eLink UK - Recently Updated Pages

Outlook 2003 SP2

petejenkins — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:01:38 CDT

Outlook 2003 SP2 and above creates duplicate diary entries when synchronising your Outlook diary with your eLink Agenda. This occurs due to a change in how Microsoft Outlook handles meetings, see microsoft knowledge base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899919/en-us

By default, this new meeting acceptance behavior is enabled in Outlook 2003 SP2 and later. However, the behavior can be disabled or re-enabled by using the following registry data on the Outlook client:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Options\Calendar
DWORD: DisableMeetingRegeneration
Values: 1 = revert to the pre-SP2 behavior; 0 = use the new SP2 behavior

Note Without this registry data, Outlook 2003 uses the default SP2 or later service pack behavior.

In Outlook 2007, this registry key is available in the Office deployment tools.

eLink UK Home

petejenkins — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:14:27 CDT

Hi and welcome to the eLink UK Wiki. This site is a knowledge base for the eLink software suite. Whether it is hints and tips for users, for administrators or for developers of the software.

If you have something to add to the total knowledge of eLink users then please do so.

If you would like to be automatically updated when any new pages are added or existing pages are amended then click on the What's New link above and then you will see there is an RSS Feed available for this wiki.

Thank you very much.

Pete Jenkins
Managing Director
eLink UK
www.elinkuk.co.uk

Client

petejenkins — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:57:05 CDT

In order for eLink's features to work properly on the client, there are a few settings to be checked on the Browser, in Word (for document merging) and in Outlook (for the integration features).

eLink fully supports MS-Internet Explorer 5.5 SP 2 and higher. Netscape, Mozilla and Firefox have been validated for the main features but do not support ActiveX, which means that some eLink features do not work correctly.

Internet Explorer 5.5 SP 2 and up

Trusted web site

Add the eLink Web server as trusted site. This tells Internet Explorer that you trust all contents and scripts coming from the eLink Web Server: Go to (menu) Tools (item) Internet Options (tab) Security (icon) Trusted Sites Click (button) Sites... In the new window, untick (checkbox) Require Server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone then add the following line: ‘http://[IP address of eLink web server]’

Bypass the Proxy Server

If your company uses a proxy server to access the Internet, then you will need to carry out the following steps to bypass the proxy server for local addresses. This is done to prevent the caching on the proxy server interfere with the operation of eLink. This also assumes that you know the IP address/host name of the server. Go to (menu) Tools (item) Internet Options (tab) Connections (button) Lan Settings. Ensure that the checkbox labelled Bypass proxy server for local addresses is ticked. Click the button labelled Advanced. Enter the IP address/host name of eLink into the textbox within the "Exceptions" section, labelled "Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with:" If there is already something in here, put a semicolon (" ; ") before the IP address/host name of the eLink server.

ActiveX Some modules of eLink use ActiveX (the Query and Template wizards e.g.). Those ActiveX are installed automatically the first time you access one of those modules. However, if the computer is running Windows NT or Windows 2000, the user must have the right to install an ActiveX on his workstation. Users who only belong to group “Local Users” do not have that right. Make the user a member of the local group “Power Users” OR Give the user the installation right by using the NT or Windows 2000 Policies OR Register all ActiveX while logged as Administrator (ocx files extracted from the cab files from the eLink web server. The ActiveX-related security settings must be configured as follows: From Internet Explorer: (menu) Tools (item) Internet Options (tab) Security (icon) Trusted Sites. Then click (button) Custom Level in section Security level for this zone. Set all options concerning ActiveX to "Enable".

Cookies eLink uses cookies to store information about your session and user identification. Thus, your browser must allow cookies. Please note that the default settings of Internet Explorer work fine. Internet Explorer 5.x From Internet Explorer: (menu) Tools (item) Internet Options (tab) Security (icon) Trusted Sites Click "Custom Level" in the "Security level for this zone" section. Set "Enable" for cookies both signed and unsigned. Internet Explorer 6.x From Internet Explorer: (menu) Tools (item) Internet Options (tab) Privacy (button) Advanced tick (checkbox) Override automatic cookie handling (section) First-party Cookies tick (radio button) Accept and tick (checkbox) Always allow session cookies

Caching To prevent the browser from opening other sites in eLink windows: Go to (menu) Tools (item) Internet Options (tab) Advanced (section) Browsing Clear the checkbox Reuse windows for launching shortcuts.

