Example of Implementing Folder Synchronization with ProphetX

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1 External Storage Folder Synchronization Utility The Folder Configuration Utility is an application that uses file synching software that links your computers together via a single folder. The software watches your ProphetX folder on your desktop computer and syncs any changes to the internet cloud, as well as to your other computers. The main use for the ProphetX Folder Configuration Utility is to synch files between your work and home or travelling computers. In addition it could also be used to: Share files and folders from a network location Make it easier for IT to backup user files as part of an enterprise-wide process Make ProphetX files easier to access manually PrxCfgFolders Executable The PrxCfgFolders program is activated from the General Preferences main page as shown below. It can also be executed as a standalone utility. (It is installed in the same directory as the ProphetX executable). The tool can be run multiple times. No re-install of ProphetX is necessary. ProphetX Configuration Technical Details ProphetX uses three folder hierarchies to store all files: 1. <Base Path>\DTN\System This folder contains files that relate to the Quote Server. Examples include the file that contains the list of servers available to the user, the list of FIDs supported, the file containing items to cache, etc. Since the PrxCom module that uses these files may be used by applications other than ProphetX, these files are separated from other ProphetX files. In a normal installation, the Base Path folder is located in the user s App Data folder. This folder is often hidden by Windows and is not intended for direct user manipulation. The actual location of this folder depends on the version of the operating system and the login name. 2. <Base Path>\DTN\ProphetX This folder contains files used by the ProphetX application. Examples are the package file, user preferences, etc. function definitions, sessions, filters, scripts, and Options Strategies, etc. are stored in subfolders. Starting with version 3.12, The <Base Path>\DTN folder is now required to be the same for both the System and ProphetX folders. Previous versions had separate settings for the ProphetX and System folders. 3. <Path>\My ProphetX Files This is the directory that contains user files. These include Workbooks, Quote Lists, Page Lists, display templates, etc. Sample workbooks are also stored in folders in this hierarchy. In a normal installation, this folder is located in the user s My Documents folder. The actual location of this folder depends on the version of the operating system and the login name

2 The locations of the three folders are stored in the Windows Registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DTN\DTNBaseDir which should point a folder named DTN. ProphetX will look for System and ProphetX subfolders under this base path. The location of the My ProphetX Files folder is kept in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DTN\ProphetX\Directories There may be other folders in this key; they map to the Attached folders functionality in ProphetX. In addition to the direct folder settings, ProphetX also may store the name of default template files used by certain ProphetX displays. Since those references include the full pathname as well as the filename, these settings also must be modified when the location of the My ProphetX Files folder is modified. PrxCfgFolders automatically makes these adjustments. Example of Implementing Folder Synchronization with ProphetX The first step is to determine which software program that will enable external storage and file synchronization you are going to use. In the example below we used Dropbox.exe which is a free application and can be downloaded from The steps that follow will be determined by your specific software but are relatively standard for most applications Setting up your Desktop Computer If you have not installed your folder synch program yet, please install it. The system will automatically default to your computer s hard drive typically under your user profile, and create a folder to save your files in. In this case it is named Dropbox. Ex: Dropbox was created under the author s user profile on her desktop computer: If not already installed, install ProphetX on your main computer. Start ProphetX. This will set up the ProphetX file structure. Then, configure the file location for the synched files using the PrxCfgFolders utility.

3 Using PrxCfgFolders Regardless of what synching software you install the process will be similar. Left-click on the Preferences button on the Main Tool Bar Left-click on the General preference selection Left-click on the Folder button on the lower portion of the General preferences screen If the user has unsaved work when they select this option, they will be prompted to save their workbook. ProphetX will be closed and the PrxCfgFolders utility will be started. (If the user selects Cancel, the operation is cancelled as if they had not pressed the Folders button). If the user has DropBox installed, the following prompt will display (with the user s installation folder location):

4 If the user selects yes, the PrxCfgFolders utility is shown with the DropBox folder prefilled. The current locations for the three folders currently used by ProphetX are also displayed. If No is selected the Base Folder entry is blank and the OK button is disabled. The user can either manually enter a new folder or browse for a new location by pressing the button. Selecting a folder and pressing OK will fill in the New Base Folder entry on the main window. The folder entered by the user will become the DTN base folder for all three ProphetX hierarchies (rather than just the System and ProphetX folders). This unification makes it easier for external processes to synch or backup these files in a single operation rather than separate steps.

