I want to have all my tables and whatever system tables (cat, cfg) necessary
located in a single directory.  I want to point my program to that directory
from any computer on the network and that's it.  The program should be able
to see all the data.  The config file just needs to look for the tables in
whatever directory it exists in.  That's simplicity, but I can't seem to get
that working.  Anything else seems like a configuration nightmare times
hundreds of installations.  Please try to explain again what I need to do to
operate similar to how dbisam operated.  I need the end users to simply
download the program, install it on one computer on the network where the
data files will be created and then all the other networked computers simply
create a shortcut to the program and at most each user points to the data
installation directory.  Is this not possible or am I missing the obvious.
TIA...

Keith,

<< I want to have all my tables and whatever system tables (cat, cfg)
necessary located in a single directory.  I want to point my program to that
directory from any computer on the network and that's it.  The program
should be able
to see all the data. >>

If you look at the CDCollector example application that comes with
ElevateDB, you will see how this is done.  In the data module, there is code
that creates the database and the tables, views, and stored procedures on
the fly, if they don't exist already.  This is all determined by the .exe
path of the application - the database is stored relative to the application
path.

<< The config file just needs to look for the tables in whatever directory
it exists in.  That's simplicity, >>

Sure, it's simple, but it's also not possible.  The configuration file can
only go by what your application tells it in terms of the database location.
The key is to make sure to use UNC paths if you think that the path names
will use different drive mappings on different computers.  This will ensure
that the database can be found properly from any computer on the network
that has the proper rights to the shared UNC location.

Here's the code from the CDCollector application that illustrates this:

procedure TCDCollectorDataModule.CDCollectorEngineBeforeStart(Sender:
TObject);
begin
  { Always be sure to set ConfigPath property to correct location.
    TempTablesPath property is where temporary tables are stored }
  with CDCollectorEngine do
     begin
     ConfigPath:=ExtractFilePath(Application.ExeName);
     TempTablesPath:=GetTempTablesPath;
     end;
end;

procedure TCDCollectorDataModule.DataModuleCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  { Activate the engine.  The engine can also be referenced by the generic
    Engine variable in the edbcomps unit }
  CDCollectorEngine.Active:=True;
  { Now connect the session }
  CDCollectorSession.Connected:=True;
  { Check to see if the database exists or whether it needs to be
    created }
  with ConfigurationQuery do
     begin
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Databases WHERE
Name='+Engine.QuotedSQLStr('CDCollector');
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        { Database doesn't exist and we need to create it }
        Close;
        SQL.Text:='CREATE DATABASE "CDCollector" PATH '+
                   Engine.QuotedSQLStr(ExtractFilePath(Application.ExeName)+'data');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     end;
  { Now we can open the CDCollector database and start to check the
metadata for
    the database.  If anything is missing, we create it now in the proper
order
    so as to respect any foreign key <--> primary key RI relationships.

