New Database

Use the Database > New menu option (geogxnet.dll(Geosoft.GX.NewGDB.NewGDB;Run)*) to create a new Geosoft database (*.GDB) file. Alternatively, you can right-click the Databases folder item in the Project Explorer and select New Database.

ClosedExpand to see other locations (menus) where this option is available

UXO-Marine extension:

  • UXO-Marine Sonar Utilities menu

The new database will be opened in Oasis montaj in a spreadsheet window, which is the interface to your data in the database.

New Database dialog options

New database name

The name of the new database (.gdb assumed)

Script Parameter: CREATE.NAME

Maximum lines/groups

 

 

Maximum
channels/fields

Maximum number of lines or groups that the new database can contain and the maximum number of channels or fields. These values should be set to about 50% more than you expect to use.

The database uses a static index which will be as large as the product of these two numbers (times 6 bytes). The static index can be as large as reasonably required for your project, and provides you with maximum data processing performance. The size of the index only affects the time it takes to open and close a database. Once a database is open, data processing performance is not affected in any noticeable way by the size of the database index. Note that the size of the index is not related to the volume of data that can be stored in the database.

Once a database is created with a certain index size, attempting to add lines/groups of channels/fields above the maximum values specified here will cause an error. If this happens you must grow the size of the index using Data/Maintenance/Grow… option from the main menu.

Script Parameters:
CREATE.LINES
CREATE.CHANNELS

Compression

Specify the compression requirements for the database. There are three compression options available:

No compression. This is the default compression and is appropriate for databases less than about 10 Megabytes. You should also use this option if your databases must be compatible with Oasis montaj 4.2, service pack 6. Data compression is only supported in version 4.3 and later.

Compress for speed. This uses a very fast compression technique that can reduce the database size by up to 55% and improve data access performance by up to 23%. Performance improvements result from the CPU speed of modern computers being significantly better that the performance of reading/writing data to disk. Performance results will vary depending on your hardware.

Compress for size. This uses a slower compression technique that can reduce database size by up to 80% at the cost of up to 20% increase processing time. Note that performance will depend a great deal on the ratio of performance between your disk and CPU and will vary among computers. Use this option for very large databases (> 100 Megabytes).

Databases are compressed for storage using the lossless open source library https://zlib.net. This library supports compression for speed and for size.

Script Parameter:
CREATE.COMPRESSION – value 1, 2 or 3.

[More]

 

This dialog enables you to change the way Oasis montaj works with data in the database file. These parameters control the database "page size", which is the smallest unit of memory that is read/written and stored on the database. In almost all cases, the default page size (1024 bytes) should be sufficient since this will support a total database size of up to 4 Terabytes in size and will enable individual channels on a line to hold up to 64 Megabytes of data.

If your data requirements will be larger than this, you can specify your requirements here. A page size will be chosen to be large enough to support your needs. The largest page size supported is 16384 bytes, which will enable databases up to 64 Terabytes (64,000,000,000,000 bytes), and individual channels to hold up to 1 Gigabyte of data.

Note that, larger page sizes are only appropriate for very large data sets where you will be processing large data streams. If you use a large page size for small data sets, you will consume unneeded disk space and reduce the performance of reading and writing your data.

Maximum total
database size

Select the maximum total database size from the drop-down list, default is "4 Terabytes (Standard)".

Script Parameter: CREATE.PAGESIZE

Maximum data
per channel

Select the maximum data per channel from the drop-down list, default is "64 Megabytes (Standard)".

Script Parameter: CREATE.PAGESIZE

Application Notes

*The GX.NET tools are embedded in the geogxnet.dll file located in the "...\Geosoft\Desktop Applications \bin" folder. If running this GX interactively, bypassing the menu, first change the folder to point to the "bin" directory, then supply the GX.NET tool in the specified format. See the topic Run GX for more details on running a GX.NET interactively.

Additional Script Parameters

If the GX is run from a script, following are additional parameters that can be specified.

The script parameters are intended for advanced users who want to implement their own processes via Geosoft scripts. When this GX is called from another GX, it is possible to overwrite the original current database. To prevent this, set the CURDB parameter to the file name of the database file to be protected before calling CREATE.

Maximum number of blobs (default Lines+Channels+100). If you are developing applications that store data in database BLOBS (Binary Large Objects), you can control the total number of blobs that you may require with this parameter.

Script Parameter: CREATE.BLOBS

Maximum erase caches (default Lines*Channels/20). This controls the performance for saving and deleting changes in the database. You should not have to change this value from the default.

Script Parameter: CREATE.ERASE

Name of the super user (default SUPER). Databases can be created with a super-user that will have the ability to control certain database characteristics, such as the read/write status of the database. The default super user will be "SUPER". For example, perhaps you want to distribute a read-only database. The SUPER user can create a GX to make the database read-only. You could then make an unlock GX, that will change database access to read/write. Normal use of Oasis montaj does not have to deal with this parameter.

Script Parameter: CREATE.SUPER

Super user password (default None). This is the super-user password.

Script Parameter: CREATE.PASSWORD

If set, prevents user from creating this DB. Use this parameter when calling the CREATE GX from another GX that wants to protect a working database.

Script Parameter: CREATE.CURDB