Written by Gilligan Beratto

Technical Note Summary:

The purpose of this document is to explain how to run Alexandria version as a service on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000/2003, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. It explains how to check if Alexandria is running as a service on your machine and how to stop it from running as a service when it is no longer necessary. It also addresses some of the issues that may arise when running Alexandria as a service.

Getting Started:

All system requirements for running a Data Station need to be satisfied, as it is the Data Station that will be running as a service. Please refer to your User's Manual or call COMPanion Technical Support at 1-800-347-4942 for more information on what the minimum requirements are for a Data Station.

After installing or upgrading to Alexandria , set up or double-check your preferences and data. We also recommend running a rebuild to ensure that no corruption exists in your data. (See the Technical Note entitled T0010.01 Recommendations for Rebuild on our website, or contact Technical Support at the above number for information on rebuilding your database). Once Alexandria has finished rebuilding, perform your normal backup routine to ensure a good backup exists in the event a problem arises. You will then be ready to configure Alexandria to run as a service.

Open Alexandria on your Data Station computer. Make sure that Alexandria is NOT running on any other systems. Click on Edit-Preferences from the Circulation window. When the Preferences window appears, click on the Services tab. Put a check in the box labeled Run Alexandria as a Service. Please refer to Figure 1. Click the Save button in the upper, right-hand corner. Close the Preferences window and exit Alexandria. Finally, restart your computer to complete the process.

Alexandria Services Preference (Figure 1)

Using Alexandria as a Service:

When Alexandria is being run as a service, no user interface is available. The Data Station cannot be used for circulation, running utilities, or anything else that you would normally be able to perform on the Data Station. A Librarian Workstation needs to be available in order to access the database and to do normal library functions. However, in order to run certain utilities like rebuilds, it will be necessary to stop Alexandria from running as a service and bring up the user interface on the Data Station.

To stop Alexandria from running as a service on the Data Station, you will need to access the Services window in your Operating System. Review and follow these steps, based on what Operating System you are running.

On Windows NT, click on Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, and double-click on Services.

On Windows 2000, click on Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, and double-click on Administrative Tools. Finally, double-click on Services.

On Windows XP, click on Start, then Settings, then Performance and Maintenance. Double-click on Administrative Tools, and finally double-click on Services.

Once you have accessed the Services, you should see the following window. Please refer to Figure 2.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO FIND SERVICES, OR GET AN ERROR WHEN TRYING TO OPEN SERVICES, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR FOR ASSISTANCE.

Services (Figure 2)

Look for Alexandria under the Name column. Right-click on Alexandria, then left-click on STOP in order to end the Alexandria service. At this point, you can now double-click the Alexandria icon on your desktop and run the Data Station normally. The user interface will appear once Alexandria restarts, allowing you to run any utilities or make any changes you need.

After you finish using the Alexandria Data Station to run your utilities or make changes, you can then restart Alexandria as a service. The easiest way is to shut down Alexandria and restart your computer. When the computer comes back up, Alexandria will automatically be running as a service again. The second way is to shut down Alexandria, right-click on Alexandria from the Services window, and then left-click on START.

Things to consider when running Alexandria as a service:

Please keep in mind that some issues may arise when running Alexandria as a service. As mentioned before, certain utilities and preferences can only be changed on the Data Station. You have to stop Alexandria running as a service and run it normally using the Alexandria icon on your desktop in order to have the ability to make these changes. This also means that you will still need to have access to the Data Station, as there may be times when one of our technicians will need you to run a utility, or update a preference.

If you try running Alexandria using the icon on your desktop without having first stopped the Alexandria service, you will get an error stating, "Error: An error occurred starting the application. Please try again." This usually indicates that Alexandria is running as a service on this machine, and that you need to stop it running as a service before you can access the user interface.

Just because Alexandria is running as a service, it does not mean that Alexandria takes up fewer resources. If the machine that your Alexandria Data Station is running on only meets our minimum requirements, you may see some performance problems if additional third party software is installed. We recommend running Alexandria on a dedicated machine, placing other applications on a separate machine.

Finally, Alexandria has a built-in data protection feature which forces it to do a rebuild anytime the program crashes without shutting down properly, or when there is a major system failure. Because a system crash is the number one cause of data corruption, it is a good idea to let Alexandria complete the rebuild after such a failure. If Alexandria is running as a service with no user interface, it may not be capable of running a rebuild after a system failure. In addition, Alexandria is not able to notify you if a crash occurs. If you know that a system crash did occur, you should follow the steps outlined above on stopping the Alexandria service and running it with the user interface in order to manually run a rebuild.

Again, if you have problems finding or opening the Services window on your computer, or cannot seem to stop or start the Alexandria service, please contact your network administrator for assistance. If you need further help or instructions on preparing or configuring Alexandria to run as a service, please contact COMPanion Technical Support at 1-800-347-4942.