Mozilla Mozilla does not support ActiveX, thus some eLink features will not be available through this browser.

Cookies eLink uses cookies to store information about your session and user identification. Thus, your browser must allow cookies. Mozilla's default settings are fine. If you experience trouble: (menu) Edit – (submenu) Preferences – (section) Privacy & Security – (item) Cookies. If (radio button) Allow cookies based on Privacy settings is checked, click (button) View. If the option Site has no privacy policy is set to Reject, go to the Cookie Manager, tab Cookie Sites, type the IP address/host name of the eLink server and click Allow.

Pop-up windows eLink needs to use pop-ups as it is a multi-window application, with hyperlinks on one card opening another window. Even the eLink Navigator pops up after login. (menu) Edit – (submenu) Preferences – (section) Privacy & Security – (item) Pop-up windows: if the checkbox Block unrequested pop-up windows is checked, then click (button) Allowed Sites and add the IP address of the eLink server to the list.

Proxy Servers If your company uses a proxy server to access the Internet, then you will need to carry out the following steps to bypass the proxy server. This is done to prevent the caching on the proxy server interfere with the operation of eLink. This also assumes that you know the IP address/host name of the server. (menu) Edit – (submenu) Preferences – (section) Advanced – (item) Proxies – (radio button) Manual proxy configuration – (field) No Proxy for: type the IP address of the eLink server.

Firefox Firefox does not support ActiveX, thus some eLink features will not be available through this browser, like the Query Wizard, the Template Wizard, the Launch Template feature etc.

Proxy Servers If your company uses a proxy server to access the Internet, you will need to carry out the following steps to bypass the proxy server. This is done to prevent the caching on the proxy server interfere with the operation of eLink. This also assumes that you know the server's IP address/host name. (menu) Tools – (submenu) Options – (section) General – click (button) Connection settings – (radio button) Manual proxy configuration – (field) No Proxy for: type the IP address of the eLink server.

Cookies eLink uses cookies to store information about your session and user identification. Thus, your browser must allow cookies. Firefox's default settings are fine. (menu) Tools – (submenu) Options – (section) Privacy – (item) Cookies: if the checkbox Enable cookies is unchecked, then click (button) Exceptions, type the IP address of the eLink server to the list and click (button) Allow.

Pop-up windows eLink needs to use pop-ups as it is a multi-window application, with hyperlinks on one card opening another window. Even the eLink Navigator pops up after login. (menu) Tools – (submenu) Options – (section) Web features: if the checkbox Block Pop-up Windows is checked, then click (button) Add Site and add the IP address of the eLink server to the list.

Enable JavaScript eLink uses JavaScript for a large numbers of operations, including showing the Navigator and clicking OK in edit windows. (menu) Tools – (submenu) Options – (section) Web features: make sure that the checkbox Enable JavaScript is ticked.

POP-UP KILLERS Some applications offer to prevent pop-ups from appearing on web sites. However, eLink needs to use pop-ups as it is a multi-window application, with hyperlinks on one card opening another window. Even the eLink Navigator pops up after login. So, you need to configure your pop-up killer to make sure that all windows will be activated in eLink. Generally, there is an option in the pop-up blocker to add a site as "trusted" or "allowed". Do this for the entire eLink web site.

Example: the Google Toolbar The Google Toolbar blocks pop-ups. To allow pop-ups for eLink, click the button from the Google toolbar when logging in to eLink.

Example: Norton Internet Security If you have Norton Internet Security and the eLink navigator does not appear after login, check the following: (start menu) Settings (menu item) Control panel (item) Administrative tools (item) Services: Find the service called Symantec network proxy, right click and select Properties. Click the button Stop and set the dropdown field Startup type to Manual. Note: this program modifies a part of eLink’s code, thus preventing the eLink Navigator from displaying. Changing the setting above will not stop Norton’s main Internet Security features.

Personal Firewalls If you have a Personal Firewall installed, you may experience trouble accessing the Internet (thus eLink). Please refer to the application's documentation.

