Installation Guidelines for Standalone Timetabling...

Installation Guide for

Standalone Timetabling Tool (English Version Only)

Version 1.0.0

Jun-2017

Installation Guidelines for Standalone Timetabling Tool Version 1.0.0

Copyright © 2017. Education Bureau. The Government of the HKSAR. Page I All Rights Reserved.

Distribution of Controlled Copy

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Copyright © 2017. Education Bureau. The Government of the HKSAR. Page II All Rights Reserved.

Amendment History

Change No. Revision Description

Author Revision Number

Date

1. Initial Draft EDB 1.0.0 14-Jun-2017


Copyright © 2017. Education Bureau. The Government of the HKSAR. Page III All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

1. Objectives.............................................................................................................................................. 1

2. Target Audience .................................................................................................................................... 1

3. Overview ............................................................................................................................................... 1

3.1. Architecture of STT ....................................................................................................................... 1

3.2. Installation Requirement .............................................................................................................. 2

4. STT Installation ...................................................................................................................................... 2

4.1. Installation Procedures ................................................................................................................. 3

4.2. License Key Activation of STT ........................................................................................................ 7

4.3. Database Server ............................................................................................................................ 9

5. STT Update .......................................................................................................................................... 12

Appendix 1. Hardware and Software Specification of STT ...................................................................... 13

Appendix 2. Troubleshooting of STT ....................................................................................................... 14

1. Blocking of Installation by Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter .................................................... 14

2. Blocking of Installation/STT Program/Database Server by Anti-virus Software ................................. 15

3. Backup of Database ............................................................................................................................ 16

4. Complete Uninstallation of STT .......................................................................................................... 16

5. Reinstallation of STT ........................................................................................................................... 16


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List of Tables

Table 1 Environment description of STT. ...................................................................................................... 2

Table 2 Hardware Requirement of STT. ...................................................................................................... 13

Table 3 Software Requirement of STT. ....................................................................................................... 13

List of Figures

Figure 1 Architecture of STT. ........................................................................................................................ 2

Figure 2 Installer of STT. ................................................................................................................................ 3

Figure 3 Installation process by the Install Wizard. ...................................................................................... 3

Figure 4 Welcome screen of STT Installer. .................................................................................................... 4

Figure 5 Selection of installation directory. .................................................................................................. 4

Figure 6 Creating a Start Menu Folder for STT. ............................................................................................ 5

Figure 7 Installation of STT in progress. ........................................................................................................ 5

Figure 8 Finish of STT installation. ................................................................................................................ 6

Figure 9 STT at Start Menu of (a) Windows 7; (b) Windows 10.................................................................... 6

Figure 10 Confirmation to install STT to an existing directory. .................................................................... 7

Figure 11 Confirmation of overwriting existing files. .................................................................................... 7

Figure 12 License Key Activation of STT. ....................................................................................................... 8

Figure 13 First screen of STT after activated. ............................................................................................... 8

Figure 14 Invalid key entered in STT activation. ........................................................................................... 9

Figure 15 Warning message for aborting license key activation of STT. ...................................................... 9

Figure 16 Communication Permission Request of Firebird Database Server from Windows Firewall. ..... 10

Figure 17 Manual configuration of communication control for Firebird Database Server. ....................... 11

Figure 18 Multiple instances of Firebird Database Server is not allowed. ................................................. 11

Figure 19 Icon of Firebird Database Server located at system tray. ........................................................... 11

Figure 20 Shut down of Firebird Database Server. ..................................................................................... 11

Figure 21 Warning message from Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter: (a) Windows 7; (b) Windows 10.

.................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Figure 22 Execution the STT Installer in Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter: (a) Windows 7; (b)

Windows 10. ............................................................................................................................................... 15


Copyright © 2017. Education Bureau. The Government of the HKSAR. Page 1 All Rights Reserved.

1. Objectives Standalone Timetabling Tool (STT) has been developed for school to generate timetables of the

academic year. The objectives of the STT are to:

Enable the school to generate multiple timetable scenarios on one workstation or a few

workstations simultaneously.

