RIMMF Installation notes

As outlined on the Download page, there are two methods of installing RIMMF. Whichever method you choose, the RIMMF install layout is basically the same.

In each case, the installation consists of one application named 'rimmf.exe', several support modules with the file extension '.dll'¹⁾, and two sub-folders included in the installation directory:

1. a 'defaults' folder – a backup of the tables distributed with the program.
2. a 'RIMMF' folder – the folder where all user modifiable data is stored

Installation folder

For the standard installation, the default location for the application and sub-folders is:

C:\Program Files\TMQ\RIMMF

Note: in a Windows 7 64-bit environment, the default installation folder will be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\TMQ\RIMMF 

For the 'zipfile' or flash drive installation, the default installation location is whatever folder you unzip the download to. If you accept the default, the extraction folder will likely be named:

setupRimmf1

In the standard installation, the first time that the program runs, the 'RIMMF' sub-folder is copied to the 'My Documents' of the Windows user running the program. This 'My Documents' folder is where the RIMMF records that you create will be stored.

In the flash drive installation, this copy procedure does not take place²⁾–all user data is written directly to the distributed 'RIMMF' folder (see above).

The layout of the 'RIMMF' folder is the same in both installations; it contains five sub-folders:

1. data (where your records are stored),
2. element sets (one for each entity),
3. tables (tables),
4. templates (the templates that come with RIMMF and that you create yourself),
5. tmq (our templates, and a few test records) and
6. vocabs (vocabulary terms)

Technical notes

The program looks for the 'RIMMF' folder in your 'My Documents' folder when it starts. If it does not find the folder there, it looks for it in its startup folder (the location of the 'rimmf.exe' application). If it does not find a 'RIMMF' folder there either, the program will not function as designed.

Both the windows installer, and the flash drive installation, will position and locate the support folder correctly. Do not move any of these folders around.

RIMMF does not use the windows system registry. Instead, all options are saved in an .ini file in the root of the support folder (eg. My Documents\RIMMF\options.ini).

If you have created any records or templates with RIMMF that you want to preserve, then before uninstalling the program, copy or move the corresponding folders:

• In the standard installation, preserve
  • My Documents\RIMMF\data
  • My Documents\RIMMF\templates
• In the 'flash drive' installation, goto the folder where you unzipped the program archive and preserve
  • RIMMF\data
  • RIMMF\templates.

To uninstall RIMMF

If you used the 'standard' installation, then use windows to remove RIMMF.

• In XP, go to 'Control Panel|Add or Remove Programs';
• In Windows 7, go to 'Control Panel|Programs and Features'.

If you used the 'alternate' installation, then

• if you you unzipped the program archive to a new folder (which may be 'setupRimmf1' if you accepted the default), then delete that entire folder
• else, goto the folder where you unzipped the archive and delete:

1. the application 'rimmf.exe'
2. the folder 'defaults'
3. the folder 'RIMMF'.

There are two 'levels' of restoration. The first restores the default tables to their distributed state. The second deletes all tables and all option settings–the next time the program starts, a new RIMMF environment will be generated.

1. Restore default tables

1. Start the program
2. Go to the menu Tools|Setup and select 'Restore default tables'
3. Respond to the usual 'Are you sure?' pop-up
4. Re-start RIMMF (it will close itself when the previous step completes)

2. Reset RIMMF tables

1. Start the program
2. Go to the menu Tools|Admin and select 'Reset RIMMF tables'
3. Respond to the usual 'Are you sure?' pop-up
4. Re-start RIMMF (it will close itself when the previous step completes)

Using either Reset option does not affect any records or templates you have made. However, both will undo any changes you have made to the default tables. The first reset option does not delete elements, vocabularies, or terms you have added yourself; the second one does.

Its possible that after such a reset–if you have created your own templates with elements that you added yourself–you may get messages about 'orphan' or 'undefined' elements when using these templates. This is because you added elements which, although no longer in the tables, are still being referenced from the templates.

There are two solutions to this problem.

1. If you don't care about the old templates and just want to get rid of these error messages, make sure RIMMF isn't running and delete your 'RIMMF\templates' folder.
2. If you do care, send us an email and we will get back to you with the steps to import the elements you added back into the RIMMF tables.

If you decided to disregard our advice and went ahead and installed RIMMF on the same computer using both installation methods, here is what we think will happen:

1. If you start RIMMF using the shortcut that the standard installation puts on the desktop, then the standard installation will run
2. If you start RIMMF by double-clicking on the application from your flash drive (or wherever you installed RIMMF on your hard drive using the 'alternate' installation), RIMMF will run from that location, but, if it can find it, it will use your 'My Documents\RIMMF folder' for all of your records, tables, etc.
3. The only way to get RIMMF to use the 'record' folder from the flash drive will be if there is no 'My Documents\RIMMF folder' on your hard drive.

Therefore, if you are planning to use RIMMF from a flash drive, and make use of the great convenience of this type of installation (which allows you to move from one computer to another, and keep all of your customizations intact and uptodate without any need for syncing), then its best to follow our advice and not also install RIMMF on your system using the standard installation.