STEARsoft

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About STEARsoft

Note that STEARsoft is only for Microsoft WINDOWS, and for Palm Handheld devices (Not pocket-pc PDAs)

Scenarios:

Single user, single computer, no Palm Handheld
Single user, single computer and a Palm Handheld
Single user, two computers and a network connected Palm Handheld
Multiple users with no Palm Handhelds
Multiple users with network enabled Palm Handhelds - without Palm HotSync (our preference)
Multiple users with Palm Handhelds HotSynced to a central server on the network

• Install STEARsoft.
• After installation, use the Management part to create a user account for yourself.
• Go to the registers and login with the account details you set up for yourself.
• Follow the guidance to set up your registers, and away you go.
• Refer to the Getting started tutorial for more detailed guidance of the above steps and to see how to set up your registers.
• Refer to the other tutorials for guidance on using advanced features of STEARsoft.

Single user, single computer and a Palm Handheld

• Make sure that the Palm Desktop software is installed on your computer before installing STEARsoft.
• Install STEARsoft. During the installation ensure that you select to install to your Palm User account.
• After installation, use the Management part to create a user account for yourself. Be careful to set your HotSync ID accurately at this stage - this is your Palm Username (it can be seen at the top right of your palm on the HotSync screen).
• Go to the registers and login with the account details you set up for yourself.
• Follow the guidance to set up your registers.
• Refer to the Getting started tutorial for more detailed guidance of the above steps and to see how to set up your registers.
• Return here to STEARsoft.co.uk to register for a trial license. Ensure you accurately state your HotSync ID (the same as mentioned 4 steps above).
• Enter the license information sent to you by email into the product registration page.
• Perform a HotSync, and you're ready to go.
• Refer to the Enabling STEARsoft on your palm tutorial for more detailed guidance of the above steps and to see how the basic features work on a Palm.
• Refer to the other tutorials for guidance on using advanced features of STEARsoft.

Single user, two computers and a network connected Palm Handheld

• Identify your two computers as follows; Call the computer which you normally HotSync to, your primary computer. Call the other computer the secondary computer. Typically, your primary computer will be at home, and your secondary computer at school.
• Install STEARsoft on your primary computer. During the installation ensure that you select to install to your Palm User account.
• After installation, use the Management part to create a user account for yourself. Be careful to set your HotSync ID accurately at this stage - this is your Palm Username (it can be seen at the top right of your palm on the HotSync screen). You must also change your HotSync account to Primary (of two) when creating your account.
• Go to the registers and login with the account details you set up for yourself.
• Follow the guidance to set up your registers.
• Refer to the Getting started tutorial for more detailed guidance of the above steps and to see how to set up your registers. Be aware that the tutorial does not set the HotSync account to Primary (of two) which you must do.
• Return here to STEARsoft.co.uk to register for a trial license. Ensure you accurately state your HotSync ID (the same as mentioned 4 steps above).
• Enter the license information sent to you by email into the product registration page.
• Perform a HotSync.
• Refer to the Enabling STEARsoft on your palm tutorial for more detailed guidance of the above steps and to see how the basic features work on a Palm.
• Now go to your secondary computer. Install STEARsoft.
• Unselect any Palm Handheld installation if offered during installation. (you already installed to your palm).
• Set up a user account with the same main details as you did for the primary computer (same username, password and HotSync ID). However, this time, you must set the HotSync account to Secondary (of two).
• Note the computer name that is appearing in your web-browser address bar. The address bar will show something like: http://computername:13031/default.html. You will need this next.
• On your network enabled Palm, launch STEARsoft, click on the menu button and select Network Sync Setup.
• Fill in the Sync IP with computername (as discovered just a moment ago). Complete the Username and Password with that of your account you set up for yourself.
• Set the Sync option to Palm overwrite PC
• Ensure you have a network connection, make sure you have some time to spare and then press the Save & Sync button.
• All your STEARsoft data will now be sent to your secondary computer, all being well. This may take some time (depending on how much data there is) - by some time, perhaps as long as 5 to 10 minutes. You will be able to watch progress on the palm to be reassured it is still working.
• Fortunately, from now on you will only synchronise changes which will be much quicker (around 10 seconds).
• You are now set up to be able to change and view data on either computer and on your Palm. You will need to regularly sync with both computers to keep things up to date. Always synchronise with your primary computer using the Palm HotSync process. Always synchronise with your secondary computer by pressing the Sync button in STEARsoft on your Palm.
• You can view and change your attendance registers stored on your secondary computer from any computer connected via a network. Type http://computername:13031 in the address bar of a web browser (replacing computername with the actual name as found above). You can then proceed as normal. Save the web page as a favourite for quick future access.
• Refer to the other tutorials for guidance on using other advanced features of STEARsoft.

