Configuring RSIGuard
for use by Multiple Users

There are various features of RSIGuard that may need to be specially configured when your organisation installs RSIGuard for multiple users. Other features may simply be of more value to ergonomics staff if they are specially configured. In general, these issues require technical support. Support is available without cost if you have an active maintenance agreement. A general overview of the following special configuration issues is shown below.

1) Internet access for help, updates, registration, etc.
2) User submission of Health Status Reports to ergonomics staff
3) User's write access to DataLogger recorded data
4) Ergonomic Staff access of DataLogger data and Health Status Reports
5) Ergonomics manager's remote control of RSIGuard
6) The RNI file
7) Installation of RSIGuard

Because each organisation we work with has a different network setup, RSIGuard has been designed flexibly to support various types of configurations. We will work with you to refine RSIGuard to work best in your particular environment, but this document can be used to help you understand the possibilities. This document assumes a technical background.

1) Internet access for help, updates, registration, etc.

If your company allows your users to access web pages, we normally configure RSIGuard to access help pages directly from our website. We do this because we are constantly improving our online user support and we want your users to have access to that. If your company does not allow any web access, then the help files will be installed in the same location as the executable. Viewing the help files will still require a browser of some sort.

The optional "Check for RSIGuard Upgrade" feature within the Help menu allows users to find out if there is a new version of RSIGuard available (and optionally download and install it).

Our registration process is normally handled via the web. When you purchase an RSIGuard registration code, you are really receiving an authorization code. When entered into the registration box, RSIGuard accesses the RSIGuard web server and sends the authorization code. If the web server accepts the authorization code, it returns a unique registration code that turns the trial version of RSIGuard into the fully registered version.

That's convenient for you, because you can register all copies of RSIGuard with the same registration code. It's nice for us too, because it allows us to disable your authorization code should your code fall into hands that would misuse it.

2) User submission of Health Status Reports to ergonomics staff

The Health Status Reports feature lets your organisation's users file a report about how they are doing from an ergonomic health standpoint. After the user fills out a report, they press the "File Report" button in the Health Status Report dialog window.

A copy of their report is stored in the user's Data folder (see next section). In addition to this copy, which is intended for the user's access with the HSRViewPersonal.exe program, RSIGuard can be configured to store an additional copy elsewhere (for ergonomics staff) using one of 3 methods.

a) The data can be written to a network drive. If all your users can be given access to a common network drive location (e.g. S:\CommonArea\RSIGuard), or different network drives that are mapped to the same name (e.g. S:\MyNetworkFiles) then this method is ideal, because we can then customise your organisation's version of RSIGuard to point to the appropriate fixed location. If no such network location is available, then pointing each user to a different network location is possible, but usually too cumbersome. Of course, if certain users do not have network access, then this method is clearly inappropriate for them. If this method is used, the network location must also be accessible to ergonomics staff, or they will not be able to see the reports that are filed.

b) The data can be submitted via the RSIGuard website. This requires that all users have basic internet access.
Advantages include: your data may be more secure if stored remotely; configuration is simple because no common network location need be specified and we handle all the backend management of the data; and ergonomics staff will automatically have access to the data if they have basic internet access. The chief disadvantage is that we charge for the service of managing and storing your data for you.

c) The data can be submitted via your organisation's intranet. This requires that all users can access your intranet and that your intranet's server can process Perl scripts. We, of course, provide the necessary scripts, but your IT/MIS department manages the data from then on.

To specify which method you use on a particular machine, enter your administrator password. Click on Tools and select "Configure Health Status Report Submission". Based on your answers, RSIGuard generates a string that is stored in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\RSIGuard\Settings\RSIGuard\ReportFilingLocation registry entry. The string can be placed in a startup script to propogate the setting to all users.

3) User's write access to DataLogger recorded data - the "Data Folder"

RSIGuard's DataLogger feature keeps statistical data about the ergonomic behavior of users and must frequently write new data to disk. Selection of where the Data folder goes will determine how easily ergonomics staff can access the data and whether or not users can roam from computer to computer using the same profile. There are basically 3 types of configuration:

1) Store the data on the user's local drive. This is the default configuration, and the default location for the Data folder is in the "Data" subfolder of the executable folder (normally C:\Program Files\RSIGuard\Data).
This gives users maximum privacy, but it means ergonomics staff must physically visit a user's computer to examine ergonomics data. It also means that if a user switches to a new computer, his/her data from the old computer will not be available. If the executable directory is not an acceptable place for a user to write data, you can specify an alternate location in the Admin Settings page.

2) The Data Folder can be on a network drive, e.g. S:\RSIGuardDataFiles\.
If the ergonomics staff has access to this folder, they will be able to view the ergonomic data remotely. If this folder is accessible to the user (by the same name) when they log in from other computers, their profile can be portable. In some organisations, when a user logs in to any computer within the organisation, they will have access to a private network folder with a consistent name, for example, "S:\MyDocuments". In this case, ergonomics staff will need special privileges to access these folders.

