Introduction and System Requirements

Configuration

File Menu

Production Menu

Balance Menu

Network Menu

Connections Menu

FTP Menu

 

 

Introduction

SpeedBalance is an Application that allows to merge multiple Speed Time based Internet Cafes into a large network. Changes in the Account and User Data is balanced trough the whole network in a customizable scheduled process.

 

Requirements

An FTP Server reachable from all locations

Possibility to establish a communication between the Balance PCs over UDP Windows Sockets

MDAC 2.5 or Later

Windows 2000,XP, NT, Server 2003

 

Schematic Application Workflow

1) Establish a Communication over UDP to all other locations in the network

2) Collect all Changes in User and Account Data since last run

3) Upload changes to FTP Server

4) Send and Wait for OK from all locations in network

5) Download the changes from all other locations in network from FTP

6) Balance the Production Database with the changes from all other locations in network

7) Send and Wait for OK from all locations in network

8) Clean Balance Database and maintain History of the data sent in case of error

9) Close all UDP Connections

 

Contents of the Programfolder

SpeedBalance.mdb

The local Balance Database where changes in User and Account Data is stored and sent to all cafes in the network

SpeedBalance.ini

Configuration File for SpeedBalance Program Settings

CafeIDBalance.mdb

Last Balance Database received from the cafes in network

NetworkBalance.mdb

Balance Database where the last changes from cafes in network are stored and balanced against your Speed Time database

SpeedBalance.log

Logfile of Operations. Please note that only Logs containing errors are written to SpeedBalance.log

 

 

Configuring the Network

To Configure the Network you must enter the information listed below to the Tbl_NetworkCafes in your Speed Time Database.

Configure all Cafes in your network. The same Data must be inserted in each cafe database you want to connect to the network

CafeID

A Short Identification for the cafe in network

CafeLongName

A long Identification Name for your customers using your system

Description

Additional Information you may have

IsLocal

Flag for SpeedBalance for the cafe you are configuring.

The IsLocal Flag can set only once per Cafe!

IPAddress

IP Address of the Computer where SpeedBalance is installed

Port

Port on witch the UDP connections to other cafes in network will be handled.

The number of Ports used by SpeedBalance are calculated as follows:

Number of Ports = Number of Cafes in network

i.e. Having Cafe 1 Port = 1000 and 3 cafes in network then following ports will be used:

1000 Port where messages from other cafes are received

1001 Port to communicate with cafe 2

1002 Port to communicate with cafe 3

Active

Flag to mark  whether a cafe participates in the network or not

 

 

Configuring the Program Settings

The Program settings are stored in the SpeedBalance.ini file in the SpeedBalance installation folder.

[Settings]

ProductionDatabase

The UNC Path to your Speed Time Microsoft Access Database Speed.mdb

ScheduleOnStart

Tells SpeedBalance to start the scheduling process when it starts. Possible Values are True or False

ScheduleMinutes

Time of Schedule in Minutes. Its recommended to set this value not less than 5

OperationTimeOut

Timeout in Seconds to wait for the Response from cafes in network.

LogQueries

Log Balance Queries, possible values are True or False. Logging Balance Queries slows the balancing process significantly and it should be used only in case of error catching.

[FTP]

FTPRemoteHost

FTP Server where the balance data can be uploaded and downloaded, IP Address or URL

FTPUserName

Username for the FTP Server

FTPPassword

Password for the FTP Server

FTPRemotePort

Port of the FTP Server, default is 21

FTPProxy

Proxy for FTP operations if any

[BalanceLogic]

ApplyBalanceLogic

Apply the defined balance logic: in this version if a user is logged in in more then one cafe, the user will be logged out and its account will be disabled

AlertToPC

Network Name or IP Address of the Computer where to send an Administrative Alert in case of Balance logic is applied to a user

 

Trough the File menu you can reach functionalities related to the SpeedBalance application

The functionalities of the File Submenus are

View Settings

Opens the your default editor displaying the Program Settings stored in SpeedBalance.ini

Reload Settings

Reloads the Program Settings from SpeedBalance.ini

Start/Stop Scheduled Balance

Starts or stops the Scheduled Balance Procedure of changes in Accounts and Users

Show Message Window

Shows the Message Window where the communication reaching your cafe is displayed.

