Connecting your own database or specialist application even the legacy program without a suitable interface.

The database someone built back then, the specialist application only a few people can operate, the program whose vendor no longer exists: with a scheduled export, even these become something you can ask questions of – without changing the program. Before we start, we look at what your program can output.

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Your own database or specialist application

subject to a feasibility check · database export

Example question

“Which cases are recorded in the legacy program for the property at Bahnhofstraße 12?”

1 Answer with source

Connection

How the connection works

First we look at what the program can output: an interface, a CSV or Excel export, a printed report as PDF, or a read-only query on the database. From this, we set up a scheduled export into an output directory that is mirrored to your instance, encrypted and over outbound connections only; nothing is changed in the program, it is only read. We check before we start whether and how your program can be connected – depending on version, licence and how it is run. The first run uses a sample, so you can check the answers before more is added; until the connection is set up, you can upload individual files, whole folders, emails, photos and voice notes.

Once set up, synchronisation runs automatically: new and changed documents from Your own database or specialist application are added without anyone having to upload anything.

Set-upWe estimate the work involved once we know what the program can actually output, and discuss it with you before anything is set up. The set-up is charged on a time-and-materials basis, agreed in advance.

Documents

Typical content: Your own database or specialist application

Master records with fields that have been repurposed over the years – a remarks field holding half the history.
Case lists: who did what and when, as a table with no document behind it.
Reports that only exist as a print view – property sheet, customer sheet, annual overview.
Files that are not in the database but in a directory next to it, linked via a path.
Code tables and abbreviations only insiders can read: status “B4” means terminated.
Phone notes and free text that never made it into another system.

Example questions

Questions you might ask your documents

“Which cases are recorded in the legacy program for the property at Bahnhofstraße 12?”
1 Answer with source
“What does the old database say about the customer Huber, customer number 4711?”
2 Answer with source
“Which contracts from 2016 are still running, and what was agreed at the time?”
3 Answer with source

Start

Before a connection is set up

This connection is set up for you rather than switched on in one click. Every source has its own logins, permissions and folder structure – so before we start, we check with you whether and how it can be connected at your company. Set-up and maintenance are charged on a time-and-materials basis, agreed in advance; the amount depends on the source.

You can also upload files, whole folders, emails, photos and voice notes at any time. In the demo you see the answers using sample documents from your industry; you check them against your own documents in the first weeks after go-live.

Preliminary check

What we check in advance

Before we start, we look at how records can be turned into readable pages: raw columns without context are of little use. It takes a recipe that assembles each case with its date, the people involved and the text – plus the code lists, so that a status like “B4” can be spelt out. If these lists exist only in a few people’s heads, they have to be written down once; that is your part of the preparation. The export shows the data as of the last sync, not a live view – for the current state, the program remains the authoritative source. If an application only offers screens and printed reports, we check which details the printout contains; that determines what is in the collection.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about this connection

The program has been in use since 2009, and the early years are only half filled in.

That is common and no reason to leave it out. The data is taken in as it is: where nothing was recorded at the time, nothing is made up, and if your documents don’t contain the answer, the system tells you so. More common than gaps are fields that changed their meaning along the way – what was in the remarks field until 2014 may mean something different from what has been there since. Such breaks can be separated by year in the recipe if they are known; that is why we ask about them beforehand.

Our documents are linked to the records via paths. What if a path points nowhere?

The record and the linked file are taken in together, so that case and document stay together. Dead links are common in collections that have grown over time: a drive letter that no longer exists, a renamed folder, a file deleted long ago. On the first run we record which links point nowhere instead of silently skipping them; whether you close the gaps is up to you. Nothing in the file directory is moved or repaired in the process.

What if the program does get another update – or if we switch it off at some point?

An update can change field names, the output format or the layout of a report; if the export runs via the printed report, even a shifted column can mean the recipe has to be adjusted. So a quick note before the update is more useful than one afterwards. If you switch it off: whatever has been taken in by then sits in your instance and no longer depends on the legacy program or the computer it ran on. We should know the date in good time – once the server has been decommissioned, there is nothing left to export from.

The old program has only one login that everyone uses. How does that work with permissions?

That is why the permissions do not depend on the legacy program. The export uses a read-only login; who then sees which cases is set in your instance – via document types and roles, with a cut-off date if needed. In many companies this is the first time anyone can control who reads the old cases, without touching the shared account or changing anything in the legacy program. If the permission is missing, the system says so; we discuss which roles are needed before we start.

Industries

Typical for these industries

Guides

Request a demo – with examples for Your own database or specialist application

In a 30-minute video call, we use sample documents to show what answers with sources look like. Before we start, we check whether and how Your own database or specialist application can be connected at your company.