IdeaGen Technical Support

Frequently asked questions

What database engine does Workbench \ QWB use?

What server \ client specification does IdeaGen recommend?

Which Web Server's do IntraVista \ IntraVista Pro require?

How are documents stored securely within the database?

What's the maximum size of a Workbench Pro \ QWB database?

How is the system upgraded?

Can we link Workbench \ QWB into our existing mail system?

Can Workbench \ QWB be used with thin client technology?

Can Workbench \ QWB be used over a WAN?

How do we backup the system?

Which web browsers do IntraVista & IntraVista Pro support?

Q. What database engine does Workbench \ QWB use?

A. Workbench Professional and QWB both use the Borland InterBase database engine. This is a low maintenance client\server SQL engine. As part of our futures roadmap we are planning on making Workbench Professional database independent.

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Q. What server \ client specification does IdeaGen recommend?

A:

SERVER SOFTWARE INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS

Borland InterBase Server - Version 5.6 (QWB2) & Version 7.1 (WBPro 2005/2006)

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP4 / Windows Server 2003 SP1 * (Please note: 64bit hardware is supported but 64bit software is not).

Supported Protocols: TCP/IP - TCP/IP is essential for LAN/WAN connection.

Installation: Software is currently supplied on CD. It is installed at the server itself. Administrator Access is required for this. Software will require approximately 400Mb of free disk space. User databases MUST be held on the same server (not necessarily the same partition!), and will require 12Mb free disk space per empty database. This will grow proportional to the amount of data added. IdeaGen Technical Support recommends 50 - 100Mb of free space available for each database.

Hardware (Min): PC Pentium PIII 800Mhz as absolute minimum. 512Mb RAM, 20Gb or similar HDD, Network Card, Backup Device.

Hardware (Rec.): Intel Xeon 3GHz, 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD, Network Card, Backup device. Hard disk space depends on database sizes, the more the better.

CLIENT PC SPECIFICATION
Supported Operating System Versions: Windows 2000 / Windows XP *
Supported Protocols: TCP/IP for connection to a Microsoft Windows Server InterBase Installation.
Installation: Software is currently supplied on CD. It is installed from the Workbench server. Administrator Access is required for this.

Hardware (Min): Pentium PIII 800 as a minimum - 128Mb RAM, 100MB of free hard disk space. Network Card.

Hardware (Rec.) Intel Core Duo 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 80Gb HDD. Network Card.

* Windows 95,98, Windows NT4 Server and Workstation are not supported, and we therefore cannot guarantee operation of the software under these operating systems.

Note: The hardware specification is a guide. Obviously as a general rule, the better the specification of machine used will result in better performance.

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Q. Which Web Server's do IntraVista \ IntraVista Pro require?

A. Both IntraVista and IntraVista Pro require IIS (4 and above).

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Q. How are documents stored securely within the database?

A. Documents are stored within secure Binary Large Object (BLOB) fields within the database. This ensures that the documents are stored securely and managed by the InterBase engine.

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Q. What's the maximum size of a Workbench Pro \ QWB database?

A. We currently use InterBase 7.1, which has no single file size limit. Older versions of Workbench / Quality Workbench (Professional pre-version 2005/QWB pre-version 2006) used InterBase 5.6 which had a single file size limit of 4GB (2GB on a FAT file system).

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Q. How is the system upgraded?

A. The system is upgraded via server based upgrade files. This means that once the server has been upgraded using the Workbench Upgrader utility, clients will automatically download and install any new components, minimizing IT staff input.*

*If your IT Department has locked down client machines post install, the above method may not be valid (i.e. your IT Department may need to upgrade clients).  

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Q. Can we link Workbench \ QWB into our existing mail system?

A. Workbench and QWB can both be setup to integrate with either MAPI (Microsoft Mail - e.g. Outlook), VIM (e.g. Lotus Notes) or SMTP (Eudora, Pegasus etc) mail systems.

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Q. Can Workbench \ QWB be used with thin client technology?

A. Yes, the client software is compatible with Citrix \ Terminals Server.

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Q. Can Workbench \ QWB be used over a WAN?

A. Providing the clients at the remote site can 'ping' the server name (i.e. make a TCP/IP connection) and ports 3050 (InterBase) and 1240 (Atlas) are accessible through your firewall then the client software can be installed and run. Obviously performance will be dependant on connection speed but, if bandwidth is an issue, we have many companies using thin client technologies to successfully deliver the client to remote sites.

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Q. How do we backup the system?

A. Workbench data is held within .GDB files. It is essential that these are regularly backed up. These will often be 'open' files so you must ensure your backup software can backup this type of file (e.g. BackupExec's Open File agent). Alternatively, it is reasonably straight forward to schedule a batch file to run prior to the backup which will stop the requisite services and close the database file. Once the backup has been completed, another batch can be set to restart the services.

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Q. Which web browsers do IntraVista & IntraVista Pro support?

A. IntraVista and IntraVista Pro support Internet Explorer 5.5 and above, including IE 7.

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