This is a software package written by an SCA herald, for the use of SCA heralds. That said, anyone can download and use it, if they wish ... it is "freeware". Please keep in mind the phrase "You get what you pay for ..." -- in this case, I hope that you won't be disappointed, but I cannot 100% guarantee that everything will work the way you want it to, or expect it to; I cannot guarantee it is completely bug free (although lord knows, I've tried!). Note that I am interested in usability suggestions -- if there's something you think could be done in an easier to use way, please feel free to drop me a note (Email address is at the bottom of the page ...).

The purpose of this program is to provide a means of searching the SCA's Ordinary and Armorial (OandA) database in a fashion that makes some sense with a more intuitive interface than GREP or other UNIX based commands ... If you would like to see some screen shots, click here ... Screen Shots.

The current version is in dBASE Plus, which is a Windows-based database software package (some more detail at the bottom of this page). It can run in Windows 9x (95, 98, ME), Windows NT, Win2K, Windows XP ...

What happened to the 16-bit version? -- To the best of my knowledge, no one is using it anymore, and I have removed it from the website. If you really need it (and you really don't need it unless you're using Windows 3.1 ...), drop me an email (see below).

Included in the previous releases (the following are from 9.02/9.03/9.04/9.08/9.09/9.10/9.11/9.14/9.15):

• Change in the grid for Armory searches allowing you to view the complete blazon in the grid;
• Change in the titlebar of the application text, showing a more helpful date (month day, year) for the LoAR, etc.;
• Some minor bug fixes that most people will never notice, but made me a bit crazy;
• Ability to recognize Visual Styles in Windows XP ... (this will be improved even more in future releases -- it's dependant on changes in dBASE Plus itself);
• For names searches, added the ability to search for a partial name without using the filter options;
• Updated the documentation to include stuff about the Da'ud Encoding;
• A fix for a problem with the category table's indexes.
• Fixed some odd little bugs in the category search routines, which should allow for multiple category searches to work properly.
• Major appearance changes (using new icons, and more ...)
• Added code for Ealdormere, Northshield and Gleann Abhann to the Kingdoms table.
• Found a glitch either in the Morsulus Data, or in my code, but switched a couple of settings and the tinctures for "second" and "multi-tincture border" should be correct now.
• Added the ability for the application to remember where it was on your desktop (size and position) so that when you close the application, it will open in the same place next time.
• Coding updates, some of which took more effort to make work properly than expected, some minor tweaks here and there which handle some performance/screen update issues better.
• Some minor enhancements to the appearance across the board, so the application will use whatever theme you have set in Windows for much of what it does. The text on some of the screens is still blue, because I wanted it to stand out, but I'm wondering if I can find a way to do something that is at least a little more adherent to Windows standards.
• Added a "Copy Blazon to clipboard" button on the two forms that display a registration -- this is handy if all you need is the blazon, rather than all of the data. It is right next to the regular "Copy all data to clipboard" button on both screens.
• Upgraded the base application to dBASE Plus 2.61, which may give some appearance changes (rectangles, pushbuttons, and such), depending on version of Windows (XP most specifically). Also includes update of Borland Database Engine so the fix in 9.10/9.11 for the BDE problem has been incorporated into that, and the separate patch is not needed. (If you install this, and then go to the folder with the BDE, and find the file FIX4GBug.dll and delete it, everything should work fine ...)
• Removed disk space warning when loading the data ("Import Data" option), seems rather silly these days with the amount of space on a hard disc.
• Fixed search for armory routine so that it doesn't ignore all but the first item you ask it to search for in the first set. (If you had more than one item in the set, it only looked at the first -- due to a dumb coding error where I forgot to remove the filter on the data for the first item before trying to find the second item ... i.e., if you selected "Monster-Enfield" and "Monster-Dragon", it only found "Monster-Enfield" entries ... now it finds both.)

Included in release 9.16:

Some work to make the installer and application run properly on Windows Vista™. If you are installing on Vista, then please see the instructions below for the data -- you will need to "Unblock" the data files.

Instructions:

1. Download the software (see below) -- note it may take a long time (depending on your internet connection), as the executable for the install program is approx. 15.15 megabytes in size. A good portion of this is the installer for the Borland Database Engine -- I have no control over that, sorry. Note: There are two different downloads here.

   Option 1 (the big one): OandA 9.16 32-bit Installer -- Download this if you have a fast enough connection to download it (DSL, Cable, etc.).

   Option 2 (smaller files): For those with problems downloading HUGE files, this will take a bit longer, but if you download all of the following, one at a time, you can deal with "recovery" if a problem occurs.

   Please note: I have taken this option out. Unless there's a large demand for it, I am taking up a lot of space on the webserver with it, and I'd rather not leave it there ...

2. When the program is done downloading, run the program "OandA9_16.exe". Windows Vista™ users, please note: do not simply run this, but right-click on it in the Windows Explorer, and select "Run as Administrator" -- this is to ensure it installs properly! If you do not do this step, then I cannot guarantee that it will run the way it should.

3. Warning: It is not a good idea to install this on a network -- unlike SQL databases, a result set from a query will attempt to return the whole database, not just the result set, which will slow it down, and on a network can cause a bottleneck. It is best to install on a local machine, and is really what it was designed for.

4. Installation: When you run this, it will install some of the program pretty quickly, and then runs an install for the Runtime and such in the background in a "silent" mode -- the installer will display a message that this is what is happening, but no other indicators will appear.

