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Question:
How to setup shortcuts for client / server
installations?
What is the difference in a network vs. standalone installation?
Answer:
The following information about network vs. standalone installation is
taken from the Installation Guide. It includes details on setting
up the program shortcuts in a network client / server environment.
Express Technology software may be installed
in a Network or Standalone environment. In addition, it may be
sued in another environments such as terminal emulation or application
hosting provided the license permits.
Standalone
The Standalone environment consists of a situation where the application
runs on a single computer. This computer works as the Server and the
Client by processing the application and maintaining all data.
Since a Standalone computer does handle all data and the application, it
should be a reasonably fast computer with adequate memory, processing
speed and disk space. In this environment, you simply need to
install the database engine and application on the standalone computer.
Network
With Server & Client Workstations
The Network environment is made up of two or more computers. These
computers communicate with each other and share resources. Express Technology uses
the
Client/Server
model in a Network environment. The
Client/Server
model is comprised of a computer that acts as a Server to one
or more computers over the network. The Server houses data and handles
data requests from Client computers. Clients (Workstations) are the
computers that manipulate the data sent to and from the Server. These
computers run independent of the Server in all respects other than to
request and send data to the SQL Server.
In
this environment, you need to install the database engine and
application on the Server Only. Each network workstation that will
access and run the application is setup with a simple shortcut as
outlined below.
Client
Workstation Setup (Network Environment)
To
run the applications from a client workstation, you need to have the
ExpressTech folder on the server shared with read / write permission.
You will first test run ExpressMaintenance at the server and exit the program to insure the
communication is working between the program and the database engine.
Once you are sure
that the server computer is setup according to the guidelines above,
proceed to the client workstations. Create a shortcut on the
workstation pointing to the Maintenance.exe file on the server in the
Express Tech folder. Follow one of the following two methods below
for directing the workstation to the SQL Server and SQL Database.
1. Ini File
Method (preferred and simplest)
On the server where
the Maintenance.exe file resides, run ExpressMaintenance one time to
have the database created. When you exit ExpressMaintenance, the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file
is automatically created in the folder with Maintenance.exe. Open the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file with notepad to insure in includes the
correct SQL Server and SQL Database information. Below is an
example:
[Connection Info]
SQLServer=MyServerIP or MyServerName
SQLDatabase=ExpressMaintenance
UseWindowsLogin=No
(optional line, see note below)
If necessary, edit the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file to point to the correct Server and Database.
Test
by running the program again from the server. You can place the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file in a different folder if desire, see
security
restrictions & concerns topic below.
Next, at each client
computer, create a desktop shortcut to the Maintenance.exe file on the
server. When ExpressMaintenance is executed from any
workstation, it will check the ExpressMaintenance.ini file that resides in the
same folder as Maintenance.exe for the SQL Server
and Database connection information.
If the workstation
shortcut fails to work, check the ExpressMaintenance.ini file and then proceed to the Troubleshooting section below.
Note: The "UseWindowsLogin=No"
line is optional and is used to tell the program not to use Window's
login. Click here for more
details.
2. Shortcut
Parameters Method (alternative, not recommended)
This method
is recommended only in rare situations where multiple databases for
ExpressMaintenance will be used. Right click on the
workstation shortcut
and select "Properties". You will need to add two
parameters to the Target field. These parameters are:
Server
Name or IP and the Database Name.
With ExpressMaintenance,
the target field might appear as:
"G:\ExpressTech\Maintenance.exe"
"111.111.111.111" "ExpressMaintenance"
where
ServerName is the actual name or IP address of your server computer.
If
you are using UNC naming, the target field might appear as: "\\MyServer\C:\ExpressTech\Maintenance.exe"
"Nameor IPAddress"
"ExpressMaintenance"
where
NameorIPAddress is the IP address of your server computer.
Security Restriction &
Concerns
We recommend that you
simply create the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file in the same folder where
Maintenance.exe resides and make the folder or file read / write
available to users. However, in the event you have security
restrictions or concerns that do not permit make the folder or file read
/ write available, there is another alternative.
You can place the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file in a different folder or a local folder. On
the workstation shortcut to Maintenance.exe, simply edit the "Start In"
property to point to the folder where you wish to locate the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file. ExpressMaintenance will check the Start In
folder first and then check the Maintenance.exe folder.
