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'The Electronic
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Volume VII #5 |
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SAFE/7 New
Feature: TransLog Print Monitoring
Ed. Note: In previous
issues, we've spent a lot of time talking about the big new features in SAFE/7.
But what about the hundreds of little things? Users often either rejoice or
curse when they find out about a particularly useful doodad of which they were
previously unaware. So for the next few issues we're going to cover some of
these new, but small features.
Users of SAFE/7 and TransLog can now monitor when a user prints any report or form. Since so many database updates are triggered by printing a form, this can be invaluable information in determining who did what?
OK, now we know that you can do this; well this is going to be a short article! But hang on a minute: although the concept is similar for both reports and forms there are a few differences which are worth mentioning.
REPORTS
All built-in reports are automatically monitored if you have TransLog. These
are indicated in the TransLog Browse with a type of 'R' (for Report, of
course.) And not only is the who, what, when stored, but also the Query
the user executed. A typical use for this might be determining exactly when the
various Sales Tax and Commission Reports were last run.
Note: You can turn off their monitoring on a report by report basis in
the Global Options Browse. You would normally only do this if you were concerned
about conserving disk space and thus wanted to keep monitoring to a minimum.
FORMS/INTERNAL CUSTOM REPORTS
These are a bit different, because a Form in SAFE usually indicates a
Transaction. These are indicated in the TransLog Browse with a type of 'F' (for
Form) And not only is the who, what, when stored, but also the
Transaction ID for each Form. A typical use for this might be determining
exactly when the a particular Sales Invoice or A/P Check was
printed.
Forms are also
different in that they are not automatically monitored by SAFE. In other
words, you have to turn their monitoring on one by one in the Global
Options Browse. This is for two reasons:
1. If your Forms were created before SAFE/7 then they do not support this
feature and need to be updated to do so (see below for details on this).
2. Forms tend to be printed a lot more than Reports so, again, to
conserve disk space, it can make sense to only monitor critical operations
(perhaps A/P Check Printing and S/O Invoicing, but not Forms Management
Reports.)
EXTERNAL
CUSTOM REPORTS
These are a hybrid. Like Forms they are not automatically monitored and must
be turned on in the Global Options Browse. Also, no Query is saved (since
this is likely built into the report itself.) So monitoring an External Custom
Report can tell you the who, what, when but not much else.
Did Someone
Mention Another Update?
We surely did. As
with other form-specific features in SAFE, your forms must be upgraded in order
to be able to take advantage of this important feature. The cost for installing
the feature for all your forms past present and future is one hour labour
($110.00 as of this writing). That bit about 'past, present and future' is
important---it means that once this is enabled, it will automatically apply to
any new forms you may purchase from us in the future. In other words, you will
never pay again for this feature.
You can arrange your Report Monitoring Upgrade with us today by contacting Ken or Jennifer in Service, or your Tech Support Representative. This process usually takes five (5) business days to complete.
Til Next Time!
Ciaran's
Corner: Ollie, Windows 2003 And Server Pricing
We've been answering a squillion
(10^freakin' big) questions about using Ollie5.1 and Windows 2003. And our stock
answer has been, 'just get a copy of Windows 2000 Server'. But of course, many
of you just loooooove your computer vendor almost as much as your Dear Mum, so
when your trusted Compaq or IBM or Dell dealer says, 'Pshawww! We won't do it!
It's W2003 or nothing!' We hate that for several reasons. Want to hear
them? OK, here comes another Fabulous Rant!
Reason #1 The
Configuration Hassle
Windows 2003 includes a new version of IIS (the actual web server component
of Windows). This is known as IIS6. II6 has a number of yummee features to
enhance performance. Unfortunately, none of them are compatible with Ollie5.1.
And since many of you are not ready to move to Ollie you need to stick with
IIS5---the web server which comes with Windows 2000 Server. What to do?
Solution A. Forget 'em and
get your own OS! Shocking but true! You (the customer) can insist that your
dealer install no OS. And then you can get your own copy of
Windows 2000 (available from 1/2 squillion dealers worldwide) and install it
yourself. How tough is this? Installing the OS is not. In fact, it's about as
tough as sticking a CD in the drive and booting the machine. The real battle
will be telling your sales rep to get stuffed (and to not forget to give you
the discount for no OS, thanks!). We constantly hear horror stories from
customer who were bullied or frightened into getting components they don't
need. We understand about techno-fear, but the above scenario is totally
doable and anyone here will happily walk you through the process. You just
need the stones to tell your vendor what you want.
Solution B. Install IIS5 on
top of Windows 2003. Yes you can install IIS5 with Windows 2003. In fact, IIS5
is a component included with any version of Windows 2000. So if you
have any PC still running W2K, you can legally use that CD to install
IIS5 onto your W2003 Server. This is only marginally more difficult than
Solution A--finding the W2K CD usually being the most challenging part of the
process.
Solution C. Use the Windows 2003 Configure IIS5 Isolation Mode. Those smart guys at Microsoft engineered a backward compatibility feature into IIS6 called Worker Isolation Mode. This lets IIS5 applications (like Ollie 5.1) continue to work properly. Now at this moment you might say, 'Well, Marron, why didn't you mention this first!' Because our experience so far has been that almost no one installs/sets this up properly! And since most of you have to pay your network guy to come out every time you want to do anything to your OS, this, like so many things gets into finger-pointing. However, if set up properly, this does work. So if this is the way you want to go (maybe because you anticipate upgrading to Ollie7 soon) then the thing you want to do is talk to your network guy before installing Windows 2003 and making sure he reads/understands the Microsoft docs on this topic.
Reason #2 The Microsoft Stick
Up!
Your dealer may well insist that you get Windows 2003. But what they may
not tell you is that they are doing so not out of deep belief in their product
but because Microsoft is telling them to do so---and Microsoft is punishing them
for every PC they sell without their preferred OS. This is so close to the same
behaviour which got MS into anti-trust trouble it isn't funny. But you
are the customer and you do have the right to purchase a computer without the
Microsoft OS. I've even heard horror stories of sales reps saying that if you
purchase a server without their approved OS, they won't honour their hardware
warranty! You gotta fight the power.
Reason #3 The Dealer Stick
Up!
Along similar lines of sowing FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt), you may think
that no one but your big-brand dealer can deliver a quality server. Actually
this used to be the case. But there have been no real innovations in the
computer biz in several years and there are many, many 'white box' dealers in
virtually every town who do great work. This is actually the reverse of what
most people think and we have Michael Dell to thank for it. What he pioneered
was the Wal-Martization of desktop PCs. They almost give away the desktop
and laptop models in order to get companies like yours sewn up. They think
(quite rightly) that once you are happy with a Dell desktop or laptop, you won't
even think you'll go elsewhere for such an important item as a server. Then they
drop 'da bomb' on you. Example? We routinely look at $10k USD quotes for servers
from HP/Compaq, IBM or Dell which could easily be satisfied using one of
our white boxes at about 40% of the price. And our boxes are on the expensive
end of the scale amongst white-boxers!
My advice (as always)?
1. Buy only what you need, not what your sales rep says you need.
2. Get an objective network guy who has no vested interest in selling you stuff
3. Don't feel 'married' to a hardware vendor. There
4. Listen to us. The application is what should drive the process.
Did you notice #4? Notice it's us. Not the hardware guy. Not the network guy. If you believe in our application, believe that we know how to make them run best and would never give advice that would do otherwise.
Well!!! That
was cleansing! 
Til Next Time!
Ciarān Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com
End of E-News From The Suntower, Volume VII #5
