Support News

August 2003 Edition

New Feature Spotlight: Exporting Search Results
Q&A with Technical Support: Setting your Sights in the Associator
Smart Tip of the Month: Making Job and Estimate Templates
Third Party Software: The Watchful Eye of MOM
Support Bookshelf: NAS and SANs Information Online


New Feature Spotlight

Exporting Search Results

Job Manager and Virtual Ticket possess the ability to export information returned by their respective searching capabilities. In Job Manager, exporting information can be done from almost any report by simply pressing Command-S. You will be prompted to set the column and row delimiters and name the export file. Exporting results from Virtual Ticket can be done directly from the List mode of a Virtual Ticket Find window. By clicking the Disk icon in the lower left-hand corner of find results window, column and row delimiters can be set and a name given to the export file. In Virtual Ticket, this export process can be taken one step further by customizing the number of columns that appear in the find results window. Use the Grid customization button (also located in the lower left-hand corner of the Find window) to indicate the order and number of columns being displayed.


Q&A with Technical Support

Is there a way to designate which folders are included by the MetaCommunications Associator plug-in?

Yes. The new MetaCommunications Associator plug-in, available in Package 115, allows users to configure directories the Associator should monitor and associate with records in Virtual Ticket. The General tab in the Associator plug-in contains a console root showing a list all directories present in the Virtual Ticket database. The system administrator can use this console root to select the directories where files/folders should be associated in Virtual Ticket and leave other directories untouched.


Smart Tip of the Month

Making Job and Estimate Templates in Job Manager

Do you have jobs or estimates which get repeated frequently? Create a template which can be duplicated for use later as a real job or estimate in Job Manager. Creating a template is easy and only requires you to fill out the requirements of the job or estimate once. When a job or estimate needs to be created using the template simply use Job Manager’s Duplicate functionality to create the new record. Follow the instructions below:

  1. Create a new Job using the Job Entry and Edit window.
  2. Number the job differently from your normal job numbering scheme. This will make the template more noticeable and help prevent it from being mistaken for a live job.
  3. Enter the job with the exact specifications needed. Be sure to fill out the necessary records for the job in Virtual Ticket as they can also be duplicated.
  4. Add your “template” to the database for future use.

To use the template:

  1. Choose Jobs>Duplicate from the Management menu of Job Manager.
  2. Enter the job number of your template job.
  3. Select the desired options for duplicating the job. Click Duplicate.

The same procedure can be used in the Estimates-Quotes area of Job Manager.


Third Party Software

The Watchful Eye of MOM

Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) can provide a look at your entire enterprise and all of your organizations Windows 2000 and 2003 servers by reporting back important event information from those machines. Using a specially installed agent, MOM can be configured to report on various errors and processes from each machine, which can be key in situations where the scheduled event did not execute. This type of technology allows for system administrators to identify and correct problems quickly. MOM can be used in conjunction with your Job Manager/Virtual Ticket system to alert the system administrator when SQL database backups occur or fail, special integration scripts finish executing, file servers get low on disk space and many more important events which help automate your workflow.

For pricing and additional information visit: http://www.microsoft.com/mom/


Support Bookshelf

NAS and SANs Information Online

NAS (network attached storage) and SANs (storage area networks) provide Virtual Ticket users with a method for near line storage of their files on the network without many of the pitfalls of conventional file storage (slowness, user access, platform restrictions). Network World Fusion provides an online topics page for users wish to purchase, explore, or learn more about operating NAS and SANs storage solutions. These topics pages provides users with technology definitions, links to book reviews, training opportunities, newsletters, white papers and lots of other useful information. If you currently store your files on a NAS or SANs, or are considering to implement one of these store solutions visit:

NAS - http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/nas.html

SANs - http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/sans.html



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