Customizable License

The ability to modify TRAIN TRACK® requires the purchase of a special "Customizable Edition" license. If you wish to modify TRAIN TRACK®, your existing license may be upgraded to the Customizable Edition.

The Customizable Edition includes an .accdb file which can be modified using Microsoft® Access®. Making modifications to your program is recommended for advanced users. This guide does not provide instructions on programming using Access® or Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA); you will need to use the resources that come with Access® or other resources, such as those that can be found on the web.

The customizable license also allows you to make modifications to the back-end SQL Server® database, and the web pages (if you have the Client and/or Web edition license).

Development Environment

DO NOT MAKE DESIGN CHANGES TO YOUR WORKING COPY OF THE DATABASE! Make a copy of your database and make changes to the copy; that way you can go back to the original if you encounter any problems. We recommend making a backup copy each time before you begin making changes.

All changes should be documented and tested before going into production. Liberty Labs, LLC will not be able to provide support if you do not follow these procedures.

After you have modified your copy of TRAIN TRACK®, and documented all changes, make another copy of the user interface to distribute to the users. We recommend making this an .accde file. Be sure to keep your .accdb file so that you can make additional changes as needed. If you are using the Desktop edition, you may then import your existing data when you are ready to release your new version (select Import Data from the navigation pane). If you are using the Client/Server edition, you may simply link the user interface to your back-end database.

Before you distribute the user interface, we recommend converting it to an .accde file, and hiding access to the design views (see below).

Permitted and Restricted Uses

With the Customizable Edition, you may make functional modifications to the database for use within your own company at one location. You may NOT remove the Liberty Labs logo or TRAIN TRACK® trademark, or modify the "About" dialog. You may not distribute any part of the software or code to anyone else. You may install a development copy of the software for making modifications. Please see your license agreement for full details on restricted and permitted uses. You may NOT:

- Rent, sublicense or lease the Software.
- Modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise disassemble the Software. 
- Distribute the Software or any portion of the Software or any of its code to any other individual or commercial concern.
- Remove or modify the LIBERTY LABS logo.
- Remove or modify the TRAIN TRACK® trademark.
- Modify the Software's "ABOUT" dialog.
- Copy the documentation.
- Re-purpose the application.
- Modify the program to be used for tracking unrelated data.
- Export or redistribute any portion of the product.

To assist with modifications, you may refer to the Software Design Specification. This document provides detailed information about the design of the software, including table relationship diagrams, report data sources, and a query index. It is included with the setup files for your Customizable Edition license.

Support

While we can provide technical support (if there is something wrong with the application or if you need more information on a specific function), we cannot show you how to make changes to TRAIN TRACK®. If you make changes that cause TRAIN TRACK® to function incorrectly, we cannot help you fix these issues.

General

To make modifications, you need to be able to open objects in design view. You can do this by selecting the object from the Navigation Pane, right-clicking, and selecting Design View.

To open the Navigation Pane, follow these steps:

1. From the Ribbon, select the File tab.
2. From the tree at the left, select Options.
3. Select Current Database.
4. Check the box Display Navigation Pane.
5. Click OK.
6. Restart TRAIN TRACK®.

To make an .accde file, follow these steps:

1. From the Ribbon, select the File tab.
2. Select Save and Publish > Make ACCDE.
3. Select a location and file name to save the file and click Save.
4. Open the copy you plan to distribute.
5. From the Ribbon, select the File tab.
6. From the tree at the left, select Options.
7. Select Current Database.
8. Un-check the boxes Display Navigation Pane, Allow Full Menus, and Allow Default Shortcut Menus.
9. Click OK.
10. Import your current data into the modified .accde file, or link your interface to the back-end database, and complete your testing before you distribute.

Reports

To create a new report by modifying an existing report:

1. Open the report you wish to modify. NOTE: There are four copies of each report. Select the one that matches your selection for letter or A4 size paper, and for sorting by training title or training number.
2. Right-click and select Report Design. The report will open in design view.
3. Select File > Save As and save the report with a new name.
4. From the menu bar, select View > Properties (or double-click on the square at the top left corner of the report). The properties box will open.
5. Select the Data tab.
6. Locate Record Source and click on the ellipse (...). The query that provides the data for the report will open.
7. From the menu bar, select File > Save As and save the query with a new name.
8. Modify the query. For example, if you wish to add filtering criteria, add it to the criteria line below the column.
9. Close and save. View your new report.
10. In tblReports, copy the line for the original report and paste it to a new line. Change the title and name to match your new report. This adds the report to the report menu.

Adding Features

Add a New Requirement Category

1. To add a new requirement category (for example, to require training by Shift) you will need to first add a column to store the required shifts in the table tblRqd.
2. Next, you will need to create a screen for the user to select the shifts and add them to this table. You can copy one of the existing screens used to add another type of requirement.
3. To add your new child form to the training detail screen, you will need to list the new form in the table tblScreen. Copy the entire line from the form you used as a template, and update the categories as needed for the user to select, and the name of the form.
4. You will then need to update the base query that determines the first level of requirements for each employee, qryRqd. This is a union query, and you will be adding another union statement onto the existing query to add shift requirements. You can copy one of the ones that are already there and just change it to match your data.

Add another category selection to the Training Detail screen

To add another child form to the training detail screen, you will need to list the new form in the table tblScreen. Copy an existing line, and re-name the categories as needed for the user to select, and the name of the form.

Add another category selection to the Employee Detail screen

To add another child form to the employee detail screen, you will need to list the new form in the table tblScreenEmp. Copy an existing line, and re-name the categories as needed for the user to select, and the name of the form.

Add a new Field

To add a new field to a form, first add it to the record source for the form, then add it to the form. Open the form in design view and open the properties box to determine the record source. If it is a query, you will need to add the field to the underlying table, then add it to the query.