Masterpiece uses a Directory A folder, or location, on your hard disk where files are stored. Directories can be stored on your local disk or on network drives. to store your data.
It is possible to have several directories on your system for Masterpiece to use. For example, when you open Masterpiece for the first time, it will default to a SAMPLE directory, where you can enter trial data as you follow the tutorial.
When you first install Masterpiece you will be in a directory called "SampleData" which is intended for you to "play" with. When you are ready to enter REAL data, you can easily change to the DATA directory, which is empty and waiting for you to enter your own data.
If you select the Change Data Directory button, the system will open a Select Directory Window, where you can navigate to the data location.
Notice that the current folder is highlighted, showing the path on your system where the data files are located. When changing directories, you must understand how your Windows® system manages directories.
Before you can see all of the folders under the Masterpiece folder, you need to select that folder.
This expands the view to show all of the folders under the currently selected folder. Notice in the example above that the Masterpiece folder has been opened and that you can see all of the folders UNDER the Masterpiece folder.
It is now possible to highlight the DATA folder by clicking on it.
To Select the data folder, you can double-click on the folder (data) or highlight it and click the Select button.
You can also enter the name of the directory manually by typing in the full path name.
When you enter the name manually, be sure to include the backslash at the end of the field.
You can also use Windows Network path names as shown below.
Normal Data indicates that you will be using the Normal FoxPro tables that are standard for the system. If you have installed a SQL Server version of the Masterpiece Business Manager and are using ODBC to connect to the data, select the SQL Data Option.
To make your changes permanent, so that the system opens with the new directory each time you start Masterpiece, check the Make Default box.
When you are finished, click the Save button.
Report templates are stored in a Reports Directory. Normally, this is on the same machine you are working at. However, report templates can also be located centrally so that all the workstations use the same templates. This allows a system administrator to make a change to a report once for all of the users in the company.
NOTE: If you work on a single computer, you do not need to use this feature and you should leave these fields blank.
As with reports, most companies that use a networked system want to allow all of the computers on the network to access the same pictures.
However, unlike the case with reports, most galleries like to locate their picture files in subdirectories for each artist or type of art. In the example shown below, we placed all of the pictures for the artist RUMEY into a folder called RUMEY, which is under a folder called PICTURES, which in turn is under the folder called DATA.
When you work on a network, the picture files are often stored on a different computer. Suppose that you have a file server with a UNC Universal Naming Convention - This is the Windows naming congention that points one computer on a network to another computer. computer name of JAMESARCHER and that the pictures are stored on the drive named DELLD on that computer.
Even though the D: drive is mapped Mapping a drive on one computer allows that computer to work with directories on a different computer as though it was a local drive. For example, the C: drive on a server could be mapped as, say, the J: drive on another computer. The second computer could then use the J: drive as though it was one of its own local hard drives. to the correct location on your computer, another computer may be using the D: drive for their CD or Zip disk. So, if that computer went to the D: drive, it wouldn't find a picture.
The better way to keep everyone on the same page is to use the UNC naming system of \\computer_name\drivename\
So that you don't have to do this every time you add a picture, Masterpiece can make the change for you.
If you decide that all pictures are going to be located on the JAMESARCHER computer, on the DELLD drive, and in subdirectories of the MASTERPIECE\DATA\PICTURES folder, you can map a drive from D: to that folder and then let Masterpiece make the change for you each time a picture is added to the system.