Maptitude Help / Configuring Your Computer and LAN / Sharing Maptitude Data Files

Sharing Maptitude Data Files

You can share tabular data and geographic files that are used by Maptitude. To share geographic and tabular files, you copy them to a directory on a network drive that can be accessed by all Maptitude users. When you share tabular or geographic files, you avoid having to make a separate copy of each file for each user.

Sharing Tabular Data Files

There are several ways to control how tabular data files are shared. If you wish to prevent users from updating a certain file, use the file system to set the file protections to read-only for the file or the directory you wish to protect. Maptitude will automatically detect this setting and open the file for reading only. Your network administrator can assist you in setting file protections. Additionally, if you want to avoid accidentally changing data in a table that is not read-only protected, you can choose to open it in read-only mode in the File Open dialog box.

When you open a table, you have the option of making it available for your exclusive use. The table cannot be accessed or edited by other users when you exclusively open it. There are some operations you cannot perform on a data file while another user is using it. For example, the Dataview>Table>Modify command requires exclusive access to a file; you cannot modify the structure of a data file while another user is using it. Also, you cannot overwrite a table file (using File>Export>Table and other commands) when the existing file is in use.

You can change the default sharing settings by choosing the Edit>Preferences command and clicking the File Sharing tab. You can set the options differently for local and network drives. For example, if you do not share files on your local drives, you can set them without read-only restrictions and in exclusive mode, for the most flexibility and speed. You can also set the default file sharing options on a drive by drive basis using the Advanced button on the File Sharing page. These settings take precedence over the defaults you set for local and network drives. In all cases, the default settings can be overwritten when using the File Open dialog box.

Please note that the mode you choose to open a table may not be how the file actually gets opened, depending on how other users are already accessing the file. For example, when you open a file for exclusive use that is already open for sharing by another user, it will open for sharing. Similarly, if another user has a file open in read-only mode, it will open in read-only mode for other users regardless of whether they choose that option.

As long as a file is not open for exclusive use, any number of users can update and view the same file at the same time. Except in certain cases with ODBC tables, any changes that one user makes are immediately available to all users. You will not see the changes in your map or dataview, however, until the next time your dataview or map is drawn on the screen. Use the Window>Refresh command to update a map or dataview and see any changes to the data made by other users.

In the case of ODBC tables, users must specify a shared directory for each ODBC source to make sure that changes made to the table can be viewed in all circumstances. Maptitude uses the native ODBC indices when you are working with the whole table, but uses stand-alone indices with selection sets. All users should first specify a common shared directory for the ODBC source on the File Sharing page of the User Preferences dialog box so that they use the same stand-alone indices.

Sharing Compact Format Geographic Files

You do not need to do anything special to share compact format (.cdf) geographic files (the type of files supplied with Maptitude). Any number of users can share these files at the same time. Because compact format geographic files are read-only, you cannot edit the features in a compact format geographic file. You can, however, edit the tabular data that come with it just like any other tabular data file. If you wish to prevent users from editing the tabular data, set the file protections to read-only as described above.

Sharing Standard Format Geographic Files

Maptitude also supports standard format (.dbd) geographic files. Standard format geographic files are required if you plan to use the geographic editing tools to add, delete, or modify geographic features. In addition, certain Maptitude commands (Tools>Editing>New Layer, Tools>Analysis>Buffers, Tools>Routing & Directions>Drive-Time Rings, etc.) create standard format geographic files.

If you want to share standard format geographic files so that any number of users can read them, you must do one of two things:

  • Place the files in a read-only directory
  • Use the Windows Explorer or other file manager to set the file attributes of all the files in the database to read-only

If you want to share standard format geographic files so that one or more users can edit the files while they are in use by others, things get somewhat more complicated. In this case, Maptitude uses an extra program to help keep track of who is using each file. This program is called the Lock Manager, because it allows each user to lock portions of the files for a short time as needed.

Proper use of the Lock Manager varies greatly depending upon the network operating system and the operating system on the individual desktop computers. For information on how to install and configure the Lock Manager, please collect all of the relevant operating system information and contact Caliper technical support for assistance.
 

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