VSys One can optionally share a database with GMS 5, which in turn is related to some much older versions of GMS (a long time ago; an office far, far away). When GMS 2 was being written in 1991(!), XML was barely an idea, let alone a standard. To store multiple chunks of data in a memo column, VSys uses what we internally label a "parameter list", basically one field per text line, with each line prefixed with the field name and a colon. For example:awardSchedule:1delegHierarchy:YgamesOwner:0000700000000000hh.thresh:15maxAge:0minAge:8NoBibs:NruleGroup:S
VSys only does this for tables which it and GMS have in common, otherwise it stores the data in XML.<PARAMETERLIST>
<PARAMETER NAME="awardSchedule" TYPE="string" VALUE="1"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="delegHierarchy" TYPE="string" VALUE="Y"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="gamesOwner" TYPE="string" VALUE="0000700000000000"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="hh.thresh" TYPE="string" VALUE="15"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="maxAge" TYPE="string" VALUE="0"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="minAge" TYPE="string" VALUE="8"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="NoBibs" TYPE="string" VALUE="N"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="noReqVolAvail" TYPE="string" VALUE="N"/>
<PARAMETER NAME="ruleGroup" TYPE="string" VALUE="S"/></PARAMETERLIST>
While both surely look like G(r)eek, the second is a standard data markup language which can be read by many different tools.
XML-ifying your data
VSys One version 1.2 and higher can understand data stored in XML in all tables, not just the ones that it doesn't share with GMS 5. If you want that information stored in XML, and are sure that GMS 5 and older versions of VSys will not be connecting to this data, you can set the PureXML option. In your VSys.ini file, in the [General] section, add the entry PureXML=1. Where VSys would previously store data in parameter list format, it will now use XML. To convert existing data, use the Rebuild various lookup indices tool under Administrator tools, then run it with the XML compatibility field updates box checked.
Why would you do this?
Some users are directly querying the VSys database, bypassing VSys itself. Since other tools are very unlikely to support the parameter list format for data, having it in XML makes it substantially easier to query.
We do not support external tools which directly write to the VSys database. While we make no attempts to prevent it, doing so incorrectly may damage your data. Your support contract does not cover any work we'd need to do on your behalf to recover that data.