FirePoint Paths Point the Way to Folders
To set paths begin by pressing the Maint button.
Press the Set Paths button.
Set Paths button sets FirePoint's internal paths. Paths tell FirePoint where in your system key folders are located. These folders are used to store exported records, pictures, dispatches, etc. Here's more detailed information about setting your paths.
Whenever FirePoint exports a file containing copies of records, the file is automatically placed in a TRANSFER folder. The TRANSFER folder is generally kept next to the FirePoint data file, but can be located anywhere you wish.
Most Windows drives use a letter for drive designation. "C:" is normally reserved from the primary hard disk drive. FirePoint is installed on this primary hard disk. "A:" is normally reserved for floppy diskettes.
Paths are usually set during installation. But because there are a variety of Windows operating systems and drive configurations it may be necessary to set your paths as part of system configuration. All Windows operating systems are path oriented. Each time you open a folder the path appears as the folder title.
FirePoint establishes paths to increase its communications capabilities. If a fire department does not have the full-time network resources to support multi-user client server technology FirePoint can be configured to forward records via file sharing to the folders you designate when setting the path.
Once you have double-clicked on the TRANSFER folder inside the FirePoint folder the path is displayed at the top. To set the server path simply type the path that appears at the top of the TRANSFER folder you have opened on your PC. Always add a "\" character to end of the displayed path.
For the example above the server path would be:
"C:\Program Files\FirePS\FirePoint\TRANSFER\"
FirePoint also allows you to set the path by pressing the Set Path button. Using the file navigation box click on the TRANSFER folder located near the data file. FirePoint will automatically enter the "Server" path to that TRANSFER folder.
The Local path is automatically set to an initialized disk containing a copy of the TRANSFER folder. Make sure the path begins with the letter of the disk drive, in this case "A:".
If you have used the Set Paths drop-down the path is automatically tested. If you have manually set the path press Test Paths to test the path for accuracy. Remember to insert the Transfer disk if you are testing the local path. Either way, if you do not get an error message you may press Save to save the paths.
If you intend to use Automatic Exports from an outlying fire station you will need to set another path to a folder titled TEMP. On outlying fire stations the TEMP folder is located on the same hard disk as the FirePoint application. Set the Temp path. At the "HQ" station the TEMP folder is not used. If using Automatic Exports on the "HQ" PC set the TEMP path to be the same as the Server Path.
The Dispatch Path is used for collecting and forwarding files from a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) program. If you are not using FirePoint's CAD interface this path should be left blank.
The Help Path is used for tell FirePoint where you are storing your Help files.
The Picture Path tells FirePoint where to store pictures you've entered in FirePoint records. Usually the Picture folder resides next to the data file. Put a Picture folder on your hard disk drive and set this path before saving any pictures in FirePoint.
The default path checkbox tells FirePoint to normally save export files either to the TRANSFER folder near the data file (server path), or to a TRANSFER folder located on a floppy disk (local path).
Note: You may create a TRANSFER folder, however, the folder must contain a copy of the INDEX.txt file. The INDEX.txt file is simply an empty text file (a text file containing no data).
There are two types of Exporting operations supported by the Exports module; manual exporting and automatic exporting. If you have the Sync or Server versions of FirePoint review the manual and automatic exporting options described in Chapter 6, "FirePoint Setup - Sync Version". Exporting options are set on by pressing the Exports tab on the Set Paths dialog.
If you are choosing manual exports simply make sure Automatic Exports is not checked. Press Save and you're done.
If you wish to select Automatic Exports, check the Automatic Exports checkbox. Leave the Interval at 15 minutes (you can change it later if you wish). The Export Stations field should always have HQ displayed.
The "Station to Station" checkbox forwards Incidents, Apparatus, Patients and Classes records two-ways. This generally produces a good amount of network activity and is therefore not recommended for departments with more than three or fours satellite stations.
Normally, FirePoint will allow Occupancies records to be forwarded from "non-HQ" stations to the "HQ" station. You can block the forwarding of Occupancies records by checking the "Block Prevention" checkbox.
