Computer Software for Steel Professionals
Structural Material Manager Version 18.2 Upgrade
Cloud-Based Operation: When Version 1.0 debuted in 1985, Structural Material Manager ran exclusively on the drives of individual PCs. As computing platforms evolved, the software became network-compatible with 1990's Version 2.2 upgrade. With the 2022 release of Version 18.2, a third deployment possibility is introduced: the cloud.
An enormous strength of Structural Material Manager’s network compatibility has always been that there is no need to specify standalone or network versions when purchasing the software nor do such options have to be selected during installation. Just as previous systems were equally at home in both standalone and networked environments without any special configuration, the cloud compatibility introduced under Version 18.2 is equally seamless. Structural Material Manager’s setup utility does not have to be told whether the system will run locally, on a traditional network or in the cloud. Everything is handled automatically “behind the scenes” since the software itself detects its runtime environment and behaves accordingly.
It is important in multi-user scenarios that software systems properly handle file-locking. Windows inherently provides file-locking on traditional networks, but this is an area in which cloud operations usually present a unique challenge. Most cloud-storage providers do not currently address file-locking! Newcomers to cloud computing are often unaware of this fact, and they thus risk overwriting the work of other team members. Structural Material Manager Version 18.2 implements its own proprietary method of cloud file-locking so you can be confident that multiple users accessing the system via the cloud won’t corrupt each other’s work.
Some Structural Material Manager users who have not yet experimented with cloud operations have asked us to recommend a provider. We experimented with one called pCloud for many months with great success. See https://www.pcloud.com if you are interested in setting up a pCloud account. If working in a team environment, please note that the idea is not to have each member of the team create a separate account but, rather, create one account for the entire team so each member can access the same pCloud drive. A pCloud drive is usually designated as Drive P:, but pCloud does allow other letters to be used. E.J.E. Industries has no business relationship with pCloud and benefits in no way from our customers signing up for either their free or paid offerings.
Please do not think that the introduction of cloud compatibility means that the new system must run in the cloud. Some customers intend to have an on-premise server indefinitely, and Structural Material Manager is still perfectly compatible with such a locally-hosted platform.
Compatibility with Case-Sensitive File Systems: Unlike Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, Windows has traditionally been non-case-sensitive regarding filenames. For example, the filenames SMM.EXE, SMM.Exe, smm.exe and other variations of capitalization normally all refer to the very same file under Windows.
Beginning with the Windows 10 April 2018 update, Microsoft modified Windows to optionally provide case-sensitivity on a folder-by-folder basis. Folders configured that way using the Windows “fsutil” command behave more like Unix and its derivatives in that the various capitalizations of SMM.EXE, SMM.Exe, smm.exe, etc. represent completely different files that can even simultaneously exist. Although it would be unusual for system administrators to actually configure a Windows system using the case-sensitivity option, E.J.E. Industries has upgraded Structural Material Manager Version 18.2 for full compatibility with such environments.
The new ability of Structural Material Manager to run in case-sensitive environments has benefits under Windows even when no case-sensitivity options have been configured. Consider, for instance, the Western Digital My Cloud Home series of hard drives which allow users to set up private cloud-based storage. All folders and files stored on a Western Digital My Cloud Home system are considered case-sensitive even when accessed via a Windows PC. Structural Material Manager Version 18.2's new compatibility with case-sensitive file systems allows it to now run when hosted by Western Digital My Cloud Home and similar environments.
Support for Spaces in Runtime Paths: Whereas Version 18.0 and earlier Structural Material Manager systems expected to always run in an X:\EJE folder where X: represents any drive letter, Version 18.1 introduced support for arbitrary paths such as X:\AcmeSteel\Apps\EJE\SMM.Exe. However, spaces were still not supported under Version 18.1 which meant that X:\Acme Steel\Apps\EJE\SMM.Exe (with a space between Acme and Steel) remained invalid. Now, with the debut of Version 18.2, full support for runtime paths that include spaces is provided.
This new capability is important for those wishing to run Structural Material Manager in the cloud via Google My Drive. Although you can designate a drive letter (usually G:) that corresponds to Google’s cloud drive, Google does not currently permit root-level operations. That is, it prevents you from creating files such as G:\Test.Txt or folders such as G:\EJE that are right off the drive’s root. Instead, the main G:\My Drive folder serves as the “root” of Drive G: without actually allowing true root-level access. This means that Structural Material Manager would run in a folder such as G:\My Drive\EJE, and the space in “My Drive” is no problem whatsoever now that Version 18.2 supports such paths.
Finer Control of Camber Nesting: A setting has always existed allowing you to determine whether cambered items should be nested. A “Yes” value causes the Length-Nesting Module to nest cambered items, and a “No” value tells it to treat all cambered items as non-nestable.
Beginning in Structural Material Manager Version 18.2, specifying “Yes” to nest cambered items opens a further option: whether items of different cambers should be nested from the same stock length. If you allow that, items with cambers of ½" and 1", for instance, are eligible to be cut from the very same stock length, and non-cambered items may also come from that same stock. With that new option deselected, items with ½" camber and those with 1" camber as well as non-cambered items (in keeping with this same example) will all be cut from different stock lengths.
Upgrade Price Quote and Ordering Info: If you are an existing customer with an older Structural Material Manager version, please e-mail us at Sales@ejeindustries.com to obtain a price quote on the latest upgrade. You can then use the Online Upgrade Order Form to conveniently place the order for the latest Structural Material Manager upgrade.
Other Upgrade Versions: This page specifically covers Version 18.2 upgrade features. For information concerning other upgrade versions, visit our main Structural Material Manager upgrade page which contains links to pages describing improvements in each software release from Version 10.1 (circa 2007) to the present.