Seed File
The Seed File is a Microsoft Access (.mdb or .accdb) formatted file designed to aid in maintaining both data and drafting standards. The changes made to the Seed file will be replicated to all new Project files. Changes made to the Project file will not be automatically updated in the Seed file, and changes made to the Seed file will not be inherited by existing Project files. Understanding the relationship between Seed and Project files is very important and will help determine where changes need to be made.
Location of Seed File
The Seed File can be located in a shared folder on the network, but can also be located on the local hard drive.
For others to access a common Seed File, it should reside on a network drive. First, create a new Folder in Explorer on the desired network drive. Next, give this folder a name that reflects the Client or Company Standard. Finally, copy the file Seed.mdb into this folder. If multiple Seed Files for multiple different Clients are used, then it is recommended keeping these Seed Files in separate folders. Rename the Seed.mdb file to a name that reflects the Client or Company Standard (throughout this document this file will be referred to as the Seed File). Each time a new Project is created using Skyline, that new Project folder will be located under the Seed File’s current folder.
If the Seed File is located on a shared network drive, then multiple Users can access the same Seed File and Project Files. If each person using Skyline has a separate Seed File on their local drive, then every time there is a change or update made on the Seed File it will have to be updated on each machine. NOTE: Only one user can access a project .mdb at a time. Users will be unable to concurrently share projects.
Changing Seed Files
A User can easily change to another Seed file when required to work on a different client’s project. Open the Skyline program, and on the Main Form select the SEED button. The Seed button allows the user to select their seed; the seed structure can be an Access file, a SQL database instance, or a SQL cloud instance. Find the Seed location in the File
Explorer window and click OK. The selected database is now the active seed.
Explorer window and click OK. The selected database is now the active seed.
Each Project created at this time will reflect the contents of the Seed file selected.