A small analogy that might help explain how networking works for Theatre Manager and it might mean that if there is an outage, the following steps may help solve most of the connection issues.

IP Address Analogy

IP addresses are like phone numbers. Each server and machine on the network has one. Each IP based printer also has one.

• The ones on the printers and the database server are 'fixed'. That means they should not be changed. TWe recommend putting a label on the printers inside the back of the printers to remind you what it is. You will see the one for the database server see each morning when you start theatre manager. This is at the bottom of the login screen.
• The workstations usually have 'dynamic' ip addresses. That means each morning they could be given a different one from the router. This is a good idea as it simplifies network setup and maintenance.

Everything will work well if you can 'dial' those 'fixed' phone numbers using Theatre Manager. It's like 911 and 411 - you only need to know those phone number to get help or to get directory assistance.

Every other phone number can change, but as long as those two stay the same, you can get help and find out a phone number for anybody else. In theory, as long as the network stays up, or is started normally, or is not changed, you will be able to 'dial' those phone numbers

But what If I can't Dial Those Numbers

What can get in the way of being able to 'dial' these special IP numbers from Theatre Manager.

• If the router is not up, you simply cannot make a call. That should never go down and if it does, restart it or contact your IT support person if you need them to start it for you
• If the router configuration is changed and starts giving out phone numbers with different area codes, you can no longer make a 'local' call to the printers or servers. Generally, that should never change.
• If they need to change, have changed the permanent phone numbers for the printer and server in advance of the change -AND- change the numbers inside Theatre Managers 'phone book' so that you don't have an issue
• If the power is out to any of the little routers or servers along the way - you can't complete the call
• If, for example, a rat chews a cord, then there is no wire (this really happened at a venue) and it must be replaced so you have a connection.

Those are only examples. and really, the computer network should just work with little attention. It is much like the phone system .. you can call direct anywhere in North America, Europe, and most of the world with no worry.. You should always get a dial tone.... and generally, phones just works unless there is some power issue, storm, or somebody is doing maintenance on the phone network.

Same goes for the network that Theatre Manager relies on If the network is there, then any machine should be able to dial any machine. If you cannot dial a machine or a printer, then tools at your disposal are:

• Ping to see if you can get from one machine to another.
• If ping does not work, then time to call your IT person - it is a network problem
• if ping works, then check to see that the database is started (again time to call your IT person). If the database is not started on the server, you won't be able to get to it.

General troubleshooting steps

Generally, try the following:

• Try and ping the server
• If you can, and Theatre Manager tells you that the database is not there at the server
• If everybody can use the database, except one machine, reboot the one machine
• If nobody can use the database, then reboot the server and try again at the top
• If nobody can use the printer, restart the printer
• If one person can use the printer, but another cannot, reboot the machine and go into the employee preferences in Theatre Manager and set up the printer IP address.
• Check to see that nobody turned on a firewall at the server
• Check to see that nobody turned on the Firewall on the Windows or OS-X machine to prevent outgoing connections.

If none of those work, call your IT person to see what they have to say.

If the situation is still not resolvable, then call Arts Management Systems as there may be something else at play and we'll be happy to help.