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The Remote computer(s) do not require dongles.

 

When SpecView starts click the Remote... button:

 

 

The Connections box is displayed:

 

 

The user can select which Local computer to connect to, or click New... or Edit... to create or modify a connection:

 

 

The Description can be any name. This name will be appended to the name of the project from the Local computer when the project is copied to the Remote. For example, if this name is 'Production Line PC' and the project is called 'Batch Run' then the name of the Local project once it is copied to the Remote will be: 'Batch_Run_Production_Line_PC'. This is to distinguish between identically named projects copied from different computers.

 

Network:

Enter the IP address (or network name) of a PC running SpecView Local or click Browse.

SpecView's default TCP/IP port number is 3413; it is recommended to use this, as it is registered with:

http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers

and therefore should not conflict with other communications software running on the PC.

 

To confirm the address is correct, click the Check button.

The Check button will only check that the other computer is contactable over the network, it will not at this stage check to see if it is running as a SpecView Local.

 

Modem: Select the Modem to be used from the list and enter the number to dial in the Call: box. This is detailed in SpecView Networking via Modem.

 

Redial attempts: (Default: 1) The number of times the connection will be tried before giving up.

 

Reconnect on fail: (Default: Off) Whether the connection will automatically try to reconnect if it fails.

 

Timeout: (Default 25 secs) The number of seconds that SpecView Remote will wait for a reply from SpecView Local, before timing out.

 

Inactivity timeout: (Default: 5 mins) In the event of a network failure this is the number of minutes after which the connection will be dropped. A value of 0 is not allowed. In addition:

 

Auto log off: (Default off) When checked, the user will be logged off after the Inactivity timeout period, if there has been no user activity, such as clicking buttons.

 

When it is unchecked, the user will not be logged off, the connection will remain open indefinitely.

 

This is useful if the Remote machine is likely to be left unattended.

 

Update rate: (Default 2 secs) This is the rate at which the Remote will update from the Local.

Reducing this time will increase network traffic, but will mean that the Remote will be more tightly in-sync with the Local.

 

Packet size: (Default 1000 bytes) This is the maximum number of bytes sent between the Local and the Remote. Adjust this together with Packet count according to the type of network.

 

For rapid transfer of data over a lightly loaded LAN connection, set Packet size to 8000 and set Packet count to 50.

 

For a Direct Modem to modem connection, to allow a timely response to user-initiated activities, set Packet size to 1000 & Packet count to 5.

 

If you experience reductions in transfer rate, such as on a heavily loaded LAN, then

a higher Packet count would be advisable, however, this will adversely affect the response

time to operations like Parameter Downloads by the user.

 

The minimum Packet count is 5 and the realistic maximum value is 500.

 

User Name & Password: The user name and password to be used to connect to the Local.

If these fields are left blank then the Username & Password will be prompted for when the connection is made, which is useful if many users will be using this connection.

 

These will need to have been previously set up using the User Setup menu command on the Remote menu on the Local computer.

Then click Save.

 

Now clicking Connect on the Connections dialog will display the Network Status dialog:

 

 

SpecView Remote will check to see if it already has a copy of the project which is running on the Local computer. There is the option of either copying the projet which is running on the Local computer to the Remote computer using the Update & Go Online button, or vice versa, using the Send Project back to local machine button.

 

The Update automatically next time checkbox will have the effect of clicking the [Update & Go Online] button automatically.

 

Full update takes the whole project, so that it can be worked on off-line at the Remote.

 

A SpecView project can be created/modified on either computer. To do this on the Local computer SpecView's Edit Mode can be used directly.

 

However, on the Remote computer, SpecView's Edit Mode is disabled, therefore, SpecView will need to be run in 'Stand-alone' mode. To do this, select the project and then hold the shift key down while clicking the Go Online Now button on the Projects Found box.

 

Once the Update & Go Online button, or the Send Project back to local machine button has been clicked, it will then go on-line. Note that if the project is the same as it was last time then it will immediately go online, without the need to click a button.

 

When a GDW is displayed on the Remote computer, the values of the variables on the GDW are sent from the Local computer.

 

SpecView Local is able to process requests from multiple Remote computers simultaneously.

 

The Local user will be unaware that a remote user is accessing it, other than by viewing the

Remote Users Attached list, by using the View Connected Users menu command from the Remotes menu:

 

Or via the Events Window, as the Event Logger will record all Network Login and Network Logout events and all values sent to the instruments by the remote user (Network Set Value).

 

The reporting of these events can be disabled using the Event Logging menu command on the Setup menu.

 

 

Setting Up SpecView Networking