   If the install stops on you and does not finish, then the Microsoft Anti-Spyware program may be causing some conflict(s). Another option is to see if you have a firewall running -- if so, you might try disconnecting from the internet, disable the firewall, run the install, and then restart the firewall/internet connections. The solution found by Donald Schroyer is to start Windows XP in SAFE mode (when booting the computer, press and hold F8 ...), run the install, and then reboot the computer to go back to normal mode. This is a pain, but it appears that Microsoft's software is causing some sort of a problem with this installer.

5. You may want to read the "README.TXT" file that is in the program group created.

6. IMPORTANT: Once you have the program installed, you will want to get hold of the latest copy of the data from Morsulus -- see instructions below for that.

7. When you have the latest data from Morsulus, run the OandA program from the program group, and then select "Import" (this is the same as "Translate" from earlier versions, minor cosmetic change). (Windows Vista™ users see information under the "Data" section below to make sure you unblock the files, so Vista will let you use them ...)

8. If you have any problems, please let me know, see the Contact information below.

This version was written completely in dBL, the programming language of dBASE Plus.

There may be other improvements down the road, but unless people tell me areas that need work, I won't know about them (hint, hint!).

1. Option 1 -- download from the Morsulus Herald's Website -- this is likely to be the most accurate/up-to-date version of the data:
   • Click on the link below. When the file starts loading in the browser, use your browsers' File menu, and select "Save As ...". Select the location to save to (the same place the OANDA software was installed to, i.e., C:\OANDA or wherever you installed it to). MAKE SURE YOU NAME IT: OANDA.DB -- if you do NOT put the .DB extension there, the browser will put its own extension on the file.

     The data: http://oanda.sca.org/oanda.db

     (NOTE: The URL above changed ... Morsulus didn't tell anyone about it, but it changed ...)

   • When the Oanda.db file is done, click on the Location/Address field in your browser, and go to the end of the address above. Delete the second "oanda" and type: my.cat (note, this MUST be entered in lower-case, or you will get a "404" error from the webserver, telling you the file doesn't exist ...). Once again, use the File menu, and select "Save As ..." (make sure it is named "MY.CAT", not "MY.CAT.HTM" or anything like that).

   • When both of these files are downloaded, copy them to the folder with the OandA program, then load (run) the OANDA software, and run the import (or translate) routines. (Windows Vista™ users see information below about unblocking these files!)

2. Option 2 (Recommended) -- download the zipped file containing the data, which may not be updated quite as often as Morsulus updates things, but attempts will be made to keep this updated ... This has the advantage of being smaller, so it won't take as long to download as the other option.
   • Click on the link below. This will ask if you want to download the zip file: OandAData.zip (or depending on your computer's setup, may ask if you want to run the .zip file, etc.). Suggest you download it if you are asked options.

     OandAData.zip (Dated February 13, 2008 (Covering LoARs up to August, 2007))

   • Once this has been downloaded, go to the place it was downloaded to, and assuming you have WinZip or PK Unzip for Windows installed (or some other software that understands the standard "zip" format), when asked where to unzip the files to, unzip them to the program folder (if using the 3.x version of the OandA program, it's probably something like C:\OandA, if using the newer version (8 or later), it's probably something like C:\Program Files\OandA).

   • Run the "Import" or "Translate" option (depending on the version of the software you have). (Windows Vista™ users see information below about unblocking these files!)

Note: Users of Internet Exporer 6.0 -- if you start the "download" process of the main OandA.db file at the Morsulus Herald's website, and then click the "File" and "Save As ..." menu options, Internet Explorer 6.0 will (unlike earlier versions) only save to disk the portion of the file that has currently been downloaded -- this can be a bit disconcerting, as you might get only the first few hundred items, rather than all 60,000+ ... in other words, you will want to wait until IE has stopped downloading the file, before you try to save the file to disk.

Windows Vista™ Users: Once you have downloaded these two files, or unzipped them from a .zip file, or however you obtained the files OandA.DB and My.Cat, using Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer):

• Right click on each file.
• Select the "Properties" menu option.
• The properties window will most likely tell you that these files have been blocked because they came from another computer.
• Click on the "Unblock" button, and close the Properties option.

First, I make no claims that the software is perfect, but I did put a lot of work into it. If you have a problem with it, please drop me an email (address below) with details -- preferably with exact steps to reproduce the problem.

Second, I am always interested in suggestions for ways to improve the software. I may think you have a great idea and run with it, I may ask a bunch of questions if you toss an idea at me, but ... I am interested.

Hirsch von Henford is a companion of the Orders of the Laurel and the Pelican in the West Kingdom, a Baron of the Court of the West, and holds a variety of other honors and awards over the 25 years or so he's been in the SCA. In addition, during his career in the SCA he has been a herald most of that time, and has held positions including Principality Herald (Stellanordica and Sea Wolf) for two of the West's Principalities, a variety of Kingdom staff positions, including a tenure as Vesper Principal Herald. Currently he is the Golem Herald for the West Kingdom (handling the Herald's website, award list, and a variety of other computer oriented things).

Ken Mayer (Hirsch's real-world alter-ego) was a Software Quality Assurance Engineer for dBASE, Inc., testing the software for flaws. Many projects written for the SCA have helped find bugs in the software, so in the process of writing this software, I was actually doing my job as well (nice trick, eh?). Currently I am surviving (barely) as an independent developer.

If you really want more info about me, see: http://www.goldenstag.net or you can visit my business site: Golden Stag Productions.