MS-WORD AND MS-EXCEL CONFIGURATION

Macro security in Word and Excel The document merging using an eLink Template uses macros. That's why the macro security options in Word and Excel should not be set to "high", which will not execute the macros and cause errors in the merge. In MS-Word, go to menu Tools – Macros – Security.On the first tab (Security Level), tick the radio button Medium or Low. Note: if you choose a Medium security level, warn the user that he/she should click the button Enable macros when prompted while launching an eLink Template. In Word 2003 or XP, also go to the second tab (Trusted Publishers) and tick the checkbox Trust access to Visual Basic Project at the bottom of the window.Note: this option has been added to Word through a Windows Update. If you do not see this option, do not worry.
Repeat the same configuration in MS-Excel.

MS-OUTLOOK CONFIGURATION

Install the Outlook add-in and the eLink Command Center The Outlook add-in is necessary for the integration between eLink and Outlook. The eLink Command Center groups a series of nice-to-have features like direct login, favorites, recent cards etc... Before starting, close all applications of the MS-Office suite (Outlook, Word, etc.) From the eLink Navigator, click (button) Tools, (hyperlink) Options, (hyperlink) Install Add-in Components After installation, please check that the URL to eLink has been taken correctly: In Outlook: (menu) Tools – (menu item) Options – (tab) Link The icon for the eLink Command Center is a butterfly. If it does not appear in your system tray, go to Start – Programs – eLink Add-In Components 2005 – eLink Command Center. Right-click the butterfly in your system tray and choose Properties. Check the URL on tab Options.

Do not use Word to edit e-mail messages If Word is set as the editor for your e-mails, this may cause errors. If you experience trouble, do the following: In MS-Outlook 2000, go to menu Tools – Options. On tab Mail Format, clear the checkbox Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages. In MS-Outlook 2003, go to menu Tools – Options. On tab Mail Format, clear the checkboxes Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages and Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to read Rich Text e-mail messages.

Move notification e-mails to a separate Outlook folder Users often ask to keep the LINK internal mails and system notifications apart from external emails. A rule based on the presence of the text <!LINK$ in the message body will accomplish the job.

USERFRIENDLINESS

Opening eLink Make sure eLink can be accessed easily: Place a shortcut to the eLink login page on the desktop OR Add the eLink login page to the Favorites OR Log in through the eLink Command Center

Specify language in login When logging in to eLink, you need to specify each time in which language you choose to work. This can be automated by specifying the language in the URL, as follows: http://xx.xx.xx.xx/elink/elink.dll/home?rootdir=elink&language=NL Note: NL = Dutch; F = French, E = Spanish, GB = English

Specify region in login eLink has two sets of layouts for addresses: the continental one (by default), and the UK/US layout. You can force the region in the URL as follows: http://xx.xx.xx.xx/elink/elink.dll/home?rootdir=elink&region=UK

Stand Alone

petejenkins — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:09:48 CDT

It is possible to set up eLink on a stand alone PC (rather than on a server). If you do this on a Windows Vista PC running IIS 7.0 then you need some additional help above what is detailed in the eLink installation guide. The extra steps that need to be taken to get eLink running on a Vista PC with IIS 7.0 are as follows:

To begin, authorise ISAPI extensions, in Control Panel / Programs and Features / Internet Information Services (IIS) / World Wide Web Service / Application Development Features, check the box “ISAPI Extensions:

Next, run COM+ application manager:

Right Click on COM+ application « Link Server » / Properties. On « Security », don’t check the box: “Enforce access checks for this application”:

IIS 7 Configuration. Open Control Panel / Administrative Tools / IIS Manager:

Go to « ISAPI and CGI Restrictions» and Right Click / Modify Parameters of restrictions ISAPI and CGI/ Allow ISAPI:

And to finish, verify that the ISAPI.dll is enabled:

Now restart IIS. All done.

Firebird 2.1

petejenkins — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:42:53 CDT

When using the new beta version eLink (2008.1.0.3) you receive the below error when trying to create a new database.

