>I am new to Visual FoxPro (and programming in general) and am trying to get my app set up so that the tables are shared on a network. How do I go about getting the setup program to put the shared tables on a network server and install the rest of the files on individual workstations? I have read about Programming for Shared Access and every other source that I can find, but I can't seem to get a concrete answer on what I need to do.
>
>Thanks in advance for your help!

Dorisa,

I'm also relatively new at this but I've used this technique for file server apps and it has worked perfectly fine for me.

I put my shared tables in one network directory. I also have the master copy of any reference tables in a second network directory. My main app has a hard code reference to the location of the shared tables in its SET PATH. The app is compiled and the .exe is stored on the network.

I also have a startup app. Running the Setup for the startup app creates the local directory stucture and copies the local files for each workstation.

On the workstation I run the startup app which first tries to locate all the tables needed for local workstation, if it doesn't find a table locally, or the local version is older than the network master copy, it downloads the new version from the network. It does the same with the compiled version of the main app. The main app is then run from the startup app (running an .exe from a .exe).

In the end, I have the most current versions of the reference tables on my workstation and a path to the shared tables on the network. I also get the most current version of the app.

This allows me to make modifications to the main app even as people are using the older version. When they exit and then restart the system, they get the newest version.

From what I see, you probably don't need to hard code the reference to the network directory and could use any of the techniques mentioned by others to tell the app where the shared network tables are.

I admit this works for me but I could be doing something completely wrong or off the wall. I leave myself to the mercy of those with way more experience.