(Originally posted Oct 19, 2018)
Simultaneous use (multi-user)
Currently we do not offer a multi-user version of the program. If we offered a multi-user version, there would be server and “per-seat” software licensing costs which we would need to pass through to our users.
Remote desktop
If additional users need access to SDScribe™, and they do not need to access the program simultaneously, then you can install the program on just one computer, and use Windows Remote Desktop or VNC (there are actually several offerings of VNC) to connect from each of the users’ workstations to the computer where SDScribe™ is installed. Ask your IT department if one of these options are available in your office.
Individual copies
You can install SDScribe™ on multiple workstations, one for each user. Each user would be entering information into a separate data file on disk, however, so that your SDSs and other product information would be spread over these separate files/workstations. You would need to know which copy of the program contained the particular SDSs or batches that you want to access.
The program does have export and import options to move SDSs from one workstation to another, but you may find it difficult over time to keep track of which SDSs have been moved.
Server-based data file sharing
An approach we have occasionally used is to install the SDScribe™ program on each user workstation, but place the data file in a commonly-accessible location, like a file-sharing disk on a remote server. You would:
Use the SDScribe™ installer to place the program on each user’s workstation, preferably in the default “C:\” drive location.
If you haven’t done so already, for each of the workstations map the remote server to a letter drive (for example, drive “D:\” or drive “E:\”. )
Create a new folder on the remote server that has read-write permissions for each of the SDScribe™ users (e.g., “SDScribe_data_folder”)
Move the data file to the server
On one of the workstations, go to “C:\Hazard_Solutions\Database\”, and move the following two files into the new folder on the server:
SDScribe.4DD — this is the actual data file
SDScribe.4DIndx — this file contains the indexes for the data file
NOTE: If you have already started to create content on one of the workstations (and you want to preserve that content), then the two files on that workstation are what you should move to the server.
On the other workstations, remove (discard) the SDScribe.4DD and SDScribe.indx files from the “C:\Hazard_Solutions\Database\” location.
On each user workstation, start SDScribe™. The program will prompt you to find the data file. Use the remote server letter drive to point the program to the folder you created, and then double-click on the SDScribe.4DD file. For example, select: “D:\SDScribe_data_folder\SDScribe.4DD”.
This option relies on fast and uninterrupted access to the server. It can fail if the server or the network is busy with unrelated activity. For example, someone else could be uploading large files, or performing some other disk-intensive or network-intensive activity. If the server isn’t immediately available, then SDScribe™ may generate error messages which suggest that the data is damaged (which actually may not be the case).
Web
Many of our competitors offer web-based programs, which by their nature provide multi-user access. SDScribe™ takes the more traditional approach of not being web-based, because of the way that the program evolved over time.
In addition, hosting data “in the cloud” has its own hazards, as we have seen by the many cases of hackers stealing information from governmental, commercial, and nonprofit organizations. Remember the millions of records taken from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and from Equifax (the credit agency), the movies stolen from Sony Pictures, and various other data breaches. In some cases it may be safer to keep your product information within your own facility walls.
Licensing
For inquiries concerning use of SDScribe™ with more than one user, please contact support for more information.
[Originally posted 10.19.2018, updated and reformatted 3.25.2020]