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4.116. How do I network EstiMate?

I have more than one machine I am using EstiMate on, and would like to network them so everyone is updating the same set of data. How do I network EstiMate?

NOTE: Significant improvements were made to the networking protocols in version 1.96B3 and later. It is strongly recommended that you upgrade your software if you are running a version previous to 1.96.

Two main improvements have been implemented:

1. It is now possible to share the data folder only instead of the entire drive.

2. Mapped drives may be used if desired.

The art of networking

Some key points to remember (Windows 95,98):

· The drive where data folder resides must be fully shared.
· The path name includes the letter name of the drive being shared.
· The path name is in the UNC naming format of: \\computer name\share name\directory\data folder.
· The host and all client machines have the same path in EstiMate's Network Setup Screen.

Some key points to remember (Windows 2000,ME,XP):

The data folder must be fully shared with full permissions including read, write, change, modify, and deletion. Sharing the whole drive is NOT required.

The path name may be in the UNC naming format of: \\computer name\directory\data folder or drive mapping can be used.

The host and all client machines have the same path in EstiMate's Network Setup Screen.

These will be explained below, but once you understand what is happening here they are a good quick reference.

There are two ways you can network your data with EstiMate.

A peer-to-peer network:

In this scenario each computer has EstiMate installed on it and one of the workstations is a host for the data. The copies of EstiMate on the other client machines are connected to the data file on the host computer, and all are used as workstations.

Client-server network:

Alternatively, you can have a client-server network, where one server machine simply stores the estimate data file only but does not have the software installed and is not used as a workstation. The other client machines on the network have EstiMate installed and all point to the data file on the server. This is the more economical option as you only need to have licenses for the workstations using EstiMate, so you can store your data on a server machine without purchasing a separate license for it.

Getting Started

First, make sure all computers are running the same version of EstiMate. If not, upgrade all computers and try again. Upgrades can be obtained from the EstiMate website at http://www.estimatesoftware.com or by contacting the EstiMate sales desk at 888-304-3300.

Select your host machine

First, select the machine that will be hosting the data for all the copies of EstiMate. If you intend for this machine to also be a workstation for using EstiMate then you must install EstiMate on this computer. Otherwise, you can simply copy the data subfolder from any other installation of EstiMate to the location on this machine where you want it to be. For the purposes of this discussion, we will be assuming your data folder is in the default location of c:\program files\estimate\data.

Get the host computer name (Windows 95 or 98):

We need the host computer's name to properly network EstiMate. For our example we will assume a computer name of "mark".
Right-click the "Network Neighborhood" icon on your desktop, and select "properties" from the menu that appears.

Click the "Identification" tab and write down the computer name here: __________________

Get the host computer name (Windows 2000):

We need the host computer's name to properly network EstiMate. For our example we will assume a computer name of "mark".
Right-click the "My Network Places" icon on your desktop, and select "properties" from the menu that appears.
Click Advanced > Network Identification

Get the host computer name (Windows XP)
1. Click Start > My Network Places.
2. Click the View Workgroup Computers link in the sidebar on the left.
3. Make a note of the computer name listed in the viewing pane on the right.


From the next screen, make note of the computer name and write it down here: ______________________

Share the drive with the rest of the network (Windows 95 or 98)

The drive on which this data is stored must be fully shared for the networking process to succeed. Sharing only the EstiMate data folder has been unsuccessful for most of our customers.

Once you have shared the drive with the network, write the network drive name here: _____________________

To share the drive take the following steps:

Double-click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop.
Right-click the drive you have EstiMate's data on, and choose "sharing" from the pop-up menu.
Select "shared as", enter the name you wish to share the drive as (for our illustration we are sharing the drive as C), and select "full access" with no password assigned. This assures that EstiMate will have unfettered access to the data files.

Share the drive with the rest of the network (Windows 2000)

The drive on which this data is stored must be fully shared for the networking process to succeed. Sharing only the EstiMate data folder has been unsuccessful for most of our customers.

Once you have shared the drive with the network, write the network drive name here: _____________________

To share the drive take the following steps:

Double-click the "My Computer" icon on your desktop.
Right-click the drive you have EstiMate's data on, and choose "sharing" from the pop-up menu.
If you are using Windows 2000, sharing is a bit trickier and you will need to proceed as follows:

Make sure the drive is fully shared. The "Share this folder" option should be dotted. The "Share Name" should have the name of the drive where EstiMate resides and "Maximum allowed" should also be dotted as shown below. Important: there should be no "$" after the share name, as this will prevent EstiMate from seeing its data files. If you have a "$" or other character at the end of your share name then you will need to create a new share that has only the share name, via the process outlined next. Otherwise proceed to the section titled "Setting Windows 2000 Permissions"

Type in a share name. The simpler the better. In our example on the properties screen above we have typed in the letter "C" (without the quotes). Make sure the Maximum Allowed button is dotted on the lower left of the New Share screen.

Setting Windows 2000 Permissions

Press the permissions button, bringing up the permissions screen.

Make sure that "Everyone" is selected for the Name and that "Full Control," "Change," and "Read" all have the allow boxes checked.

Press OK on the permissions box, OK on the New Share dialog, and OK on the Properties screen to finish up.

(Windows XP Instructions)

1. Click Start > My Computer.
2. Right-Click on the C drive or other drive where EstiMate may be installed and select ?Sharing and Security?.
3. Check the box that says ?Share this folder on a network?
4. Make a note of the share name _____________________
5. Check the box that says ?allow network users to change my files?
6. Press the Apply button.
7. Press OK.
8. Reboot the computer.


Creating your "path to the data"

The next step is to write down the "path to the data" that you will enter on each computer.

It will look as follows:

\\COMPUTER NAME\DRIVE NAME\Path to data

Remember that in our example, we have the following assumptions: a computer name of mark, a shared drive name of C, and the data on our host machine is located at c:\program files\estimate\data on the hard drive.

With these assumptions, our "path to the data" will look like:

\\mark\c\program files\estimate\data

Now write down your "path to the data" here:

______________________________________________

Networking EstiMate

OK, t's time to do the fun part! The following steps need to be performed on each computer that will be networked. If you are using the host machine as a workstation you must also do this on the host. For those of you who are network-savvy, yes, you must use the fully-qualified UNC path on the host as well. For those of you who are not network-savvy, ignore the last statement, for it will only confuse you.

In EstiMate, click File > Network Setup.

Enter the "path to data" that you wrote down above in the box on this screen. If you have successfully entered the path, the small circle above the text-entry box will turn green indicating you have been successful in locating the data. Once you are done, click the OK button to save the information for this machine.

That's it! You've successfully networked EstiMate - congratulations!

© 2001 EstiMate Software Corp.