Last update 2/9/2007

Setting up your software
If you are using the single user version of PracticeMaker® (PracticeMaker®SE), you can proceed to another section. However, if you are using PracticeMaker® in a multi-user environment you must do the following: The Single User Environment
This is the simplest way to use PracticeMaker®. Since no one else will be logging on you do not have any of the network considerations. This is the default setting for PracticeMaker®SE.

The Multi-User Environment
If you purchased PracticeMaker® Office or PracticeMaker® Professional, the software has been set to multiple users and uses FileMaker Pro’s built-in multi-user capabilities. There is record locking that prevents multiple users from changing the same record at the same time. You can view a record being modified by another user but you cannot edit this record in any way! This also means that if someone is working on a record, and walks away while still actively entered into the record, no other users will be able to edit that same record until the record "times out". Click here to learn more about the TimeOut security system.

It is possible for the computer that hosts the PracticeMaker® files to also be used as a workstation (except when using FileMaker Pro Server software!). This will, however, slow down network transactions. Also, if the user on the host machine does something strange the machine could crash leaving all guests without program access. It is therefore advisable that the host computer not be used for printing, web surfing, etc.

Network Protocol for Macintosh
TCP/IP is the only network protocol to use on Macintosh. Appletalk is to sloooow for database communications with PracticeMaker®. On fast machines this works just fine with 4 or less users in OS9.
To set up your network for TCP/IP please consult your operating system manual. Though setting up your network is not included in your software technical support, there is a separate chapter to assist you. Fixing errors created by improper network setup are also not covered by our software support service, unless you have the platinum support package.

Network Protocol for Windows
TCP/IP is the network protocol of choice. You must remove all other protocols and adapters including IPX and NetBUI from each machine. Otherwise Windows may get confused and not recognize FileMaker Pro as a client! Use TCP/IP for networking your printers.

Some good news is that FileMaker Pro does not need Novell to work and can use Windows' built in peer-to-peer networking if you have 3 or less computers sharing PracticeMaker®5.5, including the host. With 4 or more users you MUST use our Server Software for Windows, which will run on any Windows computer that can run services, such as Windows XP Professional. Windows Server is NOT required!

PracticeMaker® can also operate in a mixed network of Macintosh and Windows. If this is your environment, you will want to use the fastest computer available (single processor is perfect) for either platform with a fast hard drive (7200 RPM with 8MB cache). An ultrawide SCSI2 hard drive is a great alternative but is much more costly. Make sure that you have the appropriate networking software and connections. Contact your network administrator for further information. Setting up your network is not included in our basic technical support.

NOTE: If you are not using FileMaker Pro Server, only that computer that actually has the files on its hard drive should be the host, or first computer to open a multi-user file. All other computers would then be guests. If a guest computer tries to be the host of a multi-user file, this will seriously slow down performance of the software. PracticeMaker® will beep and warn the user of that fact, but still allow the user to continue if desired.


Being the Guest of PracticeMaker®
When PracticeMaker® is being setup on a multi computer network (be it Macintosh, Windows, or mixed), only the host machine should have a full copy of PracticeMaker®! If you install the full program on more than one computer on the network, it will get really nasty really fast!

Then how does everyone use PracticeMaker®?
Each workstation must have it own copy of FileMaker Pro (whether or not you are using FileMaker Pro Server) and all the correct FileMaker plug-ins. Only the host machine has the actual PracticeMaker® files loaded on it. Each guest machine has the file PracticeMaker client.fp5 in the PracticeMaker5 folder located at the root level (Local Drive C or Macintosh HD) and not buried in some other folder or volume!!!! The user simply double clicks on the file and the screen below (or one similar) appears.

Note: The required network protocol is TCP/IP. Also, DHCP is not to be used as explained in the networking chapter.
 


The screen above is the one that current Macintosh OS9 clients will see. The screen below is for Windows and OSX More on this screen in the Workstation chapter. On both screens the user can then select the Default Appointment Screen they wish to use (Full week, Single day or List view) as default. The guest then clicks the Logon to PracticeMaker® Network button. The network is searched for PracticeMaker® and the user is taken through the initial start up procedure. If you get a message that says "1.Office Startup is not available on the newtwork..." it is a good idea to click the button and see if the network responds. If it does not click the Troubleshooting button in the upper left of the screen.