SIO [Sign In/Out Board] Version 1.0 for Windows

 

Administration Guide


 




Contents


 		The SIO [Sign In/Out] Board

		License Requirements
		System Requirements
		Capacity
		Security
		Installation
		   Network
		   Workstation


 		Administration

		Master User List - Add/Change/Delete Users
		System Configuration Settings - Changing
		Board Maintenance - Compact/Repair
		Emergency Fix


  		Trouble Shooting

SIO [Sign In/Out] Boarda for Windows Version 1.0  
Copyright a1995 by Randy McAlister. All rights reserved. 

Notice: The SIO [Sign In/Out] Board for Windows can not be copied or sold in 
whole or in part by any entity without the express written consent of it's author, 
Randy McAlister.


The SIO [Sign In/Out] Board

 	SIO [Sign In/Out Board] for Windows Version 1.0

License Requirements:

The SIO Sign In/Out Board for Windows is NOT Freeware/Shareware or similar. It 
can not be copied, distributed, sold or likewise in whole or in part without the express
written consent of its author, Randy McAlister. 

In Order to run the SIO Sign In/Out Board you must obtain a License Agreement from 
the author.  The License Agreement  can be obtained by contacting the author at the 
following address:

	Randy McAlister
	Box 212
	Hampton New Brunswick
	E0G 1Z0  Phone: (506) 832-2323
	Internet: RandyMc@nb.sympatico.ca

A License gives the purchaser the right to install a single SIO Sign In/Out Board on 
their Network.  A License must be purchased for each separate board you install. 

System Requirements

The SIO Sign In/Out Board for Windows recommends the following workstation setup:
	Windows 3.1 or Higher  (optionally OS/2 2.10 Win-OS2 or Higher)
	4 Megabytes of RAM
	A Mouse
	DOS 3.3 or Higher
	SHARE.EXE (Not Required if running Windows for WorkGroups, Win95, NT or OS/2)

The SIO Administrator and/or Installer must be familiar with the following products:
	MS-DOS
	Windows (optionally OS/2)
	Your Network Operating System

Capacity

The physical limitation on the SIO Board is 2000 users.  The realistic limitations are 
somewhere around 200 users per Board depending on your Network. Typically you 
will want to run separate Boards for each distinct area within your office.
Security

The SIO Sign In/Out Board security is based on the honor system.  It is possible having 
administration knowledge to impersonate another user.  However the safeguards to 
avoid this type of behavior generally lead to a cumbersome system (passwords, 
network specific setup etc.).

The SIO Sign In/Out Board is independent of the physical Network.  If security is 
required then it must be implemented at a Network level. 

It is recommended this document not be made available to anyone other than the 
administrator if security is an issue.


Installation

Before You Start:

(1) Make a Diskcopy of your original SIO Diskette for backup purposes.
	This will be your backup copy incase you want to reinstall later.
(2) Identify where on your Network you will install the SIO Sign In/Out Board.
	This directory should be off a Network Drive all users currently access.
(3) Identify a DOS Environment Variable (DOS System ID Tag) which can be set on all
     Workstations.
	Each workstation must be setup with a Environment Variable (perhaps set
	when they login) which the SIO Board can use to Identify them.  A typical
	variable setting would be USERID=MCALIR.  USERID is the name of the
	DOS variable and MCALIR is its value.  This documentation refer's to the
	DOS variable as the "DOS System ID Tag", and its value as "System ID".  The
	maximum length for either the variable or it's value is 8 characters.
(4) Identify who the System Administrator will be.
	Select which person will be the Sign In/Out Board Administrator.  Several
	System Configuration settings, Board Maintenance, and the editing of the 
	Master Userlist can only be done by the Administrator.
(5) Obtain a list of all users Names and Network Userids.
	You will require these to enter into the Master Userlist.


Network Installation:

To install the SIO Sign In/Out Board on the network. Do the following:
(1) Create a Directory on a Network Drive where everyone will have access.
(2) Copy all the files off the SIO System Diskette into the Network directory except 
     SIOFIX.EXE (this file we deal with under "Administration - Emergency Fix".
(3) Use DOS ATTRIB command (or similiar) to set all files to R/O, EXCEPT   
     SIO.BRD (and SIO.LDB once its created, more on this file later) which must be 
     R/W.

