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August 2004
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| June
TopGun Winner |
Here is the subject for the next TopForm TopGun Challenge. |
Congratulations to
Janet Olafson of Doucment Resources - our
July TopGun winner. She correctly answered the question,
“Which TopForm module interfaces with Microsoft Word for letter writing?"
Answer:
Contact Management
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An enhancement was made to which report to flag suspended orders, eliminate lot selection and the printing of packing lists for these orders?
Send your answers to
Jean
Dudek.
Remember that all correct answers are being entered into the grand prize drawing at our Spring 2005 Users Conference.
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One of the benefits afforded TopForm users with our migration to the ProvideX development environment is the way logins are counted as users, that is, users can login multiple times and still only have it count as one
user. However, there is some confusion regarding exactly how this works. Hopefully this will help eliminate this confusion.
If your company purchased an 8-user TopForm license you most likely also purchased an 8-user license of
ProvideX, however, you may have continued to user TinyTerm or some other terminal emulator. In order to take advantage of this feature, you must use the
WindX Plug-in terminal emulator. This is a free download entitled by your ProvideX license.
Each operator using the
WindX Plug-in can login multiple times from the same workstation and only take up one license. This is because
ProvideX is counting logins from the workstation ip addresses.
Let’s say that Jim, the administrator logs in one
WindX session and starts unattended printing and then opens another
WindX session for order entry and another session to check inventory, etc. Since these logins are from the same workstation, only one license is used. Then lets assume Steve logs in three times from his workstation, Now only two licenses are in use at this point even though there are six windows open.
If a Webec server, Webec demo server and a Webec mail server were started on system boot, all three of these processes would use one additional license. If four additional users login to TopForm from their workstations, the user count would be up to seven.
This is where it gets tricky……Once the eighth user logs in from another workstation on the network, (remember
ProvideX is counting ip addresses) then the limit has been met. All 8 user licenses are in use and no more logins by any user will be allowed.
It is important to manage your logins with these restrictions in mind. If all of your operators need multiple windows open, then organize this process so that the maximum user count is not exceeded by seven workstations (including Web.ec if applicable).
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TopForm has been modified to allow the user to save all the data from the Accounts Receivable Invoice Data Entry files in an alternate set of files. As you know, your Accounts Receivable Data Entry files clear at the time of the Sales Journal Update. Buy replicating this data in an alternate set of files that will not cleared at the time of the Sales Journal update this data becomes available for additional reporting.
To enable this feature, check the following A/R Parameter.
Update Invoice Data Entry Batch Files to allow ODBC Access?
Below is a list of the files that will be replicated and the new file name.
- ARD as AZD
- ARB as AZB
- FS3 as AZ3
- ART as AZT
- ARC as AZC
- ASD as AZS
Also, a new utility (ARU, U3) was created to provide the user with the option to clear these files based upon a fiscal year and accounting period selection. Please contact TopForm support for more information on this new feature.
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The Web.ec perl script, ecserver.pl, that is used on the TopForm server has had
two new feature improvements. These are in version 2.3 dated April 12, 2004.
The first improvement allows the user to specify a file name so that a custom “timeout” page can be displayed. There is a variable set in ecserver.pl ($timeout_file) that is set to a file located on the TopForm server. The default value of the file name is
/usr/lib/pvx/www_interface/timeout.htm.
If this file exists (the file name can be changed in the ecserver.pl script),
then it will be sent instead of the typical "timeout" page we send now. The
file will be proceeded with Content-Type headers indicating that it is an
html file (this can be changed by editing the ecserver.pl script in the
area where $timeout_file is opened). If the file does not exist or cannot be
opened, the current default page will be sent.
The second improvement is a change to the file naming convention for files generated by ecserver.pl. The file names generated by ecserver.pl have been changed from a 1-5 digit random numbers (preceded by the dir name and post ceded by the suffix) to a new format as follows:
The current year in 1 or 2 digits (not zero filled not including the century)
ex: 2004 = 4, 2010 = 10
The current day of the year in 1 to 3 digits, not zero filled
ex: Jan 1= 1, Dec 31 = 364 or 365
The current second of the day 1 to 5 digits, not zero filled
ex: 1 - 84000
The "_" character
The process id of the child process 1 to 5 digits, not zero filled
ex: 57682
A sequence counter, not zero filled from 0 to MAX_CLIENT_REQUESTS_PER_CHILD
ex: typically 0 - 4
Example names (assuming .ec suffix):
49855123_45645_0.ec, 49945987_12879_1.ec
This enhancement will generate unique file names without having to first perform a check to see if the file already exists. This results in a time saving. The disk does not have to be checked for the .ec file, the .ec.x file, and the
.ec.o file. Duplicates can only occur if a process is restarted with the same process
id (should only happen on a reboot) in the same second (most reboots take
a little longer than a second).
These new file names should cause the files to be processed in correct order, and eliminates the possibility of duplicates. It can also aid in problem resolution,
as we will now know the approximate time the file was created.
Contact Bob Behzadi at 770-239-5316 to get this updated version of ecserver.pl.
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Did you know that items ordered via Web.ec can be automatically combined by vendor on a single Purchase Order. To enable this feature, you need to specify the product codes where this would be appropriate.
In the character based versions of TopForm, simply answer the equivalent parameter question “yes.” This would be appropriate for the following types of items:
Office Products
Promotional Products
Other items not requiring unique specifications
Of course, separate purchase orders will be created when multiple vendors are involved, or when the item is for a product code where this parameter has not been checked. An example of a product code that should not be combined would be those where specifications are required to be included on the purchase order.
Along a similar line, the TopForm GUI version was modified to allow the operator to combine multiple custom items on the same Purchase Order.
The operator will only be allowed to enter specifications on the first
custom item entered. This feature has now been retrofitted to the Character based version of TopForm.
For more information on these important features, please contact TopForm Support.
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STOP BY OUR BOOTH #508!
TopForm will again be showcasing the latest enhancements to the software at this year's DMIA Print Solutions Conference & Expo being held
October 5-7 in Rosemont, IL.
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In conjunction with the DMIA Print Solutions Conference & Expo, TopForm will be offering two Client Conference Options:
TopForm Update and Reception
Principals & Managers
Tuesday, October 5
4:00pm to 6:00pm
This complimentary TopForm Update and Reception is being offered to TopForm Principals. It will highlight new sales and partnering opportunities. Topics to be discussed will include:
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Take TopForm on your next Sales Call
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Content Management with TopForm
DocuCenter
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Efficiency Improvements with XML
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TopForm Image Library
Adult beverages will be provided.
Please
click here to register.
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TopForm Update and Training
Friday, October 8
9:00 am until 2:00 pm
TopForm Training will be provided on many new features and options including:
Training class, including lunch $165.
Please
click here to register.
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| Anita Long our Software Support Specialist just celebrated 5 years with TopForm. |
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We will be closed Monday September 6th for Labor Day.
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