Share.exe 'Today'

[FoxRookie]

One of our network consultants insisted that we need to configure share.exe to make our fox6.0 app run properly as a client/server app. Hence, he gave all the specs for configuing this "dog", share.exe.

Everyone was so happy with this finding, but, isn't this an old sharing program from 'win for workgroups' and prior?

Does it not need an entry in the autoexec.bat to even work?

Why would fox6 need a 16 bit helper -- our app does not run any 16-bit apps.

I think our consultation money has been ill-spent or does this 'throw-back' really do something on a NT4 or W2K network that I do not know.

Help me to help my company from wasting money.

darrin

 

[DEDMOD]

I don't know. I used to administer a Windows for Workgroups system, and I sort of remember a 'shares.exe' program. But doing a search of my present computer a Win2000 Professional Dell it has a 'shares.exe' in the C:\winNT\Sys32 directory. It brings up a DOS window for a short while, but I don't know what if anything it normally does. You might want to check on the MS website and see what if anything they have to say about it. Dave Dardinger

 

[Mike Gagnon]

Need more details.
What kind of server (Novell, NT4, Metaframe, SQL)?

You are right in saying that a VFP6.0 app doesn't need to deal with share.exe to be able to run (This a Win3.1 and Workgroup thing). But you didn't really explain the problem. Do you have a problem with sharing files?

 

[FoxRookie]

The platform is NT4 using terminal sever and metaframe - thanks

 

[Mike Gagnon]

FoxRookie

So what is the problem or error you are getting? I'm currently running this setup and I didn't have to deal with share.exe. Although my exe's (about 10 of them) are setup as server/server (Meaning the exe and the data are on the server and everyone that uses them log in through the Citrix client, no mapping directly through the NT server)

 

[wgcs]

Terminal Server accomplishes the Client-Server part of the program: Nothing other than a complete rewrite can make the VFP program itself client-server.

If the issue is having DBF files open repeatedly, I can see how someone familiar with DOS but not VFP could guess "We need SHARE.EXE to make the files Shareable!", but, really, all that is needed is for th VFP program itself to use the DBF's in a Shared manner: ie:
SET EXCLUSIVE OFF
USE tablename

or
SET EXCLUSIVE on or off
USE tablename SHARED

The other thing needed, is to stop doing the things that can't be done on shared DBF files: PACK, REINDEX, and other operations which require a table lock (DELETE ALL FOR ..., REPLACE ALL FOR ...)

 

[chpicker]

Good lord...

Yes, SHARE.EXE was an old MS-DOS TSR that allowed multiple programs to access files. Basically, it was the command-line implementation of file-sharing.

It is not needed whatsoever from Windows 95 on.

Ian

 

[DSummZZZ]

If your network consultant is living that far in the past, perhaps they need to be re-evaluated instead of the network.

Dave S.