3) If users always work on a consistent machine, you can store the data locally and enable the daily backup feature.
This has the advantage of eliminating almost all network activity. However, this mode of operation does not allow a user to log in to different machines because each machine would not be able to access the others's data. In this mode, the destination folder for the backup (settable in Admin Settings) should be write-only for users. Ergonomics staff must of course have read access.

4) Ergonomic Staff access of DataLogger data and Health Status Reports

As described above, there are two types of data that ergonomics staff may wish to view: DataLogger data and Health Status Reports. DataLogger data is objective data that RSIGuard automatically collects whenever it is running.
Health Status Reports are user surveys (with subjective information) that also include a 30-day summary/synopsis of DataLogger data at the time of filing. DataLogger data is larger than a single Health Status Report, and it must be frequently modified by the RSIGuard task running on the user's computer. Health Status Reports are usually only a couple hundred bytes, but since a separate report is generated each time a user files a report, there can be many of them for a single user.

To view DataLogger data for a user (there is 1 data file per user with a file extension ".TID") an ergonomics manager must have access to the file remotely or visit the user's computer. In either case, the TID data file can be viewed with the "RSIGuard Reports" program, which is part of the standard RSIGuard installation. (Note: Currently, data from the keyboard analysis tool can only be viewed on the computer(s) where the user is logged on with their RSIGuard profile active.)

To view Health Status Reports, the ergonomics staff can use a separate tool called HSRView - available for download. This software requires a password to run. Initially the password is "HSR", and the password should be changed the first time you run the tool. HSRView requires you to configure the location of the data in the same way that RSIGuard has you set the "ReportFilingLocation" element. To do this, open the View menu, select Configuration, and select "Set Report Filing Location". In the dialog box, enter the same location string shown when you defined the Filing Location on the users (or your) PC.

If the data is being stored on a web server, the HSRView program will automatically download the data off the website and store it locally in a database. The data can be exported, if desired, to a standard database format for use in other database programs such as Office Access, Lotus Approach, etc.

5) Ergonomics manager's remote control of RSIGuard

Changing an individual user's settings requires entering the Admin mode and then selecting "Remotely Control User" from the Tool menu. Browse for the users configuration file (they must use a Roaming Profile for remote control), open it, and change settings as desired.

Ergonomics staff can remotely queue changes to settings for all RSIGuard users by adding commands to the user startup file. Other forms of control are also possible from the startup file.

6) The RNI file

RSIGuard supports a concept called Roaming Profiles. If enabled, all settings are stored in a network file (as well as the registry) so that as the user switches between various computers, their settings follow them. Changes made on one machine are reflected elsewhere, and administrators can change settings remotely as well. See the Profile Management menu item in Setup to configure Roaming Profiles.

7) Installation of RSIGuard

RSIGuard is most typically installed in one of the following ways:
1. Manually installed on each computer that uses RSIGuard
2. Installed on a server, with a network startup script that starts RSIGuard
3. Installed on a server, with a shortcut to the server installed on each computer that uses RSIGuard
4. Installed on each computer automatically using a software management tool such as SMS
5. Installed as part of a hard-drive image placed on all new computers

Option 1 works well for smaller companies, or for companies that are only installing RSIGuard on an "as needed" basis for a small percentage of employees. Configuration is not a problem, since configuration can be tied to a registration code, and when a user enters the registration code, all special configuration can be automatically completed. Users either need privileges to install software, or they will need a system administrator to complete the configuration.

Option 2 has the advantage that updating to a new version of RSIGuard only requires updating the server(s) and not individual PCs. It has the disadvantage of increasing network traffic, especially if stretches will be downloaded over the network during breaks (smaller versions of the stretches are available for this configuration). If your network scripting does not allow you to specify a user-group (e.g. if not all users will be using RSIGuard), RSIGuard has functionality to specify that it will only run for a selected group of users (based on their Windows login name). Thus you can easily specify who will use RSIGuard even if everyone must run the same network startup script.

Option 3 works well if option 2 is not possible (e.g. if you can not run/create network startup scripts), but you still want the benefit of having a single physical installation of RSIGuard for easy updates to new versions of RSIGuard. The downside, of course, is that even though the software updates will be a simple matter of updating the server, one visit will need to be made to each computer to install a shortcut to the RSIGuard executable in the user's Startup folder (although there are some semi-automated ways to do this).

Option 4 is ideal if an automated software distribution system is in place already.
Option 5 is a simple system that is appropriate if your organisation already uses a hard-drive image for new computers.

All computers must register RSIGuard. For options 2, 3 and 5, the registration process can be automated by putting a "register" command in the user's startup script. The first time they run RSIGuard, it will self-register, and perform any necessary configuration customisation. Depending on your software distribution system, this may also apply to Option 4.

Maintenance Agreement
You may optionally purchase a 1-year maintenance agreement to accompany your RSIGuard license, at a cost of 15% of the license price. Each subsequent year, you will have the option of continuing this maintenance agreement for an additional 15% of the published price of RSIGuard.