Sharing Data

How do I share data over a network?

Simply Contacts Database allows multiple users to share the same data using a local area network. In order to work with a common database in an office environment the database .mdb file will normally reside on one computer or server, in this example the computer is called “A”.

Create Shared Area

Firstly create a shared area on computer “A” where you wish to host your database. This area must be visible from all participating computers. Start one of the installed copies, and using function Setup -> Create a new Data File, create a new database in the shared area.

Install the Software

The host computer itself does not need to have the program installed. The SCD software is then installed on all computers that will require to access the common database file located on computer “A”. In this example the other users on the network are named B, C & D. These individual users will then open the shared database file on “A” from their own computers following the steps below.

Create Shared Database

Using any computer with the program installed, start Simply Contacts Database, go to Setup Department and select function Create new data file and attach to it:

The program will then prompt you to enter the name for the new data file.

Navigate to the shared area you created earlier and enter the name of a new file. If you enter a name of an existing file, it will be overwritten.

Open Shared Database from Other Computers

On all other computers, start the program, go to Setup Department and select option Open existing Simply Contacts data file.

You will now be presented with a window entitled “Select the database file”. Navigate to the shared area and locate file My Database you created previously (Should you have any problems identifying the computer on your network please speak to your IT or Network Administrator):

Press the Open button.

Setup Attached Documents Area

SCD allows you to reference external documents using the attachment fields. In a network installation, these documents must be centrally located on a network.

If you plan to use the attachment fields please do the following:

1. Create a shared area for the documents which is visible from all other computers, such as G:\Documents.
2. On each workstation, browse the Simply Contacts Database folder and open file SCD.INI (Configuration settings) in in Notepad. Some systems may display the file as SCD with type "Configuration Settings"



Change the line beginning "FileRefArea=" to point to the shared area: