Installing RetailDeck on a server
If your store has multiple computers, and a windows based server that is on all the time, you can install RetailDeck on the server in such a way that all of the other computers in your store can make use of the copy that is installed on the server.
We have found, however, that installing RetailDeck in this way is often more trouble than it is worth. It is true that by installing RetailDeck on a central server, you reap the following benefits:
- When a new version of RetailDeck is released, you can upgrade all of your computers at once by simply installing a new version of RetailDeck on the server
- All of the computers in your store will have the exact same stock status information because they are all working off of the same deck download
However, a server installation comes with many down sides:
- Installing RetailDeck on a server can tricky and requires quite a bit of technical knowledge
- If the server crashes, none of your computers will be able to use RetailDeck until the server comes back up
- It will take longer for RetailDeck to load
- You still need to create icons on for RetailDeck on every computer that is to have access to it
In short: I recommend that you install RetailDeck on each of your computers separately and set them up to automatically download the deck, but if you want to install RetailDeck on a server, here is how to do it.
This tutorial assumes that you have a good working knowledge of windows and know how to do things like map a remote network drive and create your own shortcuts. If you don't know how to do these things, save yourself some time and trouble, stop reading right now, install RetailDeck on every one of your computers and call it a day. Trust me, you will thank me in the morning.
Before you start, you need to have a windows based server setup and running. Also, every one of the computers that you want to use RetailDeck must have a permanently mapped network drive. This tutorial assumes that your client computers map the server's C: drive to Z:
Start by going to your server, logging in as administrator, and installing RetailDeck as described here. This tutorial assumes that you install RetailDeck to the default location, C:\Program Files\RetailDeck2, on the server. If you install it to a different location, you will need to modify the paths used in the remainder of this tutorial accordingly.
Lets take a peek at the properties for the shortcut created on the server by the RetailDeck installer. Go to the desktop and right click on the RetailDeck icon.
A menu will appear, choose the "Properties" option to open the shortcut properties.
See that long target line?
It reads:
"C:\Program Files\RetailDeck2\jre\bin\RetailDeck.exe" -Xmx512m -cp retaildeck.jar;lkf.jar;commons-logging-1.0.jar;jakarta-poi-1.5.0-FINAL-20020506.jar;jmousewheel.jar;jRegistryKey.jar retaildeck.TestApp /dir "C:\Program Files\RetailDeck2"
To get RetailDeck to work on the client computer we need to create new shortcuts on each of them that point to the location on the server where RetailDeck is installed. Assuming that we have mapped our server's C: drive to Z: on each of our client computers, we need to create a shortcut on each client computer whose target is:
"Z:\Program Files\RetailDeck2\jre\bin\RetailDeck.exe" -Xmx512m -cp retaildeck.jar;lkf.jar;commons-logging-1.0.jar;jakarta-poi-1.5.0-FINAL-20020506.jar;jmousewheel.jar;jRegistryKey.jar retaildeck.TestApp /dir "Z:\Program Files\RetailDeck2"
and whose "Start In" directory is Z:\Program Files\RetailDeck2. To do this, go to each client computer and right click anywhere on the desktop (not on an icon).
Open the "New" sub menu.
Choose to create a new "Shortcut"
The new shortcut wizard will open. Enter the target as:
"Z:\Program Files\RetailDeck2\jre\bin\RetailDeck.exe" -Xmx512m -cp retaildeck.jar;lkf.jar;commons-logging-1.0.jar;jakarta-poi-1.5.0-FINAL-20020506.jar;jmousewheel.jar;jRegistryKey.jar retaildeck.TestApp /dir "Z:\Program Files\RetailDeck2"
Remember, if you installed RetailDeck to a non-standard location on the server or if your server's drive is not mapped to Z: on the client computer, you will need to modify the beginning and end of this target accordingly.
Click next.
Enter the name of the shortcut as "RetailDeck" and click finish.
We need to change the "Start In" directory for the new icon. Right click on the newly created icon and choose properties from the menu.
Change the start in directory (again modifying as appropriate for non standard setups) to Z:\Program Files\RetailDeck2. Click "OK" to dismiss the property dialog. The RetailDeck icon should now work if double clicked. If you double click the icon and get a "Windows is searching..." dialog, then one or more of your paths is not correct.