If you have difficulty getting network connection from your palm to the secondary computer, try using a direct IP address instead of the computer name. To get the IP address, start a Command Prompt (Start button->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt) and type ipconfig followed by the <return> key. Just take a note of the IP address. If it still doesn't work, check with your network administrator person to make sure the network is not disallowing traffic for port 13031.

Multiple users with no Palm Handhelds

• Install STEARsoft.
• Set up administrator details.
• Go to Account Management where you can add multiple users efficiently. Be careful to put Teachers in the Teachers user group. If you have people who need an administration role (eg school reception) for altering registers, put them in the administrators group.
• Note the computer name that is appearing in your web-browser address bar. The address bar will show something like: http://computername:13031/default.html. computername will be different for you; take a note of what it actually says.
• Provide a web link to the address just identified from an existing web page your users (teachers) are familiar with, or send them the web-address to manually use themselves. Encourage them to create a short-cut or favourite link for themselves.
• Give your teachers their username and password that you allocated. Advise them to change their password, when they first log in, to something of their own choosing. (You can reset it if they ever forget it, but you will never be able to see what it is).
• Teachers have to set up their own register information. This is an initial downside, but has some plusses. The downside is the need for teachers to spend time setting up class data at the beginning of the year. However, it should still be quicker than preparing paper registers and gives teachers ownership of their data. They are the best placed to set preferred names for students, and are at the 'front line' for dealing with new or departing students. Giving them the control of what they will use prevents issues of frustration due to 'the system' not coping quickly enough with changes, and going through the initial set up means they are more prepared for making changes when they occur.
• Teachers should then set up the class details, identifying priority classes (think legal registration to see who is in school), and who should be able to view or even change their registration data. Normally, priority classes can be changed by administrators (you may wish to extend to teachers if covering of registration is common-place), and other classes are only viewable (read only) by other teachers and administrators.
• We recommend someone becoming familiar with the capabilities of STEARsoft and how to use it (using the tutorials as a basis), and then doing a short internal training session to introduce teachers who will use it.
• If you can make student class list data available in spreadsheet form, that will aid the setting up of classes by your staff enormously.
• Refer to the other tutorials for guidance on using other advanced features of STEARsoft.

Multiple users with network enabled Palm Handhelds - without Palm HotSync

• Install STEARsoft.
• Set up administrator details.
• Go to Account Management where you can add multiple users efficiently. Be careful to put Teachers in the Teachers user group. If you have people who need an administration role (eg school reception) for altering registers, put them in the administrators group. Make sure you carefully complete HotSync ID information which must match the Palm Handhelds allocated to teachers. (Even though a HotSync is not done, the STEARsoft Sync checks HotSync ID information to confirm identification).
• When adding users, leave the Hotsync account setting as Single, unless that particular user is going to also Synchronise STEARsoft with a second computer. (In this case they should proceed more closely with the two computers deployment described above.)
• Note the computer name that is appearing in your web-browser address bar. The address bar will show something like: http://computername:13031/default.html. computername will be different for you; take a note of what it actually says.
• Provide a web link to the address just identified from an existing web page your users (teachers) are familiar with, or send them the web-address to manually use themselves. Encourage them to create a short-cut or favourite link for themselves.
• Give your teachers their username and password that you allocated. Advise them to change their password, when they first log in, to something of their own choosing. (You can reset it if they ever forget it, but you will never be able to see what it is).
• Teachers have to set up their own register information. This is an initial downside, but has some plusses. The downside is the need for teachers to spend time setting up class data at the beginning of the year. However, it should still be quicker than preparing paper registers and gives teachers ownership of their data. They are the best placed to set preferred names for students, and are at the 'front line' for dealing with new or departing students. Giving them the control of what they will use prevents issues of frustration due to 'the system' not coping quickly enough with changes, and going through the initial set up means they are more prepared for making changes when they occur.
• Teachers should then set up the class details, identifying priority classes (think legal registration to see who is in school), and who should be able to view or even change their registration data. Normally, priority classes can be changed by administrators (you may wish to extend to teachers if covering of registration is common-place), and other classes are only viewable (read only) by other teachers and administrators.
• We recommend someone becoming familiar with the capabilities of STEARsoft and how to use it (using the tutorials as a basis), and then doing a short internal training session to introduce teachers who will use it.
• If you can make student class list data available in spreadsheet form, that will aid the setting up of classes by your staff enormously.
• To enable the Palm Handhelds, trial licenses need to be obtained (for each Palm). So return here to STEARsoft.co.uk to register for them. Ensure you accurately state the required HotSync ID for each Palm Handheld. You can obtain multiple licenses under one account for easier management so that if/when you come to turn them into full licenses, a single payment can be made with an automatcially calculated bulk discount.
• Enter the license information sent to you by email into the product registration page for each teacher. At the moment this is not ideal having to be done in each teacher account.
• Once teachers have set up their attendance classes using the web interface, they should turn to their network enabled Palm Handheld. stearpalm.prc must be installed to the Palm. stearpalm.prc is found in the install directory of STEARsoft (by default in Program Files - STEARsoft - Reg). It can also be found on the "Palm Hotsync Options" page.
• On the Palm, once installed, launch STEARsoft. Don't worry about the notice saying it is not registered; click on the menu button and select Network Sync Setup.
• Fill in the Sync IP with computername (as discovered and used for the web interface). Complete the Username and Password (again the same as is used for the web interface). Set the Sync medium to "IP Network".
• Set the Sync option to PC overwrite Palm
• Ensure you have a network connection, make sure you have some time to spare and then press the Save & Sync button.
• All your STEARsoft data will now be copied from the STEARsoft server to your Palm, all being well. This may take some time (depending on how much data there is) - by some time, for a lot of data it could be as long as 5 to 10 minutes. You will be able to watch progress on the palm to be reassured it is still working.
• Fortunately, from now on you will only synchronise changes which will be much quicker (around 10 seconds).
• The license information will also have now been copied across to your Palm, so it should now be ready to display and take new attendance data. To send your data to the school network (and collect any changes made at reception), tap the Sync button in STEARsoft on your Palm.
• Refer to the other tutorials for guidance on using other advanced features of STEARsoft.

