The GoldMine File System

GoldMine stores information in one or more databases in which related records are logically organized. Storing information in a database provides advantages such as a common point of access for multiple users, applications, and data security.

Network applications managing information typically organize shared data in a relational database structure, supervised by a Database A collection of data fields and related tables, storing information that facilitates access and retrieval. Management System (DBMS). The DBMS supervises maintenance of and access to the database. It has a database engine that defines the database structure, stores data, and responds to requests by retrieving data from the stored locations. The DBMS can organize data in one large database that stores all system data or in multiple unique databases in the same system.

Information systems today facilitate quick and reliable data management and retrieval using the relational database. At the most basic level, a relational database consists of tables organizing data in columns and rows. The cell at any column/row can contain only one value. Columns and rows work together to define the type of information a cell contains.

GoldMine, acting as a DBMS, uses a number of different files to store various elements of the data it collects. In a GoldMine Premium Edition installation, the shared database files and Contact files The tables storing a database's contact information. Also referred to as Common files. The CommonDir line in the GM.ini points to the default contact files. are hosted on the server database while licensing and user files remain local to the GoldMine folder.

In a network environment, you can run workstations from the executable on the server. You can also install GoldMine's executable files locally to a workstation if the data files are centrally located and accessible to all GoldMine users. The physical configuration of GoldMine on the hard drive is important. The main GoldMine executables should always be one level deep in a directory structure. The path to GoldMine should be x:\GoldMine, where “x” is the network drive where GoldMine is installed. Installing by using Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths, the server path should be \\server\GoldMine\GoldMine or \\server\sharename\GoldMine.