BibleWorks in multi-user mode

[c102ta]

Hello,
we are running BibleWorks in multi-user mode (bw600.exe remote="User") but we still have some problems with this configuration.

1) The users' .INI files are not stored in the subdirectory "users" where we would have expected them but in the subdirectory "init". So it is not possible to flag the "init" subdirectory read-only.
With many users, there will be a growing amount of .INI files in the subdirectory "init". When a new user is created, the whole contents of the subdirectory "init" will be copied to the user's preferences, including all the .INI files of the other users!

2) Some BibleWorks functions (for example "Open text highlighter") even need write access to the central databases subdirectory. If you flag this directory read-only, then BibleWorks will crash.

Is there a chance to separate the user's preferences and files completely from the BibleWorks program directory tree?

Regards,
Andreas Tranquillini
University of Innsbruck, Central IT Services

[Joe Fleener]

I assume you are using the Configuration Manager to manage the different user's information.

If so, under tools - options - option flags - startup optons you will see two options you will want set.

1. Enable Configuration Manager (I assume you already have this set.)

2. Use Separate directory for each configuration.

If you have #2 set then each user's configuration, including INI file and everything will be saved within a directory under BibleWorks 6\configs

Does this help?

[c102ta]

Hello Joe,
thank you for your reply.

In fact, instead of Configuration Manager we are using the parameter 'remote="User"' that is described in the BibleWorks manual on page 286.

But it makes no difference whether I am using Configuration Manager and "Use Separate directory for each configuration" or 'remote="User"' -- all problems that I reported in my original posting occur in both cases.

In the meantime I found another problem: if you unlock a component after some users have been created, these users will be prompted to re-enter the unlock code. This is because during the install process the code ist stored in the central INIT subdirecory but the program seems to search for it in the user's private INIT directory.

My impression: Although BibleWorks claims to be network- and multi-user-aware and has mechanisms built in to support these environments, there are some design flaws in it that makes it difficult to use it on a network and/or with many users that change frequently.

In my opinion, using the multi-user abilities of the Windows operating system (user profiles, the HKCU registry hive, the %APPDATA% directory and so on) would have been a better approach.

Regards,
Andreas Tranquillini
University of Innsbruck, Central IT Services