Offload the timetable generation process to workstations. Thus, the server resources of

WebSAMS can be released for other processes and the usage of other WebSAMS module will

not be affected.

Provide new user interface and features, such as allowing multiple windows view of timetable

results, and easily tuning the results and relaxing the constraints midway in-between the

generation process. Hence, the interactive tuning process can be shortened.

Improve the efficiency of the operation of timetable generation, where teachers will in turn

spend less time in dealing with the process. The time saved can then be diverted to teaching

and other educational work, thus leading to better services.

This document facilitates IT support staff or users of the schools to install the STT into the school owned

device so that the school users can generate the timetable using STT.

2. Target Audience This document is mainly for IT support staff who is responsible for the actual planning and installation

works. They are expected to have basic understanding of the localhost network environment and also

have basic knowledge in installation, configuration and administration of the network components such

as firewall, proxy setting, Windows 7 and Windows 10, etc.

3. Overview The STT is a standalone application program running on Microsoft Windows platform on personal

computers. All data sets and result sets used by STT are maintained by its database. School users can use

STT to import/export an interface file (with encryption) to perform data exchange with WebSAMS.

3.1. Architecture of STT The STT is required to connect to the database to store and retrieve the data sets and result sets. The

database shall be embedded in the STT installer and executed locally and automatically. Figure 1 shows

the architecture of STT. A data exchange file exported from the WebSAMS as an encrypted file can be

imported into STT and vice versa.



Figure 1 Architecture of STT.

3.2. Installation Requirement Since most schools are equipped with Personal Computers (PC) and Microsoft (MS) Windows for the

teacher / staff to carry out their daily work, the STT is developed to run on PC with Microsoft Windows

platform, such that STT can run on existing PC of the schools.

The overall required specification of STT is described in Table 1. For details of hardware and software

specification of STT, please refer to Appendix 1. Hardware and Software Specification.

Table 1 Environment description of STT.

Environment Machine Hardware Platform

Production Standalone PC x86-based CPU of Intel i3 series or above

1G RAM free memory

20G free hard disk space

Microsoft Windows Desktop 7, 8 or 10

The PC should be configured with standard Microsoft Windows user right, i.e. to allow users to install

and access his/her profile and installed applications. The STT application (including binary files and

related libraries), related Java run-time and database server should be installed on the user accessible

area. In order to support both 32-bits and 64-bits Microsoft Windows platforms, the application

installation package with 32-bit version is provided.

4. STT Installation The installation file allows user to install the STT along with its dependencies onto the computer. It is

recommended to meet the hardware and software required as described in Appendix 1.

WebSAMS ServerData

Exchange

File

PC (School owned device) for the

Standalone Timetabling Tool

Database

Web Browser

Accessing to WebSAMS



Antivirus software and Windows SmartScreen Filter may block STT during the installation process or

running STT. Please refer to Appendix 2. “Troubleshooting of STT” for details.

Besides, as STT is a standalone application, it will not access to Internet except during the Auto Update

process. If there is any concern on connecting to the internet, you may enable Manual Update function.

However, it is strongly recommended to regularly download the manual update file of STT from

WebSAMS Download Site.

4.1. Installation Procedures This section only describe the normal procedures. If you encounter any problems during installation

such as the blockage/warning from Antivirus software or Windows SmartScreen Filter, please refer to

Appendix 2. Troubleshooting of STT” for details.

1. Run the Installer File.

Figure 2 Installer of STT.

The installer shall be obtained from WebSAMS CDR / Download Site

(http://www.websams.edb.gov.hk/eng/stt/index.html), where the x_x_xx_yyyyyyyy is the

version of the STT.

2. The Install Wizard will prepare the installation process.

Figure 3 Installation process by the Install Wizard.

3. Click on [Next] to continue.

http://www.websams.edb.gov.hk/eng/stt/index.html



Figure 4 Welcome screen of STT Installer.

4. Select the installation directory, and then click on [Next].

Figure 5 Selection of installation directory.

