Networking Martial Arts Organizer 4

Networking requires an additional investment in hardware and software. If you're interested in setting up an attendance computer, and do not wish to network, please read "Attendance Recording Without Networking."

Attendance Recording Without Networking

Since it's not possible to record attendance while using other features of Martial Arts Organizer 4 on a single computer, networking is a great way to dedicate a computer to Attendance Check In, but it's not required.

(Networking is by far the best way to share your data between computers, but networking costs money! This workaround is free, but your data is not automatically updated; you'll have to do that yourself.)

So, if you would like to have a computer that only records attendance and you don't mind transferring data yourself, you don't need to network, you can simply set up a computer at the front desk. By placing a bar code scanner within reach and the computer monitor facing the student, students can check themselves in and view the greeting screen.

In order to setup a Front Desk computer dedicated to Attendance recording, install Martial Arts Organizer 4 and click the Help button on any data entry screen. Print and read "Attendance Computer: No Network Required" under the category "Transferring Files" in the built in Help.

Setting Up Your Network

Network Hardware Required

In order to network Martial Arts Organizer 4, you must have a computer network installed at your location. This requires additional hardware (hub, wiring, ethernet cards, etc.) not sold or supported by Martial Arts Organizer.com.

Since networking is a job best left to a professional, please ask your computer expert to print this article. If you have questions, please email Martial Arts Organizer.com for free Technical Support. Telephone support is also available at $2 per minute, but be advised, Martial Arts Organizer Technical Support probably won't be your best bet if you have network hardware or operating system questions. We'll be happy to help, but our area of expertise is with the Martial Arts Organizer software.

IMPORTANT!
There is no way to bypass the purchase of the FileMaker Pro software. Do NOT attempt to use any form of File Sharing or Remote Access software to share the Martial Arts Organizer 4 files. This WILL result in permanent file damage.

After you have installed your computer network and purchased one copy of FileMaker Pro per computer you can begin to configure your computers.

Step 1

Install the FileMaker Pro software on each computer

Go to each computer you wish to network, and install the FileMaker Pro software. If each copy of FileMaker Pro has a unique Registration Code, use each FileMaker Pro Registration Code only once. Do NOT re-use a FileMaker Pro Registration Code, doing so will cause networking to fail.

If you have purchased one Registration Code for many computers (a volume license) do not attempt to install FileMaker Pro on more computers than your volume license allows. This will cause networking to fail.

Step 2

Designate a Server

Pick one computer that will be the server or host. We'll refer to this computer as the server, but that doesn't mean this computer should be a high end computer or one that's marketed specifically as server. It should just be a fairly fast machine and it should be the one where Martial Arts Organizer 4 will be running in the foreground most of the time. As soon as you switch to a different program on the server the performance of all the guest computers will drop drastically.

Your server will be the only computer that has the Martial Arts Organizer 4 files installed on the hard drive. The guest computers should only have the FileMaker Pro software installed on them.

Once you have selected a computer to be the server, install the FileMaker Pro software and Martial Arts Organizer 4 on this computer. If you are using FileMaker Pro Server, place the Martial Arts Organizer 4 folder inside the FileMaker Pro Server folder.

All of the other computers you will network will be called 'guest' computers.

Do NOT install Martial Arts Organizer 4 on any guest computers.

Step 3

Remove the Runtime & Move Plugins

Open the Martial Arts Organizer 4 folder on your server.

PC users open the 'data' folder.

Delete the Martial Arts Organizer 4 application.
It looks like this:

(Version # will vary)

This is a runtime version of the FileMaker Pro application which is not networkable.

Now that you have FileMaker Pro installed on your server, it's not necessary to have this runtime application on any of your computers and deleting it is a precaution so Martial Arts Organizer 4 can no longer be opened by the runtime version.

Step 4

Share the Student Photos Folder

Inside the Martial Arts Organizer 4 folder is the Student Photos folder. Share this folder. Make it readable and writeable for all users of Martial Arts Organizer 4.

Step 5

Launch the Martial Arts Organizer 4 on the Server

Launch FileMaker Pro, go to the File menu and select Open.

