>YIKES.
>Dave, I already DID revise the field to list, Dues, Contributions, Spring
>Conference, House Pins. We want an easy way to track events separate from
>merchandise and the PMT FOR field is the most obvious.
>
>GEE, I wish the Admin docs were clearer about modifying ebay.
I assume you mean ebase. <g>. This is definitely an area that could
use some attention. I have helped several organizations recover from
this problem.
>Sounds like I
>could really screw up how the program operates due to ignorance.
ebase is a very complex system, and it's pretty easy to disturb the
relationships among the 29 files making up the system.
>
>At least, the doc could give warnings explaining what happens if you modify
>certain fields. Or the program could lock fields that shouldn't be modified.
One of the pitfalls of open source software is that it's open.
Access provided by the admin-level password is where you can make
changes to the resource settings and the like. Master-level access is
provided for those who want to change the underlying structure of the
file set. This is necessarily wide open.
>
>What other warnings can you give me before I make more mistakes?
Pretty tough to be specific - there are far to many ways to go wrong
to list them here. I could offer a general suggestion, which is to
assume that anything you change is going to affect something else.
Start to figure out how by "reverse engineering" the system, digging
into the layouts to find what the fields are, into the field
definitions to find out what changing calculations or values will
affect. Ask questions in the listserve - most of us have learned the
hard lessons by running into walls at one time or another, and are
happy to help others steer clear.
--
Dave Shaw Northwest Classics, Inc
tel: 206-954-7526 fax: 206-625-1338
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