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Getting Started

The Pulse Dashboard Client is the program you run when you want to use Pulse Dashboard. Despite the name, it is not the Dashboard itself — it's a small launcher that prepares your local copy and then opens the real application.

How to run it

In almost all cases: double-click the desktop shortcut. A small splash window appears for a moment that says "Pulse Dashboard," and then the Dashboard itself opens.

If the launcher takes more than a couple of seconds, it's syncing changes from the server. The splash window will show progress messages like "Updating 47 of 154..." while it works.

What happens when you launch

When you double-click the shortcut, the launcher does the following in order:

  1. Locates the server. Usually this is the network folder where the launcher itself lives — the same path the shortcut points to. If that fails (network issue, mapped drive trouble, etc.), the launcher falls back to a saved location, and only prompts you to browse if neither works. See How the server location is found for the full explanation.

  2. Compares your local files to the server's files. Any file that's missing, different size, or visibly newer on the server is queued for copying.

  3. Copies changed files. Most launches don't need to copy anything — your local copy is already up to date, and this whole process takes well under a second.

  4. Cleans up obsolete files. If a file or folder used to be on the server but isn't anymore, the launcher removes the local copy.

  5. Starts Pulse Dashboard.

Where things live on your computer

The launcher keeps your local copy of Pulse Dashboard at:

C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Local\Leahy\Pulse Dashboard 5\

Inside that folder you'll find the application files plus a few special items:

Item Purpose
Settings\ Holds the SQL connection configuration that links this machine's install to a specific database. See Settings folder behavior.
Pulse Logs\ Diagnostic logs from the launcher. See Log File Reference.
ServerPath.txt A fallback record of the server's location. Used when the launcher's normal way of finding the server doesn't work. See How the server location is found.

Everything else in that folder is fair game for the launcher to update or remove during sync.

When something seems wrong

The launcher is designed to tell you when something doesn't go right, rather than fail silently. If you see an error dialog with Retry and Cancel buttons, that means a copy or delete didn't succeed.

The most common cause: Pulse Dashboard is already open in another window. Close it and click Retry, and the launcher will succeed.

If the message points to something else — antivirus blocking a file, permission denied, network unreachable — see Troubleshooting.