(4) Make sure everyone who will use the Board has all directory Rights (R/W/ etc)

next: 	prepare your workstation to access the SIO board as the Administrator.

(5) Shutdown Windows if it is currently running on your Desktop.

(6) Update your AUTOEXEC.BAT (or CONFIG.SYS)  to LOAD the DOS   
     SHARE.EXE program.  The following work with DOS 6.2, see your DOS guide.
     Share.Exe is not required if running Windows for WorkGroups, Win95, NT or OS/2.
	for example:	
	AUTOEXEC     c:\dos\SHARE.EXE /L:500
	- or -
	CONFIG           INSTALL=c:\dos\SHARE.EXE /L:500
     If already using share then bump up both the /l: and /f: options accordingly, that is
     if /L: is already 500 then make it 1000, and if /f: is 2048 (default) then make it
    4096. Test SIO and other SHARE.EXE Applications by running them concurrently.
(7) Warm boot [Ctrl-Alt-Del] your workstation and log into the Network. If Windows
     automatically starts then exit back to DOS.	
(8) In DOS set an Environment Variable using command SET SIOUSER=SIOADMIN
	This will allow you access to the Administration function, and is only required 
	for the first session (don't put it in your AUTOEXEC!).  This must be done
          from the DOS command line (Not from a DOS Window under Windows!).
(9) Start Windows on your desktop.
(10) Install SIO Sign In/Out Board on your Windows desktop.  Use the Program 
    Manager File/Run command to install the SIO Board on your Desktop.  Enter the
    SIO \directory\SETUP command [where \directory is the Network fully qualified
    Drive:\Directory\ where you copied the SIO files].  

    example:  p:\applic\sio\setup

    The SETUP command will install the required run time files into your Windows
    System directory from the network directory. NOTE: If you are running a shared
    copy of Windows off the Network the Setup Utility will copy files to your Windows 
    directory, or else if running a private copy of Windows off you local harddisk it will 
    copy its runtime files to WINDOWS\SYSTEM.

    The Setup program scans your AUTOEXEC.BAT for the word SHARE. If it does
    not find it,  it displays a message box stating you must add the SHARE /L:500
    command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT.  The CONFIG.SYS is not scanned.

Individual Workstation Setup:

To install the SIO Sign In/Out Board on someone's Workstation, repeat steps 5 through 
10 above with the following exception: Skip Step 8 because "each workstation must 
have a DOS Environment Variable (System ID Tag) set by the time they login to the 
Network".  This variable should be set by their LOGIN Script provided by the 
Network Operating System as they login. You will see how it is used in the 
Administration section of this manual.



Note: The following lists the files that should end up in the shared Network directory:

SIO      HLP        96,237 02-20-95   8:41p
SIO      EXE        86,972 03-04-95   1:59p
CMDIALOG VB_        10,865 04-28-93   2:00p
MSAJT110 DL_       424,588 05-20-93   2:00p
SETUP    EXE        15,312 04-28-93   7:00a
SETUP    LST            49 02-20-95   3:37p
SETUP1   EX_        13,087 02-21-95  12:23a
SETUPKIT DL_         3,657 04-28-93   7:00a
SIOFIX   EXE        12,368 02-15-95   9:40p
VBDB300  DL_        59,761 04-28-93   2:00p
VBRUN300 DL_       276,684 05-12-93   2:00p
VER      DL_         9,696 01-13-94  12:00a
COMMDLG  DL_        50,924 03-24-92   3:10a
GRID     VB_        27,658 04-28-93   2:00p
MSAES110 DL_        18,931 04-28-93   2:00p
SIO      BRD        98,304 03-04-95   2:08p


The file SIO.LDB will appear in the Network directory you installed SIO in after its 
first Sign Out use.  This file is a Board log used internally by the SIO system. This file 
must always be R/W just like SIO.BRD.


You are now ready to Administrate the SIO Sign In/Out Board.





