DataFinder Server Edition: Creating and Connecting to DataFinder Servers

This application note discusses the basics of National Instruments' DataFinder servers. Included is a brief description of what a DataFinder server is and a short example of how to create a DataFinder server. Once created, this application note will provide an example of how to connect clients to a DataFinder server.

What is a DataFinder

A DataFinder server is a search engine that you install on a server. The DataFinder server browses specified folders on computers in a network for files that contain technical data. The DataFinder server indexes data files to provide the clients with the data properties. The DataFinder server indexes files for which DataPlugins are registered in the Server Manager.

You can define several DataFinder servers in the Server Manager to provide different data for different work groups. Clients, such as DIAdem, communicate with the DataFinder servers to browse the indexed data and to load search results.

Creating DataFinder Servers

When you start the DataFinder Server Edition, the Server Manager opens. In the Server Manager you create and configure DataFinder servers and test the functionality of the DataFinder servers. To create a DataFinder server, complete the following steps:

1. To start the DataFinder Server Edition, select Start»All Programs»National Instruments»DataFinder Server Edition 2.0»DataFinder Manager.
   Because the Server Manager does not have any DataFinder servers when you install it, the New DataFinder Server dialog box opens automatically the first time you launch the Server Manager.
   
2. Enter TestRig as the name of the DataFinder server.
   
3. Click Add Search Area to specify a search area. Search areas are the file system folders that clients can browse for data files.
   
4. Enter My_Data as the alias name for the search area.
   
5. Click the Choose a Folder button.
   
   1. Select the folder that you want the DataFinder server to provide for client access in a search.
   2. Click OK to close the dialog box.
      
6. Click the Share Folder button.
   The Server Manager opens the Windows share dialog box, where you share folders with other users on the network. You must share the folders in the search area so the clients can not only read the descriptive information, but also load the files found in the search.
   
7. Click OK to close the Windows share dialog box.
   
8. Open the list in the Client path textbox and select the shared network path. The Add Search Area dialog box displays the path of the shared folder as shown in the following figure.
   

   

9. Click OK to close the dialog box.
   The dialog box displays the new search area My_Data as shown in the following figure.
   

   

10. You can now define more search areas where clients can search for data. Click Exclude Subfolder to exclude subfolders of a search area from the search.
    
11. Click Finish to close the dialog box.
    The Server Manager displays the new DataFinder server as shown in the following figure.
    

    
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Exporting Client Configurations

For clients to execute queries on the server and to load data, you must connect the clients to a DataFinder server. You can export the required connection settings in the Server Manager, save the settings in a file, and then execute the settings on the client. To export a client configuration, complete the following steps.

1. Select the TestRig DataFinder server in the Server Manager.
   
2. Click Export a Client Configuration on the toolbar.
   
3. Accept the suggested name for the export file TestRig@Computer. The name consists of the name of the DataFinder server and the name of the server that the DataFinder Server Edition is installed on.
   
4. Select the Include DataPlugins in client configuration checkbox to save all the DataPlugins to the export file, as shown in the following figure.
   When you export the DataPlugins, you provide the client with all the DataPlugins for loading the files that the DataFinder server TestRig indexes and finds.
   
   

   

   Click OK to open the Save as dialog box.

5. Click Save to save the client configuration. The Server Manager saves the connection parameters in a file that has the extension .urf.

Connecting Clients to DataFinder Servers

For a client, such as DIAdem, to use the DataFinder server TestRig, you must import the connection configuration to the client computer.

1. Copy the TestRig@Computer.urf file to the client computer.
   
2. Double-click the TestRig@Computer.urf file to register the connection parameters and the DataPlugins on the client computer.
   
   If you use the URF file to import DataPlugins that are already registered on this computer, you can specify whether, in the future, the client uses the imported DataPlugins or the DataPlugins that are already on the computer.
   
   A message indicates that the client configuration and the new DataPlugins are registered.
   
3. Open DIAdem.
   
4. Select DIAdem NAVIGATOR.
   
5. Select Settings » Remote DataFinder.
   The following figure shows the dialog box with all the remote DataFinders that are registered in DIAdem.
   

   

   
   DIAdem can use any DataFinder server that is connected to the DIAdem computer on a network, as a remote DataFinder. You can use the security settings to limit clients' access rights to DataFinder servers.
   
6. Click Open to open the DataFinder server in DIAdem NAVIGATOR.
   
   The file browser in the following figure shows a tree view of the search areas of the DataFinder server. If the associated DataPlugin allows, you can navigate to channel level in the files.
   
   
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Additional Resources:

• Learn more about DataFinder Server Edition
• Download a 30-day free trial of DataFinder Server Edition
• Learn more about NI DIAdem

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