Databases ? How We Love to Hate Them!

You've finally created databases that you can actually use to store and manipulate all your critical data. That's great news and quite an accomplishment. But in your rush to get your employees to start entering information into these databases, you skipped the training process and let them go at it alone.

That was not such a good decision, but one you did not care about until you decided to tackle your first mail merge. Instead of getting what you expected to get, you got all variations of address and telephone number formats, an incredible and astounding assortment of confusingly mixed usage of upper and lower case characters and fields with unusual amounts of white space that you've finally figured out is due to excessive use of the space bar. The data looks cluttered, inconsistent, and worst of all, unprofessional.

You don't have time to go back into every record and manually fix these annoying inconsistencies, nor do you want to pay your staff to do this when they have so many other things to do. But you've got to get your promotion going so money can start arriving in your business checking account. Now what do you do?

There is a way you can go in and clean up these types of data messes and it won't involve firing the employees who caused the problems in the first place! Nor will you have to become proficient at database programming. As with any good business problem, there's a software solution available that you can use instead.

It's called DataPipe and it will clean up these and other types of database errors faster and less expensively than you can do it manually or by using other software tools. It does not matter which standard ODBC or OLE DB you are using. Just use its drivers to connect to DataPipe. From there, it's a matter of selecting the database and query or table you need to work on. Then sit back and watch as it works its magic in record time.

Even if you use packaged customer relationship management software at your business ? products like Goldmine, ACT!, Epiphany and others ? you still can use DataPipe.

DataPipe uses basic search and replace functions to tweak the text that is stored in your databases. Whether you know exactly the text you want modified, want to modify text that sounds like something specific, want to search for wildcards or particular patterns, or want to use fuzzy logic to help find typos, your data will benefit when you use DataPipe.

And best of all, you won't have to contact your programmer and negotiate a costly change order when you need to use a different format for your date fields, or when you need to swap the order of last and first names. But you can if this is what you need. You or your programmer can create custom filters using industry standard scripting languages.

DataPipe requires Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP or 2003, a hard disk with 15 MB free disk space and 64 MB RAM. It also requires SQL Server, Access, Informix, Sybase, DB2, Oracle, MySQL, DBF, FoxPro, FileMaker Pro, Excel Spreadsheets or any OLE DB/ODBC compliant database.

Isn't it time your data look and feel more consistent, more professional, and perhaps even more impressive? When you run a business, you need all the help you can get. And in today's competitive business climate, first impressions make the biggest impression. And unfortunately, sometimes first impressions are the key "make or break" determining factor. So make sure your first impressions count.

Copyright © 2005 Cavyl Stewart. Get the most out of the software you use everyday. Check out the add-in software directory for more information on DataPipe and other great time saving add-in tools. Visit: http://www.find-small -business-software.com/addins_general_software.php - Also, be sure to check out my Exclusive, 100% free, 100% original content ecourses.

---

Microsoft Navision Customization Upgrade ? Tips For Programmer/IT Specialist

Currently Microsoft Business Solutions is on the way of creating... Read More

The Hidden Power of Online Manual

Writing software manuals is boring, isn't it? We often think:... Read More

Great Plains Bill of Materials Setup & Customization for Process Manufacturing ? Overview

Microsoft Great Plains has full-featured Manufacturing suite of modules: Capacity... Read More

What is Fleet Maintenance Software?

Simply put, fleet maintenance allows companies to monitor and maintain... Read More

eStore Advantage ? Extending Microsoft eConnect for MBS Great Plains

eStore Advantage allows front-office applications to communicate with back-office business... Read More

CRM and Customer Life Cycle

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a combination of enterprise... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains RW: Report Writer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More

The Bluebird Project

The objective for Zandi Digital is to make available clever... Read More

Benefits of Shareware

Shareware has been fighting the stigma of being misunderstood for... Read More

25 Things Mapping Software Can Do For You

1. With mapping software you can create a report that... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains 8.0 Brazilian Version ? Overview For International Consultant

Microsoft Great Plains has substantial mid-market share in the USA... Read More

What is a Document Manager without Version History?

Document Manager and Version HistoryIn previous articles I have discussed... Read More

Microsoft RMS Customization ? PO Items Receiving in Great Plains

Microsoft Retail Management (RMS) and Microsoft Great Plains are retail... Read More

Story Development Software: Good or Evil?

In the early days of the personal computer, we're talking... Read More

History of Java

The java programming language is becoming more and more popular... Read More

Reduce TCO: The Java Database Way

TCO (Total Cost Ownership) is the buzzword in... Read More

Editing Your Photos Using Microsoft Picture It Publishing Platinum 2002 - A Great Dinosaur

I started using PIP (Picture It Publishing) Platinum 2002 right... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization Tools ? Overview

Former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise, and currently Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More

Microsoft CRM Implementation ? Fundamental CRM Principles Revision

Microsoft CRM is relatively new player on the now becoming... Read More

MySQL for Beginners ? How to Create a MySQL Database

Whether you are an experienced web programmer or a complete... Read More

ERP System of the Future: Database, Business Logic and Interface

We will base our prognosis on our Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More

Who Is Minding Your Sensitive Data?

Stealing company information used to be the specialty of spies... Read More

Microsoft Business Solutions VAR/Partner Selection ? Overview for IT Director/Manager/Controller

Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM become more and more... Read More

Microsoft CRM Customization

Microsoft CRM customization techniques are very diversified and based on... Read More

Five Steps to Rapid Development with TierDeveloper 4.0

Follow the steps below to quickly design, generate, and deploy... Read More

Software Upgrades Arent Always the Best Move

When my daughter was getting into AOL instant messaging (AIM)... Read More

OSI Layers Model

IntroductionDuring the early years of our modern computer era, very... Read More

Marketing Your WinRunner Team

It won't matter how effective your WinRunner Team is if... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Logistics & Warehouse Management ? Implementation & Customization Highlights

Logistics automation is often considered as barcoding extension to Sales... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Oil & Gas ? Implementation & Customization Highlights

Microsoft Great Plains serves the wide spectrum of horizontal markets.... Read More

Recovering Microsoft Great Plains Customization ? Tips for IT Director

Remember nice and prosperous Clinton era? When you implemented innovative... Read More

Linux for Home Users

Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More

Preventive Maintenance Software Companies

Several software companies design programs for preventive maintenance. Most of... Read More