PC Users
Click on the "Files of types:" drop down menu, scroll UP and select:
All files (*.*)

Mac Users
Click on the "Show:" drop down menu and select:
All Available

Locate the Martial Arts Organizer 4 folder.

PC users open the 'data' folder

Locate and open 'MAO_4vXX.4ma' (XX is the version number)

When prompted for a password, enter the Master Account Name and Password.

This will open Martial Arts Organizer 4. When the opening sequence is complete you'll be viewing the Main Menu.

Step 6

Enable File Sharing

Go the File menu and select Sharing -> FileMaker Network...

Turn Network Sharing On.

Under Currently Open Files select:

MAO_4vXX.4ma = All Users
Do NOT check "Don't Display in Open Remote File Dialog"

att.4ma = All Users, CHECK "Don't Display in Open Remote File Dialog"
oto.4ma = All Users, CHECK "Don't Display in Open Remote File Dialog"
lbl.4ma = All Users, CHECK "Don't Display in Open Remote File Dialog"
elp.4ma = All Users, CHECK "Don't Display in Open Remote File Dialog"
rsc.4ma = All Users, CHECK "Don't Display in Open Remote File Dialog"

Click OK. You are now sharing your Martial Arts Organizer 4 files.

IMPORTANT! For best performance, the ONLY program which should be running on the server should be FileMaker Pro. It must be in the foreground at all times. Do NOT switch to other programs, minimize FileMaker Pro, or switch FileMaker Pro to the background.

IMPORTANT! Always be sure Martial Arts Organizer has opened completely on the server before guest computers attempt to connect. When the opening sequence has been completed, you'll be viewing the Main Menu.

Step 7

Create a Server Account (optional)

If you would like to protect the server so it can be left unattended and no one can tamper with Martial Arts Organizer 4, you can create a special Account just for opening the server that has access to only the Main Menu.

To do this, from the Main Menu, click the Go To... button, then select 'Accounts' and click Continue.

Click the + button and create an Account for the server:

Name = Server
Access level = Staff
Password & Hint = {your choice}
Access = Uncheck all box except Main Menu

While you're here, you can also create additional user Accounts for each staff member. Since the Master password cannot be changed, it should never be given to staff members. Creating Accounts is discussed in the School Setup guide.

Now Quit/Exit FileMaker Pro and open Martial Arts Organizer 4 as described in Step 4 above, then enter the Server user name and password you've just created. Now, only the Main Menu can be displayed on the server until you Quit and re-open with the Master password.

Note: If you Quit Martial Arts Organizer 4 on the server, all guests will be disconnected.

Step 8

Configure the Guests

Install FileMaker Pro on each guest computer.

Do NOT install Martial Arts Organizer 4 on any guest computers.

Mount the Student Photos folder, which is a shared volume on the server.

Open FileMaker Pro, then go to File and choose Open, then click the 'Remote' button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

View: Local Hosts
Hosts: {Select your server}
Available Files: Select MAO_4vXX.4ma

Select the 'MAO_4vXX.4ma' file, then click Open, and enter the Account Name and Password you wish to use on this guest computer.

Inserting Student, Staff and Inventory Photos or Images
In order for student, staff and inventory photos or images to appear on all computers on the network, they must be stored inside the shared Student Photos folder on the server. This shared volume must be mounted on each guest computer. Photos will not display if the shared Student Photos volume is not mounted prior to launching FileMaker Pro.

Photos and images can only be inserted from a guest computer by selecting the image from the shared Student Photos folder.

Mixed networks (Macs and PCs) will only display student photos if the "Store only a reference to the file" box is unchecked when the photo is inserted. Use caution with this option since this stores the entire image file in the database. Images larger than .5 megabyte should not be used. Large files will dramatically decrease the screen refresh time of guest users. Also, FileMaker Pro has a known problem with storing many large (greater than 1 megabyte) image files and file corruption is possible.

Step 9

Create a Shortcut or Alias on each Guest

For convenience, create a shortcut or alias of the FileMaker Pro application and place it on the desktop of each guest computer. To do this, open the FileMaker Pro folder and create a shortcut or alias of the FileMaker Pro application file and move the shortcut or alias to the Desktop.

Now you're ready for your guests to open Martial Arts Organizer 4. Here are the steps: