On-The-Road Newsletter
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A Report from David McQuoid,  On-The-Road  for   Computers In Ministry   and   Mission Builders International,    providing assistance with Databases and Software to Christian ministries / missions     primarily in the "lower-48" United States.

Supporting Computer Databases and Software in Christian Ministries . . . to Bring People to Christ

June 2010

Greetings again from east-central Missouri.

I returned to Child Evangelism Fellowship ( www.cefonline.com ) in Warrenton MO during the last half of April.

Now the focus at CEF is working on Phase II of the CEF Mailbox Club database modifications -- enabled by the migration to the SQL server done this last winter.
* The first steps were to further stabilize the operation of the system.     The key issue was the creation of many "dBase" (~.dbf) files -- a legacy method for storing data records.     The use of these files, primarily to communicate with a mailing-address checking program,   included creating new linked-table objects in the Access database structure.     Both the way the process was coded and the Access mechanism for doing so often led to conflicts when 12 to 25 people were using the database at the same time.     (By the way,   there were literally thousands of these outside files with 5 to 20+ more created every day.     They only stored duplicate information already contained in the database -- so their storage space was also a waste.)
* Without needing to share a constantly changing set of Access objects,  the "front-end" user-interface itself no longer needed to be shared -- each user could have their own copy.     Having independent copies of the front-end avoids all the semaphores and signaling that bogs down (and potentially locks up) the system.

Presently the schedule has openings for working visits to other ministries.     Most likely I will depart Child Evangelism Fellowship in the first part of July, with a potential return early fall (perhaps September).
            Ministries close to Saint Louis MO ('close' as in: just a few hundred miles) should contact me "right now".

I appreciate your continued prayers,   especially now:   for new ministries to contact me   and   for finding the right replacement travel-trailer (as mentioned in the last newsletter).

Thank You, --David.

David McQuoid
Serving the Database and Software Development needs of Christian ministries through
    Computers In Ministry   and   Mission Builders International
David@CIMonline.org
303-906-0940 (cell, usually I am in a Verizon service area)
Skype: dmcquoid (email to pre-arrange time)

This page last edited: 17 July 2010