How to Copy a PGDB Between Computers

These instructions can be used to move a PGDB from one Pathway Tools installation to another.

This document assumes you know how to copy files or directories in general. If not, please consult your local computer expert.

Each non-built-in PGDB is stored as a directory tree that can be copied from one Pathway Tools installation to another. For example, if the PGDB's Org ID is xyz, its directory tree is ptools-local/pgdbs/user/xyzcyc/. Normally, all you have to do is copy that directory tree from one Pathway Tools installation into the corresponding location in another Pathway Tools installation.

Note 1: Once the PGDB is copied to a computer, you have to close and restart the Pathway Tools software on that computer. When Pathway Tools starts up, it will automatically detect the presence of the new PGDB.

Note 2: If the copied PGDB was previously an Oracle or MySQL PGDB (but is now a file PGDB), it is possible that the PGDB may be misconfigured to run as an Oracle or MySQL database. If the PGDB should in fact be accessed in a disk file, ensure that the PGDB type specified in file ptools-local/pgdbs/user/xyzcyc/*/input/organism.dat is FILE. If the PGDB should in fact be accessed from an Oracle or MySQL server, ensure that the PGDB type specified in that file is ORACLE or MYSQL, respectively.