8 Questions & Answers

• Software copied onto the clients suddenly causes problems. Applications now can't find files and folders in which they have additional files stored.

Let me guess, is the software written by Microsoft? For some unknown reason MS Excel, MS Project and MS Word (and possibly software from others as well) forget where the additional files are stored when they are not used on the computer on which it was initially installed. Sorry, but SimpleWave can't solve this problem…

• Why can't I have one copy of an application and its files on the file-server instead of one for each configuration? It takes so much diskspace on the server!

You can. You can put aliases in one master folder pointing to original files and folders somewhere else on the server. This allows you to share certain folders between different master folders, thus saving disk space on the file-server.

And because the position of the alias icon is used for the original item, you still retain control on the icon positions.

You enable this feature by assigning the “Resolve” label to the alias on the file-server. For more information on how to do this, see the “Labels” paragraph of the “Advanced Installation” chapter of this manual.

• We have a network with multiple zones. Should I use the full zone name with the locations resource or the asterisk?

If the server you use is in every zone* (and the source path remains valid) you can use the asterisk. In all other cases when the user changes the current zone with the Network control panel using the full zone name make sure the computer is kept up-to-date. Unfortunately SimpleWave is not able to restore the original zone. It's up to you what you find important and easy.
* some UNIX boxes with an AFP server can do that.

• How can I have SimpleWave get access to the file-server as a guest?

Very easy: leave the username and password fields of the locations resource empty.

• How can I speed up SimpleWave when I know I've only changed a few folders?

Suppose you only need to update the System Folder and some other folder next to it, but you don't want to have the other folders deleted.
If you set the access privileges of the other folders in the master folder so that SimpleWave does not have access to them, they will be skipped. You can also mark a folder closed by assigning it the label “Closed”.

This will speed up the SimpleWave comparison process considerably if the closed folders contain lots of files! Example: I had a course which used an application in a folder at the same level as the System Folder, and an alias to it in the Startup Items folder. All other folders were closed to SimpleWave. The first time we did this with 40 Macs we didn't believe SimpleWave worked properly because it disconnected from the server so soon!

For more information on how to use the “Closed” label, see the “Labels” paragraph of the “Advanced Installation” chapter of this manual.

• We have one group of Macintosh computers of the same type but with two different harddisk sizes. How can we get each of their harddisks filled?

You need to have two master folders on the server, one for each harddisk size. Each should have a different copy of SimpleWave configured to point to the appropriate master folder. Put the appropriate copy of SimpleWave on the client computers.
There is no problem in renaming the SimpleWave extension for this purpose to indicate which configuration is stored with the SimpleWave extension.

• How can I set up SimpleWave to only manage one single folder on the client computer instead of the whole harddisk?

This can be done by specifying a path to a folder on the startup disk as the destination path in the locations resource. The contents of the master folder is then copied into this local folder instead.
The destination path can even be without the volume name, something like this:

:Applications:

will cause SimpleWave to start at the folder by the name “Applications” at the root level of the startup disk. Or when you want to rename the startup volume:

Student Disk:Applications:

The path you specify here must be present, the folder(s) will not be created. The path must end with a colon to indicate the path leads to a folder.

• When the server drops or the network is disrupted SimpleWave freezes the computers. Can you fix this bug?

It is not a bug. The system software gives a time-out when there is no data received for two minutes. Thus after two minutes SimpleWave will know this and will stop checking.

• How can I tell the users where they can find the Administrator when they get a message to contact him/her?

You can specify a room number or phone number in a string resource ('STR ' ID 128) which is appended to the message. See the Advanced Installation chapter for how to do this exactly.

• When I receive a new version of SimpleWave, do I have to copy it manually to each client disk?

No, SimpleWave distributes itself. Put it in the master folder on the file-server (after configuring it) and the older version on the clients will copy it and delete itself. Then with the second startup the new version will control the maintenance.

• I also have to maintain portable Macintosh computers which can be used by several people. Can SimpleWave help me get them in shape for the next person to use?

Sure, you can connect the portable to the network and have it connect to a file-server. But you want it faster, don't you?
Then connect an external harddisk, which contains the master folder, to your portable. This can also be the harddisk in a docking station when using PowerBook Duo computers. In any case you must startup with the normal internal disk of the portable. Its system must have a copy of SimpleWave with the source path set to the master folder on the external harddisk. But leave the zone and servername fields in the locations resource empty (and the username and password fields are of no use then).

• How does SimpleWave handle aliases?

Aliases are normally copied as if they were plain files. If want to have an alias remapped to a similar original on the local harddisk, then see the “Labels” paragraph in the “Advanced Installation” chapter of this manual for more information. That chapter also explains how to make SimpleWave find the original on the shared disk, then copy the original item as if there is no alias at all.

One warning though: SimpleWave uses it's own method of finding the new original by searching for the file/folder name and the name of its parent folder. Therefore it is necessary to make sure all combinations between names of files/folders and their parent folders are unique on the local disk.

• I use MacPrefect software to protect the client disk. Can SimpleWave work while MacPrefect is enabled?

Yes, it can. MacPrefect is disabled whenever SimpleWave wants to do things which MacPrefect doesn't like, and MacPrefect is enabled again when SimpleWave is finished. This happens only briefly so the user never gets the change to actually bypass MacPrefect. The SimpleWave Remove tool is not compatible with MacPrefect and will fail to work if MacPrefect is enabled.

You can place and remove MacPrefect's Folder Lock and Launch Key files in the master folder. They will be copied onto the local disk but never updated.

However, it is advisable to disable the FolderSweep function of MacPrefect.
Do you want to know more about MacPrefect and receive a demo version? Then contact Hi Resolution, whose address is listed in the Acknowledgements chapter.

• Just out of curiosity: does SimpleWave verify the files it copies from the server?

No, SimpleWave does not verify the files it copies. It assumes there is a reliable network connection. Something different from a floppy-disk with bad blocks…

• I want to have the messages appear in my own language. How do I do that?

See the Translating section of the “Technical Information” chapter later in this manual. That section describes everything you need to know about translating the messages.

• I want to have the messages not in the same language as the system. How do I do that?

If you won't tell anybody else, here is a hack to do it:
Use ResEdit to renumber the STR# with the language you want to be used. Give it number 199 and it will be used from then on.
Is the language you want to use not already translated? Then see the question above.