I always thought that CConstitAddress and IBBConstitAddress and CConstitAddressPhone and IBBPhone were more or less interchangeable. Or at least from the perspective of the constituent. If I have just jumped over too many steps in one sentence then let me start again.
Changing Raiser’s Edge skin part 2
When you are supplied all the dlls that an application uses and these are all COM object it is possible to discover things about the application that you would otherwise not normally be able to do. Some people may call this “hacking” but others like myself would prefer the less confrontational description of “investigating”
Static, Dynamic and User-defined code table entries
I regularly use the API help file and the code examples it contains. After all why reinvent the wheel There is a good example of how to retrieve values from a code table (search for “Code Tables Server” and select the entry with the same name). The example shows you how to create a code table server, load a combo box with certain entries or see if a certain value is in the table.
A while back I was looking to validate the gift pay method. I would retrieve the data from a CSV file and before applying it to the field in the gift I wanted to make sure it was a valid value. This way I could control the error message myself. This help file example was just what I needed.
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Installing IDLookup
Update: IDLookup is a legacy application that is no longer available for download. Almost all of the functionality has been incorporated into Importacular and we recommend that product instead.
In this post I hope to offer some help in installing IDLookup. Many people have downloaded it but it may not be so straight forward to install. Note that these instructions can also be used for installing Query Manager.
If you do not know what IDLookup is here is a brief outline. IDLookup is a plugin that I have created to lookup records in Raiser’s Edge given a list of constituents and their address details. This is useful where you have a third party list given that does not contain your constituent ids (such as many giving sites e.g. JustGiving, FirstGiving, CharityWeb, etc) or cold lists that you want to ensure really are cold. The application can be found on Zeidman Development ->IDLookup. This is a demo version that is tied to the sample database.
When you download IDLookup from Zeidman Development you receive a zipped up file consisting of one installation file. After extracting the installation file (IDLookup Setup.msi) double click on it and follow the guide that will install all the files in their correct location. In the plugins directory you will then see a link for IDLookup. However we are not ready to start just yet.
Continue reading Installing IDLookupIs the API really that expensive?
I get a lot of questions asking me if a certain change to The Raiser’s Edge can be done. Here is a typical (if somewhat abbreviated conversation)
Them: “We would like to add an attribute every time a constituent is saved. Then we want to synchronize our online giving application with Raisers Edge. Lastly we want to validate fields when entering gifts into Batch.”
Changing Raiser’s Edge skin
If only we could change Raiser’s Edge in the same way that we can change other applications such as our favourite music players etc.
Well unfortunately I cannot show you a way to do exactly that but there are a few things that can be changed. Continue reading Changing Raiser’s Edge skin
How to use the API on a shoestring
There are a lot of misconceptions about what the Raiser’s Edge API is and what it can be used for. A lot of organisations are put off by the fact that the API is expensive to purchase on top of the fact that they may have to cover the cost of development too.
Working with Attributes
Attributes are a common tool within The Raiser’s Edge. I know of no organisation that does not have any constituent attributes. Yet the API treats them rather peculiarly. Unlike an import where you specify the category and description the Attribute record doesn’t store the category in plain text. This would be OK if you regularly referred to attributes with their code table id but you do not. They are referred to using the category text.
Sometimes the API is just not enough
Sometimes I cannot quite get want I want from Raiser’s Edge using the API. Or if I can it is very slow to get the information. For example when you get a collection of top level records, say constituents, there are filter objects which work well, you can also use the custom where clause which works when there is not a filter parameter. However what do you do when you want a combination of different areas of The Raiser’s Edge all combined into one selection.
A Non-production database
There has been some discussion on the Blackbaud forums and on the Blackbus forum about using a second non-production database. This article will highlight some ways of doing this.
Before I begin I want to categorically state that if you believe what I am writing in this post breaks your Blackbaud contract then do not do it. A long time ago I was told by Blackbaud that it was perfectly acceptable and I hold by that but I know that others who have been told otherwise (including various support people at Blackbaud who will give you a different ruling depending on who you speak to!) Just to reiterate I am in no way encouraging you to break the law!
Continue reading A Non-production database