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When Pat Bird suggested
writing a database manager for ringers (back in 1997) I expected
to write it in a week. It was actually on sale late in 1998 and
here we are, ten
years later, and it's still being perfected!
Over
the years we've had many suggestions (good and bad) from users
and we managed to incorporate many of their requested
modifications and new features into v2. However, the v2 database
structure wasn't up to the job and the application had evolved
up to (and probably past) its limits. It was time for a change.
Work
on WinRK version 3 started three years ago. The database structure
was redesigned to allow much more flexibility and the v2 to v3
database conversion utility program (imaginatively called
Con2v3) written. Then the fun started!
We
removed only one feature that was in v2 - the ability to import
RK for DOS databases. Here are
some
of the features we added:
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View any
number of windows on-screen at the same time.
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All
counts are all displayed in the same window.
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New
navigation facilities let you view performances, societies,
ringers, towers, composers and publications as spreadsheets
(in the same window) and from there, navigate directly to
the appropriate add/edit/delete wizard.
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All data
is now created, edited or deleted using wizards. The reason
for this is to prevent (or at least reduce) duplicate
records due to spelling mistakes or inconsistent
abbreviations.
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Rings of
bells. This facility enables you to specify a particular
ring (e.g. the Back Six) in any tower.
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Import
your performances directly from Andrew Craddock’s PealBase.
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Ringer AKAs (Ringers
whose names have changed).
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County
AKAs (counties that have changed their name and/or borders.
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Tenor
AKAs (tenors that have been replaced, reworked, recast or
retuned).
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Tower AKAs (towers that
have changed their dedication or have been subjected to a
county change).
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Compile
and directly
email selected performances to Ringing World, Campanophile,
or any other email address of your choice. N.B. Direct email
is only available for services where the ISP provides an
SMTP server.
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A new
'Expert' search facility (that includes 'NOT' as well as
'AND').
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A ‘Tower Circling’ search that will report the number of times
an individual has circled a tower and how many times they’ve
rung each bell.
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A 'Ringer Circling'
search that will report
the number of times every ringer has rung each bell in a
selected tower.
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A 'Year Circling' search
that will report the the number of times a selected ringer
has rung on each day of the year and how many times the year
has been circled.
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Display a list of towers
rung by a selected ringer.
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Lots more
data may be stored. This includes:
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Society
secretary addresses and 'phone numbers.
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More
tenor information (the name of the tenor and where and
when it was cast, etc.).
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Foundry information (contacts, address and 'phone
numbers).
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Publications information (contacts, addresses and 'phone
numbers).
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User
selectable defaults enable you to select (or not - it's up
to you!) fields which will be entered automatically when you
create a new performance record:
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The
name of the Society for which you usually ring.
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The
name of your home Tower.
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The
ring of bells within that tower that is normally used.
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The
name of the paper or magazine which usually publishes
your performances.
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Decide
whether to include the bell numbers (defined in the Ring
- see above) in performance views and print-outs.
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Input
boxes are colour coded to
show how they can be used:
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Boxes
with a white background will allow data to be entered
directly.
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Boxes
with a grey background will only display data.
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Boxes
with a coloured background will only allow data to be
selected from their drop-down list but they also allow a
filter to be entered. The background colour is user
selectable.
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The only thing disabled in the 30-day trial is the ability to
export records.
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