Andover Controls EPISuite-SX8000 User Guide

Andover Controls EPISuite-SX8000 Interface

Installatio n & User Guide

Downloaded from - http://www.guardianalarms.net

 1997, 1998, Andover Controls Corporation
All Rights Rese rved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, read or stored in a retrieval system, or
tran sm itted, in any form or by any means, electr onic, mechanical, ph ot oc opying,
recordi ng, or oth erwise , without pri or written perm ission of Andover Controls
Corporation.

Produ ced in the United States of Am erica .

Infinity is a trademark of Andover Controls Corporation. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.

EPISuite – SX8000 Interface Installation & User Guide, Version: B January, 1998
Andover Controls part number: 30-3001-492

The i nformation in t his book is fu rnishe d for inform ational purposes on ly, i s s ubject to
change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Andover
Controls Corporation. Andover Controls Corporation, assumes no liability for any errors
or ina ccu r acies that may appear in thi s document.

Andover Controls Corporation
300 Brickstone Square
Andover, MA 01810
[phone]
fax: [phone]

Andover Controls Corporation

Contents

System Overvi ew

System Architecture............................................................................................. 1

Software Compatibility........................................................................................2

Pre-Installa t i on Considerations

Existing SX 8000 Systems...................................................................................3

EPISuite Badging Workstations - Minimum Hardware Configuration..................3

File Server - Hardware Considerations.................................................................3

Database Tune-up and Sizing...............................................................................4

Installation on a Windows 95 Workstation

Windows 95 Installation......................................................................................5

Installing the Video Capture Card and Software Driver........................................5

Installing the Netw or k Interface Card...................................................................6

Network Configuration........................................................................................6

Sharing the Server Drive......................................................................................7

EPISuite Installation............................................................................................7

ODBC Installation...............................................................................................7

Upgrading the Catalog Stored Procedures............................................................9

SX 8000 EPISuite Integration Interface Disk .....................................................10

Installing EPISuite With Existing SX 8000 Personnel Records..........................12

Installing the I nterf ace Over an Existing EPISuite Database...............................12

EPISuite Operation

Using GuardCard...............................................................................................13

Adding a New Record........................................................................................14

Editing Personnel Through Infinity SX 8000 .....................................................15

Distributing Personnel To ACX Controllers.......................................................15

Limitations ........................................................................................................16

Troubleshooting

Installation Errors..............................................................................................17

Run-Time Errors................................................................................................18

Appendix A - Expanding the SQL Database..............................................................21

EPISuite-SX8000 User Guide

Andover Controls Corporation

System Overview

The SX 8000-EPISuite Interface integrates the Andover Controls Infinity Security Management System with G&A
Imaging’s EPISuite photo identification badging system. The result is a powerful system that truly integrates card
access, security management, CCTV and photo identification on a single platform. By maintaining a single SQL
database for personnel records and images, consistent personnel data is insured between both applications. And,
images captured on EPISuite workstations are viewable on any SX 8000 workstation that has the video imaging
option enabled. Note - The Action Media II adapter board is not required to view images through the SX 8000
workstations.

This document is meant primarily to describe the installation and operation of the EPISuite interface to the SX

8000. Please read the EPISuite product manual for details on all of the EPISuite features.

System Architecture (Ethernet LAN Only)

EPISuite badging workstations use the Windows 95 operating system and reside as separate nodes on an
SX 8000 Ethernet LAN system, but the EPISuite badging workstations will not be seen on the SX8000 object tree.
Each EPISuite workstation is linked to the central SX 8000 SQL database on the file server through an ODBC
(Open Database Connectivity) driver. Once linked to the same database as the SX 8000 workstations, any changes
made to personnel records at an EPISuite workstation are viewable at the SX 8000 workstation, and vice versa.
Personnel photos taken at an EPISuite workstation are viewable through the graphics capability of the SX 8000, as
well as in the personnel edit screens, without requiring any special hardware (such as the Action Media II adapter
board). The SX 8000 key, however, must be enabled with the Video Feature option to view the photos. There is
no built-in limit (other than file server hardware limitations) to the number of EPISuite workstations that can be
on the same network. At this time the OS/2 operating system has not been qualified by Andover Controls to run
EPISuite.

