any future forms that have the branch option this branch will be selected for you. Choose ‘ALL*’ to work with all branches.

You can normally get to the welcome page by:

• Clicking the Back button until you see the welcome page. If the button is disabled then you are at the welcome page
• Clicking the Back button while holding the Alt key on your keyboard
• Clicking the ToyBase.net logo in the top left corner of some screens
• Clicking a Cancel button on some forms

You can exit ToyBase in the normal wayby clicking the X button in the top right hand corner of the window or on the welcome page: