Blumenthal Software

PBSW Version 2.4 Installation

These instructions are for NEW installations. If you are upgrading from pbsw2, then read the pbsw2 upgrade instructions also.

Requirements: PBSW24 requires Windows 95 or higher. I strongly recommend at least 512MB of RAM, and a CPU which is at least 933mhz. It is generally agreed that more RAM is your best upgrade for speeding up a slow Windows machine, so do not skimp on RAM; 512 is the minimum.

Getting the files: PBSW24 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 (pbsw24demo). Second, purchase and install the password protected pbsw24upp.exe program. When you download pbsw24demo 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 PBSW 2.4 consists of the following steps:
1. Download and Install the demo (pbsw24demo)
2. Import your data into the demo data files
3. Purchase the update password and execute pbsw24upp.

Installing pbsw24demo should be automatic: just double-click the pbsw24demo file you downloaded. You will be asked to select a destination folder (or directory); the usual /folder is c:\pbsw24. If you select a destination directory which is not c:\pbsw24, 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:\pbsw24, 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 pbsw24upp also should be automatic. PBSW24UPP will start by looking for the pbsw24.exe program in your c:\pbsw24 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 pbsw24\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 pbsw24, and the update program is done.

Please note that when you start actually using pbsw24, 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:\pbsw24 folder), networking, and importing data from either pbs3 DOS or from pbsw1.

If you install someplace other than to c:\pbsw24

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:\pbsw24data. 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:\pbsw24. You must edit that field to enter the name of the new folder you wish. For example, change it to read c:\pbsw24\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 pbsw24\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

Before you try to create the shortcuts that will enable you to access PBSW24 over the network, please make sure that you have set the pbsw24 folder's SHARE properties so that it can be shared over the network, and that the files can be changed by other stations; otherwise, you will not be able to use pbsw24 over the network.

The easiest (and recommended) way to do a network installation is to install pbsw24 on the server and then:

  1. Go to any remote node and find the server in Network Places
  2. Explore the server and find the pbsw24 folder
  3. Inside the folder, find the pbsw24.exe application, and use your right mouse button to drag that program (pbsw24.exe) to your desktop.
  4. 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\pbsw24\pbsw24.exe and in the START IN field you should see \\myserver\c\pbsw24 (assuming that you installed pbsw24 in the c:\pbsw24 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 the BOX32ALWAYS parameter that used to be needed in version 2.2, then do so in the TARGET field. Ok the Properties, and you're almost done with the network installation.

The last thing you must do is make sure that the DATA FILES LOCATION is spelled out clearly in the FILELOC.DAT file. This file is managed by the FILESLOC.EXE program in your pbsw24 folder; that program is also called the Data File Locator program. The next section, below the horizontal line, describes how to use that program to tell pbsw where the files are.

Speed. The above method is the easiest way to use the program on a network. However, that means that the program code is located on the server, and that the remote has to get that code from the server from time to time, and on a slow network that might slow down your program's operation. In that case, you should see if there is a way to speed up the communication between server and remote, but failing that, you will have to install the actual pbsw program onto the remote.

You will have to place the pbsw24.exe program and the help files, along with the fileloc.dat and fileloc.idx files, in a folder on the remote, create a shortcut to the program, and make certain, as described in the following section, that the data file location is described NOT as c:\pbsw24\data,but as something like \\myserver\c\pbsw24\data.

Data File Location: PBSW24 finds its data files by looking at the entries in the FILELOC.DAT file. Records in that file now have a Network Location field (netloc), which should be filled out to look something lke \\myserver\c\pbsw24\DATA, assuming the example in the previous section. (If you have decided to use mapped drives, then you may enter G:\DATA, but I do not recommend mapping.) Make certain that you have filled out both the NetLoc field and the NetCommon field, even if they are the same and even if you are not using common files.

Mapping Drives: Please don't. Do not map drives. Do not map (for example) the c:\pbsw24 folder to drive G:. That will only create problems when pbsw24 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 pbsw24 has no way to use it. And even so, if your printjob settings in pbsw24 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 pbsw24's printjobs.

PBS3 to PBSW24: Many PBS users have never upgraded to a Windows program because PBS3 met all of their needs. Now the NPI has changed that, and it has become necessary to move to PBSW24. The following are the steps needed to upgrade to pbsw24. Note that PBSW24 is not yet Vista compatible.

  1. Download both the pbsw2 and the pbsw24 demos, and install them into their own folders.
  2. Use the IMPORTV3 program in the pbsw2 folder to import the pbs3 data into the pbsw2 folder
  3. Use the version 2.4 upgrade tool (pbsw24UPG) to reformat the pbsw2 data files and copy them into the pbsw24 data folder. (You will need to purchase the upgrade tool; it requires a password)

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