Blumenthal Software

PBSW Version 2 Installation

Requirements: PBSW2 requires Windows 95 or higher. I strongly recommend at least 256MB of RAM, and a CPU which is at least 450mhz. These requirements are now ancient; any CPU in a recent machine will be much faster, and 256 is usually pretty standard for anything except a very minimal machine. It is generally agreed that more RAM is your best upgrade for speeding up a slow Windows machine, so do not skimp on RAM; 256 is the minimum.

Getting the files: PBSW2 usually is distributed via the website. (If you need help with downloading, please read the How to Download page.) First download and install the demo (pbsw2dem). Second, purchase and install the password protected pbsw2upp.exe program. When you download pbsw2dem from the website, you should save it to a folder (usually named Downloads) on your C: drive (your hard disk); do not save it to your desktop, because this creates clutter. (Alternatively, if you have purchased a CD with a full installation, then you can simply install the demo from the CD, and then copy the pbsw.exe program from the CD to the pbsw2 folder on your C: drive; there is no need to "update".)

Installing PBSW2 consists of the following steps:
1. Download and Install the demo (pbsw2dem)
2. Import your data into the demo data files
3. Purchase the update password and execute pbsw2upp.

Installing pbsw2dem should be automatic: just double-click the pbsw2dem file you downloaded. You will be asked to select a destination folder (or directory); the usual /folder is c:\pbsw2. If you select a destination directory which is not c:\pbsw2, then after the installation finishes you will need to run the FILESLOC.EXE program to locate the data files. FilesLoc.exe is a simple program: it presents a grid of records, each of which can be edited (or new ones added) via a panel of edit controls at the bottom of the filesloc window. Please note that PBSW2 installation makes minimal changes to the Windows Registry. Location of data files is done via the FilesLoc program. If you do install someplace other than the standard c:\pbsw2,please make a note of it so that you know where your files are when the time comes to call for support.

When you are using the demo, please substitute your own name and location, etc., for the values in the lookup tables. If you do not have data from PBS3 or from PBSW version1 to transfer, you can begin with the demo to add patient names and addresses, etc. However, note that if you plan to import data from PBS3 or from PBSW version1, then anything you enter before the import process will be wiped out by the import process..

Executing pbsw2upp also should be automatic. PBSW2UPP will start by looking for the pbsw.exe program in your c:\pbsw2 folder; if it can't find the program, then you will be asked to locate it, wherever you have installed it (this is a good reason to install it in the standard place it is expected to be). Next, the old program and help files are copied to pbsw2\old, and then you are asked for a password, which you can get via email. Once you enter the password, the new exe and hlp files are copied to their destination in pbsw2, and the update program is done.

Please note that when you start actually using pbsw2, you should press the F1 key on your keyboard frequently so as to get help. Start with the Overview. The Overview presents material in a way that should act like a tutorial. If you later ask if there is any kind of manual, I will ask if you have read the Overview!

The above completes the standard installation of pbsw. The following sections provide information about custom installation (not to the standard c:\pbsw2 folder), networking, and importing data from either pbs3 DOS or from pbsw1.

If you install someplace other than to c:\pbsw2

FILESLOC.EXE manages the fileloc.dat data file in the pbsw2 folder; this data file tells PBSW2 where the data files are located. Filesloc.Exe can be found in your pbsw2 folder. In addition, the installation program should create a shortcut to it on the Start button menu. Click on the Windows Start button at the corner of your desktop, then click Programs, PBSW2, and then FilesLoc.

When FilesLoc comes up, there will be one record shown by the grid: the database Name field is Default (you can change the folder location, but do NOT change "Default" to another name!), and the Location field should say c:\pbsw2\data. Notice that there is a panel at the bottom of the FilesLoc window; that is where all data entry is done. In the entry panel, click on the Folders button next to the Location prompt. You will see a standard Windows Select Directory dialog. The dialog has several boxes; the important one is on the lower left, labeled "Directories". Navigate inside that box, until you find the folder where you installed pbsw2. Click on that folder's DATA subdirectory so that the Directory Name in the dialog box now has the word DATA added to the folder name. Click Ok. Then Click on the check mark at the top of the FilesLoc window, so that the edit will be saved. Click on the Close button and you're done.