5 NOTE: If the user incorrectly tries to set a DTN folder as a base folder (which would create a DTN folder under the DTN folder), the utility will correct this setting and inform the user with the following message: Once a valid folder has been entered, the OK button is enabled. If the DTN subfolder does not exist under the given base folder, the checkbox to move the current user files to this location is checked by default. If the user presses OK, all of the files in the three original folders are copied (not moved) to the new location. In case of any problem, the originals are retained to ensure no data is lost. The utility will also go through the registry and modify any file references from the old path to the new one. After the process is complete, the utility will ask the user if they want to restart ProphetX. If the DTN subfolder does exist, the checkbox is off by default. See the Synching example for an explanation. Example: If the user wants to use DropBox to synchronize their files, they could enter the location of their DropBox folder as the new base folder. If the DropBox folder is configured to be D:\DropBox, the folders that were installed by default to C:\Users\Joe.User\AppData\Local\DTN\System C:\Users\ Joe.User \AppData\Local\DTN\ProphetX C:\Users\ Joe.User \Documents\My ProphetX Files will be modified to look in the following locations: D: \DropBox \DTN\System D: \DropBox \DTN\ProphetX D: \DropBox \DTN\My ProphetX Files

6 Setting Up Your Alternate Computer Make sure ProphetX is turned off. Install the file synch program. This will create the file synch folder on your computer as shown previously. On your alternate computer, if not already installed with the latest version, install ProphetX. Open ProphetX to create the file structure. Run the PrxCfgFolders.exe tool. In the dialog box, under New Base Folder, browse to the location of your file synch folder. Do NOT checkmark Move current user files. Ex: The location of your base folder may be different, depending on the program you use and the operating system on your computer. The above steps will retrieve your desktop files from the cloud and populate the folder you designated. Wait for the files synch to this computer Restart ProphetX and all of your ProphetX files from your desktop computer will appear in your My ProphetX Files folder as well as your file synch folder. Now, whenever you create or modify a workbook on either of your computers, the workbook will be available on the other one when you need it.

7 Example of Configuring to Synch Between Two Computers Using DropBox You can change folders at any time. This procedure assumes that both ProphetX and DropBox are installed. Primary computer Select the computer that has the version of your files that you wish to share with other computers. Run the tool by pressing the Folders button in the ProphetX General Preferences. The tool automatically searches for DropBox, and if found, will ask if you want to use the DropBox folder. If you select Yes, the folder is prefilled for you. Make sure that the Move user files checkbox is checked. Press OK. This will create the DTN Folder and subfolders, copy your files into the DropBox folder, and configure ProphetX to use this location. The utility will also go through the registry and modify any file references from the old path to the new one. After the process is complete, the utility will ask the user if they want to restart ProphetX. It may take a few minutes for DropBox to synchronize your files, but if you ve selected the Move option, the files are available to ProphetX immediately. On the second computer If you have just installed DropBox or just turned on the power to the computer you should wait a few minutes to make sure that DropBox has synchronized your files. Run the PrxCfgFolders utility as you did on the first. It should find the DropBox folder and prefill it for you. Make sure that the Move User Files checkbox is NOT selected, or you will overwrite all of the original files with the files from this second installation. Start ProphetX. You should now be able to modify any ProphetX file on either computer and have those changes available on the other automatically. Run the PrxCfgFolders.exe tool located at c:\propgram Files\DTN\ProphetX. In the dialog box, checkmark Move current user files. This will redirect ProphetX to save all of your current ProphetX files to the sync folder location, which will also be stored in the cloud. Ex: The PrxCfg Folders.exe program copies all of your ProphetX files to the file synch folder and the internet cloud.