EPISuite workstations support a full range of badging equipment, including direct-to-vinyl card printers, digital
cameras, signature capture pads and live video capture cards with synchronized flash. A list of all currently
supported peripherals is available from G&A imaging, through their fax-back service
(819-772-2761) or their Web Site (www.ga-imaging.com).

EPISuite – SX8000 User Guide 1

Software Compatibility

The SX 8000 EPISuite Interface will work properly with the following software revs:

SX 8000 Workstation (Ethernet LAN only - Single-User and ARCNET Workstations are not supported)

• SX8000 v2.16 or higher

• OS/2 WARP v3.0 (Fixpack 17 or higher is optional but rec om me nde d)

EPISuite Badging Workstation

• EPISuite v3.0.022 (Previous EPISuite revisions may be upgraded for no charge by downloading the upgrade

files from the G&A web site, www.ga-imaging.com. Previous versions of EPISuite had time-out problems
with large databases)

• Windows 95 v4 or higher

• SX 8000 / EPISuite Interface Diskette, rev 1.1

File Server

• Windows NT Server v4.0 with Service Pack 3

• MS SQL Server for NT v6.5 with Service Pack 3

• Windows NT Server v3.51 and MS SQL Server for NT v6.0 have also been qualified as a set.

Note - EPISuite is no longer compatible with SQL Server v4.21

2 Andover Controls Corporation

Pre-Installation Considerations

Existing SX 8000 Systems

The EPISuite interface works on a SX 8000 Ethernet LAN system with rev 2.16 or higher SX 8000 software.
Single-user and ARCNET configurations are not supported. The EPISuite installation must be performed on a
properly installed, fully operational SX 8000 LAN. The file server must be running Windows NT Server.

Automatic distribution should be set up on at least one SX 8000 workstation to facilitate distribution of personnel
record changes made by EPISuite to the ACX controllers (See the Operation section).

EPISuite Badging Workstation - Minimum Hardware Configuration

Proper operation of the EPISuite interface requires a workstation with the following characteristics:

Processor: Pentium 133MHz or higher (200 Mhz or higher for use with vide o)
Video Capture Card: FlashPoint ISA/W32i or FlashPoint PCI/W32p from Integral Technologies

(No video capture card is required if a digital camera is used.)

Memory: 16 MB minimum (32 MB RAM preferred) (256K Level 2 Cache recommended)

(64 MB or more (128 MB preferred) when working with video)
Disk Space: 510 MB or higher (1 GB preferred)
Other Devices: High-density 3.5 inch drive , CD-ROM drive, Mouse or pointing device, Keyboard
Network Interface Card: 3COM Etherlink III Ethernet Card (only card qualified at this time)
Monitor: 800 x 600 resolution or higher
Signature Capture
Pad (Optional): PenWare 100
Operating System: Windows 95

File Server - Hardware Considerations

The file server, which already stores data for the SX 8000 system, must have a large enough hard drive to store
photo images and data for each personnel record in the database. The storage needed averages 60K per record,
depending on the video compression type selected. On most projects, this will require the database to be
expanded. For example, on a project with 6,000 personnel records, an additional 360MB will be required. Refer
to Appendix A for instructions on expanding the database.

Processor speed and RAM are also important when working with vi de o com pre ssion and ret ri eva l . The serve r
should have a 200MHZ or higher Pentium proce ssor, and AT L E AST 64 MB RAM (128 MB RAM or more is
preferred, depending on database size). A good tape back-up drive or other backup media is also recommended.

EPISuite – SX8000 User Guide 3

Database Tune-up and Sizing

The EPISuite interface uses the Infinity SQL database for storage; therefore it will probably have to be expanded
to accommodate the new tables and image data. This is a good time to do a complete tune-up of your database.
Follow the instructions below for your tune-up before installing EPISuite:

1. MAKE A BACKUP O F T H E SQ L DAT ABASE B EFORE PROCE E DING ! Shut down SQL and

back up the SQL\DATA directory. Veri fy the ba ckup. Re sta rt SQL.

