🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi

In my previous posti described a problem i was having trying to get my
delphi app that uses the bde and paradox files to run on a network.
Unfortunatly I have no real experience of writting network database apps! My
app is designed to be used by 1 to 4 people, they will access records from
the same two tables, but NOT the same records. The app will end up being
used on windows 98 and 2000 servers with windows 98 workstations. There may
or may not be other apps using the bde.

It was suggested that the bde was not configured properly. I have done some
digging and found this:

Network/Multiuser Application Deployment
To make your application run smoothly using the BDE on a network with
multiple users, there are a few things you should do:
Set the Session.NetFileDir property to point to the same physical shared
directory. This directory must have full read/write/create permission for
all users of the application. If you set this property using BDEADMIN.EXE or
through your application, it is important that all workstations use the same
relative path for this property. I recommend using UNC paths to avoid drive
mapping differences which may cause the relative paths to be different.

questions:
1) What is a session? Is this just another component and if so where and how
should I use it?
2) how do i know which shared directories my host's network will have?
3) Is this where the database tables should be? There is a 'database' screen
on the installshield express program, can i use that to get the installation
file to save my database tables to a shared drive? Is it then possible to
'know' where that drive was and use the information somehow?
4) is this the same as i can see in the BDE administrator? I have read thet
the settings for netfiledir are not limited to an alias but change the
setting for all applications that may use the BDE, is this true? Can that
cause problems with other apps?


Set the Session.PrivateDir property to point to a directory on the local
hard drive. Do not set it to the root directory of any drive. In the best
case, create a "Private" subdirectory for your application and point it
there. This will make it easier to locate the *.LCK files if you need to
delete them manually due to an abnormal termination of your program
(sometimes this is necessary).
Set the Local Share setting to TRUE on all workstations. This must be done
by modifying the configuration file. There is no Session property at runtime
for this setting. To see how to read and modify this setting at runtime, see
the DbiOpenCfgInfoList code examples at the Borland Support site. If you
modify this setting in your application at startup, you must do it before
any tables have been opened, or before the BDE is initialized, otherwise the
setting will not affect your current appcliation session.
Read Borland Technical Article TI247B for more information about configuring
the BDE in a network environment.

Questions:
1) if i set local share to true on the machine I am using to build the app,
will installshield pick up on this and will the subsequent install file set
local share to true or must I set this at run time?

The borland tech artical says:
If the tables that are being used are Paradox, there must
also be a directory used for network control.  This
directory must also reside on the network for all client
applications to use.  It is good practice to have a
separate directory for the application, network, and
tables.  The following is an example:

(Shared Directory)
        |
        |--- (Tables Directory)
        |--- (EXE Directory)
        |--- (Network Directory)

How do these directories relate to what is said in first paragraph? I
thought the tables needed to be in the same dir as netfiledir?

Sorry to ask so many questions. I developed the app on a standalone and have
now been asked to make it so that it could be installed on the network, and
then probably on other networks! I have found myself up the creak without a
paddle and the more i read the more confusing it gets :(

Thanks for any help given

Pete