    NOTE the use of doubled-up single quotes when embedding string
constants in
    the SQL. }
  with CatalogQuery do
     begin
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Tables WHERE Name=''Artists''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE TABLE "Artists"');
        SQL.Add('(');
        SQL.Add('"Name" VARCHAR(30) COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('"StartedPerforming" INTEGER,');
        SQL.Add('"StoppedPerforming" INTEGER,');
        SQL.Add('"Comments" CLOB COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Name" PRIMARY KEY ("Name")');
        SQL.Add(')');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Contains artists featured in the CD
collection''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Tables WHERE Name=''Labels''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE TABLE "Labels"');
        SQL.Add('(');
        SQL.Add('"Name" VARCHAR(30) COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('"Comments" CLOB COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Name" PRIMARY KEY ("Name")');
        SQL.Add(')');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Contains record labels featured in the
collection''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Tables WHERE Name=''Genres''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE TABLE "Genres"');
        SQL.Add('(');
        SQL.Add('"Name" VARCHAR(20) COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('"Comments" CLOB COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Name" PRIMARY KEY ("Name")');
        SQL.Add(')');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Contains genres featured in the CD
collection''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Tables WHERE Name=''Albums''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE TABLE "Albums"');
        SQL.Add('(');
        SQL.Add('"No" INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY (START WITH 0,
INCREMENT BY 1),');
        SQL.Add('"Name" VARCHAR(50) COLLATE "ANSI_CI" UNIQUE,');
        SQL.Add('"Artist" VARCHAR(30) COLLATE "ANSI_CI" NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"Genre" VARCHAR(20) COLLATE "ANSI_CI" NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"Year" INTEGER NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"Label" VARCHAR(30) COLLATE "ANSI_CI" NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"Imported" BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE  NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"NumDiscs" INTEGER DEFAULT 1  NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"CoverArt" BLOB COMPRESSION 6,');
        SQL.Add('"Comments" CLOB COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('"PurchasedOn" DATE,');
        SQL.Add('"PurchasePrice" DECIMAL(20,2),');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "No" PRIMARY KEY ("No"),');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Artist" FOREIGN KEY ("Artist") REFERENCES
"Artists" ("Name"),');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Genre" FOREIGN KEY ("Genre") REFERENCES
"Genres" ("Name"),');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Label" FOREIGN KEY ("Label") REFERENCES
"Labels" ("Name")');
        SQL.Add(')');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Contains CD albums in the collection''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Tables WHERE Name=''Tracks''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE TABLE "Tracks"');
        SQL.Add('(');
        SQL.Add('"AlbumNo" INTEGER,');
        SQL.Add('"DiscNo" INTEGER,');
        SQL.Add('"TrackNo" INTEGER,');
        SQL.Add('"TrackName" VARCHAR(50) COLLATE "ANSI_CI" NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"Length" INTERVAL MINUTE TO SECOND NOT NULL,');
        SQL.Add('"Comments" CLOB COLLATE "ANSI_CI",');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "TrackNo" PRIMARY KEY ("AlbumNo", "DiscNo",
"TrackNo"),');
        SQL.Add('CONSTRAINT "Album" FOREIGN KEY ("AlbumNo") REFERENCES
"Albums" ("No")');
        SQL.Add(')');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Contains CD album tracks''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Views WHERE
Name=''PurchaseInformation''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE VIEW "PurchaseInformation" AS');
        SQL.Add('SELECT COUNT(Name) AS NumAlbums,');
        SQL.Add('SUM(PurchasePrice) AS TotalPurchases,');
        SQL.Add('AVG(PurchasePrice) AS AveragePurchasePrice');
        SQL.Add('FROM Albums');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Total number of albums, purchase price, and
average purchase price for the CD collection''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Views WHERE
Name=''PurchaseHistory''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE VIEW "PurchaseHistory" AS');
        SQL.Add('SELECT EXTRACT(YEAR FROM PurchasedOn) AS Year,');
        SQL.Add('COUNT(Name) AS NumAlbums,');
        SQL.Add('SUM(PurchasePrice) AS TotalPurchases');
        SQL.Add('FROM Albums');
        SQL.Add('GROUP BY Year');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''History of album purchases by year''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Views WHERE
Name=''ListeningTimes''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE VIEW "ListeningTimes" AS');
        SQL.Add('SELECT Albums.No,');
        SQL.Add('Albums.Name,');
        SQL.Add('Albums.Artist,');
        SQL.Add('COUNT(Tracks.TrackNo) AS NumTracks,');
        SQL.Add('AVG(Tracks.Length) AS AvgLength,');
        SQL.Add('CAST(SUM(Tracks.Length) AS INTERVAL HOUR TO SECOND) AS
TotalTime');
        SQL.Add('FROM Albums INNER JOIN Tracks ON
Tracks.AlbumNo=Albums.No');
        SQL.Add('GROUP BY Albums.No');
        SQL.Add('ORDER BY Albums.Name');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Total listening times in hours, minutes, and
seconds for each album''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     SQL.Text:='SELECT * FROM Information.Procedures WHERE
Name=''Summaries''';
     Open;
     if (RecordCount=0) then
        begin
        Close;
        SQL.Clear;
        SQL.Add('CREATE PROCEDURE Summaries(IN "SummaryType" CHAR(1)
COLLATE ANSI_CI)');
        SQL.Add('BEGIN');
        SQL.Add('DECLARE Result CURSOR WITH RETURN FOR Stmt;');
        SQL.Add('');
        SQL.Add('CASE SummaryType');
        SQL.Add('-- Genres summary');
        SQL.Add('WHEN ''G'' THEN');
        SQL.Add('   BEGIN');
        SQL.Add('   PREPARE Stmt FROM ''SELECT Genre AS Name, COUNT(Name)
AS NumAlbums,');
        SQL.Add('                      SUM(PurchasePrice) AS
TotalPurchases');
        SQL.Add('                      FROM Albums');
        SQL.Add('                      GROUP BY Genre'';');
        SQL.Add('   OPEN Result;');
        SQL.Add('   END;');
        SQL.Add('-- Labels summary');
        SQL.Add('WHEN ''L'' THEN');
        SQL.Add('   BEGIN');
        SQL.Add('   PREPARE Stmt FROM ''SELECT Label AS Name, COUNT(Name)
AS NumAlbums,');
        SQL.Add('                      SUM(PurchasePrice) AS
TotalPurchases');
        SQL.Add('                      FROM Albums');
        SQL.Add('                      GROUP BY Label'';');
        SQL.Add('   OPEN Result;');
        SQL.Add('   END;');
        SQL.Add('-- Artists summary');
        SQL.Add('WHEN ''A'' THEN');
        SQL.Add('   BEGIN');
        SQL.Add('   PREPARE Stmt FROM ''SELECT Artist AS Name, COUNT(Name)
AS NumAlbums,');
        SQL.Add('                      SUM(PurchasePrice) AS
TotalPurchases');
        SQL.Add('                      FROM Albums');
        SQL.Add('                      GROUP BY Artist'';');
        SQL.Add('   OPEN Result;');
        SQL.Add('   END;');
        SQL.Add('END CASE;');
        SQL.Add('END');
        SQL.Add('DESCRIPTION ''Produces a summary of the number of albums
and total album purchases by genre, label, or artist''');
        ExecSQL;
        end
     else
        Close;
     end;
  { Now open the tables }
  ArtistsTable.Open;
  LabelsTable.Open;
  GenresTable.Open;
  AlbumsTable.Open;
  TracksTable.Open;
end;

The only difference for you would be the possible inclusion of the
ExpandUNCFileName call for the CREATE DATABASE statement:

        SQL.Text:='CREATE DATABASE "CDCollector" PATH '+
                   Engine.QuotedSQLStr(ExtractFilePath(ExpandUNCFileName(Application.ExeName))+'data');

--
Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Thank you!  I'll study the examples...

keith


This is what I do

procedure Tdm.DataModuleCreate(Sender: TObject);
var
sl: TStringList;
Here: string;
begin
Here := IncludeTrailingPathDelimiter(ExtractFilePath(ParamStr(0)));
if FileExists(Here + 'TfR.ini') then begin
 sl := TStringList.Create;
 sl.LoadFromFile(Here + 'TfR.ini');
 Here := sl[0];
 sl.Free;
end;
Engine.ConfigPath := Here;
Engine.TempTablesPath := GetWindowsTempPath;
TfRSession.LocalConfigPath := Here;
TfRSession.LocalTempTablesPath := GetWindowsTempPath;
end;

Roy Lambert [Team Elevate]

thanks.  it's all starting to make a little more sense now...