Producer Help - Using MS SQL Server

For using MS SQL Server connections a Professional or higher edition is needed. In this example, we will demonstrate how to make a connection to the MS SQL Server database. For most of the database servers available, the setup for connecting works the same.

Click New to start the Database Connection Wizard.

When the wizard opens you click Add to start making the connection.

Step 1

Enter a name for the database connection, select the correct database type, enter the name or IP address of the SQL Server. We advise using the server name as CardExchange® Producer supports Load Balancing via TNS. If used in your organization, you will always have access to your data if one of the servers goes down and the other takes over. Using IP is more static and you need to know for sure that IP addresses are not changing. Entering a port number with MS SQL Server is not needed.
When you are using Oracle, a port number needs to be entered. Enter the name of the database running on the MS SQL Server.

If MS SQL Server is set to use Windows Authorizations, you can leave the Login option unchecked. If not, check this option and provide a username and password so CardExchange® Producer can log in to the database server. All username and password information is encrypted with AES 128 bit technology.

Step 2

Select the checkbox 'Read data-items from this database', select the corresponding view/table in the 'View name' drop menu, and select the 'Primary Key' from the drop-down menu. The Primary Key is the unique identifier of the record in your database. Click Next to proceed.

Step 3

In the Main Interface of CardExchange® Producer, you find the Data Record View showing all the records available in the database in a so-called data grid. In this page of the wizard, we connect the columns of the database to the data fields. The first field always needs to be connected. All other fields are optional. If you connect the database column, left from the drop-down menu you see the checkbox selected. If the checkbox is checked, the column will be shown in the Data Record View. Click Next to proceed with the last and final step of this Database Connection Wizard.

If you are connecting to a database with a huge amount of records and you want to prevent loading all these records directly after the connection is made, check the 'Switch on level-three filter' checkbox. This will prevent CardExchange® Producer from loading all the records and allows you to first create all needed filters for your configuration. For more information about the Level Three Filters or any other filters, please see our "Using Filters" section of this Help file.

Step 4

In this page of the wizard you can set the rights to edit the connected database, or in this case, the connected MS SQL Server. Please be aware that this setting does not override the editing rights set by the DBA for record access.

Click on the checkbox 'Allow editing of the database records' to enable this functionality. Separate from this selection you can set that the user is allowed to add new records to the database, update existing records, and Delete records. In the Primary-key properties section, you can select to enter the primary keys manually. With real databases like MS SQL Server, Primary Key fields are always available and we advise not to enter keys manually. One not for Oracle users, when connecting to an Oracle Database Server, Primary Keys are generated based on created sequences. When Oracle is connected, select the correct Sequence from the drop-down menu. If no Sequences are available, please contact your DBA (Database Administrator). Click Next to Proceed.

Starting with CardExchange® Producer Premium edition, we offer advanced data column handling. With this functionality, you can set per available column if it needs to be visible or not visible in the Data Edit Window or visible and not editable. In the Editor selection, you can also define drop-down menus. For more information about how to create drop-down menu's, please see the "Using Drop Down Menu's" section of this Help file.

When you are using a Professional or higher edition you also will have access to functionality to set specific requirements per column like Column is required for printing, Halt batch when the column does not contain any data, etc. Wanna know how to use the requirements, please the "Using Data Requirements" section of this Help file. Click Next to Proceed.

Step 5

Starting from CardExchange® Producer Premium edition, we offer advanced data column handling. With this functionality you can set per available column if it needs to be visible or not visible in the Data Edit Window or visible and not editable. In the Editor selection you can also define drop down menus. For more information about how to create drop down menu's, please see the "Using Drop Down Menu's" section of this Help file.

When you are using a Professional or higher edition you also will have access to functionality to set specific requirements per column like Column is required for printing, Halt batch when the column does not contain any data, etc. Wanna know how to use the requirements, please the "Using Data Requirements" section of this Help file. Click Next to Proceed.

Step 6

Starting from the Premium edition, CardExchange® Producer offers Storage Items. Storage Items offers you the possibility to store any type of information that is important for your print process or production into your database. Print dates, Print counts, user information, photo's, signatures, etc. Everything you need to know about configuring Storage Items can be found in our "Using Storage Items" section of this Help file. Now Click Finish...

and save your database connection to a location on your computer. We advise storing your data in the Producer Help - Data Folder of CardExchange® Producer.

In six steps you have created the connection to your MS SQL Server and made the columns available for adding them to your design.