Networking for Amsoft can be done in a variety of ways.  From the start, you need to decide whether Amsoft will be installed on one machine (with the other machines running the program over the network) or on all machines (with Amsoft installed directly on each machine, but looking for the data over the network).  The most important thing to remember with a network, is that when an update is made, every machine that has Amsoft installed directly needs to be updated at the same time.  Basically, installing Amsoft on one machine only makes updating the software easier and more fool-proof, but may result in some slowness in Amsoft.  Installing Amsoft on each computer will make Amsoft run Speedily, but much more care needs to be taken when updating to ensure that data doesn't get corrupted.

 

Whichever way you decide to run your Amsoft system over the network, you will first establish the computer that will be the main Amsoft computer, and install Amsoft on that machine.  Next, you will need to map a network drive from each computer to the drive which houses the network data.  If you are not sure how to go about doing this, it is a simple step for a hired IT person.

 

Once the drive is mapped, if you are running the entire program from the main machine, the next step is simply to setup your shortcut.  To do this, open 'My Computer', then find the  mapped serverdrive, and open it.  Next, open the 'hcs' folder.  Then find the Amswin file.  It will have a globe attached to it and will either be called Amswin.exe  or just amswin, depending on your settings.  Right click on this file, then go to 'Send To..' and then click on 'Desktop (create shortcut)'.  Once this has been done on each machine, Amsoft is ready to run on the network.

 

Setting up Amsoft on the Network with Amsoft installed on each computer works a little differently.  Once you have the drive mapped, install Amsoft on the local machine.  This will create your Amsoft Icon on the desktop.  To set where Amsoft gets the data, open Amsoft.  In Amsoft, go to "file' and then 'Options'.  On the options window, click on the 'Data Storage' tab.  You will be asked for the path for the AMsoft data.  This is where the mapped drive comes into play.  Your mapped drive can have any drive letter you assign to it when you map it, but for this example we will use the letter 'H' as the drive letter for the mapped drive.  With 'H' as the drive letter for the server, the path will read 'H:\hcsdata'  (if your mapped drive is not H, change the H to the correct drive letter).  Then click the 'OK' button, and you are done.  This process needs to be done on each machine.  And any time the software is updated (either from a download or by CD), each computer needs to be updated.