Support News

November 2002 Edition

New Feature Spotlight: PDF/PowerPoint Thumbnails, Management Console
Q&A with Technical Support: WebServer Security
Smart Tip of the Month: Using SQL Views
Third Party Software: Script Debugger
Support Bookshelf: AppleScript References


New Feature Spotlight

PDF/PowerPoint Thumbnails

Virtual Ticket 5.0 can now extract thumbnails and text from PDFs and PowerPoint files. This functionality provides both thumbnails and extended previews for these file types, and it allows users to search the text content of a PDF or PowerPoint file in Virtual Ticket 5.0. To set up these file types in Virtual Ticket Administrator 5.0, perform the following steps:

    1. Launch and log into Virtual Ticket Administrator 5.0.
    2. Select File Types from the Setup menu or press Command-D.
    3. Select the file type you want to edit from the list of available file types.
    4. Select a thumbnailing method and click the UP/DOWN buttons until you have arranged the thumbnailing methods into the order you want them to be used by the system when a thumbnail image for the file type is created.
    5. Apply any desired settings for the creation of extended previews.
    6. Click Save. This will save the changes you have made for the file type in the Virtual Ticket 5.0 database.

Microsoft PowerPoint must be installed with macro virus protection turned off at any workstation where PowerPoint files will be thumbnailed. This includes any server where Intersync is installed. To turn macro virus protection off in the Macintosh version of PowerPoint, perform the following steps:

    1. Launch Microsoft PowerPoint.
    2. Choose Preferences from the Edit menu.
    3. Click the General tab and remove the check from the Enable macro virus protection checkbox.

To turn macro virus protection off in the PC version of PowerPoint, perform the following steps:

    1. Launch Microsoft PowerPoint.
    2. Choose Options from the Tools menu.
    3. Select the Security Tab and click the Macro Security button.
    4. Choose the Low security level radio button.

Management Console

The Management Console included in Virtual Ticket 5.0 is a new administrative tool for InterSync, that displays vital statistics about files InterSync has added, updated, and deleted in the database. The Management Console displays the total number of files waiting to be thumbnailed by the MetaData service and the total number of files waiting to be deleted from the database. Specific file information can be obtained by clicking on the amounts returned in the Management Console window. The Management Console also allows users to monitor other critical system information such as scheduled SQL Server jobs, system maintenance, and other InterSync processes.


Q&A with Technical Support

Q: What security settings are required for downloading files with Virtual Ticket WebServer?

A: A document containing the required security settings can be found on your web server at the following location: system drive\inetpub\wwwroot\vticket\setup\security.html. These setting are the minimally required security settings for configuring the MetaArchiver service, which is used by the Virtual Ticket WebServer application during file downloads. Consult with your system administrator regarding any additional security settings. After applying the necessary settings, use a web browser to view the diagnostics page located at http://your web site name/vticket/configuration/diagnostics.asp to verify that all settings are correct. To test the download settings from a client computer, perform the following steps:

    1. Log in to Virtual Ticket WebServer as Administrator.
    2. Click the Administration link. Choose the Volumes link.
    3. Click the Test links located next to the volume mappings to test the Virtual Ticket WebServer connection to your file server volume(s). Files are accessible for download if the volume connection tests succeed.

For more information about configuring your Virtual Ticket WebServer visit www.meta-comm.com/customers/docs.


Smart Tip of the Month

Using SQL Views

Searching for columns or tables in the SQL database can be simplified when creating queries in Virtual Ticket 5.0 or Job Manager 3.0. SQL Views in the Virtual Ticket 5.0/Job Manager 3.0 database streamline the way SQL columns and tables can be used when performing queries. A newly created Virtual Ticket 5.0/Job Manager 3.0 database contains almost 20 views as compared to nearly 75 tables. These SQL Views contain only the fields in use by Virtual Ticket 5.0 and Job Manager 3.0, which means fields deleted with Virtual Ticket Administrator are not present and the number of tables available to search for desired fields is greatly reduced. A list of SQL Views can been seen in the SQL Enterprise Manager by performing the following steps:

    1. Launch the SQL Enterprise Manager.
    2. Expand Microsoft SQL Servers, SQL Server Groups, your SQL Server, and the Databases folder.
    3. Click Views.