If users re-install the STT over existing folder, the existing database will be deleted. Please refer to “Appendix 2: Part 3. Backup of Database” to make a copy of the database before re-installation in order to keep the useful Data Sets and Result Sets.

3

4



5. Enter a name for the Start Menu Shortcut, and then click on [Next].

Figure 6 Creating a Start Menu Folder for STT.

6. Installation will proceed.

Figure 7 Installation of STT in progress.

5



7. Click on [Finish] to complete the installation.

Figure 8 Finish of STT installation.

Notes

1. In case the Installer File, STT program or the Database Server program is blocked by the

Windows Defender, SmartScreen Filter, or any anti-virus software, please add the required

programs into exclusion, or run anyway. For details, please refer to the following sections in

Appendix 2. Troubleshooting of STT”.

Blocking of Installation by Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter

Blocking of Installation/STT Program/Database Server by Anti-virus Software

2. STT Standalone Timetabling Tool will be added to the start menu under the name given in step 5.

(a)

(b)

Figure 9 STT at Start Menu of (a) Windows 7; (b) Windows 10.

7



3. If no start menu shortcut is needed, users can untick the “Create a Start Menu folder” checkbox

at step 5.

4. The default Destination Directory for the installation will be:

C:/Users/{UserName}/AppData/Roaming/STT

where {UserName} is the name of the Windows Account.

5. If the folder does not exist, it will be created during the installation process. Otherwise, it will

prompt a message to confirm whether to install the STT to that directory anyway.

Figure 10 Confirmation to install STT to an existing directory.

6. In case you have installed STT before and its uninstallation did not clear the files completely, a

pop-up message will be displayed to confirm whether overwriting the files or not. In this case it

is recommended to click on [Yes to All].

Figure 11 Confirmation of overwriting existing files.

4.2. License Key Activation of STT When the STT is started for the first time, it will require a key activation. The key, which is unique to

individual WebSAMS schools, has been delivered to schools through CDS on 29 June 2017.



1. Enter the unique license key (Copy and paste the key from file “key.txt”).

Figure 12 License Key Activation of STT.

2. Click on [Validate].

3. If the key is valid, the following dialog box should pop up for users to continue the use of STT.

Figure 13 First screen of STT after activated.

1

2



Notes

1. If an invalid key is entered, an error message will pop up.

Figure 14 Invalid key entered in STT activation.

2. In case the users would like to activate it later, the users can click on [Cancel] in step 1. An

information message will pop up and the users will exit STT afterwards. Users can start and

activate the STT later.

Figure 15 Warning message for aborting license key activation of STT.

4.3. Database Server When starting STT after installation, the Firebird Database Server will automatically be started in the

background.

Notes

1. When it is the first time to run the Firebird Database Server, the communication permission

from Windows Firewall may be required. Please click [Allow access] using administration

privilege.



Figure 16 Communication Permission Request of Firebird Database Server from Windows Firewall.

Alternatively, please manually go to Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall >

Allowed apps to communicate through Windows Firewall to configure the Firewall to allow

communication within the Domain. If other firewall software are used instead of Windows

Firewall, the users shall configure it in similar manner. The executable of the Firebird Database

Server is located at:

C:/Users/{UserName}/AppData/Roaming/STT/db/fb/bin/fbserver.exe




Figure 17 Manual configuration of communication control for Firebird Database Server.

2. If another instance of Firebird Database Server with different installation directory is running, a

message will pop up to ask for terminating it. Click [Yes] to stop other Firebird Database Server.

Figure 18 Multiple instances of Firebird Database Server is not allowed.

3. When the Firebird Database Server has started, its icon will show in the system tray.

Figure 19 Icon of Firebird Database Server located at system tray.

4. To close Firebird Database Server, right-click on its icon and choose Shutdown.

Figure 20 Shut down of Firebird Database Server.



5. STT Update The STT is built with Auto Update function. The users can enable/disable the Auto Update feature inside

STT setting, and manually update the STT using the patch downloaded from WebSAMS Download Site.

For details, please refer to the user manual of STT.



