In a normal set up polygons should be shared by users. Normally only the background maps are held locally. There is an explanation of how mapping works in the Network Installation Guid 5.1. Quoting from this
'Object Sheet folder (identified by registry value HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Dorset Software\Recorder 6\Settings\Object Sheet File Path). This contains GIS system files shared by all users and should be stored on the file server in a network installation.'
' Note because the Map_Sheet table is shared between users, as is the Object Sheet folder, polygon layers are shared between users. In fact, when 2 users have the same base map open and one draws a new polygon, Recorder periodically checks for new polygons on the other client machine and they will automatically appear soon after they are drawn'.
Finding out why this isn't working on an installation can be complcated. However, a map reset or atempting to install the polygons on each work stations is likely to make things worse.
The thing to check first is where the Base Map and Object sheets are being held for each user. The information is held in HKey Current User/Dorset Software/Recorder 6/Setting (Base Map file path and Object sheet file path). The paths should be on to the server and be the same for all worksations/users. It is essential that all users should be able to read/write to the Object sheet folder. Users who set up new base maps need to be able to read the data from the Base Map folder.
Polygon layers are related to specific base maps, so the next problem is likely to be that the users are not sharing the same Base Map. Check first through Recorder 6 (Map Options) that all users have a base map of the same name. If there are differneces further investigation will require looking at the Computer Map table. This holds the key of the base maps for each workstation. All workstations should point to the same base map key(s). The Computer Map table is based on the computer_id of the workstation. If this changes for any reason then this will cause problems - do some setups change the computer id depending on who is logged in ??
On a more general note, the problem with mapping is that the polygons for a given polygon layer are all held in one file for that polygon layer. If this gets corrupted then it is impossible to retrieve any information for that polygon layer, because the files are in a proprietary format. The only way I know that this happens is importing a file which is not exactly in the format required by R6, but there may be other situation which cause the problem. If the default polygon layer is corrupted then this will probably means that a reset will be required and all polygon information will be lost. My advice would be never to use the default polygon layer. Create new polygon layers to group imported polygons together and before importing a new polygon into an existing layer create a test layer and import it into that first, so that if there are any problems the layer can be deleted. Backing up the Object Sheet folder is also a good idea, especially before a reset. There is currently no way of restoring from a backup of the folder without doing some manual database changes, but it does at least provide some way back.
I appreciate that this is not a very satifactory situation and the way this works needs looking at, so that there is a way of recovering should a file get corrupted. It is one of the things being considered for development this year. I would welcome any information on what the problems are and what may be causing them.
Mike Weideli