Your Maintenance Organization List

This help file applies to an out-of-date version of MainBoss.
The most recent version of MainBoss is MainBoss 4.2.4.
This help file does not exist in MainBoss 4.2.4, but the index for that version can be found here.

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Your maintenance organization list shows you a list of known maintenance organizations. These are databases containing information that MainBoss can use.

The first time you run MainBoss, the list will be empty. At this point, you have two basic options:

You can create a new database: either an empty database, or one filled with data obtained from some source (e.g. a backup of an older database). This is typically done by the person who will be administering MainBoss for your organization.

To create a new database, see the information below on the buttons Create New Organization, Import MainBoss 2.9 Organization, Restore Organization, Create New Organization from Backup, or Create Demonstration Organization.
You can add an existing database to the list. In this case, you need to tell MainBoss the name of the database and the name of the database's server. You should get both these names from the person who created the database in the first place.

To add an existing database, see the information below on the Add Existing Organization button.

Many people will only work with a single database. If so, you only have to tell MainBoss about that database once; from then on, the database will automatically be opened whenever you start MainBoss.

On the other hand, some MainBoss users may work with multiple databases. For example, consider a property management company that serves several different clients. The management company may choose to create a different database for each client; in this way, costs and information for each client are kept separate from all other clients.

Note: When you have several separate MainBoss databases, each database must have its own MainBoss license (except when you are creating databases for testing purposes). For more information on MainBoss licenses, see your dealer or MainBoss representative.

If you have access to multiple MainBoss databases, one of them may be designated as your default maintenance organization. Whenever you start MainBoss, you begin looking at information for your default organization. You can easily switch to a different organization:

To specify which maintenance organization you want to work with:

In the Session menu, click Change Maintenance Organization. This opens a window listing all databases that are available to you.
In the list, click on the database you want.
Click Open Organization.
MainBoss will change to using the specified database.

Note: You will not be able to open a database in any mode unless you have been granted permissions to access that database. For more information on database permissions, see Users.

The window for specifying databases contains the following buttons:

Open Organization: Opens the database that's currently selected in the list. This button has the following additional options on its drop-down list:

MainBoss: Full MainBoss mode with all available modules operational.

MainBoss Assignments: Opens the selected organization in Assignments mode. The control panel will only display the Assigned to current user entry, under which you can see requests, work orders and purchase orders that have been assigned to you. For more on assignments, see Assignments.

MainBoss Requests: Opens the selected organization in Requests mode. The control panel will only display entries relevant to dealing with requests. You can always open MainBoss in this mode, provided you have a MainBoss Requests license key and you have been granted permissions to access the database. Opening MainBoss in this mode does not count against the maximum number of users allowed to connect with the database; therefore, it is recommended for people who only intend to create requests (e.g. help-desk personnel).

Administration: Opens the selected organization in a mode that allows you to use functions in the Administration part of the control panel. You can always start MainBoss in this mode, even if you currently have no valid license keys. In fact, when you create a blank organization, you must start MainBoss in this mode in order to enter your license keys. Once you've done so, you can quit and start MainBoss again in its normal mode.

Some Administration functions can only be used if you have been granted Administrator privileges. For more on these privileges, see Editing User Records.

View Sessions: Opens the selected organization in a mode that shows who else is using MainBoss. This may be useful if you're trying to upgrade the database but can't because someone else is using it. For more, see Viewing MainBoss Sessions.

Add Existing Organization: Adds a new database to your list of available databases. For more information, see Existing Maintenance Organizations. This button has the following additional options on its drop-down list:

Create New Organization: Creates a new database and adds it to your list of available database. For more information, see New Maintenance Organizations.

Import MainBoss 2.9 Organization: Imports data obtained from a MainBoss Basic database. For more information, see Imported Maintenance Organizations.

Restore Organization: Restores the selected database from a backup file. Note that you must first select a database from the Maintenance Organization list; this database will be overwritten with the data from the backup file. For more information on this operation, see Overwriting a Maintenance Organization with Data from a Backup File.

Create New Organization from a Backup: Creates a new database using data obtained from a backup file. For more information on this operation, see Creating a New Maintenance Organization from a Backup File.

Create Demonstration Organization: Creates a new database with demonstration mode license keys. This database will let you test MainBoss operations, but puts limitations on the database contents (e.g. a limited number of work orders, locations, requests, etc.). For more information, see Demonstration Maintenance Organizations.

Edit Organization: Lets you change information about the organization (e.g. if you want to change the "Organization Name" which is displayed when you are using MainBoss). For more on this operation, see Changing Organization Information.

Set Start Default: Lets you specify which database is opened by default whenever you start using MainBoss. Clicking this button specifies the current database as your default. This button has the following additional options on its drop-down list:

Clear Start Default: Specifies that you do not want a default database. If you do not have a default database, your list of available databases will be displayed every time you start using MainBoss. This lets you select which database you want to use.

Remove from list: Removes the selected database from your list. This does not delete the database; it simply says that you no longer want the database to appear on your personal list.

Upgrade: Upgrades a database made under an older version of MainBoss Advanced. Note that if you want to import old data from MainBoss Basic, you use Import MainBoss 2.9 Organization (described earlier). For more on upgrading, see Upgrading Maintenance Organizations.

Exit: Exits MainBoss.

Start-Up Modes: As an example of the use of start-up modes, your help-desk personnel might set their starting mode so that they always access the database in requests-only mode unless they manually open it in some other mode. In this way, they only see control panel entries relevant to their usual work.

If you sometimes want to open a database in full mode and sometimes in requests-only mode, you can give the same database multiple organization names. For example, suppose your database has the "Database Name" MyMainBoss. You could use Add Existing Organization to create two different lines in the organization list:

One line might have the "Organization Name" MyMainBoss-Full, with a start mode of MainBoss. To set the start mode, select it from the drop-down list labeled "Default MainBoss mode" (in the window for specifying organization details).
A second line might have the "Organization Name" MyMainBoss-Requests, with a start mode of MainBoss Requests.

If you click Open Organization on MyMainBoss-Full, MainBoss opens in full MainBoss mode. If you click Open Organization on MyMainBoss-Requests, MainBoss opens in requests-only mode.

You can also use command line options to specify start mode and maintenance organization you wish to access. This makes it easy to create desktop icons that each open a different organization or open the same organization in different modes. For more information, see Command Line Options.

Brand New Databases: A brand new database will not contain any license keys. You must record license keys in the database before you can use the database for other purposes. You receive license keys either from your MainBoss dealer or from Thinkage Ltd.

To record your license keys, open MainBoss in Administration mode by clicking the drop-down arrow on Open Organization and clicking Administration. This mode will let you enter your license keys, as described in Entering Multiple License Keys. Once you have entered the license keys, you can return to the window for selecting the database and open the database normally.