If you have difficulty getting network connection from a palm to the STEARsoft server computer, try using a direct IP address instead of the computer name. To get the IP address, start a Command Prompt (Start button->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt) and type ipconfig followed by the <return> key. Take a note of the IP address. If it still doesn't work, check with your network administrator person to make sure the network is not disallowing traffic for port 13031.

Multiple users with Palm Handhelds HotSynced to a central server on the network

• Install STEARsoft on the computer where the Palms synchronise to.
• Set up administrator details.
• Go to Account Management where you can add multiple users (the web inteface via the register login page is probably more efficient for this). Be careful to put Teachers in the Teachers user group. If you have people who need an administration role (eg school reception) for altering registers, put them in the administrators group. Make sure you carefully complete HotSync ID information which must match the Palm Handhelds allocated to teachers.
• When adding users, leave the Hotsync account setting as Single.
• Note the computer name that is appearing in your web-browser address bar. The address bar will show something like: http://computername:13031/default.html. computername will be different for you; take a note of what it actually says.
• Provide a web link to the address just identified from an existing web page your users (teachers) are familiar with, or send them the web-address to manually use themselves. Encourage them to create a short-cut or favourite link for themselves.
• Give your teachers their username and password that you allocated. Advise them to change their password, when they first log in, to something of their own choosing. (You can reset it if they ever forget it, but you will never be able to see what it is).
• Teachers have to set up their own register information. This is an initial downside, but has some plusses. The downside is the need for teachers to spend time setting up class data at the beginning of the year. However, it should still be quicker than preparing paper registers and gives teachers ownership of their data. They are the best placed to set preferred names for students, and are at the 'front line' for dealing with new or departing students. Giving them the control of what they will use prevents issues of frustration due to 'the system' not coping quickly enough with changes, and going through the initial set up means they are more prepared for making changes when they occur.
• Teachers should then set up the class details, identifying priority classes (think legal registration to see who is in school), and who should be able to view or even change their registration data. Normally, priority classes can be changed by administrators (you may wish to extend to teachers if covering of registration is common-place), and other classes are only viewable (read only) by other teachers and administrators.
• We recommend someone becoming familiar with the capabilities of STEARsoft and how to use it (using the tutorials as a basis), and then doing a short internal training session to introduce teachers who will use it.
• If you can make student class list data available in spreadsheet form, that will aid the setting up of classes by your staff enormously.
• To enable the Palm Handhelds, trial licenses need to be obtained (for each Palm). So return here to STEARsoft.co.uk to register for them. Ensure you accurately state the required HotSync ID for each Palm Handheld. You can obtain multiple licenses under one account for easier management so that if/when you come to turn them into full licenses, a single payment can be made with an automatcially calculated bulk discount.
• Enter the license information sent to you by email into the product registration page for each teacher. At the moment this is not ideal having to be done in each teacher account.
• Once teachers have set up their attendance classes using the web interface, they should turn to their Palm Handheld. stearpalm.prc must be installed to the Palm (if not done during the install process). stearpalm.prc is found in the install directory of STEARsoft (by default in Program Files - STEARsoft - Reg). It can also be found on the "Palm Hotsync Options" page.
• On the Palm do a HotSync with the server.
• All your STEARsoft data will now be copied from the STEARsoft server to your Palm, all being well.
• The license information will also have now been copied across to your Palm, so it should now be ready to display and take new attendance data. To send your data to the school network (and collect any changes made at reception), perform a HotSync in the normal way. Ignore the Sync button in STEARsoft on your Palm, as this is for other deployment situations.
• Refer to the other tutorials for guidance on using other advanced features of STEARsoft.