STEP FORWARD Getting Started (Client)

System requirements for STEP FORWARD Client

Supported OS: Windows 98, NT, 2000, XP, Red Hat Linux v9.

Hardware: minimum of 256 Mb RAM. Processor speed: the more, the merrier.

Getting going with the new installation of STEP FORWARD Client

1. Run install.exe program (Windows) or install.bin script (Linux). This will install STEP FORWARD Client into the designated directory. The installer can also install the Java Virtual Machine (VM) libraries, if your environment does not have Java. If your computer already has Java 1.4.1 from Sun Microsystems installed, you can use it instead of loading one through the installer. Otherwise (if you do not have Java, or your version of Java is other than 1.4.1, or if you do not know what Java is and whether or not it is installed on your computer) you should let the installer install Java for STEP FORWARD Client:

2. Create STEP FORWARD Client icon on the desktop (Windows only):

3. Edit the file StepForwardClient.lax in the Client install folder to point STEP FORWARD Client to the Server. Find the following line:

lax.StepForwardServerIPAddress=localhost

and change "localhost" to the name or IP address of the host where STEP FORWARD Server runs, e.g.

lax.StepForwardServerIPAddress=snowdrop
lax.StepForwardServerIPAddress=192.168.1.12

4. If the client host has multiple Network Interface Cards, find this line:

lax.StepForwardClientIPAddress=

and set it to the IP address of the NIC connected to LAN where STEP FORWARD Server runs. E.g. if the client host has the following NIC IP addresses:

NIC 1: 192.168.174.1
NIC 2: 192.168.95.1
NIC 3: 192.168.1.72

and the Server runs on the host with IP address 192.168.95.10, use the IP address of NIC 2, i.e.

lax.StepForwardClientIPAddress=192.168.95.1

5. If the server port changed from its default setting (6541), you will also have to edit the following line:

lax.StepForwardServerPort=6541

6. Finally, if the server HTTP port changed from its default setting (8080), edit this line:

lax.StepForwardWebServerPort=8080

7. Start STEP FORWARD. The login panel will appear:

8. Enter the Administrator password, and press "Log in" button. Application Launchpad window is displayed:

9. At this point, you can create a brand new database and configure your application, or you can import one of the exported databases provided with this distribution:

Tutorial.export
Private_Records.export

If you choose to import the existing database, launch "Transfer Database" utility:

From here on, you are on your way to master the art of developing applications with STEP FORWARD.

Troubleshooting

STEP FORWARD Client creates an error log where the program activity and errors are logged. The log is saved in error.log file in the installation directory. When problems occur, this file should be mailed to us. Note that the error log is cleared when a new STEP FORWARD session starts. So, if a problem occurs and you decide to send us the error log file, do so before starting STEP FORWARD again.

Needless to say, a clear and detailed description of the problem (along with the error log) will go a long way towards the resolution of the problem. We always fix bugs. If the problem is reproducible (step-by-step description always helps), we fix it quickly.