Retrieving Meta Data
Updating all dictionaries
Updating STABLES
Updating SJOINS
Updating SFIELDS
Fatal error when creating the Database:
Cannot Update Dictionary SFIELDS
Invalid value for field 'CONSTRAINTS'
Cannot Update Dictionary SFIELDS
Invalid value for field 'CONSTRAINTS'

This occurs on a server running Windows Server 2003 with Firebird 2.1. The error is caused due to an incompatibility with Firebird 2.1, if you move back to a previous version of Firebird (like 2.0.4) it will work properly. Support for Firebird 2.1 should be added in a future version of eLink.

New Agenda view speed issues

petejenkins — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:28:41 CDT

The excellent new Agenda view in eLink 2008.1.0.1 Trinity view that allows you to drag appointments around and is more user friendly can seem a little slow compared to the previous Agenda view version.

The trick is to change this setting in Internet Explorer's (this is a screen shot from IE7.0) General Tab, click on the browsing history Settings button and then make the Check for newer versions of stored pages setting set to Automatically.

eLink 2008.1.0.1

petejenkins — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:23:43 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

PDF Conversion Module

petejenkins — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:53:13 CDT

eLink’s PDF Module allows converting attachments of eLink Documents into the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The PDF Module for eLink 2008.1.0.1 (and above) has three potential routes to achieving this:
1. Using Office 2007 : the conversion is done by Microsoft Office 2007 and its add-on « SaveAsPdf »
2. Using NA_PDFConverter and OpenOffice : the conversion is done by OpenOffice and managed by the Windows service NA_PDFConverter
3. Using another external tool : the conversion is done by an external tool.

The supported formats by the PDF converter depend of the method :
1. Office 2007 : doc, htm, mht, rtf, txt, wpd, wps, wri, mhtml, xls, csv, ppt, pps
2. NA_PDFConverter and OpenOffice : bmp, csv, doc, dot, html, jpg, png, pps, ppt, rtf, slk, tif, tiff, txt, wmf, xls, xlw, xlt, xml
3. External tool : it depends on the selected tool.

1. Installation of PDF conversion tool using Microsoft Office 2007 1.1 Installing Microsoft Office 2007 Microsoft Office 2007 must be installed on the application server (COM+). The add-on “Save as PDF” also must be installed. You can download it here. 1.2 Configuring eLink eLink must be configured with “eLink admin console”: in tab “Documents” select “Office 2007”.

1.3 To complete the installation, you need to restart the server.

2. Installation of PDF conversion tool using OpenOffice

2.1. installing NA_PDFConverter ·

From the installation CD-Rom of eLink (folder Na_pdfconverter), extract the files in na_pdfconvert_1.0.0.2.zip to the server · Run setup.exe · Read the License Agreement and click Accepter to accept installing Microsoft.Net Framework · The NextApplication PDF Converter Installation Wizard appears. Click Suivant to continue · Choose not too deep a path for the installation folder (e.g. C:\elink\run\bin\NextApplication PDF Converter).

Select Tout le monde if the module should be available for all users of the machine.

Click Suivant to continue · Proceed with the installation by clicking Suivant · When the installation is completed, click Fermer to exit the wizard

2.2. installing OpenOffice ·

From the installation CD-Rom of eLink (folder Na_pdfconverter), extract the files in OpenOfficePortable.zip to the folder that you have created at step 5 above · Start once OpenOfficePortable.exe to be found in the new folder (C:\eLink\run\Bin\NextApplication PDF Converter\OpenOfficePortable) then exit the application

2.3. configuring eLink ·

Double-click Install na_pdfconverter.bat in the folder (C:\eLink\run\Bin\NextApplication PDF Converter) in order to commit the service to the Windows Service Controller · You now need to assign to this service the same user as the one you assigned to the eLink COM+. a. Menu Start – Programs – Administrative Tools – Services b. Right-click the service NextApplication PDFConverter and choose Properties c. On tab Log on, click This account and browse for the user that you created for the eLink COM+ (e.g. LinkServer if you followed the installation guide):

· Open the eLink Admin Console from folder Utilities (C:\elink\run\bin\utilities) · Go to tab Documents and fill in the fields about the PDF Generation: Select “External tool” In PDF Input Folder, type the path of the folder to which the attachments to be converted into PDF will be temporarily exported (during setup, the folder C:\eLink\run\bin\cache\PDF in has been created) In PDF Output Folder, type the path of the folder where the converted PDFs will be temporarily stored (during setup, the folder C:\eLink\run\bin\cache\PDF out has been created)

2.4 To complete the installation, you need to restart the server

3. Installation of external PDF conversion tool

The external tool must detect a new file in a directory, convert it, and put the new PDF file in an other directory. So, when an eLink user asks for a document conversion, the source file is copied in the first directory, and the application wait for the PDF result in the second directory.

