Configuring Shared PicLan Installations

April 1, 1997

A number of users have expressed the desire to install PicLan in a shared directory on their network. This document discusses the various files and settings that PicLan
uses.

These notes assume PicLan version 2.0.

Installing from the Network

The first step is to copy the contents of the PicLan installation floppies to network directories. This is actually a good step for installing PicLan in a non-shared environment because it makes the PicLan SETUP.EXE program easier to use. It is also faster.

This process is best illustrated by example:

Create a network install directory:

MD F:\USR\PL-INST

Create four subdirectories inder the install directory:

MD F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK1
MD F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK2
MD F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK3
MD F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK4

Copy the contents of each PicLan installation diskette into the appropriate directory:

COPY A:\*.* F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK1
COPY A:\*.* F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK2
COPY A:\*.* F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK3
COPY A:\*.* F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK4

Once the PicLan diskettes have been copied to the network install directories, you can then run SETUP.EXE from the F:\USR\PL-INST\DISK1 directory.

Installation Directory

The C:\PICLAN directory can be relocated to any directory on any accessible drive on the system. You can install the PicLan software into another directory by typing the alternate directory name during INSTALL.EXE or SETUP.EXE. It is also possible to share a single PicLan directory amongst clients running DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95.

PicLan Device Configuration File (PL-CFG.INI)

PicLan uses a configuration file to specify items such as user name (for PL-STAT under Pick), driver configuration (IRQ, IRQ, frame type, etc.), parameters for DOS emulators (screen size, etc.), and parameters for DSG functions. This configuration file is a text file that is, by default, located at C:\PICLAN\PL-CFG.INI. If you wish to perform a "shared" PicLan installation where there are a number of workstations that all use a single PicLan directory, you should manually create a seperate copy of this file for each workstation. It is usually best to create a "directory of INI files" on the network file server and copy/customer the PL-CFG.INI file for each user. If your users are running in similar operating environments (similar systems, etc.) then the only field in the INI file that likely needs customizing is "User=". This field gives the user a PicLan "name" that is displayed with PL-STAT (from Pick).

When you create seperate files, give the files a name that ends with .INI. An example best illustrates this:

Four users share a PicLan installation (JOHN, GEORGE, SALLY, and JEFF). PicLan is installed in F:\USR\PICLAN.

COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PL-CFG.INI F:\USR\PICLAN\JOHN.INI
COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PL-CFG.INI F:\USR\PICLAN\GEORGE.INI
COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PL-CFG.INI F:\USR\PICLAN\SALLY.INI
COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PL-CFG.INI F:\USR\PICLAN\JEFF.INI

In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file for users JOHN, execute the command:

SET PL-CFG.INI=F:\USR\PICLAN\JOHN.INI

You can also execute this command as a part of the NetWare login script (if this is more convenient).

Execute similar SET commands for GEORGE, SALLY, and JEFF.

VB Support DLLs

Most PicLan Windows applications are written in Visual Basic (version 4.0). Therefor, in order to use PicLan applications, you must install VB 4.0 support files into your Windows system. The SETUP.EXE program does this for you automatically. This allows you to simply run SETUP.EXE re-installing PicLan into the same network directory just to install VB support into your Windows directory. If you have a small to medium number of PCs, this is probably the easiest method.

If you have a large number of PCs, you may wish to create a file list to install yourself. With Windows 95, this list is small because Windows 95 already includes most of the required DLLs that VB 4.0 requires. The support files required by PicLan are documented in the on-line release notes: 16-bit support files include:

32-bit support files include:

With Windows 95, most (or all) of these files may already exist on your system. With Windows 3.1, you may need to install all of these yourself.

If this list appears daunting, just run SETUP.EXE and let it take care of itself. Otherwise, you can create a batch file for each type of client that copies the required files.

PicLan Support DLLs and EXEs

Once the VB 4.0 support files are loaded, you then need to configure PicLan support DLL and EXE files. There are actually two different directions for this depending on the type of Windows installation that you have:

16-bit Windows

This refers to Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups. This install is also used with Windows 95 when Windows 95 is running with real-mode LAN drivers and PL-DEV loaded. Most Windows 95 installations use 32-bit drivers (described below).

To setup PicLan to run with 16-bit Windows:

COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PLAN.D16 C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PLAN.DLL

Add F:\USR\PICLAN\PL-DEV.EXE to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file

32-bit Windows

This refers to Windows 95 with 32-bit lan drivers as well as to Windows NT.

To setup PicLan to run with 32-bit Windows:

COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PLAN.D32 C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\PLAN.DLL
COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PLAN32.DLL C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\PLAN32.DLL
COPY F:\USR\PICLAN\PLAN32S.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\PLAN32S.EXE

PicLan Windows Configuration File

PicLan Windows application use a file called PICLAN.INI to store configuration information such as terminal emulation states. This file also contains a line:

PL-CFG.INI=C:\PICLAN\PL-CFG.INI

If you have installed PicLan into a different directory, you need to make sure that the PICLAN.INI file points to the correct PL-CFG.INI FILE (F:\USR\PICLAN\GEORGE.INI, etc.).

PicLan Program Group

The PicLan program group is not technically required to run PicLan. The SETUP.EXE program will automatically create a PicLan program group. You can also manually create this program groups (or portions) of it directory from Windows.