Customizable License

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

The Customizable Edition is an .mdb 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 that can be found on the web, and you may use Answers for Access®, available as shareware from Liberty Labs.

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 will not be able to provide support if you do not follow these procedures.

After you have modified your copy of the program, and documented all changes, make another copy to distribute to the users. You can make this an .mde file if desired. Be sure to keep your .mdb file so that you can make additional changes as needed. You may then import your existing data when you are ready to release your new version (select Import Data from the navigation pane).

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.

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 the program. If you make changes that cause the program 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 first opening the object, then selecting View > Design View from the Functions toolbar. You can also open objects in design view from the Navigation Pane in Access 2007 or 2010.

To open the Navigation Pane on Access 2007 or 2010, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the gray area of the menu bar and select Functions.
2. A new toolbar will open allowing access to the database window and other functions.
3. Click Tools > Startup.
4. The startup properties box will open.
5. Check the box Allow built-in menus.
6. Close and re-open the database.
7. The ribbon will now be displayed.
8. Click the circle at the top right of the ribbon.
9. At the bottom of the pop-up window, select Access Options.
10. Select the tab Current Database.
11. Check Show navigation pane.
12. Close and re-open the database again.

Note: When the ribbon is open, you can find the TRAIN TRACK™ toolbars under "Add-ins".

To make an .mde file, follow these steps:

1. from the toolbar, select File > Save and Publish > Make MDE.
2. Select a location and file name to save the file and click Save.
3. Open the copy you plan to distribute, and from the toolbar, select File > Options > Current Database. Un-check the boxes for any options you don't want the users to have.
4. Import your current data into the modified .mde file and complete your testing before you distribute.

Reports

To add a report to the report menu, follow these steps:

1. Create and save your report.
2. Add the report name to tblReports. The exact report name needs to be in the "Name" column. Add a title and description under the "Title" and "Desc." columns. You do not need to enter anything in the other columns.

To create a new report by modifying an existing report:

1. Open the report you wish to modify.
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, description, and name to match your new report.

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 on 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. Add the category and sub-category 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. Add the category and sub-category 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. Add the category and sub-category 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.