Multiple Data Sets: If you wish to create two or more data sets, so that you can switch from one to another, then you will run filesloc for each extra dataset. The steps are as follows:

  1. Run FilesLoc.EXE
  2. Create a new entry on the grid by clicking the plus + button at the top of the window.
  3. Click on the Folders button next to the Location prompt. The SelectDirectory dialog will popup.
  4. The Directory Name field probably is filled in with c:\pbsw2. You must edit that field to enter the name of the new folder you wish. For example, change it to read c:\pbsw2\JONES. (Make sure that the backslashes are correct.)
  5. When you click Ok on the SelectDirectory dialog, you will be told that the directory does not exist and asked to confirm that you wish to create it. Click the Yes button.
  6. Make sure that you fill out the Name field just above the Folders button on the lower left, and then save the record by clicking the checkmark button at the top of the page. An appropriate name for the above example would be Jones.
  7. If you have more data sets to create then go back to step 2 and continue until you have finished. When you finish, close FilesLoc.EXE. Your next task is to populate all those data folders.
  8. You will find a file, BLANK2.EXE, in the pbsw2\data\blank folder. Copy blank2.exe to the new data folder and execute it there. New (blank) data files will fill the folder. Do this for each folder you created.

Note that you will need the blank files to populate the folders unless you have asked me to do the importation of old pbs3 files for you. In that one case, the blank files will not be necessary.

Network installation

The easiest (and recommended) way to do a network installation is to install pbsw2 on the server (as above, by installing pbsw2dem and then the update), and then go to any remote node, find the server in Network Places, explore the server, find the pbsw2 folder, find the pbsw application in the pbsw2 folder, and use your right mouse button to drag that program (pbsw.exe) to your desktop. When you release the mouse button, select the option to create a shortcut.

Next, edit the shortcut: Right click it, and select Properties from the popup menu that appears. In the shortcut's TARGET field you should see something like "\\myserver\c\pbsw2\pbsw.exe" and in the START IN field you should see "\\myserver\c\pbsw2\" (assuming that you installed pbsw2 in the c:\pbsw2 folder on the server). If that is not correct, then change it to make sure that the shortcut starts where and how it is supposed to do. If you have any command line parameters to be entered, like BOX32ALWAYS, then do so in the TARGET field. Ok the Properties, and you're done with the network installation.

Alternatively but not recommended, you can put the application on each remote node, by installing pbsw2 on the "server", and then copying the application files to a folder on the remote machine, and running FilesLoc.exe on that machine. The files you will need on the remote are:

After you copy these files to a folder on the remote machine, you will then have to run FILESLOC.EXE on each remote in order to make sure that you locate the data files correctly. (The network location of the data files should be displayed in the Select Directory dialog - see below.) That is all you need do to install version 2 for a network.

Select Directory: When this dialog pops up, click on the Drive box to change the drive to the one that has the data folder. (If you do not see the other computer's drive, then you have not mapped the drive; see the next paragraph, below.) After you select the drive, then select the data folder, and you are done.

Mapping network drives: On your desktop, right click My Network Places to bring up the context menu. Select Map Network Drive. There are two edit boxes; one tells you the drive letter that will be assigned, and the other is the drive (or hard disk) you wish to map. Click the Browse button and find the other computer, and then the drive on the other computer; when you click that drive, click the Ok button. Finally, click the Ok button in the Map Network Drive dialog box. The Select Directory drive box will now be able to see the mapped drive.

Mapping Drives: Please don't. Do not map drives. Do not map (for example) the c:\pbsw2 folder to drive G:. That will only create problems when pbsw2 reads FILELOC.DAT and tries to figure out where your data files are located. In partifcular, if you map drives, then you will be unable to switch data files; it will not work! Don't map drives.

Mapping printers: If your network printer is not visible to Windows on the remotes, then pbsw2 has no way to use it. And even so, if your printjob settings in pbsw2 are not using Windows methods but are using DOS methods, then it will not see the networked printers. If you try to print and nothing happens, most likely it is because you are using DOS printing; just change that inside pbsw2's printjobs.

