Advancement Tracking Software

I've seen mention of both TroopMaster/PackMaster and WinScout software
on this list. I've visited both their web sites, and it looks like both
have many functions (medical records, permission slips,
drivers/insurance, etc.) that would be useful in other settings:
Venturing/Sea Scouting, church youth groups, etc.

However, the Advancment tracking portion would need some rework to be
useful for Venturing and Sea Scouting. Specifically:
(a) Delete tenderfoot, second class, and first class information. Keep
1st class BoR date, and Star, Life, Eagle, Palm info. Add Bronze, Gold,
Silver, and Ranger info. Add Apprentice, Ordinary, Able, and
Quartermaster info.
(b) Ideally, the depth of detail should be flexible. Sea Scouting's
requirements, as published, are often multiple independent sentences
within a paragraph and multiple paragraphs for a single numbered
requirement. I'd like to be able to split requirement 8 into 8a, 8b,
and 8c; or split 9 into 9a, 9b1, 9b2, 9b3, 9c1, 9c2, and 9d. for
sign-off tracking purposes.

Has anyone attempted to tweak the database used for either TroopMaster
or WinScout in either of these ways? If so, how hard is it? Note that
(b) is the same type of change that will be needed to deal with the 1999
Boy Scout changes: 1st Class requirement 7 becomes 7a, then add
7b/7c/7d, etc. Is it necessary to obtain a new copy of the software for
these changes? Or can you tweak your existing copy?

Are there any other packages I should look at? Or should I plan on
using one of these packages only for the non-Advancement stuff and
continue using my existing spread sheet for Advancement stuff? Or
should I continue using my existing spread sheets for everything?

Thanks for any advice you can give ...
Mark Ritter - RitterME@stny.lrun.com - Committee Member
Sea Scout Ship 90 - The S.S.S. North Star - New Milford PA
http://www.seascout.net/ship90

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