Selecting a Data Source for the Address Book

There are two ways to link to a data source for an Address Book:

• Create a new Project
• Convert an existing Address Book

These two options are discussed below.

Create a New Project

New projects are created by selecting the Administration | System | Projects link on the FootPrints Toolbar.  Only the System Administrator has access to this option.

The instructions below refer specifically to linking to an ODBC Address Book when creating a new Project.   For complete instructions on creating Projects, please refer to Projects in the chapter on System Administration.

There are two options for creating a new project:

1. Create the project on my own—The System Administrator can create a new FootPrints Address Book, link to an existing Address Book, or link to an ODBC Address Book. 
2. Use an existing project configuration—Only the existing Address Book for the originating Project or a new FootPrints Address Book is allowed.  If the Address Book for the originating project is in ODBC format, the new project links to the same ODBC database using the same fields. 

In option 1 select the Create a Dynamic SQL Address Book Link and the next page that is displayed (after the other Project options are selected) is the ODBC Configuration page.  In option 2, if you would like to link to an ODBC Address Book, the options are: a. select FootPrints Address Book and then convert the Address Book later (see below), or b. convert the Address Book associated with the originating project to an ODBC Address Book (also see below).

Converting an Existing Address Book

An existing FootPrints Address Book can be converted to a Dynamic SQL Address Book at any time.  This is done from the Address Book Administration Address Book Type page.  Under Select Address Book Type, click the radio button for Dynamic SQL Address Book Link (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL or Access), enter your password, and click GO.  The  Configure Address Book Connection to Dynamic SQL Address Book (Step 1) page is displayed.  For more information about configuring the Address Book, please review Setting up a Relational Database.

When converting from a FootPrints Address Book to a Dynamic SQL Address Book, the references between Issues and Address contacts may be affected.  Contacts are linked to Issues based on the primary key in the Address Book.  In order to ease the transition, you can map existing Address Book fields to ODBC field attributes. Although not all fields map directly to the ODBC attributes, for those that do map directly you may still search the Address Book for a particular contact and any existing Issues with contact data that matches the primary key in the new ODBC Address Book is associated with that contact.