Simon Networking Simon–Mailbox Rental & Mail Forwarding Management System (hereinafter referred to as ‘Simon’) can be networked so that all machines that you will be using can get information from one source of data. There are several things that you will have to do to get Simon networked. Some background first before doing the actual work. The Linked Table Manager can be used to jump from one set of data to another set of data. You just enter (A) where the data is located. Or, you can (B) browse to where the data is located. By clicking on (C) this button, you are telling Simon where all of your data files are located. You will notice that the [Datebase Locations] in the (G) table will change after clicking this button. Click on (D) this button to have Simon create linkages to all of your data files in the location you specified in (A). (G) will show you all of the files and tables involved and where they are located. Available Simon Networking Tool There is one tool within Simon that will help you relink your data to the Simon application. This tool is called the Linked Table Manager. This tool can be found by clicking on Tools in the Simon menu at the top of the Simon screen, and then choosing Linked Table Manager. This tool is used to steer Simon to where your data is located. I guess that’s the point of networking and there really isn’t much else to do–-find the data and then make connection to it. Every database used by Simon, other than the ones that will be mentioned later, can be set with this tool. Yes, Simon has a large number of databases involved with keeping track of your customer data. Why is everything separated out so much. By doing this, less has to be replaced at any one time when we need to make adjustments to the program. In fact, your specific customer data is never altered by us. We may occasionally add new fields, but we will do this in a way that is seamless and safe for your data. We will never replace your client data database. How to Get Simon Networked 1) Get Simon Installed, Licensed and Current on All Machines That You Plan to Network. Before getting Simon networked you will want to have Simon installed on all of the computers on which you want to be able to access your mailbox customer data. All of these computers should be licensed with us and all should be at the same revision number, i.e., 4.00.01, 4.00.00. It is especially important that the revisions be kept the same in a networked installation. The reason being that we occasionally add new fields to databases. If you miss one of these upgrades, or have not done it on a certain machine, this machine may not synchronize properly with the data. So, when you do an upgrade, be sure to upgrade all machines on your network. 2) Know Which Machine Will “Serve” Data to the Other Machines. When Simon is installed, all of the data files are dropped into the c:\simon folder. This is, of course, if you chose to install Simon where it was suggested that you install it. Since you want to run Simon on a network, I would suggest that you move all of these files from the c:\simon folder to a new folder within the c:\simon folder called “data.” This will allow you to move them much easier in the future if you choose to do so. Here is a list of the files that you should move to the “data” folder:

an.mdb box.mdb bua.mdb dta.mdb e.mdb

help.mdb helpanot.mdb i.mdb id.mdb lus.mdb

mt.mdb o.mdb opt.mdb p.mdb pc.mdb

pmb.mdb ra.mdb rpt.mdb sd.mdb sec.mdb

si.mdb sim.mdb so.mdb tax.mdb tip.mdb

There are two other ‘mdb’ files in the ‘simon’ folder–‘acclog.mdb’ and ‘7.mdb.’ These two files should not be moved as they must remain in the same folder as the ‘simon.mde’ file. PLEASE LEAVE THESE FILES WHERE THEY ARE. Without them in their original locations, Simon will not run. There may also be a 's.mdb' file. This file should remain in the original folder as well, if it exists. Also, if you do not see the ‘mdb’ file extension, you can change this option in the Explorer window by unchecking the “Hide all file extensions for known file types” in the folder options area. With different versions of Windows the process for doing this is slightly different, but it is always an option. I am using Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Pro, so this is what I know for sure. 3) Use the Data Linking Tool to Set Locations. Open the Data Linking tool by clicking on the Tools menu and then choosing Linked Table Manager. The tool will appear. Take a look at it. Most of it is informational, but there are some buttons at the top that you will use to set your new data locations. To set your new locations on the machines that will be looking for the data on the Server, enter the server path in the ‘Where?’ box. You can just type it in if you know it, or you can click on the first button adjacent to the ‘Where?’ box entitled ‘Browse for a Folder.’ A dialog box will appear that you can use to find the folder where you data is located. Now, you will click on the ‘Set Folders’ button. The new data location will appear in the ‘Database Location’ area for each database listed. Click on the ‘Relink’ button to link up your data to the Simon application. This may take a few minutes. Once this is done, your workstations will be using the same data as the Server machine, if you have entered the correct server path in the ‘Where?’ box. If you had entered the path incorrectly, you can use the ‘Boxholder Information’ form to see if your data is there, or not. If not, your path information is incorrect and you will need to adjust it. 4) Move the Data on the Other Machines. On all computers, except the Server computer, all of the files listed above should be moved. You can use the Windows Explore tool to do all of this moving of files. First, you should create a folder under ‘c:\simon’ called ‘UnusedData’ and then move all of the files as listed above to this new folder. This is an important step. By moving all of these files, Simon will now be able to automate the process of finding your data files for you in the future. For instance, if you upgrade to a new revision, which I am sure you will have many occasions to do, Simon will not be able to find your data and will ask for your assistance in finding it. It will, specifically, ask you to find the “an.mdb” file. Use the dialog box that will appear, look in Network Neighborhood for your server and then navigate to the appropriate folder where ‘an.mdb’ is located. Once you find this one file, Simon will find the rest of them automatically. Handling Revisions on the Networked Computers Revisions, which happen several times a year with Simon, will have to be handled differently on networked computers, and on your server. With revisions the main Simon application file, ‘simon.mde’, is always replaced with a new version. Sometimes, there may be other files that are replaced as well. Since you are networked, here is what you need to do: 1) Download the revision file, or files, from our web site just as you would do if you were not on a network. 2) Unzip the file to a folder that you should create called ‘Extractions’. Locate this folder within the Simon folder on the Server. If you have two files that you downloaded and need to unzip do them as separate operations with the oldest file being the first operation that you do. As a side note, if your version of Simon is very old and far different in number from the download, but there were no other downloads to get, don’t worry, we incorporated all of the previous revisions into this one. If, on the other hand, there is a notice on the web site that you will need to get a specific file if your version is older than, say, 4.00.01, then you will need to do this file first. You can download both now, but you should do the unzipping operation and all that follows on the older file first. 3) Once you have unzipped the file to the ‘Extractions’ folder, look at the contents to see what is there. If there is only one file, the ‘simon.mde’ file, you should copy this file to each of the ‘c:\simon’ folders for each machine. If, however, there are other files, such as ‘help.mdb’, or ‘lus.mdb,’ you should move these files to the ‘Data’ folder on your server, if you have done as recommended above and moved all data to a data folder. In any event, move these files to whereever your data is located. If the files ‘7.mdb’ or ‘s.mdb’ are a part of this revision, you should copy these files to each of the ‘c:\simon’ folders on each machine (not likely though). 4) Now, go into each machine one at a time, open Simon, and have Simon automatically relink to the server data. BE SURE TO DO THIS STEP, IT IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN WOULD BE OUTWARDLY APPARENT. If you had to do another file due to the fact that you were well behind in revisions, you can do the newer file now by starting on Step 2 above. First, you should delete the items located in the “Extractions” folder. Hope this helps!