You can place the
ExperssMaintennce.chm help file in a different folder or local a folder.
On the workstation shortcut to Maintenance.exe, simply edit the "Start
In" property to point to the folder where you wish to locate the
ExpressMaintenance.ch help file. ExpressMaintenance will
check the Start In folder first and then check the Maintenance.exe
folder.
In addition, the
Maintenance.exe program must be able to read / write to the
ExpressMaintenance.naf network access file (licensing file). In
this case, the same file must be accessed by all users in order to
verify licensing and concurrent users. By default,
ExpressMaintenance looks for this file in the same folder where
Maintenance.exe is located. However, you can specify another
folder for the file to reside. To change this, run
ExpressMaintenance and go to Administration / Data Formatting Defaults
and insert the desired folder at the "Network Access File Folder"
prompt. This file must be read / write available to all users.
Troubleshooting
This simple
method of only having the program (Maintenance.exe) on the server works
extremely well. It means that updates only need to be applied to a
single computer, the server. It also allows for access to multiple
servers and creation of unlimited databases. You should find this
method easy for setting up client workstations. However, if you
are unable to run the program from the client workstation using these
shortcuts, check the
following items:
-
Make
sure the server is running and ExpressMaintenance runs at the server.
-
Make sure you have the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file
setup correctly in the same folder where Maintenance.exe resides
(default is C:\ExpressTech).
-
Make sure the
folder where the Maintenance.exe file resides is set for read /
write permission as the program must read and write to the
ExpressMaintenance.ini and ExpressMaintenance.naf files (see
security
restrictions & concerns topic below).
-
Insure that the shortcut points to
the correct Maintenance.exe file. A common mistake is to
install multiple copies of the program (Maintenance.exe) on one or
more computers in different folders. All workstation shortcuts
should be pointing to the same Maintenance.exe file on the
application server.
-
Try
using the server IP address rather than the server name in the
ExpressMaintenance.ini file.
-
Insure that TCP/IP is installed on the client workstation and
server.
-
If you
are using your own full version of MS SQL Server, you may need to
set certain server properties. Please see the tech bulletin on
installing on existing SQL
server.
-
Insure that the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) are installed
(usually automatically installed with Windows98 and above, but not
always). For more details, see
Installing &
Testing MDAC below.
-
Try creating a
manual ODBC DSN in windows to
establish a connection to the SQL server. For more
information, see Creating ODBC DSN
below.
Installing &
Testing MDAC
If the above process does
not allow you to successfully connect to the server / database, the
problem is in your network or the Microsoft Data Access Components are
not installed on the client workstation. You can install the
MDAC directly from the Express Technology CD. You may need a
specialist to setup your network using TCP/IP which is the industry
standard.
You can get the MDAC
detection utility to determine your MDAC version. To
download the MDAC
detection utility, click here. You can download the MDAC
installation program or learn more about MDAC from Microsoft. For
more details on MDAC, go to the
downloads page.
Creating ODBC DSN
You
can check for MDAC and force a TCP/IP connection to the server by
creating an ODBC Data Source. On some computers (especially Windows 98),
it is necessary to force a manual TCP/IP connection one time to activate
the SQL communications. This can be done by creating a system DSN
as outlined below. Try creating a system DSN to ExpressMaintenance
by following the steps below:
-
Click on
Windows / Start / Control Panel
-
Double Click on Data
Sources (ODBC) Note: some versions of windows, click Administrative
Tools first
-
Click the System DSN
tab
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Click the Add Button
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Scroll to the bottom of
the driver list and click SQL Server
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Click the Finish button
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Type ExpressMaintenance
in the Name & Description field
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In the Server field,
type the IP address of the computer where SQL Server (MSDE) is
running
-
Click the Next button
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Click the "With SQL
Server authentication ..." option
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Click the Client
Configuration button
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Click TCP/IP option for
the network library
-
Make sure the Server
Alias and Server Name fields have the IP address of your server
-
Click the Ok button
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Click the "Connect to
SQL server to obtain..." option
-
Enter "sa" (no quotes)
for the user name,
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Leave password blank
unless you already had SQL Server and use a different password
-
Click the Next button
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Click on "Change the
default database to:..." option
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Click the Database drop
down list and select ExpressMaintenance
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Click the Next button
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Click the Finish button
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Click the Test Data
Source button
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