Using Data from PBS3 and from PBSW v1

PBS3 data can be transferred using the utility program, IMPORTV3, which is installed by the demo into the pbsw2 folder. This program will read the records from a set of PBS3 data files, leaving those files unchanged, and will empty the target PBSW files, and then transfer the records from pbs3 to the target files. Occasionally ImportV3 may report errors; if so, note them down, but continue, and then look at the resulting data within pbsw to see if the error made any difference. Note that it is important to do the transferring of the data files in the order presented. Also note that if you have never used the pbs3 storage files, then they can be disregarded. Step by step instructions follow this paragraph. Note that sometimes PBS3 data files are corrupted (and will cause errors during the import process), in which case you should rebuild them before you use ImportV3.

  1. Double Click ImportV3 (find it in the pbsw2 folder, or on the Start button/Programs/PBSW2 menu
  2. Enter your usual Area Code
  3. Read the information displayed in the big memo box.
  4. Click Files, and unclick the ReadOnly item if you have backed up your pbs3 data.
  5. Click on the Import Tables menu choice
  6. Deal with each submenu choice from top to bottom, starting with Select Data File Directory
  7. Select Data File Directory displays a table of data directories, usually with only one entry, named DEFAULT, which is set to c:\pbsw2\data.  Default will be selected (highlighted), so just click Ok
  8. If you continue, but for some reason do not complete all the following import steps, that is not a problem, but you will have to repeat steps 1 through 6, above, and then resume with the files you did not import.
  9. Click Import Tables, then City.  An Import dialog pops up.  Click its Import button and a standard Windows "Open File" window is displayed, with instructions for you to find the PBS3 CITIES.DAT file.  (That file should be in your c:\pbs3 folder).  Find that file, select it, and doubleclick it or click the Open button.  The import process is automatic, and you should see the imported data and a message that X# of records were imported; if you dont, then you havent imported. You can always try the import for a given table again, and see if the records are there.  When you are done with that table import, click Ok, and you will be returned to the main Menu.
  10. Continue to click Import Tables on the main menu, and then click each successive table and import it, almost always with the same process as in step 10.  Go in order; dont skip any; if the pbs3 table does not exist, then click cancel on the Open File dialog.

Note that PBS3 data often includes very old accounts whose ledgers begin with a Balance Forward. Please read the help file to understand how to change that Balance Forward to a Starting Balance, so that Aged Balances will be accurate.

PBSW v1 data can be transferred using the supplied utility program, BDETRAN. This program reads the records from a pbsw alias, leaves those data files unchanged, and creates new pbsw v2 data files after which it copies the records from the version 1 files to the version 2 files. BDETran may report errors or file problems; if so, continue with the process, and then look at the resulting data within pbsw v2 to see if the error made any difference. Note that when you use BDETran, you need to set the alias, the destination directory, and the files you wish transferred; all other edits or settings should be left alone. Here are the help file's step by step instructions:

  1. First, be sure to ignore any edit boxes not specifically described below. They are not relevant to what we are doing.
  2. Click the Use Alias For Source radio button. (You could select the source tables by choosing a directory, but using the Alias is simpler.)
  3. In the first box on the left, titled Select Source Alias, highlight the PBSW alias.
  4. Note that when you selected the PBSW alias, the box titled Select Tables To Transfer filled with the tables from the PBSW alias.
  5. The Select Destination Directory box (on the right side of the window) presents a Windows Explorer type "tree view" of your hard disk. You must navigate the tree view by clicking on folders; first find the C: drive, then find the PBSW2 folder,and then find the DATA folder inside the pbsw2 folder. Make sure that you have doubleclicked the DATA folder so that the manila folder looks like it is open.
  6. In the Select Tables to Transfer box (the third box from the left), select the first BDE source table by clicking it. You should see the color change to white letters on blue.
  7. Click on the Begin Transfer button to start the transfer process.
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each data file. If there are any error messages during the transfer, write them down.

Check the data, using PBSW2, to see if your data is okay. If not, then email me and make sure to tell me the error messages. Make sure that your BALANCES are understandable (please read the help file about balances and Starting Balances!). Print some insurance forms and some statements!!! Until you have done all this, you have not worked the demo enough to be able to feel confident about making the transition.

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