2. Using the SQL Admini st r a tor Tool s, or the SAF u tility or ISQL, verify the number of user connections
that are configured for SQL and increase if necessary. For each EPISuite workstation, 7 additional
connections are required for GuardCard, plus 7 more for every GuardDraw application (normally every
workstation on a multi-user EPISuite system will not be using GuardDraw at the same time). You will
have to restart SQL for the changes to take effect.

Related item - in the SX 8000, the NUMDBPROC setting should be set to 7 on every workstation. Check
it by looking at Opt i o ns - Se t tings. If NUMDBPROC i s n o t l isted, i t d e f a u l ts to 5, so type it i n ( a l l
CAPs), set t h e v a l u e to 7, an d select Add.

3. Determine how many personnel records you’ll have to store, and multiply by 60K to get the amount of
database space required. For example, a 3,000 person database will need 180MB just for personnel
records. Before expanding the database, though, check your event log - is it configured for enough
entries? You might have to add even more to your expansion if the event log has not filled up. Each
event uses about 230 bytes.

4. Check the database size, using the SQL tools, or DBSPACEL or I SQL . You will probably have to expand
the database. Follow the guidelines presented in Appendix A. Remember to add not only a data device
but also a log device of approximately 25% of the data device size. (You may also need to add a Tempdb
device if you are increasing the event log size - each event requires 460 bytes of the Tempdb. Follow the
instructions in Appendix A, substituting Tempdb for Inf_db.)

5. Shutdown and restart the SQL server, and check the new size with SQL tools, DBSPACEL or ISQL ­sp_spaceused. The new expanded size, with the new devices, should be shown.

4 Andover Controls Corporation

Installation on a Windows 95 Workstation

This section describes the procedures to follow when installing EPISuite on an Ethernet network workstation,
operating in a Windows 95 environment, and connecting to a Windows NT server. At this time, EPISuite has not
been qualified by Andover Controls to run on an OS/2 workstation.

Please read the installation chapter of the EPISuite product manual in its entirety and keep it accessible. The
following instructions refer to the EPISuite manual in various places.

Windows 95 Installation

Install Windows 95 on the PC. Install the network software at this time, but leave the settings for later. Install CD­ROM support, which is needed to load EPISuite.

Note - DO NOT install Windows 95 over any version of IBM PC-DOS - it has been known to cause lockups with
EPISuite.

Installing the Video Capture Card and Software Driver

If you are using a digital camera a video capture card is not required, but you will need to load the software for the
digital camera and connect the camera to one of the PC’s serial ports. A digital camera requires that you
download the images to photo software (for example Adobe PhotoDeluxe) and then save the file from the photo
software to a file format that is compatible for import by the EPISuite software.

The FlashPoint ISA/W32i or FlashPoint PCI/W32p, from Integral Technologies, is the supported video display
adapter / capture board. It performs video capture and functions as the PC’s video display adapter.

1. Remove any existing Video adapter cards from the expansion slots. If your PC includes a built-in
motherboard-resident vide o a dapt e r, it m ust be di sabl ed.

NOTE: You may have to use the computer’s hardware manual or contact the manufacturer’s support hotline for

help during this step.

2. Set the jumper switches on the FlashPoint board for the camera and flash interface types you intend to
use. Avoid IRQ and I/O base conflicts. Refer to the FlashPoint User’s Manual for any additional help.

NOTE : The default FlashPoint jumper settings assume the JVC TK107OU Video camera with Vivitar 285

flash.

3. Install the FlashPoint card into an appropriate slot (ISA or PCI). In case of failure, contact Integral
technologies technical support for help at [phone]

Refer to the documentation for the FlashPoint Display Adapter for the proper procedure to install the software
driver. When finished, ope n the Fla shPoint ic on a nd setup t he proper vi de o source a nd fl ash. After re sta rti ng your
computer, configure the video resolution in the Windows Control Panel. Select a minimum of 800x600 resolution
and 65000 colors or higher. For exampl e, “ Fla shPoint PCI 1024x768 65,535 c ol. L a rge” would be a good opt i on.

EPISuite – SX8000 User Guide 5