A.2. Structure of Syscob Application Storage
Syscob application storage is restricted to a single folder on disk. For the Export-It statutory EDI application this is the “” folder. For the Export-It Plus commercial export documents application this is the “” folder. Both must be located in the root directory of a drive letter (e.g. “”).
This appendix illustrates the required Syscob application folder hierarchies for both applications. In these examples both applications are shown as being installed on the same drives, but their root application folders could be on different drive letters.
Syscob Application “Server” Folders
The capture at the right shows the application “server” folders on a network share (\\behemoth\Syscob) that is mapped to the drive letter. That would be typical of a multi-user and/or multi-PC distributed topology. For a “standalone” single-user-on-single-PC installation the folder hierarchy would be identical, but it would be located on a local disk of that machine.
Note that both application folder hierarchies contain a “” subfolder which holds the database shared by all users of the application. Both also have a “master copy” of the programs, libraries and resources needed to run the application (subfolder “” for Export-It“ or subfolders “” and “” for Export-It Plus).
Under the “” subfolder for the Export-It application are the individual folders that are unique to each application user. These user seat folders hold the printing (and other) files unique to a user. The subfolder names under the “” subfolder are derived from the <Domain> then <HostName> and finally <UserName> for each user logon. In this case there are two users on the same computer in the same domain.
Many of the subfolders under the “” folder are normally empty, but must exist for proper operation. This is significant because Microsoft has changed the default for copy operations by Windows Explorer to be “Do not copy empty folders” for Windows 7, and later, versions. Meaning care must be exercised when copying (e.g. for a “backup”) or restoring from a backup to ensure that these critical, but empty, subfolders are not “lost.”
Finally, remember that in a “standalone” topology for one user on one PC these would be the only application folders (i.e. they fulfill both “server” and “local” roles in that case).
Syscob Application “Local” Folders
For a multi-user or multi-PC [distributed] topology every user logon must have an application “local” folder. The capture at the right is for the example installation with two [2] users on a single PC and serves to illustrate that a “local” folder on a PC may be shared by all of the users on that machine, but every computer would have its own application “local” folder with the programs, libraries and resources needed to run the application.
Beneath the expanded local HDD (named “” in this example) can be seen the unexpanded “server” drive (which is seen expanded in the prior section). It is critical that every user logon must “see” the “server” [or only] drive because that is where the application database resides.
The examples above were taken from a Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) workstation, where the Syscob applications run under Win32-on-Win64 [WoW64] mode, with the “server” drive located on a separate machine (e.g. a Windows Server). This is probably the most common topology for Syscob software installations.