Detailed Overview

Because Multi User is such complex technology it does require setting up very carefully indeed. In order to help that setup process you MUST read and understand the entire Multi User help file. We recommend that you print out these instructions so you can follow them step by step.

As explained, the main functionality is to allow two or more machines to be used independently yet be able to synchronise that information at specified intervals. In order to facilitate this a central "master user" needs to be identified. We refer to a  machine here and not a person but the machine that will hold the central database must be identified. In most cases this will be easy as it will be a machine at the office working with a laptop. In this case the office machine would be identified as the master machine and usually be referenced by B000.

For the purposes of this help file we will always refer to the master machine as B000 and a laptop for example as B100.

When there are more than 2 machines operating however this might not be so obvious. If there is one office machine and the rest are laptops then this again is easily identified, but there may be situations where there are several people working in the office combined with several laptops on the road. It is therefore necessary to identify which office machine will be the master machine.

Having identified that machine, whoever operates that machine will be responsible for the synchronisation process. This is not as bad as it sounds as the majority of the processes are fully automated

However there is another role for the master machine.

A  limitation of the system (which is intentional) is that there is some information which can only be maintained by one person, the central administrator. So for example, if you have a list of  Breeds then that list can only be maintained by the central administrator. Only they can change, add or delete these master records and the changes made will be applied to the other machines. There are several examples of these master records which are listed elsewhere in this help file. This would then mean that a likely consideration for choosing the central administrator would be someone who worked on the machine more than others. For example someone who worked part time might not be the best choice of administrator.

Another consideration is how the information is going to be passed between machines.

There are 3 methods.

Direct Connection - you can use an existing network to connect the machines. This is the quickest method regards transportation but probably not very useful in most scenarios. That is because by it's very nature, this technology is designed to connect "mobile" machines, so a network would not exist.

FTP - this use an FTP server to store the relevant files being passed between machines. This method provides quick access and update but is not always easy to set up unless you have access to your server administration area. Of course you can always ask your ISP to set the relevant folders up for you but you are then dependent on them doing the work.

EMail - this is the preferred method of transportation. It is easy to set up and will always work so long as you have a connection. Therefore it can be used in the office and even on the road if you have a connection via WiFi, Satellite or other method. All it requires is for you to set up a new email address for each machine and have a mailbox set up with your ISP to send and receive mail You will NOT need to access that mailbox yourself via your email client. Only Multi User will access the account.

Finally you need to set up your information on the master machine. If you have only ever had one copy of the software running on one machine and you simply want to add more machines then this process is extremely simple. It is just a matter of setting up your master machine and then transferring the information to the other machine/s.

If however you have been operating two or more machines for some time prior to setting up Multi User then this process becomes quite difficult. The aim is to have the master machine updated to have a single set of up to date information. This is probably quite achievable by copying information from one machine to the other and once the master machine has the latest information Multi User will handle the update transfer automatically.

If however you have been operating independent data sets on various machines then you will need to contact Ambrit Software to discuss the options available to you.

A word of warning

Previously we have allowed 2 or more machines to be operated by copying folders from one machine to another. With Multi User you cannot do that under any circumstances. Multi User will handle the data transfer for you and the data on that machine must stay on that machine and never be transferred manually.