Creating a Scene Data Storage Space on Windows

You can create additional storage spaces for your Harmony database on different Windows machines. The database server will connect to these machines to transmit scene data to the clients, allowing you to expand the storage capacity of your database.

The first step is to create a shared folder on the Windows machine that will host the new storage space. Then, you must configure your database server with the information about this new storage space so that, when using Configuration Wizard to set up new Harmony Server clients, this new share will be added to the client configuration. Lastly, if you want the database server itself to have access to the new storage space, you must add a shortcut to that storage space's network path on the database server.

If you intend to configure your database server and the scene data storage spaces to require credentials to be accessed, you should configure all the shares to be accessible with the same user names and password, as Harmony clients will only use one set of credentials to connect to the database and the different scene data storage spaces. For example, in an open network environment, it is typical to give access to all the Harmony-related network shares to the user usabatch.

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel:
    • On Windows 7: Open the Start menu and select All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Control Panel.
    • On Windows 8.1 or Windows 10: Open the Start menu and, in the programs list, select Windows System > Control Panel.
  1. In the Control Panel, click on System and Security.
  2. In the System and Security panel, click on Administrative Tools.
  3. Double-click on Computer Management.
  4. In the Computer Management dialog, in the navigation tree to the left, select Local Users and Groups > Users.
  5. In the Actions panel to the right, select More Actions > New User.
  6. In the New User dialog, enter the desired credentials for the user that will be used to access the network share. For example:
    • User name: usabatch
    • Full name: usabatch
    • Password: usabatch
    • Uncheck the User must change password at next logon option.
    • Check the User cannot change password option.
    • Check the Password never expires option.
  7. Click on OK.
  1. Log-in to the machine that will be used as the new scene data storage space using an account with administrator privileges.
  2. Open an Explorer window.
  3. Browse to the root of the drive where you want the scene data to be stored (ie: C:).
  4. Create a new directory.
  5. Name the directory usadata, followed by a padded, zero-based number indicating its index in the list of storage spaces used by yourHarmony database. For example, if this is the second storage space your add to your database, name it usadata001.
  6. Right-click on the folder and select Properties.
  7. Open the Sharing tab.
  8. Click on Advanced Sharing.
  9. In the Advanced Sharing dialog, check the Share this folder checkbox.
  10. Click on Permissions.
  11. In the Group or user names list, select Everyone.
  12. Check the checkbox right of Full Control, under the Allow column.
  13. Click on OK.
  14. In the Advanced Sharing dialog, click on OK.
  15. In the Properties dialog, click on Close.
  1. Log in to the database server.
  2. Open the Start menu and, in the Programs list, select Windows Accessories.
  3. Right-click on Notepad and select Run as Administrator.
  4. In the top menu of Notepad, select File > Open.
  5. In the Open dialog, select All Files (*.*) in the file type drop-down in the bottom-right corner.

  6. Browse to and select the following file:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony 15.0 Premium\etc\server.ini

    In the file, there are numerous lines starting with FileSystem followed by a number, an equal sign, and some of them will have information after the equal sign. This is the list of scene data storage spaces used by your Harmony server. For example, a newly created database with a single storage space will probably have this scene data storage space configuration:

    [WizardConfig] ServerName=SERVERNAME InstallationDrive=C:\Program Files (x86)\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom Harmony 15.0 Premium UsaShare=usa UsadbDrive=C UsadbShare=usa_db FileSystem0=C usadata000 SERVERNAME FileSystem1= FileSystem2= FileSystem3= FileSystem4= [...]

    NOTEThe server.ini file generated by Configuration Wizard contains a file system listing going from 0 to 99. The sample file was shortened here to avoid cluttering the documentation.

