36:Whistle Application Installation

The Whistle application is the core of the entire Whistle system. It ties together your ERP system, remote frequency input devices, and warehouse databases. The main whistle application usually resides on a central computer or server within a warehouse. Whistle is currently designed to run on a Windows 95/98/NT/2000 platform. The following instructions describe the process of installing Whistle on your central server.

Whistle.exe

The Whistle executable file is the first file required to run the front-end Whistle application. This file contains all the information the program needs to interact with the database, the remote input/output devices, the printers, and the ERP system.

Whistle.exe installation is as simple as installing a copy of this file on your computer…

Transfer a copy of the Whistle.exe to your computer from whatever media it is located on (disk, local network, wide are network, etc).

Place the file in a separate Whistle directory that you allocate to store all Whistle system files and documentation.

Whistle Server

The Whistle Server application is also required to operate Whistle. This program acts like a cache and preloads data.

Whistle server installation is as simple as installing a copy of this file on your computer…

Transfer a copy of the WhistleServer to your computer from whatever media it is located on (disk, local network, wide are network, etc).

Place the file in a separate Whistle directory that you allocate to store all Whistle system files and documentation.

Run this program.

Whistle Print Server

The Whistle Print Server handles all print jobs generated by the Whistle application. It must be running in order for labels and reports to be successfully printed.

Whistle Print Server installation is as simple as installing a copy of this file on your computer…

Transfer a copy of the Whistle Print Server to your computer from whatever media it is located on (disk, local network, wide are network, etc).

Place the file in a separate Whistle directory that you allocate to store all Whistle system files and documentation.

Run this program.

Whistle Print Engine

The Whistle Print Engine is a required component of the Whistle Print Server. It must be installed in order for the Print Server to function properly.

Whistle Print Server installation is as simple as installing a copy of this file on your computer…

Transfer a copy of the Whistle Print Engine to your computer from whatever media it is located on (disk, local network, wide are network, etc).

Place the file in a separate Whistle directory that you allocate to store all Whistle system files and documentation.

Run this program.

Whistle EIA Server

The Whistle EIA Server takes Whistle transactions (in the form of an ATF flat-file) and makes the appropriate updates in the ERP.

Whistle EIA Server installation is as simple as installing a copy of this file on your computer…

Transfer a copy of the Whistle EIA Server to your computer from whatever media it is located on (disk, local network, wide are network, etc).

Place the file in a separate Whistle directory that you allocate to store all Whistle system files and documentation.

Run this program.

Executable Configuration

Certain Whistle features must be configured and customized according to your specific system setup. These include:

The database ODBC driver

The Whistle “chat” settings

OTHERS…………

Install the proper ODBC driver on your central server. The ODBC driver must be compatible with your specific relational database. Whistle uses this ODBC driver to communicate with the Whistle and ERP database tables.

The Whistle application allows the user to choose between different ODBC drivers. Refer to the logon section of this manual for information on choosing an ODBC driver from within the Whistle application.

Telnet Application Installation

All remotely operated Whistle input/output devices (such as handheld units and forklift mounted units) use the “Telnet” client protocol to communicate with the central Whistle application server. These input/output devices do not have an actual Whistle program operating inside of them. They simply use ‘Telnet’ to exchange input/output data with the central server, where all the actual computing activity takes place.

1) Install a Telnet client on each remote device to establish this particular mode of communication.