SQL Views in the Virtual Ticket 5.0/Job Manager 3.0 database that contain an underscore after the name are views used by the MetaCommunications SQL SDK. We will explain how to use these special views in a future issue.

Using SQL Views in MetaScript

SQL Views can be used in the RunSQLQuery portion of any MetaScript. This example will show a dynamic popup using a SQL View to retrieve a list of customer codes and names.

    1. Log in to Virtual Ticket Administrator.
    2. Click to highlight a folder type in the File Cabinet Setup window. Click the Add button to create a new field.
    3. Create a character field of length 100 and click Save.
    4. Open a desired form in the Forms Editor.
    5. Choose Global MetaScript from the Format menu.
    6. Insert the following MetaScript:
        function
        GetCustomers()
        {
        return RunSQLQuery(“select [Customer Code] + ‘ ‘ + [Name] as value from [view Customers]”)
        }

    7. Close the script window to save the script.
    8. Add a new popup field to the form using the newly created character field. Click the arrow next to the Values heading in the New Field dialog window and choose Custom from the list.
    9. Enter the following in the script window:
        GetCustomers()

    10. Click OK to apply the settings. Save your form.
    11. Test your script in a Virtual Ticket 5.0 browser.

Using SQL Views in Job Manager 3.0 Custom Queries

Below is an example of using SQL Views in a Job Manager 3.0 custom query. This query returns a list of all open jobs.

    1. Launch Job Manager and log in as the Administrator.
    2. Choose Custom Query Setup from the Administration menu.
    3. Click the New button to add a new custom query.
    4. Choose where you would like your custom query to appear from the Menu popup.
    5. In the query window insert the following:
        SELECT
          [Job Number],
          [Job Name],
          [Due Date],
          [Entry Date],
          [Customer Code] + ‘ ‘ + [Customer Name],
          [Quoted Price],
          [PO Amount],
          [Billing Note]
        FROM [view Jobs]
        WHERE [Closed Job] = 0
        ORDER BY [Job Number] desc
    6. Click Save to save your query.
    7. Test your query by clicking the Preview Results button.

Below is the same query constructed without using SQL Views. Notice the additional syntax required to make the column names display in the Query Results window.

      SELECT
      job_number as ‘Number’,
      job_name as ‘Name’,
      ‘[‘+ order_entry.customer_code +’] ‘+ order_entry.customer_name as ‘Customer’,
      due_date as ‘Due Date’,
      entry_date as ‘Entered’,
      quoted_price as ‘Quoted Price’,
      po_amount as ‘PO Amount’,
      billing_note as ‘Billing Note’
      FROM order_entry
      WHERE closed_job = 0
      ORDER BY job_number desc


Third Party Software

Script Debugger

Every AppleScript writer should consider a debugger to eliminate problems before implementing a script. Late Night Software LTD has a tool AppleScripters should investigate, named Script Debugger. Script Debugger provides the standard debugging tools such as Step Into and Step Over, plus expanded features such as Dictionary Explorer to allow you to view and modify data from any scriptable application. For more information about Script Debugger visit: www.latenightsw.com.


Support Bookshelf

AppleScript References

In addition to debugging your AppleScript, every AppleScripter should have documentation and examples to help create time-saving scripts.

AppleScript for Applications: Visual QuickStart Guide. by Ethan Wilde.
This reference covers many topics and provides examples for scripting many of the same applications used by Job Manager/Virtual Ticket users like Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, and QuarkXpress. It also provides tips for using debuggers like Script Debugger.

Danny Goodman’s AppleScript Handbook. by Danny Goodman.
This guide is good for beginning scriptwriters, and it provides a valuable resource to advanced users. This reference also lists working examples for many different applications in use today.

These references are available at: www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com.



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