About the Data Store Administration Tool

The Data Store Administration Tool is an add-on to Caseware Working Papers that administrators can use to create, customize, and maintain data stores.

Data such as users and file lists are automatically stored on the local workstation the first time you launch Caseware Working Papers. This collection of data is contained in private storage, accessible only to the single user, and is referred to as the personal data store. Alternatively, by creating a data store, you can access the data on multiple machines. All users connected to the same data store have access to a common set of users, global groups, file list, Tracker settings, and configuration information.

Working Papers does not rely on any application servers, our data is stored on your existing Windows files servers. Working Papers will operate even if the data store is offline.

You should use a data store if any of the following apply:

  • You want the protection system on all workstations in your organization to have access to a common list of users and global groups.
  • You want Tracker on all workstations in your organization to have access to a common list of accessed client files.
  • You want to save time by enabling Windows authentication.
  • You want to use Active Directory to populate the user list.
  • You want to manage user rights in groups, that you can easily change and apply to all your Working Papers files.
  • You want to use a security ID.

Stored information

The data store operates as a centralized location for a variety of different information types.

Information type Description
File metadata Stores information about Working Papers files such as location, version information, compression state as well as meta data related to each file.
Terminology Stores shared terminology for use in Working Papers.
Security users Stores list of users available for use in Working Papers security.
Security groups Stores global group information; group properties and user assignment to these groups.
Shared settings Stores data store configuration information (e.g. Database GUID, security ID, file tracking settings).
Local settings Stores information about the state of the personal data store such as the last time the Store was synced and against which data store (personal data store only).

All information types besides local settings are stored in both the data store and personal data store. If you specify a data store, then the information is synchronized between it and your personal data store. If multiple users connect to the same data store, then the information is synchronized between all connected users.

Personal data stores

You can typically find your personal data store in the directory C:\Users\<user account name>\AppData\Local\Caseware. The files in this folder are stored as xBase database files. The data store is either contained in a SQL database if you're using an SQL data store, or in a "Data Store" Windows folder if you're using an xBase data store.

File(s) Personal store Data store (xBase) Data store (SQL)
File meta data files.dbf files.dbf TrackedFiles
Terminology terms.dbf terms.dbf Terminology
Security users users.dbf users.dbf Employees
Security groups groups.dbf groups.dbf SecurityGroups
Shared settings shprefs.dbf shprefs.dbf SharedSettings
Local Settings prefs.dbf n/a n/a
Addition file. Points to the location of the data store. storeinfo.cws storeinfo.cws n/a

By default, the data store uses the personal data store to retrieve information as it is typically always online and synchronized.

Note: To ensure a correct and up-to-date list of client files, always manipulate your files in Working Papers. For example, use File | New or File | Copy Components to create a new file, rather than copying the file through Windows Explorer.