Administration

 

First a few terms we use when describing the SIO Administration side:

Terms:
DOS System ID Tag:
Name of DOS Environment Variable used to extract a "System ID" from for each 
workstation accessing the Sign In/Out Board.  In a setting such as 
"USERID=MCALIR"  ,USERID is the "DOS System ID Tag", and MCALIR is the 
"System ID" (see below).   SIO Ships with the tag set to "SIOUSER", you must 
change this.

System ID:
The System ID is a value that uniquely identifies each user as they logon to the 
network. This is typically the same as their LAN userid, the Sign In/Out Board uses 
this value to look them up in the the Master Userlist, which is where the User's Name 
and Alias can be extracted(see below).

System Title:
The Title that will appear in the SIO Windows Application Bar.  Everyone running the 
same SIO Board will have this title displayed. 

Admin System ID: 
The "Admin System ID" is the System ID of the person who will Administrate the 
Board, and it must exist in the Master Userlist. It is typically the same as their 
Network userid. SIO ships with this set to SIOADMIN, you must change this.

Name and Alias:
The Name is the person's First Name Last Name as in "Randy McAlister".  Alias is an 
abbreviation for their name as in "RandyM".  When you Sign Out someone, their Alias 
appears on the Board. To sign them out you select from a list of Alias names in the 
"Sign Out" Dialog Box, each Alias name selected updates a "Name" field in the "Sign 
Out" Dialog so you know the "Name" associated with the "Alias". Using Alias's allows 
you to display more names on the board (30 Alias's allowed before you have to use the 
scroll bar).


How it Works:
The Sign In/Out Board performs the following functions when first executed from the 
Windows desktop.

(1) It determines from what drive\directory it was executed from, and goes there to 
find the SIO.BRD which it then opens.  The Sign In/Out Board, Administration 
Settings, and Master Userlist all reside inside the SIO.BRD file.

(2) It reads the "DOS System ID Tag" setting to determine the name of the DOS 
Environment Variable it is to read from the Workstation it is running on, and then does 
so which retrieves the users "System ID".   The System ID (typically set the same value 
as their Network userid, ie "MCALIR") is then used to lookup the user's Name and 
Alias from the Master Userlist.

(3) The "System ID" is then compared against the "Admin System ID" to determine if 
this is the Administration  ID, and if so, turns on the Admin Icon and Menu bar 
selection.





Using the Administration Feature:

The following example Menu appears if you select the Admin Icon or Menu Bar File 
Admin option.  The screen is divided into three (3) logical partitions.

(1) Master User List Maintenance
(2) System Configuration Settings
(3) Board Maintenance

 



(1) Master Userlist Maintenance: Search/Add/Change/Delete users.

This is where you can maintain your Master User List.  There are four (4) command 
buttons associated with the Master User List, Search/Add/Change/Delete.

Search:  Allows you to search the List using an  Alias, the search is not case sensitive, 
so if you enter andreww it would locate ANDREWW or AndrewW.  It positions what 
it finds at the top of the list (unless the list has less than 6 names in it, in which case 
you can already see it). If it does not find and exact match it places the next closest one 
at the top of the list.

Add:  Allows you to add a new Alias/SystemID/Name to the Master Userlist. All 3 
values you enter must be unique or else a MessageBox telling you they can not be 
added appears.  

Change:  Allows you to edit someone in the list.  To Change, first find their Alias in 
the list and click it with the mouse to make it the current record, then press the Change 
button.  If you change one of the values to something that already exists in the Master 
list then you won't be able to add it.  Also, you can not change the System ID,  you 
must Delete/Add someone to change their System ID. 

Delete:  Allows you to remove a name from the Master List.  To Delete, make their 
name the current record by clicking on them once with the mouse then pressing the 
Delete button.  You can not delete the current Administrator's System ID.


(2) System Configuration Settings:  Changing


If this is the first time you are configuring a SIO Board do the following:

(a) Verify that during your network login a DOS Environment variable (aka "DOS 
System ID Tag") is set that can uniquely identify each user as they log into the 
Network.  A typical setting is "USERID" as in SET USERID=MCALIR

(b) Add your Administrators "Alias", "System ID", and "Name" to the Master Userlist.  
Remember that "System ID" is the value the "DOS System ID Tag" variable must have.

