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Running Escape Over a WAN

Escape is accessed by users at the district office and at various school sites, so it is normally run over a Wide Area Network or WAN. The network consists of one or more file servers at each site, attached via a router to the Escape Database Server. Users are connected to both the local server and the database server at startup. This document explains the necessary server setup, software configuration and user setup required to run Escape over a WAN. A checklist is included for your convenience at the end of the document.

Escape Database Server Setup

A central file or Escape database server, contains the Escape data files, which are accessed by all network users, regardless of location, during use of the program. Requirements for setting up and configuring the database server are covered here. Also covered are basic requirements for setting up workstations and servers attached via LAN or Wide Area Network (WAN) connection.

Local Server Setup

The required Escape program files and screen files are loaded from the user's local file server for speed. This allows them to work at optimal speed, since the program files are large, and would take substantial time to load over the WAN. (The data files are stored only on the Escape Database Server, and ARE retrieved over the WAN by each user as needed.)

Any temporary files should also be created on the local server. All data files must reside on the primary server, except for the screen files (already mentioned) and the Personnel (PSL) filters (stored in the USRS sub-directories.)

WAN Server Setup Requirements

All WAN servers use the same basic directory structure for Escape. Files are stored either in \ESCAPE directory or its sub-directories. There are five basic steps that must be followed for WAN setup. They are listed below and then described in detail in the following pages:

Create Required Directories on all Servers.
Ensure All Required Directories are found on the Database Server.
Set up Required Drive Mappings.
Create Entries in ETCONFIG.DAT on the Database Server.
Copy Required Programs and Data files to all Servers.

Required Directories on all Servers

The following directories should be created on all servers of the WAN:

\ESCAPE - contains all program files for the Escape modules.
\ESCAPE\ETMENU - contains required menu files.
\ESCAPE\USRS - contains subdirectories with user specific files.
\ESCAPE\VIRTUAL - used to store temp files.

Directories found only on the database server

The following directories should be created only on the Escape database server and what each contains:

\ESCAPE\AP - accounts payable data files
\ESCAPE\BUDGET - budget data files
\ESCAPE\CHART - account data files
\ESCAPE\COMMON - data files common to all modules
\ESCAPE\HELP - required help files
\ESCAPE\LEDGER - general ledger data files
\ESCAPE\PAY - payroll data files
\ESCAPE\PSL - personnel data files
\ESCAPE\PUR - purchasing data files
\ESCAPE\REQ - requisition data files
\ESCAPE\REPORT - report definition files

Required Drive Mappings

In a WAN environment, the following mappings must be established for users on all servers, including the Escape Database Server:

K: = ESCAPE\COMMON
L: = ESCAPE
Search mapping or Path to L:

Let's assume that the Database Server is the server at the district office. For all users at the district office, drive L: would be mapped to the server at the district office, since that is their local server.

For users at a school site, K: would be mapped to the district office, since it is the Database Server. Drive L: would be mapped to their local server at the school site.

NOTE: If you have set up \ESCAPE under another sub-directory off the root of the K: drive, make sure that you use the MAP ROOT command, so that \ESCAPE is off the root of the drive!

Database Configuration

This section details requirements for Escape database setup.

Required Entries in ETCONFIG File

The ETCONFIG.DAT file (in \ESCAPE\COMMON) on the central server must contain the following entries:

APP_NAME	SUBDIR	COM_SUBDIR
TEMP FILES	L:\ESCAPE\VIRTUAL\	L:\ESCAPE\COMMON\
SCREENS	L:\ESCAPE\ETMENU\	L:\ESCAPE\COMMON\
USER FILES	L:\ESCAPE\USRS\	L:\ESCAPE\COMMON\

NOTE: The drive designation of L: is required, and assumes that the L: drive has been mapped to the local server. To add L: to the ETCONFIG.DAT or to verify, you should run the Clarion utility CSCN, which will allow you to edit the file.

Contents of Directories Found on all Servers

Remember, as we mentioned previously, each site's local file server must have:

\ESCAPE

directory containing all program files to be accessed at the site. For most sites, there will be only one program, SITE.EXE. If the site will access Personnel, the PSL.EXE program file should also exist.

\ESCAPE\VIRTUAL

directory (for virtual files). No files need to be copied into this sub-directory.

\ESCAPE\ETMENU

directory (for menu screen files). So, it is necessary to copy the Site users screen file, usually named SITE.SCR or SITE_MGR.SCR to each local server.

\ESCAPE\USRS

directory for temporary user files. No files need to be copied into this sub-directory.

The user can have Read access to the ESCAPE directory; however, the remaining directories must allow FULL RIGHTS for all users.

Updating & Maintaining Program & Menu Files

Since program files are stored on all file servers on the WAN, it is important that software updates are replicated to all servers in a timely fashion. Normally, this means copying the Site program file to each file server, as well as screen and filter files necessary for each site's user. The files distributed, and their location on the local server are:

Screen Files - L:\ESCAPE\ETMENU

Program Files - L:\ESCAPE

Other required directories on the local server, for temporary files, are:

L:\ESCAPE\VIRTUAL

L:\ESCAPE\USRS

If Users are Attached to WAN, but not to a LAN

In some cases, you may have users who are not attached to a LAN, but attach directly to the WAN (and the district office server). In this case, the directory setup and files that would normally be copied to the LAN should be copied to the workstation's hard drive. In addition, a SUBST command to substitute L: = C:

Escape SET Statements

There are a number of set statements that impact the operation of Escape. The SET statements are described in detail in several sub-sections later in this manual. However, below is a brief description of the SET statements that are important to the WAN setup:

ET_MODULES=

tells Escape where program files for the modules are to be found. If the program does not find them in the specified location, it looks in sub-directories of L:\ESCAPE. If they still can not be found, then it looks in \ESCAPE on the current drive. This statement is only required for running modules from the Finance module front end. (Most customers have their users sign directory into a module, rather than using the Finance module.)

ET_TIMEOUT=X;Y

tells Escape to exit the module after the specified time. The X parameter exits the module after the specified amount of time. It saves all data, and data files closed. The Y parameter blanks the screen only, without exiting the program. Note that the parameters are in minutes.

CLATMP =

tells Escape where to save temp files. This should be set to the L:\ESCAPE\VIRTUAL directory, which should be on the local server.

WAN Setup Checklist

Below is a checklist of tasks to perform when setting up a WAN for Escape. The details of how to perform each step are included in previous sections of this document.

Create the following directories on all LAN Servers:
Copy programs and screen files (menus) to LAN Servers. This means that you should copy the Escape programs (found in \ESCAPE) used by sites, as well as the screen files (found in \ESCAPE\ETMENU).
Map L: to LAN Servers to \ESCAPE
Modify ETCONFIG entries to point to the appropriate drive letter.
Modify Windows icon or shortcut properties to launch the program from the local server.
Test out your setup by logging in as different types of users, to ensure that the programs and menus have been set up appropriately.