| TechNote #:
93 |
Last modified: 09/28/01
Last reviewed: 09/28/01
|
MathType 5.0 Guide for IS Professionals
The information in this document applies to:
Issue
Many customers who have purchased site licenses for MathType would like to
know how to install MathType on a server so that it can be controlled by their
metering software and can be accessible to all the users on their network.
Reason
This document is designed to familiarize network administrators and the like with
issues concerning the MathType application’s installation, and some specialized
features designed to make the installation of MathType on multiple machines as painless as
possible.
Solution
This notice addresses the following topics:
1. Installation Overview
2. Installing MathType for
multiple users
3. Setup's Command-line Interface
4. Files not in the MathType Folder
5. Sharing a MathType
Installation Across a Network
MathType Setup has been designed to run from one of a number of disk types. It can run
from a CD, from a set of floppies, or from a self-extracting executable (for download).
There are 2 different types of installation. There is a standard installation, and a
"Workstation Install", which sets up MathType to run from a shared location on a
server. Most of the time, users will perform a normal installation. However, if there is a
need to preserve disk space on the bulk of users' machines, or to assist in metering
concurrent usage, MathType can be installed to a server, and all users can share that
installation. This is discussed in detail in the section entitled Sharing a MathType Installation
Across a Network.
Setup will check the versions of files that it is installing, and will only install
them if the version is the same or newer than that of the existing file. Files with the
following extensions will be version-installed: DLL, EXE, and TTF. File types that don't
contain version data will always be installed, and will overwrite existing files.
Setup writes a log file ("MathType5.log") into the user's Windows
Temporary files folder. This
log file contains a large amount of information pertaining to the most recent run of
Setup. All the files that were installed, and all the tasks that were performed (e.g. OLE
registration, font installation, etc.) are listed here in the log. All messages that are
presented to the user are also written into the log file. This includes error and warning
messages, as well as messages displayed in the progress meter dialog. This same log file
is used during a removal, or uninstall, of MathType.
Command-line parameters can be passed to the Setup application, SETUP.EXE. Some of these parameters require
a folder location. Folder locations must be surrounded by double-quotes if the path name
contains spaces. All command-line parameters are case-insensitive. All parameters,
including extra path parameters, should be separated from each other by a space, for
example:
Setup.exe -D "E:\User Apps\Design Science\MathType" -W
| -D |
This parameter indicates the destination folder. Following this parameter
must be the full path of a folder where MathType will be installed. This folder will be
displayed in the "Install MathType to:" box on the main selection dialog. |
| -DL |
This parameter is the same as the "-D" parameter, except the
user will not be able to edit the destination location in the main selection dialog. Using
this command-line parameter will disable, or lock, that dialog control. |
| -S |
This parameter indicates the source folder. Following this
parameter must be the full path of a folder where the MathType source files
are located. You only need to use this parameter if the source files are not
located in the same folder as SETUP.EXE. |
| -W |
This parameter indicates that Setup should switch modes, and perform
"Workstation" installations and removals. See below for details. |
| -I |
This parameter indicates that Setup should skip the main selection dialog.
This parameter is especially useful when used in combination with the "-D" or
"-DL" parameters. The user is not presented with the option to modify the
destination folder for the application, and will not be able to exit Setup short of
aborting installation while the files are being copied/uncompressed. |
| -R |
This parameter indicates that Setup should only be run in
"remove" mode. If "-R" is passed on the command-line, the user will
not have the option of installing MathType. |
| -C |
This parameter is used to suppress error and warning messages relating to
macro command installation. If MS Word's Startup folder is locked, or if the macro command
files have already been installed and are locked, Setup will normally give the user
warnings on installation. If this is the normal environment for your organization, and you
don't want users to have to deal with such messages (and report these errors to you), use
this switch. Be aware, however, that if the macro command files are not already installed,
and Word's Startup folder is locked, your users will not see the appropriate warning
messages, and will not have the macro commands available to them. For this reason, the
"-C" switch should be used sparingly, and generally in combination with the
"-W" switch. If this switch is on, these errors and warnings will be written
into the log file. |
| -OLEMGR |
This parameter is used to put Setup in "OLE Management" mode.
This brings up the "Equation Conversion Manager" dialog. In this mode, users
will be able to configure which equation types will be auto-converted to MathType 4. While
in this mode, no files will be copied or uncompressed. It is solely used to manage
equation types and the applications that are used to edit them. |
The bulk of the files that are installed by MathType Setup are placed into a directory
structure in the application directory (also known as the "MathType folder"),
which is chosen by the user in the main selection dialog at the beginning of installation.
However, some files are kept in other locations. In general, Setup needs to have write
access to these other locations in order to successfully install MathType. These files and
their locations are described below.
