Design Files

The file name of a database design file consists of a user-defined project code and a spatial database identifier (sdi). The file extension isdgd.isis.

The full name, therefore, is as follows:

<proj><sdi>dgd.isis

Associated with any design database is the corresponding database index file:

<proj><sdi>.dgd.isix

The library design database (.dgd) from earlier versions of Vulcan, i.e. those versions prior to Version 7.0, are no longer used in Vulcan 9 and need to be converted. Please refer to the Convert option (under the File > Design Files submenu) for more information.

Data is not stored in the database design file until it is saved. Prior to saving, any changes (or new work) are performed on a copy of the last saved version of the database design file. This copy is referred to as the work file (<proj><sdi>.wrk) and resides in the same folder (directory) as the database design file. Work files allow the recovery of data in the unlikely event of a system failure. Refer to the Recovering a Design Database documentation for more information on how to recover a design database.

Database design files can be accessed by any user for viewing purposes unless a save operation is under way. Work files are "locked" for the entire Vulcan session, i.e. no other user can access the work file.

Some sites require a "master" database design file to be accessed by more than one user at the same time. In this case the design database file is stored in a different folder than the one in which the users are logged. Each user must have their own work file, which needs to be in their current folders.

For this special case you will need to set the environment variableLOCAL_WORKFILE to any value and this will override the default that the work file is created in the same folder as the design database file.

As Vulcan does not support layer locking, procedures should be put in place so that the same layer is not accessed by more than one user at the same time.

You should compress your database design files on a regular basis, for example once a month, as data that is deleted is not actually deleted but marked for deletion. In the long term this will result in this data taking up considerable amount of disk space. Compressing the files will remove the data that is marked for deletion. Use the Compress and Rebuild option from the context menu in the Explorer application to compress design files. Refer to the Compressing a Database documentation for more information on how to compress and rebuild an existing database.

Related information on data structures can be found in the following files:

• Overview
• Layers
• Objects
• Coordinate Points
• Additional Data Organisation
• Structuring Your Data