System Requirements

Basic Requirements

A workstation running Simply Contacts Database should meet the following specifications:

Multi-user installations require that a copy of the program is installed on each workstation where it will be run.

Information for System Administrators

This section is for IT professional responsible for managing systems and networks in companies with multiple users. It covers the following areas:

1. User access requirements
2. Network Requirements
3. Choosing the Database Engine
4. Emailing from SCD
5. Installing add-ons
6. Technologies used

User Access Requirements

To install or upgrade the software the user needs to have local administrator rights. These are required to register ActiveX components that are parts of the software. No special privileges are required to run the software.

Network Requirements

SCD requires a shared area on your network for the central database file (when installed with Access database) and for external files referenced (attached) from SCD. All users need to be granted read/write access to the central database file and the folder containing this file, irrespective of their access rights within the application.

If you install SCD with SQL Server database and do not use the attachment fields in SCD, the shared area is not required.

Running SCD with Access puts medium load on your network. We also recommend that the network be partitioned into smaller segments of no more than 10 computers for this configuration.

Running SCD with SQL Server puts light load on the network which may grow to medium when users perform certain operations such as data loading or Outlook synchronisation.

Detailed instructions on how to install SCD with Access database on a network can be found in article  "How do I share my data over a network".

Instructions on installation of SCD with SQL server can be found in article "Configuring SCD with SQL Server".

Choosing the Database Engine

Below are our guidelines for selecting the database engine:

• When deploying SCD on a single computer, use Access database engine with databases of up to 100,000 records
• For installations with up to 5 users, with databases up to 20,000 records where all users are connected with a local network, we also recommend Access.
• For installations with more than 10 users or larger databases or for connectivity with WAN or the Internet, use SQL Server
• Where the number of users is between 5 and 10, either engine can be used. Take into account the number of computers in the LAN segment, availability of a computer for installation of MSDE or SQL Server.
• The above considerations should be viewed as a guideline only. If in doubt, start with Access database engine and upgrade to SQL Server if necessary.

Emailing from SCD

The program can send emails using MS-Outlook (default) or directly. When sending e-mails using Outlook, the messages are generated in Outlook’s Outbox, allowing the user to preview them before sending. This works well with Outlook 2000, but the new security features of Outlook XP and later make using this function quite difficult, as an Outlook prompt will pop up for every message sent.

To enable emailing direct, please edit file SCD.ini (Settings file) located in the program’s directory, usually C:\Program files\Simply Contacts Database. Open the file in Notepad and add the following lines, substituting sample values with your data:

emailserver=myemailserver.com
emailfrom=myname <my email address>

Please note the sender’s email address must be entered between the angle brackets <>.

Note that the program can only use servers that do not require authentication. Some email servers, such as AOL, require authentication and cannot be used by SCD

Installing add-ons

Installing add-ons may require local administrator or power user rights.

The add-ons are either configured by requesing a new database from our website. The add-ons include database and menu settings and may include files for installation on the user workstation, including ActiveX executable code.

When you request a new database from the site, the following occurs:

1. Both the database implementation and the executable code will be packed into the database file that will be sent to you. You will need to install the new database on your system.
2. If your users have local administrator rights, then the updates to the client software will be automatically propagated next time the users start the program.
3. If they don't have local administrator rights, please log in into each workstation as administrator and run SCD once until you get to the program's switchboard

Technologies Used

• Simply Contacts Database was developed in Visual Basic v6 using ActiveX components
• The database engine is either Microsoft Access or SQL Server. The necessary executable files for Access are included in the installation so there is no need to have it installed for operation of the software.

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