Copyright (c) 1997 Visio Corporation. All rights reserved.
This file contains information about setting up and running Visio 5.0 on a network. We recommend that you read this file and keep a printed copy with your Visio documentation. For other late-breaking information about installing and running Visio, see the README.TXT file. For a listing of all the files copied to your hard drive if you install the complete version of Visio 5.0, see the FILELIST.TXT file.
Tip: If necessary, choose Word Wrap from the Notepad Edit menu or Wrap To Window from the WordPad View/Options menu to wrap the text within the document window.
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NETWORK.TXT CONTENTS
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╖ NETWORK LICENSING INFORMATION
╖ OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR VISIO 5.0
╖ NETWORK SETUP OVERVIEW
╖ SETTING UP VISIO 5.0 ON A NETWORK SERVER FOR SHARED USE
╖ SETTING UP VISIO 5.0 ON A NETWORK SERVER FOR LOCAL INSTALLATION TO WORKSTATIONS
╖ WORKSTATION SETUP - DETECTION OF READ-ONLY SYSTEM FILES IN A SHARED WINDOWS DIRECTORY
╖ ABOUT THE VISIO.INI FILE
╖ DEFINING DEFAULT FILE PATHS FOR VISIO FILES
╖ OPENING VISIO FILES ON A NETWORK
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NETWORK LICENSING INFORMATION
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To run Visio on a network on which multiple users have access to the product, you need additional licenses. You can get additional licenses by purchasing additional retail packages of Visio or by purchasing license packs.
A license pack, which authorizes one additional user, includes a product license, a serialized registration card, and a documentation order form.
For more information about network use policies, please see your Visio license agreement. If you have any questions, you can call Visio's Customer Service Department. Customers from the U.K. can call 0800 834 859, or fax 0800 834 850. Customers from other countries can call +353 61 704634, or fax +353 61 704635. You can also write to:
Visio International Customer Services,
P.O. Box 269,
Shannon,
Co. Clare,
Ireland.
To order Visio License Packs, contact your reseller or contact Visio's Customer Service Department.
To use Visio 5.0, you need to run on one of the following 32-bit Windows operating systems:
Windows 95
Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 2 or later is required)
Service Packs for Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems can be obtained from Microsoft Corporation. For links to Microsoft's Drivers, Patches and Sample Files location on the World Wide Web, please see the file LINKS TO DRIVERS AND UPDATES.HTM on the root of the CD.
NOTE: To install Visio 5.0 on a workstation running Windows NT 4.0, the user installing the product must have Administrator privileges for that workstation.
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NETWORK SETUP OVERVIEW
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Setting up Visio on a network is a two-step process: First, you install Visio on the network server; second, you set up individual workstations so they can either run Visio from the server or from each workstation's hard disk.
For details about setting up Visio on a network so that multiple workstations can use a shared copy from the server, see "Setting up Visio 5.0 on a Network Server for Shared Use" below. For details about setting up Visio files on a network server so that the program can be loaded onto the hard disks of individual workstations, see "Setting up Visio on a Network Server for Local Installation to Workstations" below.
>> To Install Visio 5.0 On A Network Server For Shared Use:
1. From a workstation running Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0, log on to the network and connect to the drive where you want to install Visio. You must have write access to the network server to install Visio on the server.
2. Insert the Visio CD into the appropriate drive.
3. Select Run... from the Start Menu.
4. Type the letter of the CD drive followed by setup /n. For example, type:
d:\setup /n
5. Setup will ask for a location to install Visio. Type the path to the directory on the server where the Visio program files will reside. For example, type:
e:\visio
6. Follow the instructions on your screen, choosing the desired setup options.
Setup /n installs the Visio program files and also creates the subdirectories Visio\System\Setup for workstation setup files and Visio\System\Shared for any Windows system and shared files required by Visio. Instructions for a workstation setup are below in this topic.
For a complete listing of installed files, see FILELIST.TXT.
Tip: If you will be running a shared copy of Visio from the network, we recommend marking the file VISIO32.EXE or the directory in which it resides read-only through your networking software. This will have implications for the VISIO.INI configuration file. For more details on the VISIO.INI file, see ABOUT THE VISIO.INI FILE below.
For shared Windows environments in which system files are write-protected, it may be necessary to copy the files from Visio\System\Shared to the shared Windows directory before proceeding with workstation installations. For more information, see WORKSTATION SETUP - DETECTION OF READ-ONLY SYSTEM FILES IN A SHARED WINDOWS DIRECTORY below.