Appendix 1. Hardware and Software Specification of STT

Hardware and Software Specification of STT

The STT is a standalone application running on a school owned device with Microsoft Windows.

Therefore, the PC is required to meet the hardware and software requirements in order to run STT

smoothly. Table 2 and Table 3 list the hardware and software requirements of STT, respectively.

Table 2 Hardware Requirement of STT.

Item Description

Processor x86-based CPU of Intel i3 series or above

Supports the SSE2 instruction set

Memory (RAM) minimum of 1GB memory required*

Operating System Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 10

Hard Disks 20GB free hard disk space #

Note *: Details of Memory consumption by STT:

STT Application: 0.3GB

Database Server: 0.1GB

50% Buffer for STT Application and Database Server: 0.2GB

System Buffer Cache: 0.36GB

Total: 0.96GB free memory, i.e. 1GB free memory is recommended

Note #: The following is an estimated hard disk usage of STT:

Swap Space: 8GB

Crash Dump Area: 4GB

Standalone Timetabling Tool Software: 0.2GB

Working Space: 0.8GB

Table 3 Software Requirement of STT.

Item Description Version

Microsoft Office (Optional)

The Microsoft Excel is required to open the reports generated by the STT.

2007 or above

Adobe Reader (Optional)

The Adobe Reader is required to open the STT User Manual.

XI

Web Browser (Optional)

A web browser such as Google Chrome or Internet Explorer is required to open the Data Validation Report, which is saved as html

Nil

Appendix 1.



Appendix 2. Troubleshooting of STT

Troubleshooting of STT 1. Blocking of Installation by Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter

The Windows Defender SmartScreen, which is also called SmartScreen Filter, would sometimes

prevent the STT installer from execution. If it does and the SmartScreen Filter pop up a warning

message, the users should click on “More Info” and then click “Run anyway” as shown below:

(a)

(b) Figure 21 Warning message from Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter: (a) Windows 7; (b) Windows 10.

Appendix 2.

Appendix 1.



(a)

(b)

Figure 22 Execution the STT Installer in Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter: (a) Windows 7; (b) Windows 10.

2. Blocking of Installation/STT Program/Database Server by Anti-virus Software Apart from the Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter, some anti-virus software may also block the

STT Installer, the STT program, and the database server, especially when the installer is newly

released, such that the anti-virus software doesn’t have much information in the anti-virus



database. Therefore, the users can add the following executables in the exclusion list of the anti-

virus software:

STT Installer

C:/Users/{UserName}/AppData/Roaming/STT/STT.exe

C:/Users/{UserName}/AppData/Roaming/STT/db/fb/bin/fbserver.exe


3. Backup of Database Although the STT allows saving the data set as individual file for offline backup, some advanced

users would like to back up the whole database. In STT, the database file is located at the following

path:

C:/Users/{UserName}/AppData/Roaming/STT/db/ STT_EDB.DB


The users can back up the whole database file by copying it to an offline storage. To restore the

database file, the users can just overwrite the above database file with the back up one.

Notes

1. Please make sure that both STT and the Database Server have been shut down before backup.

4. Complete Uninstallation of STT Once the STT is installed, there is an uninstall.exe in the start menu under the STT folder. The

uninstall.exe is also located at

C:/Users/{UserName}/AppData/Roaming/STT/uninstall.exe


The users can run the uninstall.exe to uninstall the STT. However, it will be unable to remove the

database executables when the Database Server is running. Therefore, please make sure the

Database Server is shut down before uninstallation.

Notes

1. The uninstallation will remove the database file. Please manually backup the useful data sets or

the whole database before uninstalling it.

2. In case the uninstall.exe does not clear all files, it is safe to delete the whole STT installation

folder manually after the uninstall.exe is finished.

5. Reinstallation of STT The STT can be reinstalled by re-executing the STT installer.

Notes



1. The re-installation will overwrite the database file. Please manually backup the useful data sets

or the whole database before re-installing it.

2. Please make sure that the STT and the Database Server have been shut down before

reinstallation.

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