35. Your Data
Everything you enter in CTM lives in a single database file. Knowing where it is stored, and keeping a copy elsewhere, is the best protection for your events.
Where Your Data Is Stored#
By default, CTM keeps all files that you see or add yourself in one main folder, Documents\Hummel Gaming Files, and creates it at the first start:
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
| Database | Your database, Datenbank.db, with your members, events, transactions, and every recorded roll. |
| Backups | Automatic and manual backups of the database. |
| Media | Images and videos for the digital signage. |
| SFX | The standard sound pack and your own sound files. |
| Wheels | Your Bonus Wheel and Promo Wheel presentations. |
| Light Show | Your Daslight show file. |
| Logs | Log files. |
→ See Backups and Restore; Log Files and Getting Support.
Your settings and your license are stored separately, in %AppData%\HummelGaming. The file jackpot.json in that folder holds the current jackpot amount; CTM retains it across updates and restarts. These files are not meant to be edited.
You can review and change every location on INIT page 2. Uninstalling CTM does not remove any of these files.
→ See Settings Page 2 – File Locations; Updating and Uninstalling.
Working with Two Computers#
Settings and data are not shared between the computers. Each computer has its own settings, its own database, and its own folders, so enter your company name and other preferences on both.
If both computers are to work with the same database, place it in a folder that both can reach, such as a folder synchronized by OneDrive, iCloud, or Dropbox, or a folder on a network drive. Setting this up and keeping it in sync is your responsibility, and the rules in the next section apply.
→ See Database Folder.
To move the database between the computers manually, use a backup instead. Transfer it in one direction only, because changes made separately on both computers cannot be merged.
→ See Manual Backups and Restoring a Backup.
Using Cloud Folders and Several Computers#
On many computers, Windows synchronizes the Documents folder with OneDrive. In that case, your database and backups are synchronized, too. This works, but a database file that is being changed while a cloud service uploads it can end up damaged. Observe the following rules:
- Use CTM on only one computer at a time. Close CTM on the first computer, and wait until the synchronization has finished before you start CTM on another.
At every start, CTM checks whether the database is safe to open, and it warns you in two situations:
- Synchronization May Not Be Complete: The database file was still changing when CTM started, which typically means that a synchronization is still running. Wait until it has finished, and then start CTM again. If you click Yes to open it anyway, you risk working with an outdated database.
- Possibly Still Active on Another Device: The database was in use on another computer only moments ago. If CTM is still running there, opening the database on this computer as well may cause data loss. Close CTM on the other computer first.
CTM places a small file with the ending .lock next to the database while it runs, so that it can recognize this situation. Do not delete it while CTM is running.