Learn All About Sage 50 in a Multiuser Environment

What is Meant by Multi-User Licenses?

When you buy a single-user license of the Sage 50 program, this license is to be utilized for the program on a system by a single user. As mentioned in the Sage 50 Software License Agreement, the user needs to purchase a license to use the program for every additional client or user workstation (Sage 50 in a Multiuser Environment) within which the program needs to be installed or accessed.

The Compatible Networks

Sage 50 can run on two basic types of networks: peer-to-peer and client/server. But before you install Sage 50 within your network, you need to know the kind of network the software has been installed on:

• Peer-to-Peer: This is a network that ensures every connected computer acts as a server and within a workstation. Each system can share its hard drive, printers, or other devices with all other systems in the network. Nevertheless, when you are sharing data, and you wish to designate one system as the main server for the data. Likewise, you do not want the data on every user’s system, only the main server, such as the administrator’s computer. However, you need to install Sage 50 on the server first.
• Client/Server: This is a network with a traditional server acting as a central unit or the primary server with various workstations connecting to it. The server is where the user can store the data that can be shared by the workstations. You also need to install the Sage 50 program files within the server as well as the workstations, and you are required to install Sage 50 within the server first.

Network Requirements and Considerations

The best part is that Sage 50 can operate on any peer-to-peer network that can support Windows 7 or above. Sage 50 can also operate on innumerable client/server networks. Nevertheless, there are specific considerations:

• The data needs to reside within a network drive that is either within the server or the administrator’s machine for a peer-to-peer network.
• Also, installing Sage 50 program files on every workstation enhances the performance. Ensure you have complete access or administrative rights to the drive where you are installing Sage 50. The user also needs to install the Sage 50 program files within the server as well as the workstations, and you must install Sage 50 on the server first.
• Printing within a network requires that the name of a printer used on the server should be the same printer name that is used on all the client machines as well. This is all the more essential as different operating systems might identify printers differently. When the printers within your network do not have the same names on the server and all client machines, customized forms set up to print to a certain printer might not go to the required printer.
• Once you receive an update to Sage 50, you also need to install the update similarly as you install the original program.

The Process of Record and File Locking

When you install Sage 50 to run within a network, sharing data with more than one user, you could have more than one user entering invoices, payments, orders, and so on for the same company at the same time. Sage 50 utilizes record and file locking to make sure that data has been properly protected and updated. A record is a certain group of information, composed of related fields. For instance, the fields within a certain window of a customer, such as Name, Address, Phone, and so on, go together to form the record of the customer. Similarly, all customer records go together to form the customer file.

Likewise, when two people are making changes to the same customer, without record and file locking, two things can happen:

• The information can get jumbled, thus combining every user change.
• User #1, operating on the same customer information as user #2, saves his changes first. User #2 completes her changes and saves the record a couple of minutes later. User #2’s changes will be the only changes that are saved, as user #2 was the last person to save the record.

To eliminate either possibility from occurring, Sage 50 utilizes “locks” to prevent a certain record or file from being saved by more than one user at a time. As stated in the example above, as the second user attempts to change the customer record the first user is using, Sage 50 will wait for the first user to finish, and then allow the second user to begin. However, in certain cases when Sage 50 cannot wait, it will display a message, stating “The record in file ‘Customer.DAT’ is currently in use. Please try again once it is available.”

Let us take a look at the two different types of locks used by Sage 50: Record Locks and Exclusive File Locks.

Record Locks

A record lock prevents more than one user from saving the same data record, such as customer information, at the same time. This makes sure that record details do not grow jumbled and changes are processed rightly. Here, two or more users can access the same records and make updates. In this case, they simply cannot save the record changes at the same time. In certain cases, you might receive a message displaying that the record is presently locked. After the first user has successfully saved changes, Sage 50 removes the lock, thus, allowing other users to save the record. When this happens the other users will still be able to perform functions such as entering invoices and printing reports, however, no other users will be able to update the customer information until the first user has finished saving the record.

Exclusive File Locks

An exclusive file lock prevents more than one user from accessing the same file at the same time. When the critical process happens, an exclusive file lock is placed on all of the company’s files. These processes comprise:

• Backing up or restoring company data (from Sage 50’s File menu)
• Closing the payroll (calendar) year or fiscal year
• Working in Maintain Item Prices
• Unposting (From Tasks menu, System, Unpost only)
• Changing accounting periods
• Changing posting method in Maintain Company Information
• Working in User Security
• Posting (From Tasks menu, System, Post only)
• Opening a company (while another user is doing one of these single-user processes)
• Purging data

Once you try to perform any of these processes, when another user has the company open, even if only at the main window, Sage 50 displays the following message: “You are attempting to access an area that another user is also using, or you are attempting to perform a process that requires single-user access. Please try again when no other users are attempting the same operation or accessing Sage 50.” When this message appears, you need to select RETRY to attempt the process again or select CANCEL to abort the process.

Conclusion

So, there you have it friends, this is all we have at the moment on Sage 50 in a Multiuser Environment. Was this article helpful? Do let us know in the space below and we would love to hear from you.

Frequently Asked Questions