SYMPTOM:

PERKS asks you to specify an ‘Alternate Data Drive’ while installing a new Company, if you have selected the Setup Type as any of the following :

Windows

Windows NT

You may set the 'Setup Type' during the installation of PERKS, or through the System / System Configuration option.

Here is one scenario.

You have purchased a Multiuser Pack of PERKS. Suppose that, you have installed a Company, whose Path is 'C:\PERKS\PERK_DAT'.   Your colleague, also, needs to work on the same data.

The central database maintains the Path of the data, but all it can store is the above-mentioned path (i.e., 'C:\PERKS\PERK_DAT'). Therefore, when your colleague would load the PERKS Workstation, it finds the Path to the data from the central database, and starts searching for the data in the 'C:' Drive of the computer used by your colleague (rather than accessing your Hard Drive).

If it can't locate the data there, there should be an alternate way to indicate to the System (running as 'PERKS Workstation' on your colleague's computer) as where exactly the data exist.

Here is how PERKS manages this Multiuser issue.

RESOLUTION:

Suppose that, after you have specified the Path as 'C:\PERKS', specify the Alternate Path as, say, 'E:'. Under such circumstances, other PERKS users on the network may use the Drive Letter 'E' to map to the Path 'C:\PERKS' Directory on your computer. You must share the folder containing the Data Directory (which is not necessarily the 'PERKS Installation' folder) fully. A 'Read-Only' type of sharing, thus, will not help in accomplishing what you require.

When the System can't find the data against Path, it will search the on the Alternate Path, and open the Company.

We advise you to consult your System Administrator for obtaining more information about mapping a Drive.

In a nutshell, the concept of 'Alternate Data Drive' allows other users on the network to access a Company installed on your computer by mapping their computer to it (i.e., the 'Alternate Data Drive', itself).