iMatch in a Network Environment

[rchristy]

Hi,

I am trying to demo the iMatch product for network use. I currently have a trial product with 28 days active.
These are the things that I have tried as per the Help manual and I am still not successful to get it active over the network.

Procedure 1:

a. From a client workstation, created a Local DB and then moved the DB to a shared folder on a server that has Read/Write access.
b. Moved the Config file to a shared folder that has read/write access
c. Changed the DB to read only mode
d. Installed iMatch on another PC and changed Preferences to have the settings point to the config file that was shared earlier.
e. Opened the shared DB and then it still reports "Database is locked"

Procedure 2:
a. From a client workstation, created a DB on a server share that has Read/Write access.
b. Moved the Config file to a shared folder that has read/write access
c. Changed the DB to read only mode
d. Installed iMatch on another PC and changed Preferences to have the settings point to the config file that was shared earlier.
e. Opened the shared DB and then it still reports "Database is locked"

Procedure 3:
a. Installed iMatch on a seperate server
b. Shared the DB folder so that it is accessible to all users with Read/Write permission
c. Shared the Config file as well
d. Changed DB to read only mode inside iMatch
e. Access this from another PC with Preferences changed to look for Config in the share location
f. Same error message "Database is locked"

What do you believe I am doing wrong here that I am unable to access the DB over a network?

Appreciate your help in addressing this so that we could we can decide on the usage of this product for our customer.

[Mario]

If you report problems, please always include the IMatch log file (View menu > Support). Search the IMatch help index for log file for detailed information.

The log file will tell us if IMatch runs into problems and where. This will be very helpful with solving your problem.


The database system only reports a database as locked when it is already open in another instance of IMatch, in exclusive mode.
Did you switch IMatch to open databases in read-only mode via the Database menu?

The entire folder (!) containing the IMatch database must have read/write/modify/delete privileges for all users who want to access the IMatch database remotely.
Usually you just place the DB in a shared folder and then open it from another machine. Except for file system permissions there are no additional considerations.

Note: Running an IMatch database over a network is the worst possible performance scenario. Access to the database over a network is 50 to 1000 times slower than accessing a database stored on a local SSD.
I recommend you check out IMatch Anywhere™, which is a server solution for IMatch.

[rchristy]

Hi Mario,

Please find attached a file from one of the PCs trying to access the shared database.

The shared folder has read/write access to all users.

At first I open the DB in normal mode. I then move it to read only mode, iMatch prompts you to restart and I do.
I go to another workstation and then access the shared DB and it says "it is locked".

Should the config file be also shared and preferences be changed on all client PC to point to the shared config file? If yes, I have already done this and it gives me the error.

[Mario]

The database system reports that the database is locked.
IMatch does not report that the database is opened in read-only mode. Did you enable the read-only mode in the Database menu? Else the first user opening the database will lock it.

[rchristy]

Yes, on PC 1, we have it opened and then change it to read only. I then try to access it from another PC using Open database or open read only missed Database, both gives me the same message.

[rchristy]

Just so that you have additional information about the environment. The lab is running on a VMware workstation. The server, the three PCs and the iMaychsMatchserver are all running on VMware. The three workstations are created by using a clone of one of the VMs but with workstation name and IP address changed.

[Mario]

This sounds like a very complicated setup with many places where things can go wrong.
The only situation I'm aware of that causes the database system to report to IMatch that the database file is locked is when it is locked on disk by something else, or another IMatch instance.
Please be aware that IMatch has not been designed to be used in such complex environments. Consider having a look at IMatch Anywhere™.