As work is entered to the Premvet 5 software an additional copy is made and stored in a 'log file'. At specified times of the day (or night) this log file is transferred between machines. The recipient machine then processes this file and updates its own. Setting up cross-updating is straight forward. You tell the machines that updating is installed, make sure each machine knows which surgery it is located at and how to talk to the other machine, then use the machines as normal.

One machine is designated the 'master' machine. It is this machine that deals will allocating client records and forwarding data to the remote sites. Usually the master machine will be the one that handles the bulk of the clients. Updating makes use of the client number when transferring records so the client number has to be unique to the client between surgeries.

This means that clients cannot be added in the normal manner at branches. The master machine will allocate a block of clients which the remote machine will use when a new client is to be added. This ensures that the client number is unique. As far as the normal user is concerned there is no difference in the operation of the system.

Note: Care should be taken to ensure that the branches have enough blank records for their normal use. You can check this by looking for clients called 'XUD2' for branch 2, 'XUD3' for branch 3 etc. You can also enter a '?' at the main menu - the entry XUD/DELE Recs:  111/5 this shows the number of XUD cards for you (the main site will show the total) and the number of Deleted cards - in this case 111 XUD cards and 5 deleted.

When a transfer of information takes place and you are not configured for Background integration the system will just before the User I.D prompt process the work. Alternatively, if a file arrives while the screens are being used then an option on the updating menu can be used to process it. You should be aware that if a large transfer takes place just prior to a surgery starting it might tie up the screen for a while. All other screens (including virtuals) will NOT be affected by this and can be used.

Backing up

The remote machine should still be backed up. Although the main management/clinical records will be duplicated on the other machine all other information is unique to the machine it is being used on. You will not need to backup as frequently but you will nevertheless have to make sure backups are done. This applies to laptop's as well as servers.