Mike Swanson
e0a117b434
Initial research session for VWP application modernization. Analyzed 2.7GB application archive, mapped ~130-table Access 97 schema via binary scan, confirmed VB6 + P-Code compilation (decompilation viable), and identified compliance requirements (certified payroll, 3-bank positive pay). Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
161 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
161 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
# VWP.mdb Schema Analysis
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**Source:** VWP.mdb (938MB, last written 2026-04-24, Jet 3.x / Access 97 format)
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**Method:** Binary scan (Jet 3.x format cannot be opened by modern ACE/DAO drivers)
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---
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## Table Inventory by Domain
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### Projects & Jobs
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| Table | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| tblPROJECT | Builders / general contractors |
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| tblLOTINFO | Individual job sites / lots |
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| tblPLANS | House plans / blueprints |
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| tblOPTION | Plan options / upgrades |
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| tblELEVATION | Architectural elevations |
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| tblFINISH | Finish types |
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| tblCONINFO | Contractor / contact info |
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| tblProjDate | Project scheduling dates |
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| tblCHANGE | Change orders |
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| tblLotChange | Lot-level change orders |
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| tblSZONE | Schedule zones |
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| tblWORKTYPE | Work type codes |
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### Work Orders & Estimating
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| Table | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| tblORDERS | Work orders |
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| tblORDMatrl | Work order materials |
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| tblTAKE | Material takeoffs (quantity estimates) |
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| tblTOMATRL | Takeoff materials |
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| tblLOTMATRL | Lot materials |
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| tblOPTMATRL | Option materials |
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| tblPLANMAT | Plan bill of materials |
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| tblPOMATRL | Purchase order materials |
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| tblPOPTION | Plan options (billing side) |
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| tblPOptBill | Plan option billing rates |
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| tblPlanBill | Plan billing rates |
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| tblMEASURE | Measurement records |
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### Inventory & Purchasing
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| Table | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| tblINVPRICE / tblINVPRC | Material price list |
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| tblINVTRY | Inventory on hand |
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| tblSUPPLIER | Vendor / supplier master |
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| tblPOrder / tblPURCHORDR | Purchase orders |
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| tblPOrdMat | PO line items |
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| tblYardOrder / tblYardMemo | Yard material orders |
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| tblJCVENDOR | Job cost vendor assignments |
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### Crew & Payroll
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| Table | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| tblCREW | Employee master |
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| tblCREWLIST | Crew-to-job assignments |
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| tblCREWRATE | Pay rate history |
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| tblHRDAILY | Daily hours entries |
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| tblTIME | Time records |
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| tblHOURLIST | Hour list by period |
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| tblPAYHEADER | Payroll run header |
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| tblPAYCREW | Per-employee payroll detail |
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| tblPAYSHEET | Pay sheets |
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| tblPAYROLL | Payroll summary |
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| tblTOLABOR | Labor cost totals |
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| tblINCODES | Earnings / deduction codes |
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| tblCERTIFIED | **Certified payroll** (govt contracts) |
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| tblSC_Crew | Scaffold crew assignments |
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| tblScaffold | Scaffold tracking |
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| tblRCREW | ? (repair crew?) |
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### Accounts Receivable
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| Table | Purpose |
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| tblARMASTER | Customer master |
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| tblARINVOICE | AR invoices |
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| tblARTRANS | AR transactions / payments |
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| ARN_InvHistoryHeader | Invoice history |
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| tblCBOSalesCode | Sales / billing codes |
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| tblCBOWorkType | Work type codes for billing |
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| tblBPTYPE | Billing / payment type |
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| tblSWARTRANS | AR variant (Southwest?) |
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### Accounts Payable
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| Table | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| tblAPMASTER | Vendor master |
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| tblAPTRANS | AP transactions |
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| APH_JobDistDetail | Job cost distribution detail |
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| tblJCLIST | Job cost list |
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| tblJCTRANS | Job cost transactions |
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| tblJOBCOST | Job cost summary |
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| tblCHECKREC | Check reconciliation |
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### Bank / Positive Pay
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| Table | Purpose |
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| tblPosPayVWP | Positive pay — VWP bank |
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| tblPosPayCRD | Positive pay — second bank |
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| tblPosPaySWI | Positive pay — third bank |
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### Repair / Service
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| Table | Purpose |
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| tblREPAIR / tblREPAIRS | Repair work orders |
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| tblRepList | Repair list / punch list |
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### System / Config
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| Table | Purpose |
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| tblSECURITY / tblUsers | User accounts / permissions |
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| tblSYSInfo | System configuration |
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| tblGLAcct | General ledger chart of accounts |
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| tblTCINFO | ? (TrueCommerce? Tax?) |
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| tblPRGINFO | Program / config info |
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---
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## Key Findings
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### This is a full construction ERP
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Not a simple order tracker. Covers the entire plastering operation end-to-end:
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- Estimating → Work Orders → Crew Scheduling → Materials → Payroll → Invoicing → Collections
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### Certified Payroll (`tblCERTIFIED`)
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Indicates government / prevailing wage work. Certified payroll is a legally mandated report format (federal / state). Any replacement system must preserve this or have a certified payroll module.
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### Positive Pay (3 bank accounts)
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Bank fraud-prevention integration — the app generates positive pay files for three different bank accounts. This is a hard integration dependency.
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### Relationship names visible in binary
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Entries like `tblLOTINFOtblPROJECT`, `tblPAYCREWtblCREW` etc. are Access relationship / query names — confirms foreign key structure exists in the data model.
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### Scratch / temp tables (can be ignored for migration)
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`tblLOTINFO000`, `tblLOTINFOCCCCCCCCCCC`, `tblPROJECT_ExportErrors`, `tblLOTINF3`, etc. — developer working copies, not production objects.
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---
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## Modernization Complexity: HIGH
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| Factor | Impact |
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|---|---|
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| ~130 real tables | Large but manageable data model |
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| 791 Crystal Reports | Biggest migration effort — must map each report |
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| Certified payroll | Legal compliance — cannot be dropped |
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| Positive pay (3 banks) | Hard file-format integration |
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| Full AR/AP/Payroll | Financial accuracy requirements |
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| Jet 3.x format | No modern driver can open natively — must be converted first |
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| No VFP source (pending) | Business logic must be reverse-engineered |
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---
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## Next Steps
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1. **Find VFP source** (Mike searching server) — determines if logic can be read or must be RE'd
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2. **Convert MDB to readable format** — need Access 97 / older ODBC path to extract full schema with field types
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3. **Sample top tables** — row counts, date ranges, key field values
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4. **Audit Crystal Reports** — identify which .rpt files are active vs dead weight
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5. **Interview VWP** — what are the daily workflows? What's broken or painful beyond file size?
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