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ThumbsPlus WebClient Server, Version 1.0
Copyright Cerious Software, Inc. 10-May-2005
This document describes the installation process for the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server.
NOTE: This software been designed to run under Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0 (and higher) web servers with clients connecting via the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser, version 5.0 and higher, and Mozilla FireFox web browser version 1.0 and higher.
The ThumbsPlus WebClient Server is a web browser based client interface connecting to a IIS web server hosting ThumbsPlus database content to users over the web. The client browser window layout is similar in form and function to the ThumbsPlus user interface.
For more information on using the WebClient browser window, open the WebClient and click the Help link. The ThumbsPlus WebClient Server is comprised of Active Server Page technology and an ISAPI server extension dll, with access to ThumbsPlus database information achieved through and ODBC data source and ADODB connections. For more information about the application architecture of the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server, please visit http://wcs.cerious.com/overview.
Installation
This installer is designed to install the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server system files and automatically configure your IIS server to host the ThumbsPlus WebClient site. Two slightly different site implementations are possible, depending on the type of operating system. If you are installing under a server version of Microsoft Windows, the full site implementation will be used and a new web site entry (named ThumbsPlus WebClient Site) will appear under your IIS Web Sites configuration. If you are installing under a non-server version of Windows, the WebClient Server will be installed in a virtual web directory (named webclient) under the Default Web Site entry of IIS. Another difference between the two installations is in the way a hosted ThumbsPlus database is selected in the installer. On server installations, the user is allowed to select an ODBC data source and edit its details directly via the ODBC data source administrator tool. On non-server installations, the user is prompted to browse for a ThumbsPlus TD4 database file, which is used by the installer to automatically configure the ODBC data source. In this case, the ODBC data source name will always be TPWCDB.
Site Adminstration
The ThumbsPlus WebClient Server configuration is managed through the ThumbsPlus WebClient Administrator Panel, accessible through the ASP page wtadmin.asp. Once you have successfully installed the software, you can open your browser and enter the URL to the administrator panel page. For example, if you have installed under IIS running on a server version of Windows, then your site URL will be http://www.xyz.com and correct URL will be http://www.xyz.com/wtadmin.asp. For those installations running under a non-server version of Windows, the site URL and administrator panel page will be http://www.xyz.com/webclient and http://www.xyz.com/webclient/wtadmin.asp, respectively.
After entering the appropriate URL, the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server will prompt for the administrator login and password. After a successful login, the Administrator Panel will display. The Administrator Panel contains three areas: License Information, Manage Access and Activity Log, as well as the Restart Server, Logout and Help commands. For more information on the ThumbsPlus WebClient Administrator Panel, login to the administrator panel and click the Help link.
IIS Site Configuration:
IUSR_SERVERNAME user account is not used for the security context of the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server Access Module. Instead the installer prompts the user to enter a valid Windows account and password, under which the access module will run. For more information on IIS web server site configuration performed by the WebClient installer, please see the iis_readme.txt file located in the ThumbsPlus WebClient installation folder.
IMPORTANT: The Windows login account that is provided to the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server installer is only used to configure anonymous user access privileges under IIS and is not retained by the installer or the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server. The account used must have read privilege to folders and files being accessed via the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server. The server administrator must be proficient in Windows security administration and is responsible for account access permissions to any folder paths and/or files that he/she wishes to share via the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server.
Known Issues:
Windows 2003 Server / IIS 6.0: Under the default IIS 6.0 settings, ASP page content must be enabled under the IIS Manager console by selecting the Web Service Extensions entry and clicking Allow for Active Server Pages. Also,
the "Run WWW service in IIS 5.0 Isolation Mode" must be checked from the IIS Manager console by selecting the Web Sites entry, right-clicking and selecting Properties and then the Service tab.
VBScript (Server-side):
No provisions have been made to handle off-line volumes or ZIP files as folders when accessing files via the "Scripting.FileSystemObject" and "ADODB.Stream" script objects.
No provisions have been made to either exclude or handle unrecognized file types when displayed in the "Preview" frame or "View Window".
A row and column calculation problem exists in the thumbnail display on first connection.
IE5.0-6.X: None to date.
Mozilla FireFox 1.X: None to date.
Other Browsers: Usage of other web browsers to connect to the ThumbsPlus WebClient Server is discouraged.
Fixes
Added Mozilla FireFox browser compatability.
Added Activity Log setting "Settings access" to log retrieval and storage of user settings independent of page access and application events.
Fixed UNINSTALL short pathname issue with uninstall string's install.log path.
Find Files was modified to include Display Only mode for Guest users.
Added Thumbnail Paging Mode and Threshold to control the number of thumbnails delivered to the browser in a single request.
Fixed Guest account concurrency issues.
Added automatic detection of server IP address during installation.
Added site removal prior to install.
Added volume level exclusion to group configuration, see Admin Panel: Manage Access - Manage Groups - Modify - Server.
Miscellaneous Files
TPWCAM.ini: ThumbsPlus WebClient Access Module configuration file. This file is located in the WebClient install folder.
WTConfig.ini: Site configuration file. This file is located in the WebClient install folder.
WTUsers.pwd: User Password & Group file. This file is located in the WebClient install folder.
WTUsers.opt: User settings file. This file is located in the WebClient install folder.
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