Network and Advanced Installation Notes
All versions of the Inventory Databases can be installed and shared on a Windows network. While many networks may differ in their setup here are a few items that are common to all.
1) The Music Dept Inventory Database is a ‘split’ database. There is a front end, Music Dept Inventory Database accdr which has the forms and reports, and a back end, Music Dept Inventory Database DATAONLY.accdb which holds the data tables. The two files are linked using the Linked Table Manager.
If the database is installed in the default directory, C:\Uniform Inventory Resources\Music Dept Inventory Database, the two files will link up. If the database files are installed in another directory or drive they will need to be re-linked. When you start the database the program will prompt you to find the DATAONLY file. Once you select the file in the installation folder it will take care of the links.
To link the tables yourself - go to the
Utilities Menu - OR - Menu - External Data
>Re-Link Data Tables > Linked Table Manager
On the Linked Table Manager - Select All Tables and click the check box
Browse to the location of the Music Dept Inventory Database DATAONLY.accdb and select it. You will get a message once all the tables are re-linked.
Click on the "Always Prompt for New Location" and "Select All". Then Click OK.
2) Backups: Backups are very important! Please be sure the database is backed up by the network software or locally. The Music Dept Inventory Database has a Backup utility that can be run by the users. It will back up the database back end (the data tables). A copy of the database front end (forms and reports) is created at the time of the installation. It is highly recommended that a daily backup of the back-end (Tables) database be run. A monthly backup of the front end database is all that is needed. See notes on mapped drives below.
3) The Inventory Databases need to be in a "shared" drive/folder and all users of the database need to have network read/write privileges for that drive/folder. The photos should be stored in a folder that also needs to be on the network and shared. (If the photos stay on a workstation they will not be seen by others.) NOTE: the name of the shared drive must be the same for all users. See notes on mapped drives below.
4) Each workstation has to have MS Access® 2010, or 2013/2016 (32 bit only) installed or the free MS Access® Runtime 2010 (32 bit) available from the Microsoft website. Do an internet search for “MS Access 2010 Runtime” or go the Resources section of the www.CostumeInventory.com web page. (If you have Office 64 bit running, please contact us for the custom version. The Music Dept Inventory Database that you download from the website will not run in OFFICE 64. Office 64 and Office 32 cannot be run on the same machine.)
*** Special note: You must use the same version of MS Access on all workstations. The database may become corrupted or give you error messages if you open it with both MS Access and 2010 or 2013/2016
** Each workstation should also have 4 GB of memory. It is possible to run it with less but users may have issues displaying large numbers of photos or working with large databases.
** Each workstation should have a shortcut installed to point to the database front end (the *.accdr file) on the network.
5) The image processing software, dbPix-30.exe needs to be installed on each workstation after MS Access is installed. The dbPix-30.exe file can be found in the folder where you originally installed the database (C:\CostumeInventoryResources\.... To install the software copy it to each workstation and double click on the filename - dbPix30.exe - and follow the prompts. (Do not worry about it saying “Evaluation” during the dbPix setup. The license Info is embedded in the application.)
6) If you move the database to the network after you have been using it on a single PC you will also have to move the pictures to a shared location just like the database. If the uniform/equipment records already have links to a folder on the local PC then the links will have to be updated to point to the new network location. Contact us for help in updating the records. We can do it with a TeamViewer session in just a few minutes.
7) The newest version of the setup file also installs a barcode font so that when you print a check-out report or a repair card the barcode will be printed on the report - which can then be scanned. The barcode font will need to be installed in the fonts directory of each workstation. The font file name is: FRE3OF9X.TTF and a copy of it will be located in the same directory as the database.
8) If you are experiencing any “write conflicts” when 2 people are using the database at the same time, then the database front end (Music Dept Inventory Database.accdr) can be copied to the workstation for each users. The shortcuts for those users will need to be updated to point to the new location of the front end. The back end database (*DATAONLY.accdb) should remain on the network drive. The front-end databases should not need to have the data tables re-linked but if they do, follow the instructions above.
9) It has been found that when shared databases are stored on mapped drives the Visual Basic code that is in the database can become corrupt or deleted. It is essential that the name of the mapped drive be the same for all users and that the network mapping happens before the database is opened. If the database will not open correctly and you get a message stating that the VBA code is missing or corrupt, replace the database front end file with a backup copy. That should fix the problem. The data is not affected by this problem. A copy of the database front end is made in a Backup folder at the time of the installation.