The message window can also be used to chat with all connected cafes in the network

Minimize to system Tray

Minimizes the SpeedBalance Application Window to the System tray. Colored Icons will show the current status

 

 

 

Trough the Production menu you can reach functions to manipulate your Speed Time Users and Accounts

The functionalities of the Production submenus are

View Users

Shows the User Data that will be sent to all cafes in the network on next schedule of SpeedBalance

View Accounts

Shows the Account Data that will be sent to all cafes in the network on next schedule of SpeedBalance

Clear Balance Flags

Resets the User and Account Data that should be sent to all cafes in network on next schedule of SpeedBalance

Balance Production Database

Starts the Balance Procedure with the last Data received from Network

 

 

 

Trough the Balance menu you can reach functions to manipulate the local Balance Database SpeedBalance.mdb that will be sent to all cafes in network

The functionalities of the Production submenus are

Collect Data

Collects all changes in Users and Accounts of your Speed Time Database, that must be sent to network and copies it to SpeedBalance.mdb

View Users

Shows the User Data in SpeedBalance.mdb that will be sent to all cafes in the network on next schedule of SpeedBalance

View Accounts

Shows the Account Data in SpeedBalance.mdb that will be sent to all cafes in the network on next schedule of SpeedBalance

Compact Database

Compacts the SpeedBalance.mdb database that will be sent to all cafes in network. This operation is executed automatically before uploading SpeedBalance.mdb to the FTP Server

Merge Network Data

Merges the databases Named CafeIDBalance.mdb into the NetworkBalance.mdb file. The data from the NetworkBalance.mdb can be balanced against your Speed Time database.

Cleanup Selected Cafe

In Case of error in other cafes SpeedBalance maintains a history of changes that will be sent again to all cafes in network on next schedule.

With this command you can clear a selected Cafe from the Balance Database SpeedBalance.mdb

Balance Delete

If an Account is deleted in one cafe, the delete information will be sent to all other cafes in network.

This command executes the Delete operation

Clear Balance Database

Clears the History maintained in SpeedBalance.mdb.

This operation should be executed only in case of a severe error and subsequent full balance of the Cafe

 

 

Trough the Network menu you can reach functions to manipulate your cafes in network.

The functionalities of the Network submenus are

View Cafes

Shows all cafes in the network. Disabled Cafes are grayed, the Local Cafe is green

Connect to

Establishes a UDP connection to the selected cafe

Connect To All

Establishes a UDP connection to all cafes in network

Full Database Balance!

Synchronizes all Accounts in all Databases of all cafes in network

Balance Now!

Starts the Network balance Procedure

Reset!

Sends a Reset command to all connected Cafes. The current operations are cancelled and SpeedBalance waits again for schedule

 

 

Trough the Connections menu you can reach functions to manipulate current UDP connections to the cafes in network

The functionalities of the Connections submenus are

View Connections

Shows all connections with their status

Reset Connections

Resets all connections.

Query Status

This command invokes all connected cafes to send their status. The Status will be displayed in the message window. See also File Menu

Query Settings

This command invokes all connected cafes to send their main settings stored in SpeedBalance.ini. The Settings will be displayed in the message window. See also File Menu

 

 

Trough the FTP menu you can reach functions to upload, download, list and delete Files from the FTP server configured in SpeedBalance.ini

The functionalities of the FTP submenus are

Test Connections

Test if the a connection to the FTP server specified in SpeedBalance.ini can be established

List Files

Lists the Files on the FTP Server

Upload File

Uploads a file of your choice

Download File

Downloads the selected File to a folder of your choice

Delete File

Deletes the selected file from the FTP Server

 

 

Trough the Log menu you can reach the Log File Information of SpeedBalance

Please note that the Operations of a scheduled balance will be written to the Log File SpeedBalance.log only in case of errors

The functionalities of the are submenus are

Open Log File

Opens the SpeedBalance.log file with your default editor

View Current

Shows Log of Current Activities

Save Current

Saves the Current Log to File

Clear All Logs

Deletes the Log File SpeedBalance.log and clears all current log entries