3.1 installing an external tool

The installation depends of the selected tool.

3.2 Configuring eLink

Select “External tool” In PDF Input Folder, type the path of the folder to which the attachments to be converted into PDF will be temporarily exported (during setup, the folder d:\eLink\run\bin\cache\PDF in has been created) In PDF Output Folder, type the path of the folder where the converted PDFs will be temporarily stored (during setup, the folder d:\eLink\run\bin\cache\PDF out has been created)

3.3 To complete the installation, you need to restart the server.

DAX Error Win32 1400 Elink 2006

petejenkins — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:16:48 CDT

This error typically occurs when an active X has not installed correctly.

Possible causes of this failure include:

Conflict with yahoo toolbar (and possibly google toolbar and similar toolbars)
Conflict with Lexmark toolbar (suspected, but not confirmed)
Incorrect Active X settings in Internet Explorer

Curing this problem involves removal of all existing Next Application Active X components and reinstallation as follows:

Step 1 - Removing the active X components

This can be done by opening IE7 tools -> internet options
->browsing history settings ->view objects.

It is possible that the above location will not permit direct removal of these components due to file permissions. An alternative is to use Hijack this to remove the components.

Step 2 - Remove add-on toolbars

using the windows add/remove programs facility

Step 3 - Remove Elink Add in components

using the windows add/remove programs facility

Step 4 - Restart Windows

This is necessary to ensure clearing of residual link problems.

Step 5 - Review all IE7 ActiveX settings

Step 6 - Reinstall Elink

Office 2003

petejenkins — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:35:40 CDT

Not directly eLink related, but we have noticed a lot of users having problems opening Word 2007 documents when they use Word/Office XP or 2003. Don't despair, there is a compatibility pack you can download from Microsoft to enable older versions of office to open the new 2007 versions of documents.

Here is the link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

Custom Search Window

mbw — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:55:57 CDT

The Standard eLink search facilities allow the basic entity tables to be searched for user-specified values. This facility does not cover situations where a more complex search is required. For instance,

1. Where multiple tables need to be accessed
2. Where the search criteria are complex

The following worked example is based on a search for items previously purchased. The diagram below shows the desired type of search window:

In this example, there are four groups of search criteria to be satisfied:
1. Supplier (a company name)
2. Date Range
3. Search Text
4. Purchase Status

Where:

The date range comprises a pair of dates defining when the item was purchased.
The search text is not simply a piece of text, it is also a list of different possible fields where the search text could be located. So, the search includes a number of checkboxes defining which fields to search. The results should include all records where the specified text is present somewhere in the chosen fields.
The purchase status is a field defining the overall status of a purchase. A series of checkboxes, allow the user to filter the results so they only include items whose purchase status matches one of the chosen status values.

Elink Implementation Issues

Implementing this facility in eLInk requires us to specify a search facility using a custom sql query; the standard search queries are too restrictive to allow this type of search to be constructed.

Having examined various forms of elink templates, the closest to the required solution is a dialog window. This template allows the following general form:

<#SQLQUERY .......>
<#DIALOGGRID...> or <#DATAGRID>

SQL Query

A complex SQL query is required as the basis of the search, for example:

