Time Slips: Database Conversions

Time Slips: Database Conversions

When working with Time Slips, the database must first be converted from its legacy format into MSSQL.

Time Slips from BDE

Very old versions of TimeSlips use the Borland Database Environment. To work with this format, do the following:

  1. Create a backup of the data using TimeSlips. The backup will have a .BKU extension.
  2. Rename the backup to have a .ZIP extension and unzip it.
  3. Use Spectral Core to convert the database from 32-bit Paradox to MSSQL
  4. The tables ABBREV and LOGIN will not convert. That is OK.

Time Slips from Firebird

More modern versions of Time Slips use the Firebird database engine. To work with this format, do the following:

  1. Determine the server that TimeSlips is on.  Open TimeSlips and click Help > About:


  2. Then look for a section like this and notate the server name (TS01 in the screenshot below):


  3. Remotely connect to the server listed above through MSTSC.

  4. Connect to the Timeslips server and run the Timeslips Administrator:


  5. Make note of the path that the database is running out of:


  6. Open Windows Services (services.msc) and find the Firebird server and stop it:


  7. Navigate to the path specified above and acquire a copy of the firm's timeslips database.  It will likely be the FDB file that is biggest or has been most recently modified.


  8. Now start the Firebird server again:


  9. Use Spectral Core to convert the database from FDB to SQL Server.

You may get an error 08006 . This simply means that the database was in use when you copied it.