Are Treasure Hunting Database Programs Worth It?

There are certain advantages to keeping a hunt diary. The most obvious is it lets you keep a record of the items you’ve found at particular sites. Personally, I don’t drag home every single artifact I’ve dredged up on a hunt. Some people do, but I don’t, since there really isn’t any value (conversational or otherwise) to objects like spent .30-06 casings, corroded Zippo lighters that don’t work anymore or doorstops from long-demolished school buildings. Plus I don’t have the room to keep all that flotsam and jetsam hanging around the basement.

While the junk doesn’t have any real value, it has a great deal of informational value when it’s looked upon as a smaller piece of a larger picture. Only by keeping a record of what you found where and when (and the conditions around you that day) can you step back and get a better sense of a particular site by noticing subtle trends that indicate you need to re-hunt an area, hunt it differently, or only at specific times of the year.

One of the best ways to do this is by using a database software program. A hand-written notebook or a binder of Xeroxed sheets will work just fine too, but for some of us, it’s easier doing it on a home computer.

There are a few database programs designed by and for metal detectorists floating around the Web these days. Best of all they’re freeware, meaning they’re free. You just download the program files from a Web site directly to your computer’s hard drive and you’re in business. The question though, is whether they stack up enough to the data-keeping capabilities of commercial database programs (like Microsoft Access) or even a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel to warrant keeping them on your hard drive.

The answer is a yes and no. It all depends on what you need from a TH database or whether you’re already using a commercial database or spreadsheet program. Overall, none of the two programs I looked at – Treasure Log (by Michael McGuire, downloadable from a link at The Golden Olde Site), and Treasure Tracker 1.1 (by Treasureware, downloadable from www.geocities.com/~iesoftware/ttracker.html) – do a better job than Access or Excel of recording and displaying data. If you’re already using a commercial database program (especially if you’re using it for home office purposes), don’t dump it for a TH’ing freeware program.

Since I stated metal detecting, I’ve used Excel to keep track of my finds. It’s a lot easier than Access to set up (for me anyway) and in many ways more straighforward and basic, and it lets me keep a total of the amount of clads I’ve dug up. But if you’re not using either Access or Excel and want something that’s better than nothing (and take up less hard drive space), then one of the freeware programs will suit you fine, provided you’re willing to live with less.

On the downside, the TH’ing freeware programs I’ve had both the limited pleasure and unlimited displeasure to deal with suffer from some of the same deficiencies common to most all other freeware and shareware programs: 1) They can be buggy, 2) The logic of some functions ain’t the best, and 3) You get what other people think you need, so you can’t customize them to fit your personal needs.

While there’s quite a bit to recommend about McGuire’s "Treasure Log," the main drawback to the program is technical in nature – especially if you have some experience with computer programs. For example, McGuire instructs us to "simply enter data in to the form and save it to a database file." What he doesn’t tell us is exactly how to create a new file in the first place, since he neglected to create the long-familiar "New" command. He never tells us the way to start a new document is to go to "File," click on "Open" and then click on the "treasure.pf" (a file which serves as form template) within the new menu that pops up.

And for those of you who do have some computer experience, you’ll be highly annoyed by the fact that McGuire has moved the "Save" function from its customary home under "File" to Treasure Log’s "Database" toolbar menu. (Personal note to Mr. McGuire: Every program under the sun – even the basic dinky little text notepad accessory on every Mac and Windows machine – has a "New" command within the "File" menu to create a new document. Also, every program designer knows "Save" goes under "File.")

The other drawback to Treasure Log doesn’t have a master setup function to create a startup icon in my Windows "Programs" menu. You simply download the program files to a file destination you create in your file manager (otherwise known as Explorer). As a result, I have to go into Explorer and fire it up from there by clicking on the "Expo" icon, which is something Windows novices may not know they need to do to activate Treasure Log. If I didn’t know programs can be started within Explorer, I’d be sitting there trying to figure out where the keys to the ignition were. Windows novices who also don’t know how to unzip compressed files will be similarly lost as well, since all of Treasure Log’s program files are downloaded in a single compressed (or "zipped") file.

On the bright side, Treasure Log is a small program (it nibbles just over three-quarters of 1 megabyte) that’s a lesson in simplicity and, in most cases, common sense. Everything is displayed on a single screen page (a big plus for computer novices), yet McGuire packs in the stuff that makes up a useful diary – things like entries for weather conditions, ground conditions, date and time, and fields to record any notable relics, coins and nuggets. A neat feature is the program’s ability to automatically total up all those clads. You just type in how many coins you’ve found and the program adds them up for you, which is a feature Excel doesn’t have.

On the other hand, I didn’t find a single thing to recommend about Treasure Tracker 1.1, a robust program which soaks up 3.73 megabytes of closet space on your hard drive. My dim view of this program has nothing to do with form or function. I just don’t feel charitable toward programs that don’t run in the first place. The bugaboo in this case is an apparently good-for-shit component file called COMCTL32.DLL which prevents the program from starting up when you fire it up.

This file has apparently been a thorn in Treasureware’s side in the past, since the company has this file as a separate item in its software downloading area. Initially, I installed the program and was greeted by a Windows error message telling me of a problem with the COMCTL32.DLL file. I downloaded that file from the Treasureware site (which overwrote the original file) to the program’s folder on my hard drive and fired the program up again. Same error message. I then uninstalled the program using the Windows95 uninstall function and reinstalled it. Same error message.

This, needless to say, does not promote consumer loyalty or general good cheer. Especially when you consider the almost one hour it takes to browser file transfer a 3.85 megabyte file. I’ve sent e-mails to Treasureware’s developers (as well as to Treasureware’s company mailbox) asking for a solution or at least an explanation of the problem, but judging from the lack of response over a two-week period, nobody at Treasureware seems to mind me telling all of you that you won’t even need to download and actually evaluate Treasure Tracker to discover it sucks.

Final analysis: If you need a program that you’ll need to customize from time to time to fit your changing needs (and see all your entries in a single file record), then use a spreadsheet program like Excel. If not, make McGuire’s "Treasure Log" your choice. Just be sure to read the online "How To" help file first.

© 1998 Scott Buckner