(c) Change the System Configuration Settings for "System Title", "DOS System ID 
Tag", and "Admin System ID".  Remember that the "DOS System ID Tag" is the name 
of a DOS Environment Variable such as USERID,  and that "Admin System  ID" (ie 
MCALIR) is the value of the "DOS System ID Tag".  Typically the "DOS System ID 
Tag" is set to "USERID" and the "Admin System ID" is set to the Network userid of 
the person who will be the Administrator (typically your Network Userid).

The first time you change these you will temporarily lose Administration Authority 
until you restart the SIO Board, at which time it will read the "DOS System ID Tag" 
variable you specified, and use it's value to lookup the user (typically yourself) in the  
Master Userlist. The value of the "DOS System ID Tag" is also checked against the 
"Admin System ID" value you specified to see if this is the Administrator.  

(d) Once you have set these values properly, and restarted the SIO Board, you should 
have the Admin Icon and Menu bar Admin options.  You can then delete the 
SIOADMIN user out of the Master Userlist.  

More on Changing the System Configuration Settings:

To edit any of these System Configuration Settings you have to first press the "Enable 
Edit" button. These Configuration settings do the following:

Note:  When you first configure the SIO Board you must change these settings from 
the SIO Defaults, and you must have the "DOS System ID Tag" match the name of the 
DOS Environment Variable that you will use to uniquely identify each workstation.

System Title - Whatever you type here appears at the top of everyone's Sign In/Out 
Board Title Bar.  This allows you to customize a board as per an identifiable group.  
For Instance, the previous figure of the Administration Screen has "McAlister Sys." as 
it's System Title, and note that this appears on the Windows Title Bar.
If you change this it updates your Title Bar immediately, but those using the Board will 
only see it the next time they start SIO.  The title can be up to 15 characters in length.

DOS System ID Tag - This is the name of the DOS Environment Variable that each 
individual workstation reads as it logs in.  This tells SIO what DOS Environment 
variable to read from the workstations DOS environment to get their "System ID".  
This variable once set, is seldom changed. Caution: If you change it to something that 
the workstations don't have SET, then they will not be able to use the Sign In/Out 
Board, and receive a number of error messages.  By default SIO ships with this set to 
SIOUSER, you must change this to something else (like USERID or NETUSER etc). 

This variable is usually named "USERID".  The Network Administrator can set this up 
to have it's value set to the user's Network Userid as they log into the Network. For 
example, if my Network Userid was MCALIR and the variable "USERID" was set to 
the value MCALIR then this could be used to identify me as I logged into the Network.  
Then SIO could read the "USERID" "DOS System ID Tag" and then find MCALIR in 
the Master Userlist.


Admin System ID - This is the "System ID" of the SIO Sign In/Out Board 
Administration Userid (your's) .  You can change this to pass the administration 
authority on to someone else.  The userid you enter must already exist in the Master 
Userlist. SIO ships with the id set to SIOADMIN, you must change this to your own 
userid (if you are to be the Administrator).

Caution: changing this removes Admin authority from the original Admin System ID.

(3) Board Maintenance: Requires Exclusive Use

It is strongly recommended that Board Maintenance be done out of prime time office 
hours to minimize disruption.  It is best performed after restarting the Network when 
you are certain no one is currently using the Board.  Compacting the Board while 
others are using the SIO system will cause them to experience unpredictable results.

The board maintenance section of the administration screen offers three things:


(a) Tells you where the SIO.BRD file you are working with resides.
(b) Allows you to Compact the Board
(c) Allows you to Repair the Board.

(a) The location of the board appears above the "Compact Board" button.

(b) After being in use for sometime, the SIO.BRD will become fragmented and require 
maintenance. The Compact function performs the following steps:
- Compacts the Board creating a SIO.NEW file
- Deletes any SIO.OLD files in the Network directory that SIO.BRD resides in
- Renames SIO.BRD to SIO.OLD
- Renames SIO.NEW to SIO.BRD.
Because of this activity, the Board must not be in use when you try and compact it. If it 
is in use then it will display an error message telling you the "Exclusive Lock" failed.
As a rule of thumb, maintenance is not required until the size of the SIO.BRD file 
passes the 150K size (based on a Master Userlist of 100 users).