Word Commands
MathType Setup installs macro commands for Word 97, Word 2000 and Word 2002
(XP) by placing a
template (.dot) file in the appropriate startup folder for each version of Word that is
installed on the machine. If these folders are locked, Word macro commands
will not be installed successfully. At a minimum, these folders must be unlocked and
available during installation, and the next time Word is run after that installation. In
other words, if you normally operate with Word's startup folders locked, you'll need to
unlock these folders, run MathType Setup, run each version of Word, and then re-lock the
startup folders.
Copies of all of these macro command template files are stored in MathType's
"Office Support" sub-folder. The macro commands can be installed manually into
Word by simply copying the appropriate file from this location into Word's startup folder,
and then running Word to complete the installation.
Other Files
| TrueType Fonts |
TrueType fonts are installed to the standard Windows Fonts folder. A copy of all the
TrueType font files is also kept in a subfolder of the MathType folder. This subfolder is
Fonts\TrueType. |
| System-level DLLs |
MathType Setup installs a DLL that is used by MathType’s help file. This file is
generally installed to the Windows System folder. |
| Toolbar File |
MathType maintains a file that contains the contents of the user’s customizable
toolbar. This file is located in the "Design Science\DSMT5" folder beneath the
"Application Data" folder. This allows users to have their own toolbar that will
be kept along with their user profile (on systems that support profiles). This means that
if a user's profile is stored on a server, rather than kept locally on each computer, the
same MathType toolbar will be available from any computer he or she logs on to. |
| Application Log File |
This file contains any errors that may have been generated by MathType’s
translators. This file is located beneath the "Application Data" folder, in the
same folder that contains the toolbar file. |
| Start Menu Shortcut Files |
Like most installers, MathType Setup creates a set of shortcut files to the MathType
application, help file, and Setup. These files are created under the
"Start Menu\Programs" folder, in a folder called
"MathType 5". |
Overview
MathType Setup supports a "Workstation Install", which is designed to allow
you to install MathType to a central location on the server, and have all your users share
that one copy. The workstation install will perform a minimal set of tasks (e.g. font
installation, OLE registration, and installing shared, system-level DLL's), and will not
need to, for example, uncompress the MathType.exe file to the user's system because it
will already exist on your network drive. This process may assist you in metering the
number of concurrent users of MathType, possibly preventing you from violating your
MathType license agreement.
Before your users can run a workstation install, you need to complete the following
steps:
- Copy contents of MathType CD to server
- Run a normal MathType Setup
- Create the shortcut your users will run
Please read through the steps before starting.
Steps to Perform:
- Copy contents of MathType CD to server
Copy the contents of the MathType CD to a
location where all users will have access to it. Once this step is complete, this folder
can be locked. This folder is referred to as the "source". If you have floppy
disks, simply copy all the files from each of the floppies into a single folder.
- Run a normal MathType Setup
Setup needs to be run once in order to set up the MathType
destination folder. Install MathType to a location on your server that all your users will
normally be able to access. Do not install into the source folder (created in step 1).
These two folders must be kept separate, or Setup will fail. During this step, you will be
required to personalize the copy of MathType by entering a name, organization (optional),
and registration number. The name field should contain the name of the licensee as stated
in your contract. The registration number must be a valid site-license registration
number, or you will run into problems in step 4.
During this normal install, there are some issues you may need to keep in mind. Not all
of the files that are installed go into the MathType folder (or its subfolders). For
example, MathType Setup installs macro commands for Word 95, 97, and 2000. These files go
into the appropriate startup folder for the version of Word. If you run Word with its
startup folders locked, you will need to unlock these folders to permit MathType Setup to
complete successfully. For further details, see the section entitled Files not in the MathType Folder.
- Create the shortcut your users will run
Create a shortcut to the Setup.exe file
(located in the source folder), and put it where your users will be able to run it. Name
this shortcut "MathType Workstation Install".
Open the "Properties" dialog for this shortcut. On the "Shortcut"
tab, edit the "Target:" box and add the following text at the end: -W -DL
"<MathTypeDir>" (where MathTypeDir is the location where you
already have MathType installed from step 2). This path can either be a mapped network
drive, or a UNC path name. If you normally run Word with its startup folder locked, you
might want to consider also adding "-C" to the command-line in order to suppress
the error messages your users will get during a workstation install. Note: using the
"-C" command-line parameter may prevent you from receiving valid macro
installation errors. Use this parameter sparingly.
- Run Workstation Install
You are now ready to run and test your Workstation Install.
From another machine, launch the "MathType Workstation Install" shortcut, and
complete the installation. You should now have all the proper fonts, OLE registration, and
the Start Button icons for MathType. To test that the installation was successful, simply
run MathType from the Start Button. Insert a few symbols and templates from the palettes
on the toolbar, and a few expressions from the large and small expression bars (also on
the toolbar).
MathType 5 automatically installs all files, including both the
MathType Commands and the MathType 5 Start Menu items, for all users.
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