StruMIS Remote Connection

Installation and Usage

Documentation
Contents
1. Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Installation..................................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1. Basic Installation .................................................................................................................................... 3
2.2. Advanced Installation ............................................................................................................................. 3
2.2.1 Installation on Windows Vista or above ................................................................................................... 3
2.2.2 Installation on Windows Vista only .......................................................................................................... 3
2.2.3 Installation Interrupted and Incomplete .................................................................................................. 3
2.3. SQL Connection String ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.4. Compression of data ............................................................................................................................... 4
2.5. Uninstallation ......................................................................................................................................... 4
3. Usage with StruMIS ........................................................................................................................................ 5
1. Overview
This document details how to install the StruMIS Remote Connection web service onto a web server and how a user
can then connect from the StruMIS client to a StruMIS database via the web service.

2. Installation
2.1. Basic Installation

To setup the web service you will need the following setup on your web server:
 Internet Information Services (IIS) version 4 or greater installed and configured correctly for you network. As
this varies from server to server, all the security and network settings will have to be setup by your IT
department (or equivalent).
 Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5 SP1 or greater will also need to be installed.
 StruMIS.NET version 7.4.12 (server install) or greater needs to be installed either on the web server or a
server that is accessible from the web server.

To install the web service, locate the installation file named ‘StruMIS Remote Connection Installer.msi’ on the StruMIS
DVD in the folder named ‘Utilities\StruMIS Remote Connection’. Just run the installer and follow the instructions to
determine which IIS site and virtual directory you want it to be installed in.

2.2. Advanced Installation

2.2.1 Installation on Windows Vista or above

To install this web service on an operating system that uses the Vista kernel (or later) you will need to set a
compatibility option before installation.

This option is located in:

Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off
Internet Information Services > Web Management Tools > IIS 6 Management Compatibility.

2.2.2 Installation on Windows Vista only

If the operating system is based on the Vista Kernel, you will also need to turn on the ASP.NET feature.

This option is located in:

Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off
Internet Information Services > World Wide Web Services > Application Development Features > ASP.NET.

2.2.3 Installation Interrupted and Incomplete

If the installation of the web service fails, then this could be due to IIS not having the correct references to the .NET
Framework. This is more likely to occur on a recently formatted computer or one which has had IIS installed after the
latest installation of a .NET Framework.

If IIS has been installed after the latest installation of the .NET Framework, then run the AspRegIss.bat file that can
be found in the same location as the setup for the web service.

2.3. SQL Connection String

After the installation has completed successfully, you will need to setup 2 SQL connection string which can be edited
in the Web.config file in the virtual directory that you installed the web service in. Inside the XML document you
should be able to find a segment similar to what is shown below:
 <appSettings>1
<add key="ConnectionInfo" value="DataSource=(local)\acecad;
Connect Timeout=60;
user id=Strumis_User;
password=Strumis_6;
Initial Catalog=acecad"/>
<add key="ConnectionInfoReport" value="DataSource=(local)\acecad;
Connect Timeout=60;
user id=strumis_report;
password=Strumis_6;
Initial Catalog=acecad"/>
</appSettings>

If the StruMIS database has been installed on the same server as the web service has been with all default values,
then this SQL connection string should work as it is. However there are several values that may be different:
 DataSource:
o ‘(local)’ is the server where the StruMIS database is installed, the default value is used if the database
is on the web server, otherwise the server’s IP address where the database resides needs to be
entered.
o ‘acecad’ is the SQL instance that the StruMIS database is attached to.
 Initial Catalog:
o ‘acecad’ is the name of the StruMIS database.

An example of a modified SQL connection string follows:

<appSettings>
<add key="ConnectionInfo" value="DataSource=173.18.255.96\SQL2005;
Connect Timeout=60;
user id=Strumis_user;
password=Strumis_6;
Initial Catalog=ABCFab"/>
</appSettings>

If you want to access different StruMIS databases, then you will need to install the web service on a separate IIS site
for each one you want to access and change the corresponding Web.config file. This is because there is only one
option for the SQL connection string per web service.

2.4. Compression of data

There is also an option to turn on compression to reduce bandwidth usage that can increase response times when
getting a large amount of data from the database. Prime locations for this would be Production Control and Inventory.
The option effects all connections to the web service and can be changed in the web.config file as shown below:

<appSettings>
<add key="UseCompression" value="true"/>
</appSettings>

2.5. Uninstallation

To uninstall the web service, you will be able to find it in the Windows Add/Remove Programs option in the Control
Panel. You may also need to delete the link in IIS.

1
The Connection Info settings are shown with 1 property per line to make it easier to read. In reality, they all need
to be on the same line.
3. Usage with StruMIS
StruMIS, once logged in, will work exactly the same as if you were connecting directly over the network to the
database. The only changes are how you login from the Login screen, shown below:

The ‘Use XML Web Service’ option needs to be selected to enable the required text fields. The ‘Address’ needs to be
the address of your web service, in this case the example is using the same details as the Web.config example in the
previous section.

The ‘Address’ text is

http://173.18.255.96/ACERemoteConnection/StruMISRemoteConnection.asmx

in this example.

The IP address is that of the web server, the ‘ACERemoteConnection’ part is the name of the web service (virtual
path) and the ‘StruMISRemoteConnection.asmx’ is the name of the ‘page’ of the web service that is used to connect
to the database.

If you require to connect to the web server via a Proxy, then the details can be input once the ‘Use Proxy’ option has
been selected. These details will need to be provided by you IT department (or equivalent).