Thanks Rob.

That sounds exactly what we need. I'll give it a go.

Nick

Hi Nick,

One of the advantages of using Excel as a datasource is that it is a well-known application, and most people can enter and edit data without any specialist knowledge or training.

One of the drawbacks is that if one user has an Excel file open (for instance, one instance of Stardraw) then it is locked for editing by other users.  This means that if you centralise the .XLS file that Stardraw uses directly, you will not be able to edit the spreadsheet if any other copies of Stardraw that use it are running.

You can work around this by setting up a separate spreadsheet on a shared resource such as a network drive.  You can then link to that file from the local spreadsheets that each Stardraw installation uses i.e. C:\Program Files\Stardraw Audio\Stardraw Audio System Attributes.xls.  Linkage does not lock out other users from editing the central data source.

Outline steps to set this all up would run something like this:

1) Synchronize Manufacturers to get the latest manufacturer and model information into the local Stardraw Audio System Attributes.xls file

2) Copy this file to a shared resource e.g. Z:\ and name it as you like, e.g. Pricing.xls

3) Link fields in the local file C:\Program Files\Stardraw Audio\Stardraw Audio System Attributes.xls to the central file, either using a flat link (e.g. for cell C2 on the AKG tab it might be ='Z:\[Pricing.xls]AKG'!C2) or, for more flexibility later on when you might add products, use Excel's VLOOKUP function.

4) Put the data you want into the central file - when you start Stardraw Audio you will see a message displayed by Excel asking if you want to update links.  You should click on 'Yes'.

I hope this is helpful - let me know if you run into any problems or need further assistance.

Kind regards

Rob

Hi, we have Stardraw on several PCs and want to store our Symbol Spreadsheet on our Server so everyone has the same access.

How do I set this up?

Thanks.