SAFE SQL Feature: Undo
Ed. Note: This is the third a series of articles on the major new features in SAFE SQL. The following describes the new undo capability in most transactions.

One of the things users take for granted in many applications is the ability to undo changes they have made. SAFE has always allowed this in a limited way, but the fact remains that once you performed certain activities, such as deleting a line item on a sales order, there was no way to undo an itchy trigger finger on the <del> key. SAFE 6.0 changes that.

Now, whenever you press Escape or 'the [X]' to close out a window, SAFE 6.0 assumes that you wish to Cancel any changes you made to the transaction. If you deleted line items, changed line items or added line items, cancelling a transaction completes undoes (?) these changes, returning the transaction to it's original state when it was opened.

'Wonderful!' you say. Five seconds later, however, you think, 'but what about...'. Ah, and there is the rub. Many transactions, such as Sales Orders, are very complex things, containing links to all sorts of related information such as Purchase Orders, Vendor Bills, Specs, etc., etc. etc. What happens to all those related items? OK, here's the logic behind it:

Let us say that you were editing an existing Sales Order with one line item. You edit the line item and generate a Purchase Order for that line item. Next, you add a new line item. The new line item is for the first run of a new product so you need to create that new Product and link it to the selected Customer ID. Finally, after all that, you realize that you grabbed the wrong piece of paper and that you are working on the wrong order (oh, like that's never happened to you?). So you 'click the [X]' to cancel the changes to the transaction. What will happen?

1. The transaction will be put back as it was when you started. The changes to the first line item are undone. The second line item is removed.

2. The Purchase Order you generated is not gone but it is now Voided in the Purchase Order Browse and is no longer linked to the first line item on the transaction.

3. The Product you added (for line item number two) remains in the Products Browse, along with any Specs you may have created, however if the Specs you created were Item Specific, then those were removed (since they were part of the line item, of course.)

The Rules
From the above we can deduce three general rules:
1. If you generate a related transaction (Purchase Order, Vendor Bill, etc.) from within the transaction you are editing and then cancel the transaction you are editing, the related transaction (again: P.O., Vendor Bill) is voided.

2. Any related Master File records (Products, Vendors, Customers, etc.) you may have created on the fly while editing the transaction are not deleted. If these need to be undone they must be removed from their respective Browse.

3. Generated documents cannot be undone. For example, if you print a Release Notice or generate an Invoice within a Sales Order, you cannot undo the transaction afterwards. This is consistent with one of SAFE's cardinal rules: once you generate a document (an invoice or release notice) the document is 'out there' so it cannot be undone; only voided.

Undoing Undo
The new Undo capability can be disabled in Security Extensions, and is, in fact, disabled for those of you upgrading from 5.1 (it is enabled for new installations). Activate it in the Custom Settings section of Setup.
 

Net Satisfaxtion On Sale!
According to our good friends at FaxBack www.netsatisfaxtion.com, NetSatisfaxtion Small Business Server is now available for $595 for unlimited users. This makes NetSatisfaxtion by far the least expensive way to get rock solid faxing for your business. And with options such 'Fax From The Web' (say goodbye to long distance charges when faxing!) and automatic FAX to PDF conversion, it's really a no brainer. (Not to mention complete integration with SAFE!) As we've said before, why fool around with so-called 'cheaper' solutions which are unreliable, hard to configure and end up costing more when you add new users.  Call us to place your order, or go to their web site for a fully functional thirty day trial.
 

Annual 'State Of The Industry'
Last month was Form Magazine's Annual 'State of The Industry' issue. To me, this article looked suspiciously like the same issue in 2001. And 2000. And 1999. And the drone of 'Consolidation', 'Diversification', 'Internet' may just be leaving some of you numb. It's not that I disagree with their assessment, because you cannot disagree with reality. But virtually all these articles are long on what is wrong and short on specifics as to what to do.

Clearly our larger customers are doing something about it. You have the resources and the talent to chart your own course. You have us build highly customized software to achieve your goals. And you are doing so because you realize one basic fact about this industry: It's every man (er... person) for him/her-self. I will suggest that this applies to all distributors/brokers regardless of size.

Many brokers are looking to the DMIA, various vendors, software companies, etc. to provide solutions and leadership. I frankly, do not believe they are to be found. At least not long term solutions--meaning more than five years out. We believe that it is up to each of you to do some hard soul searching  as to where you want to be five or ten years from now. The truth is that, for quite a number of you, the answer will not be 'essentially the same thing I am doing now.' Now is the time to really plan for the future.

The fact is that the greatest asset you have is your customers trust. If you have any kind of real relationship with your customer base, you have the opportunity to sell them virtually anything so long as you do it well. Our biggest strength, we feel, is our ability to analyze tasks and provide the infrastructure to support that. We know we do that better than anyone else in our industry so, generally speaking, if you have an idea, we can probably make it happen.

