Installing AccuTrack on a Network

AccuTrack Network Installation

Even though you can install AccuTrack on a single stand-alone computer, network installation provides many advantages including the ability to have more than one sign-in station and the ability for different administrators to run AccuTrack from the convenience of their own desk. The following are tips for shared network installation.

Note: Make sure that your network supports the needed connections to the shared AccuTrack database. For example, if your database is located on a server and you install AccuTrack on 7 computers, then the server needs to support 7 simultaneous connections to the database folder. The number of allowed connections is determined by your server's operating system and the number of seats licenses on the server.

When using AccuTrack on a network, you will need to install the AccuTrack software on each computer that will run the software. However, all these computers will share a single database.

Here is a recommended installation procedure:

Using the AccuTrack installation CD, install the software on the first computer. Use the "Typical" installation option. The "Typical" option installs the software, a blank database, a sample database, and the user's manuals on your computer.

When the installation is finished, use Windows Explorer to browse the AccuTrack installation directory on your hard drive. If you did not change the installation path, the directory will be C:\Program Files\Accu90 for AccuTrack 9, or C:\Program Files\Accu80 for AccuTrack version 8.

In the AccuTrack installation directory you will find a folder called "AccuData". This folder contains the blank AccuTrack database. You will also find a folder called "DataDic". This is the database data dictionary folder.

Create a folder for AccuTrack on your shared network drive and call it "AccuTrackFiles". Copy both the "AccuData" folder and the "DataDic" folder to this "AccuTrackFiles" folder. You should now have something like this: \\AccuTrackFiles\AccuData and \\AccuTrackFiles\DataDic

Make sure that the Windows log-in account that will be used with the AccuTrack software has enough access rights for accessing the AccuTrackFiles folder. This includes read/write/create/delete rights. If you do not have the correct access rights set up, the AccuTrack software will not be able to update its database files and you will get errors. One common error is "Cannot update cursor", which means the software is not able to write to its database files. For tips on setting up the correct access rights and resolving this error, click here

Once you have set up the shared database folder and gave it it the appropriate access rights, you are ready to install the software on other computers. To make this task easier, you might want to copy the AccuTrack installation CD on a shared folder on your network. You can then run the setup.exe program from this folder on each computer you want AccuTrack installed. You can also use the "Typical" installation option.

You may also want to map the network drive to a local drive letter on the computers that will run the software. Make sure to map the local drive to the AccuTrackFiles folder and not directly to the AccuData folder.

After installing the software on a new computer, you need to have it use the shared database instead of the database on the local drive. Here is how to do this:

Launch AccuTrack on the local computer.
Go to System Administration by entering the default ID (111-11-1111) and password (NEW)
Click on "Database" and then "Database Location"
Click on "Select Path" and select the shared database folder (AccuData) and click "OK".
Click "Save" to keep your changes and then Exit AccuTrack.

You will need to repeat the software installation, shared drive mapping, and database location setup on other computers that will run AccuTrack.

TIP: If the other computers you want to install AccuTrack on have the same path to the shared database folder, you can make the installation process a little faster by manually copying some files. First set up the Database Location on the first computer as described above, and then copy the files dbParam.dbf and dbParam.FPT from the installation folder of this computer (e.g. C:\Program Files\Accu90) to:

a. If you copied the installation CD to your network (e.g. X:\AccuTrackCD), then copy the two files to the corresponding folder on the installation directory (e.g. X:\AccuTrackCD\program files\Accu9 folder). From this point on, when you install the software on a new computer, the path will be already set!

b. If you are using the installation CD, then after installation copy the two files to the installation folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\Accu90) to automatically update the path.