How to Set Data Directory in Busy-21
“Effortlessly configure the data directory in Busy-21 with our step-by-step guide. Optimize your software settings for seamless data management. Set up with ease now!”
Company > Set Data Directory
This option appears in Company menu, if you are running BUSY in File-Server mode. Data Directory refers to the directory where you want the company data to be stored. By default, BUSY stores company data in the COMP000x directory under the parent directory DATA stored under the path, Hard Drive\BusyWin.
For example, you have installed BUSY in C drive of your computer under BusyWin directory. Further you have created a company in BUSY. In such a case, the default directory for company will be C:\BusyWin\DATA\COMP001. Similarly, if you create a second company then it will be stored under COMP0002 folder under DATA folder.
An important point here is that the data directory is different from the directory or folder where BUSY, the application is stored. Let us understand with the help of an example. You have installed BUSY in C:\BusyWin. You want to set the data directory in another drive, D. You can store the data in a different directory with the help of the Set Data Directory option available in the Company menu. You can store the data on the hard disk or a removable disk such as a pen drive, zip disk and so on. Thus, it is not necessary that the data should be stored in the same directory as the application. The two storage directories can be different.
You can set the data directory by using the Set Data Directory option in the Company menu.
Click the Set Data Directory option. On clicking the Set Data Directory option, a Set Data Directory window appears.
Given here is a screenshot of the Set Data Directory window.
Set Data Directory window
In the window, following two options appear:
- Set Data Directory Manually
- Read Data Directory from Security File
Let us discuss these options in detail.
Set Data Directory Manually
Enable this option to set data directory manullay i.e. specify the path where data is to be stored. On enabling thsi option, following group gets active.
Data Directory
Under this group, following two options appear:
Data Path
Enter the path where you want the data to be stored and click the Ok button. By default, the path is ‘C:\BusyWin\DATA’.
Generate Data Path File
Select this option if you want to generate a security file. Security file is generated to hide data directory details from the clients. The benefit of generating security file is that you do not have to give path details where data is stored to the Users. Instead you just have to give the path of the security file to the Usesr and they can then be able to work on the data. On selecting this option, a group gets activated. The group is:
Generate Data Path File for Data Directory
In this group various data field appears which are as follows:
- Companies Allowed
- Data Path File
- Generate Data Path File
- Password Required on Data Path File
Companies Allowed
Specify the code of the companies to which the user will have access. Companies code must be separated by semicolons (;). For example, you want that user can access only three companies Comp001, Comp002 and Comp003. In such a case, you have to specify Comp001;Comp002;Comp003 in this data field.
Data Path File
Specify the path and the name for the security file. You can also select the path by using the Browse button.
Generate Data Path File
Click this button to generate the security file. On clicking this button, a Data Path File Password window appears. Given here is a screenshot of Data Path File Password window.
Data Path File Password window
- Specify the password for the file in the Password data field.
Password Required on Data Path File
Select this option if you want to make the file password protected. Benefit of giving password is that only those clients to whom you have disclosed the password will be able to connect to the data directory.
Read Data Directory from Security File
Select this option if you want to read data directory details from the security file. This option is more useful for the Users. To use this option it is necessary that you have already created a Security file. In this option, you have to specify the name of the security file from which the information is to be read. After providing a valid security file name, you will be able to connect to the data. On selecting this option, a Read Server Information from Security File group gets activated. In the group there is one data field. The data field is:
Security File Name
Specify the path for the required security file or you can select the path by clicking the Browse button. If you select a file on which password has been provided then you have to give the password for the file and only then you can connect to the data.
Above information is Valid for Current Session Only
Select this checkbox, if you want that the path or configuration specified above will not get saved and is valid by the time you have not closed BUSY. After closing the BUSY, when you open it again then the default data directory will appear and not the one on which you have last worked. On the contrary, if you do not select this checkbox then the the information specified in the window will get saved and next time when you open BUSY then the saved information will be displayed in the window.
After entering the necessary details, click the Save button to save the Server information.
The default data directory depends on where BUSY is stored. For example, if BUSY is installed in C drive then the default data directory will be C:\BusyWin\DATA. If BUSY is installed in D drive then the default data directory will be D:\BusyWin\DATA. If you want, you can change the path of data directory to another location.
We have discussed the setting of data directory till now. Another important application of Data directory is in the case of Multi User version of BUSY. Let us discuss this in detail.
Setting Data Directory for Multi User Version
In a multi user setup there is LAN wherein data storage is centralised. In other words, data is stored on the hard disk of any one of the computers, generally the server. All the other computers, the client nodes, access the hard disk of the server to use the data. To enable the client nodes to access the data, you need to ensure that the path for data directory on all the client nodes is same i.e. server address path.
Let us understand with the help of an example. You have a network of three computers, A, B, and C. ‘A’ is the server while ‘B’ and ‘C’ are client nodes. The data is stored on ‘A’ in a folder, MyData on C drive. Thus the path for data directory on the server will be C:\MyData. To enable the client nodes to access the data, you need to specify the data directory path similar to the server path. The path on client nodes will be \\Server\C\MyData, alternatively if you have mapped the drive letter to access the server hard disk as F, thus the path will be F:\MyData on the client nodes. Now the data entered from all the three computers will get stored at one location i.e. on the server.
