Microvellum makes extensive use of databases to maintain data as you work with the software. There are multiple reasons to utilize databases instead of separate files of various types. Among these rationales are security and speed.

While databases are an attractive choice for software designers, they also present a few design challenges, primarily relating to data management. For example, you almost certainly don’t want all your users working directly within the databases for reasons of security and data integrity.

Microvellum's Database Management utility provides users with a clean, consistent user interface for controlling the import and export of data to and from their software.
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Fig. 01 – The Database Management utility button.

Fig. 02 – The Data Management screen containing various Database Utilities.

In general, the Database Management utility allows you to manage your data in various Microvellum databases. You are capable of exporting specific data to an .sdf file or importing data into your project or library. The types of data capable of being transferred includes:

The utility also includes a suite of tools for maintaining and preserving existing data structures from corruption.

Fig. 03 – Data Maintenance Tools

When transferring larger scale data such as projects, supporting files necessary for proper operation of the target machine are automatically included in the export file.

You may select items from multiple category types and include them in a single export. For example, you may export both projects and products in a single export file. The Database Management utility displays the products in the same categories as the interface you use for drawing them or adding them to a project in Microvellum.
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See the help text under the Tree View or the accompanying reference article for more information about what is included with each category of data. Visit the Database Management Utilities (Reference) article for a reference explaining the commands and control options of the Database Management screen.

The center section of the new interface supports two display options – one for a tree view, and the other for a combined view. Most of the database objects display in a Tree View, as seen in figure below.

Fig. 04 – Tree View of Database Objects
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The exception to this rule is the Graphics category. The objects in this category are not stored in the database but are individual folders and files stored on the computer hard drive. Although they are not database objects, they are included in the database management utilities to facilitate data transfer between computers or between Microvellum configurations.
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They are displayed in a combined folder and file structure similar to Windows File Explorer as shown in Figure 05 below.

Fig. 05 – Combined View Showing Folders and Files
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One of the intended uses of this tool is an archiving tool. For example, you may want to clean out your old work orders, but as you may need to refer to them again in the future, you don’t want to simply delete them. Use the Database Management utility to move them out of the configuration databases and into archival databases that you create in the export process. See the reference article for more information. ​

When you export from a factory database, you must first select a destination folder in which to create the export files. Not all category types create the same structure. See the reference article for examples of the different data structures in use.
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