Running MediSoft Advanced Multi-User under LANtastic Paul Turley, Technical Support manager October 3, 1991 The Computer Place, Inc. Mesa, AZ (800) 333-4747 MediSoft Patient Accounting is fairly easy to set-up and run under LANtastic if the network and program are configured correctly. These are the most common considerations: PROGRAM & VERSION MediSoft Patient Accounting and MediSoft Advanced Single User should not be used on any network. The Multi-User program performs record locking which allows more than one user to access data files with causing sharing problems and file damage. The current program version is 3.0. DATA AND PROGRAM PATH With LANtastic and many other peer-to-peer systems it is possible to access the same disk drive with different names. It is important that if the shared drive for MediSoft users' on workstations is "F:", that all users log to the F: drive. Typically, this would represent the root directory of this server's C: drive. Use the SUBST command or LANtastic's NET USE command so that the shared drive is the same on all workstations including the server(s). If this is the case, add the SUBST command to the server's AUTOEXEC.BAT in the C: root directory after the PATH statement (which paths DOS to the \DOS directory or where the DOS programs are stored.) Example: SUBST F: C:\ It is possible to share the server's C: drive and to create a logical "C: drive" for diskless workstation user's as well. If this is the case, no SUBSTitution is necessary as long as the C: prompt on all workstations represents exactly the same C: prompt on the server. The limitation here is that a hard drive could not be added to a workstation. On larger systems the shared drive (sometimes referred to as the "logical" drive used to access the server's disk) may represent a sub-directory on the server's C: drive. Running either SUBST or NET USE will accomplish this as well. Example: SUBST F: C:\NETWORK In all cases, set-up the appropriate data path in the MediSoft program. Choose operation 1 from the program menu, and the sub-option 1 for "Office Information." The program will give you the opportunity to set the "DATA PATH". Make sure that this path is set to the sub-directory on the SHARED DRIVE where your MediSoft data files are stored. Examples: F:\MEDISOFT E:\MEDISOFT\DATA G:\MEDIDATA MEMORY MediSoft requires approximately 480 K of RAM. Other programs which come with MediSoft can take additional memory. If extended or expanded memory is found and the appropriate memory drivers are in place (HIGHMEM for extended and EMM??? for expanded memory), the program will automatically "swap" itself to upper memory. This allows it not to be such a "memory hog" and to run a little faster. Practically everything added to a machine's configuration takes memory. After running the network card driver, network BIOS, REDIR, LANPUP, caching, and all of those nifty TSR's, there may not be a lot to play with. A utility called RAM.COM comes with MediSoft to help manage your available RAM. Run this to make sure you have enough memory. If you are using DOS 5.0 or higher, use MEM /C. MediSoft Program and memory requirements: MEDISOFT ADVANCED 470 - 480 K OFFICE HOURS FULLY RESIDENT (HOURS R) 102 K* OFFICE HOURS IN 10K SHELL (HOURS10K) 11 K~ POP-UP CALCULATOR/DIALER (PCD) 12 K MAXIMUM POSSIBLE: ~503 - *594 K FILE HANDLES MediSoft needs a minimum of 46 file handles per user. If you are running TSRs which open additional files, raise this accordingly. For most LANtastic systems, 60 per user will do it. Edit the CONFIG.SYS file on each workstation and change (or add) the statement to read FILES=60. Buffers are not utilized by our program since we require SHARE to be loaded. The network server (for the drive containing MediSoft data) needs to have the sum of file handles needed for all workstations. Place the appropriate number in the CONFIG.SYS file on the server. DOS tops-out at 255, you need more than this, use the LANtastic NET_MGR, choose "Server Start-up Perameters," and place this number under MAX FILES OPEN. Here's a simple formula for server File Handles: number of workstations + server x 60 + 10 (a little extra for the network). SHARE You should always be running SHARE when using MediSoft but large network systems may require some special perameters. By default, SHARE gives itself enough room to open between 50 and 60 files at a time and to perform record or file locking on 20 at a time. This is fine for one or two computers but for any more, do the following in the AUTOEXEC.BAT on the server: SHARE /F:fff /L:lll fff (file name size) = number of workstations + server x 50 (max. open files) x 40 (max file name size + 11) lll (record locks per user) = number of workstations + server x 5 (max. record locks per user) These figures may be a little liberal but better overkill than underkill. You can adjust the file name size depending upon how deep you bury your data files into your sub-directory tree. DOS needs an additional 11 bytes per file. If you need any help, call Technical Support at The Computer Place or the friendly folks at ArtiSoft. PS. The Computer Place will be opening a BBS in the near future. Give us a call.