Malcolm,

<< OK, thanks for the confirmation.  I already check for 'A_Lan' in order to
switch between local path or \\server\share to the database so I can
obviously use the same to decide whether to use a server. >>

Yep, you'll be able to query the local LAN for all EDB server instances, so
if none show up, switch to local.

<< Naturally each host can have a local instance of the server but the users
can elect to switch to a remote host's server in order to 'share' data. All
that remains is to discover the best way for such a user to make their local
server's database identical to the remote database (the app has that
requirement).   >>

The easiest way would be to use replication.  How up-to-date does the local
server's database need to be, relative to the remote database ?

--
Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:

> Yep, you'll be able to query the local LAN for all EDB server
> instances, so if none show up, switch to local.
>
Tim, just to clarify - at present I check for the network support (IP
stack) and then know whether to use a url or local path to the config
files.  In future the same test would tell me whether I can launch the
local server and go stRemote or go with stLocal - I think.

> The easiest way would be to use replication.  How up-to-date does the
> local server's database need to be, relative to the remote database ?

It is just a user convenience.  In multi-user mode the users will
nominate one host's server to be *the* server and will connect to and
use it.  Then one or more users may decide to 'update' their local
server .. or not. <shrug>  So it will be a user action to 'synchronise'
their local database with *the* server.  The synch can even be a brutal
'replace' operation, both the source and target will be quiet at the
time.  Or maybe a remote backup, copy .EDBBkp to local host then local
restore operation.

Malcolm

Malcolm,

<< Tim, just to clarify - at present I check for the network support (IP
stack) and then know whether to use a url or local path to the config
files.  In future the same test would tell me whether I can launch the local
server and go stRemote or go with stLocal - I think. >>

Correct.

<< It is just a user convenience.  In multi-user mode the users will
nominate one host's server to be *the* server and will connect to and use
it.  Then one or more users may decide to 'update' their local server .. or
not. <shrug> >>

The only snag is that the server that is hosting the data to be replicated
will need to choose a time in which to generate an update file for
consumption by any of the clients and their local servers/installations.
You could do it "on-demand", but you have to account for possible errors if
more than one person tries to do so at the same time.  In general, the save
updates and backup operations are more server-oriented than user-oriented,
so it is usually best to have them occur in a scheduled job that occurs at a
defined interval.

--
Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Ok, thanks.
I will see how I get on in due course.