  7. In the first one of the FileSystem lines that has nothing after the equal sign, type in the information for your scene data server, in the following format:

    FileSystem1=<drive letter> <share name> <server name>

    Replace the tags between <> brackets with the appropriate values. Make sure to remove the <> brackets from the configuration file as well:

    • <drive letter>: The driver letter of the drive on which the scene data storage space is located, without any colon or backslash. For example, if the scene data storage space was created on drive C:, simply type C.
    • <share name>: The name of the share containing the scene data. Usually, this share is either named USADATA or usadata, and its name may be followed by a zero-padded, zero-based number indicating the index of the scene data storage space. For example, the first scene data storage space could be named USADATA or usadata000.
    • <server name>: The host name of the scene data server. If the scene data storage space is hosted on the same machine as the database, then this host name is the same as the host name for the database.

    For example, if the new scene data storage space is the second scene data storage space for the server, and is located in C:\usadata001 of a computer with the hostname newserver, the appropriate configuration for this would be as follows:

    FileSystem1=C usadata000 newserver

  8. In the top menu, select File > Save.

    From now on, the next time you run the Configuration Wizard to set up a Harmony database client on Windows, the new scene data storage space will be automatically added to the client configuration. You can use the Configuration Wizard to re-configure existing clients, if needed.

  1. Log in to the database server.

  2. Open the Start menu and, in the Programs list, select Harmony 15.0 Premium > Tools > Control Panel.

  3. When prompted, allow Control Panel to make changes to your device.
  4. In the Control Panel, open the Connections tab.

  5. In the Sharename field, type in the network (UNC) path of the new scene data storage space. This location should start with two backslashes followed by the hostname of the server on which this storage space is hosted, followed by a backslash, then the name of the scene data storage space itself, like in the following example:

    \\newserver\usadata001

  6. In the Username field, type in the name of a user who has access to this network share.
  7. In the Password field, type in this user's password.
  8. Click on Create Connection.
  9. Click on Close.

  10. Right-click on the desktop, then select New > Shortcut.

    The Create Shortcut dialog appears.

  11. Under Type the location of the item:, type the network (UNC) path of the new scene data storage space, as in step 5.

  12. Click on Next.
  13. Under Type a name for this shortcut:, type in the name of the share and nothing else. For example, if the shortcut path is \\newserver\usadata001, the name of the shortcut should be usadata001.
  14. Click on Finish.
  15. Right-click on the shortcut and select Cut.
  16. Open an Explorer window.
  17. Browse to the root of the drive with the same drive letter as the one on which the new storage space was added on the scene data server (ie: C:)
  18. Right-click on the files list and select Paste.

  19. When prompted, grant administrator permission to move the shortcut.

    There is now a shortcut pointing to the new scene data storage space on the database server, allowing it to connect to this storage space and create and manage scenes inside it.

  1. Open the Start menu and, in the Programs list, select Toon BoomHarmony 15.0 Premium > Tools >  Configuration Editor.
  2. When prompted, allow Configuration Editor to make changes to your device.
  3. Open the Manager.conf tab.

  4. Scroll down to the bottom. There should be a line starting with scene_dir_pattern: followed by the path to the scene data directories used by your server, except for the one you just created. For example, if the server only had a scene data storage named usadata000, the line would be as follows:

    scene_dir_pattern: /usadata000

  5. After the last scene data storage space listed on the scene_dir_pattern line, add a space, followed by a slash and the name of the new scene data storage space. For example, if you are adding a scene data storage space named usadata001 and located at the root of your storage device, you should add it at the end of the line, like so:

    scene_dir_pattern:  /usadata000 /usadata001
    IMPORTANT

    Even on Windows, the path to a scene data directory in Manager.conf must:

    • Use forward slashes (/) as separators, not backward slashes (\).
    • Start with a forward slash, not a drive letter. For example, instead of C:\usadata001, type /usadata001.
    • Not include the .lnk extension of the shortcut file. If you are adding C:\usadata001.lnk, simply put /usadata001.
    TIPYou can also add * wildcards in the folder names. For example, this will include all scene data directories at the root of your storage device with a name starting with usadata: scene_dir_pattern:  /usadata* /USADATA*