>> To Setup A Workstation To Run Visio From A Server
1. On a workstation, select Run... from the Start Menu.
2. Type the drive letter and directory on the server where the Visio setup program resides, followed by setup. For example, type:
e:\Visio\System\Setup\setup
3. Follow the instructions on the screen. The workstation setup will:
*Install or update any Windows system and shared files required by Visio.
Installing from a network server is a time-saving, convenient alternative to installing Visio from CD. Visio 5.0 has a setup option that you can use to place Visio files on a network server. This option does not set up a copy of Visio that you can run; instead it transfers the files from the Visio CD to the network drive in their compressed format. After the Visio files are in a directory on the network, users can connect to the directory and run the Setup program to install Visio on their workstations.
>> To Set up Visio 5.0 On A Network Server For Local Installation To Workstations
1. From a workstation, log on to the network and connect to the drive where you want to install Visio. You must have write access to the network server to install Visio on the server.
2. Insert the Visio CD into the appropriate drive.
3. From the Visio CD, copy the \Install directory, README.TXT, FILELIST.TXT, NETWORK.TXT and SETUP.EXE to a directory on the network server from which you want users to install Visio, for example \\server\share\visio (or f:\visio).
Once you've finished copying the \Install directory to the network server, you may want to write-protect the network server directory where you've placed the Visio files.
>> To Install Visio From The Server To A Workstation
Note: You must map a drive letter for the network server where Visio will be installed (for example, F:). Visio Setup does not support the universal naming convention (UNC), that is, \\server\share. This is necessary only for product installation.
1. On a workstation, select Run... from the Start Menu in Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0.
2. Type the drive letter and directory on the server where the Visio setup program resides, followed by setup. For example:
f:\visio\setup
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to install Visio. When Setup asks where you want to install Visio, type the path to the directory on your workstation where the Visio program will reside. For example, type:
During a workstation setup of Visio 5.0 in a shared Windows environment, should Visio Setup detect that the shared system files for Windows need to be updated and are in use but the shared system directory on the network is write-protected, Setup will be unable to update Windows system files and will terminate.
Contact the network administrator to determine if the files in the visio\system\shared subdirectory can be copied into the shared Windows directory.
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ABOUT THE VISIO.INI FILE
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The VISIO.INI file stores default Visio configuration information that can be customized for each user. It is not an installed file; rather it is created the first time Visio is started.
With a local installation of Visio 5.0, VISIO.INI is created automatically in the local Visio\System subdirectory the first time Visio is started.
In a shared network installation of Visio 5.0, VISIO.INI will be created in the shared Visio\System subdirectory on the server unless either VISIO32.EXE or the Visio directory has been marked read-only through the networking software. If either VISIO32.EXE or the Visio directory is marked read-only, a VISIO.INI will be created in each user's Windows directory the first time they run Visio from the server, allowing them to retain their own Visio configuration settings.
Alternatively, a custom location for the VISIO.INI file can be specified by adding a line to the Windows WIN.INI file. This alternative may be appropriate for network administrators or other users who run Visio from the network themselves but possess write privileges on the shared Visio directory, which would force creation of a VISIO.INI on the server. By specifying a custom path for creation of their own VISIO.INI file, they can avoid inadvertently creating a VISIO.INI in the shared location. Another way to avoid this situation would be to log in without write privileges to the Visio directory on the network.
Note: Once a VISIO.INI file has been created in the shared Visio\System subdirectory, it will override the creation or use of any VISIO.INI files local to users. If it is intended that each user retain their own VISIO.INI file, simply delete the VISIO.INI file from the shared location and confirm that either the VISIO32.EXE or the Visio directory have in fact been marked as read-only.
To specify a custom path for VISIO.INI, exit Visio, open the WIN.INI file in a text editor, and add the following two lines:
Users can define default file paths for Visio drawings, templates, add-ons, filters, and shape help. To specify these custom paths, run Visio and choose the Options command from the Tools menu, then choose the File Paths tab. These file paths are written into the user's VISIO.INI file. Click on the Help button on the File Paths tab for more information.
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OPENING VISIO FILES ON A NETWORK
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Working with and opening Visio files on a network is essentially the same as on an individual workstation. On the network, however, you can make a drawing available to other users and allow them to make changes to the file. You can also protect the file from changes.
Keep the following issues in mind when using Visio on a network:
When a Visio drawing file is opened in read/write mode, no other network user can access the file. (Even read-only access is denied.) Visio does, however, permit multiple users concurrent read-only access to files so they can share a single set of network stencils. Therefore, when stencil files are shared, it is important that users not open the files in read/write mode. As a safeguard, stencil files already have the read-only attribute set by default to prevent users from opening the files in read/write mode. You can also set the network Visio directory to read-only to prevent users from opening the files in read/write mode.