(c) If users experience unusual behavior, or intermittent problems, then the Board may 
have internal errors (Table and/or Index).  The Repair Board function runs a validation 
routine against all of the Boards tables and indexes and repairs what it can.  A separate 
SIOFIX.EXE is supplied in case the Board is in such a bad state that it will not let you 
login to use the Administration "Repair Board" function.  Repair only works on a 
Board that was invalidated by a Sign In/Out Operation. It will not fix disk errors and 
other critical errors.  In these cases you would have to restore the SIO.BRD file from 
your Network Backup. As with the Compact routine, Repair requires exclusive use of 
the Board.


Emergency Fix:

The SIO Installation diskette also contains a SIOFIX.EXE program which can be used 
to repair a Board in the event you can not login as administrator and access the Repair 
Board function.  This is the case if the board has become severely damaged.  This .exe 
should NOT reside on the Network and should only be accessible by the Administrator.  

The SIOFIX.EXE will validate and repair all Tables/Indexes in the SIO.BRD file.  If 
the Board is repairable then this might be your only way to do so, or else you will have 
to restore the SIO.BRD from the Network Backup or copy the SIO.BRD file off the 
Installation Diskette back onto the network drive (all those that were signed out on the 
damaged board are lost.).  Note the Network Backup is probably preferable because it 
would have your most recent Master Userlist.

Setup SIOFIX on a PC that also has access to the SIO Board on its Windows desktop.  
This ensures that the runtime files SIOFIX.EXE requires are already installed on the 
PC.  Use Program Manager to File/Add to setup SIOFIX.EXE.

Note that when running SIOFIX, you must navigate using the Drive/Directory/File 
box's to select the SIO.BRD you want to repair.




Trouble Shooting

 

Workstation Unable to Run SIO:

(-) Verify the Workstation has the recommended setup (Windows 3.1 or higher, DOS 
3.3 or higher, running DOS SHARE.EXE)


(-) Check that the properties of the SIO Icon on the Windows Desktop are pointing to 
the correct Network Drive\Directory where SIO is installed, and that they all have 
Rights in that directory.


(-) Check that both SIO.BRD and SIO.LDB (SIO.LDB is created after first Sign 
In/Out) are both R/W.  If either is not then the workstations will receive strange error 
messages about not able to lock Board and that Share.Exe is not loaded even if you 
know it is.


(-)Check that the following files reside in their Windows\System directory: (or 
Windows directory if running a shared copy of Windows)
CMDIALOG.VBX
COMMDLG.DLL
GRID.VBX
MSAES110.DLL
MSAJT110.DLL
VBDB300.DLL

These files were placed here during the Setup process using the MicroSoft Versioning 
Software.  These files may also be used by products developed using other Microsoft 
programming languages.  If any are missing then try running SETUP again.

(-) Verify SHARE.EXE (ususally located in c:\dos) is either in their 
AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS.  If not then add it (note that if running Windows 
for WorkGroups or OS/2 then this is not required).  Share must have a /L:500 setting 
or higher.
If other products are using SHARE also then bump up the SHARE /L: by 500 and the 
/F: paramater by 2048 and restart the PC.   Try running all Applications that use 
SHARE.EXE on your desktop at the same time.  

(-) If constantly receiving Messages that the SIO.BRD is locked by another user then 
check your Network Operator Console to see who currently has the SIO.BRD file 
opened.  If someone is scanning it with any PC software product other than SIO, then 
it may cause all Board users to be locked out. 

(-) If having problems running the SIO setup command, then close Windows. Restart 
Windows using the WIN command and pass it the drive:\directory\setup.exe statement 
as a RunCommand,  for more information see Win /? or your Windows guide.

(-) OS/2: verify that the version of OS/2 is 2.10 or higher.  If OS/2 was installed with 
"Dual Boot" option, try logging into the Network under Windows to isolate the 
problem

Notes:
SIO Sign In/Out Board for Windows


Copyright a1995 Randy McAlister
Windows is a Registered TradeMark of MicroSoft Corporation
1