A Modest Proposal
My suggestion would be to start looking at every customer you have with 'new eyes'. Even if you have been with them for twenty years, next time you get in front of them, try to imagine that you are seeing their business for the very first time. Try to make it a goal that you will notice at least one new thing about their business that you've never noticed before. Trust me, it's there. Don't worry about whether or not what you see has anything to do with your current line of business or not. Just notice something.

Next, compare your observations with those new things that your other sales people have noted. I guarantee you that if you try this with all your customers, you will see very useful commonalities. And that should get you thinking about new opportunities. In other words, I bet that when you compare what you have noticed at all your customers, you will see remarkable similarities. Partly that will be because everyone has similar needs wants and desires, and partly it will be because every good company has a natural focus and it's people, to one degree or another, are drawn to many of the same things. In other words, many of your people are probably on the same page when they see opportunities. That's good.

Then, when the little light bulb goes off and you see something that all your customers have in common that you can help with, pick up the phone and call us to discuss how to put these opportunities into action.

By the way, lest you think that this is just more of the same pompous motivational blather you hear every day, please understand that I certainly did not think this up. This was related to me by our customers who have gone through the process and found that it works. Really.

Oh, John Henry Was A Steel-Drivin' Man!
Many of you perceive software as, basically, a means to improve current workflow. In  other words, letting you operate the same as you have been, just faster. More output with less manpower. This is known as the 'John Henry' school of automation---you know the song where John Henry battled a steam-powered hammer on the railroads. But I want to suggest to you that this is somewhat short-sighted. To extend the metaphor, if you automate today with the simple goal of stream-lining existing processes (a faster hammer), you may not notice that the railroad itself is going out business! In other words: what is the point of having the most efficient system possible for supplying  forms if your customers are using fewer and fewer forms (or whatever widgets you sell)?

Alec used to tell me how frustrating it was to him that so many customers (meaning you) had no problem authorizing $15,000 for a delivery truck  (remember when a truck was only 15k?) , but getting $1,500 for software was often like pulling teeth. If you view the world like John Henry, I can understand this; everyone can see a direct relationship between a truck, a delivery, and cash flow. Software? Sometimes it's not so obvious how that can make you real money.. But good software can do a lot more than simply drive nails faster or bill customers more easily. It can help you do things that simply are not possible by hand. And to see those possibilities requires one to think 'outside the box' (sorry, I have desperately resisted using that phrase but it's perfect here). It can enable your business to market services and products that you may have had absolutely no thought about before.

Your business will not be the same five years from now. We want to help you make the transition. As always, I try to prove my partner Alec, wrong. I believe that you are willing to invest in your future, especially now, because you see the imperative. Use our expertise, having worked with over 12,000 businesses, to get you where you want to go. All we need is some idea of what opportunities you see. Not what DMIA or other distributors see; but what you see.

Looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

---JCH
 

Ciaran's Corner: More MS Patches, SAFE 6 Slower?
Patch Alert For Users Of Terminal Services Over Windows XP!
Those of you using Microsoft's Terminal Services over Windows XP should read (or refer to your network provider) the following articles which detail a fairly nasty problem.. Ironically, the problem was created with the Windows XP Service Pack #1. Fortunately, the links tell you about a fix and how to get it:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=328002

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=327521

These are full of technical goop (hey, I'm a Tech Support Manager, what do you expect?) but se of you using Microsoft's Terminal Services should read (or refer to your network provider) the following articles which detail a fairly nasty

SAFE 6 Browses Are Slow? Perish The Thought!
We have gotten word (OK, out and out complaints) from users who are convinced that all our talk about SAFE SQL being faster is utter rubbish. If you are finding this to be the case, here's the secret: Indexes versus Natural Orders.

SAFE 6 remembers your last sort when you open a Browse. Now some sorts are faster than others because they are indexed (like a library card catalog). This makes SAFE run ever so much faster. You'll know when you select a column which is indexed as the browse will appear instantly. Another hint for seasoned users is that, if you choose a column which had a tab in prior versions of SAFE, it is probably indexed.

But other columns are not indexed. So SAFE has to re-sort them when you open the browse. And that takes time. It is actually happening very fast, relative to SAFE 5.1, but if you're used to the immediate response of the indexed columns it seems slow by comparison.

Now since SAFE 6 remembers the sort from the last time you opened that browse, if you had previously selected a column which is not indexed, SAFE will need to go through the whole re-sorting business again next time you open the browse. To avoid this you have three options:
1. Always select an indexed column before you leave a browse. That way, when you next open it, the response will be instantaneous
2. Go into Setup|User Options and uncheck the Remember Last Sort box.
3. Go into Security Extensions and check the Build Indexes On The Fly box.

This last option does what it says: it actually creates a new index for each column users access, thus giving them the super-speedy response as the normally Indexed columns.

WARNING: We want you to exercise extreme caution before checking this box. This option uses vast quantities of disk space and CPU power! Do not check this box unless you are convinced that you have the horsepower and disk space to handle it, or at least, watch it's effects closely for a day or two before deciding to leave it 'on'.

Cheers!

Ciarān Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com

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End of E-News From The Suntower, Volume V #4