<#SQLQUERY ID="ItemSearchDescription"
SQL="Select doc_prod.FLD269 as Name,
doc_prod.QTITY,
doc_prod.PRICE,
doc_prod.TOTAL,
proj.DATE_CREAT AS Date,
FLD294 as STATUS,
doc_prod.FLD272 as Notes,
left(doc_prod.FLD272,50) as Short_Notes,
doc.iddocument,
proj.idproject,
doc.memo as Purchase_Description,
left(cast(doc.memo as varchar(max)),50) as Short_Purchase_Description,
proj.name as Purchase_Name,
proj.memo as Journal,
left(cast(proj.memo as varchar(max)),50) as Short_Journal
from proj, proj_doc, doc_prod, doc, cy_doc
where doc_prod.iddocument = doc.iddocument
and doc.reference like 'PO%'
and proj_doc.iddocument = doc.iddocument
and proj_doc.idproject = proj.idproject
and cy_doc.iddocument = doc.iddocument
and cy_doc.idcompany = :param1
and ( (doc_prod.FLD269 like '%' + :param2 + '%')
or (doc_prod.FLD272 like '%' + :param3 + '%')
or (proj.name like '%' + :param4 + '%')
or (proj.memo like '%' + :param5 + '%')
or (doc.memo like '%' + :param6 + '%')
or (doc_prod.qtity like '%' + :param7 + '%')
or (doc_prod.price like '%' + :param8 + '%')
or (doc_prod.total like '%' + :param9 + '%')
)
and datediff(day,proj.date_creat,convert(datetime,cast(:param10 as varchar(max)),103)) <= 0
and datediff(day,proj.date_creat,convert(datetime,cast(:param11 as varchar(max)),103)) >= 0
and Charindex(FLD294,:param12) > 0
"
PARAM1="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=IDCOMPANY"
PARAM2="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=PRODUCT_NAME"
PARAM3="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=NOTES"
PARAM4="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=PURCHASE_NAME"
PARAM5="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=JOURNAL"
PARAM6="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=PURCHASE_DESCRIPTION"
PARAM7="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=QTITY"
PARAM8="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=PRICE"
PARAM9="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=TOTAL"
PARAM10="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=START_DATE"
PARAM11="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=END_DATE"
PARAM12="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=STATUS"
>

Notes:
1. If a date range is not specified, the START_DATE parameter is left blank, and the END_DATE is set (by the caller) to today, causing the search to match all dates.

2. The textual searchs are mapped to a series of conditions, such as:
(proj.name like '%' + :param4 + '%')
Each condition, looks for the specified search text in one of the possible fields, each condition is given a separate template parameter. If that field is NOT to be searched, the parameter is filled by the caller with a dummy text string which is unlikely to ever match anything, causing that condition to fail. If the search text itself is blank, the corresponding parameters will be blank and the condition will PASS because
(proj.name like '%%')
is always true.

3. The status field is a text field containing strings such as 'In Progress', 'On Hold', 'Void' etc. We want the query to return all records where the status field contains any combination of those. So, this has been inplmented by passing a STATUS parameter which contains a string which is the list of permitted conditions. eg. 'In Progress Void'
The Charindex function looks to see if the actual status field matches some part of the status parameter. So, this approach will work as long as each possible condition contains different text.

4. The observant reader may notice that the query returns two copies of some of the fields; the complete field, and a truncated form. E.g. Notes and Short_Notes. This information is used for display purposes and will be explained later.

Query Selection

It is possible that a single SQL query may not cover all the combinations of options required for filtering. It is possible to put several SQL queries in a template and choose between them by a template parameter, passing this parameter to the DATAGRID as shown below. The value of the ITEMSEACH parameter should correspond to the name of an SQL query in the template:

<#DATAGRID TEMPLATE="grids/GridPurchaseSearchList.htm"
SORTIMAGE="img src='images/but_sortascending_nor.gif' width=16 height=16 border=0 align=top"
SORTDESCIMAGE="img src='images/but_sortdescending_nor.gif' width=16 height=16 border=0 align=top"
QUERY="##PARAMETER PARAMETER=ITEMSEARCH"
>

For instance, the above SQL query includes a condtion restricting the results to a single supplier. It would be possible to provide an alternative query which works for any suppliers, ans choose between them on invocation of the template.

Presentation of Results

The search conditions are complex, so it may be difficult for the user to grasp why a particular row meets the search criteria. In particular, the search text could appear in one or more fields. It is therefore useful to highlight the fields which contain the data which matches the search criteria. This is done by colouring the cell background White, to make it stand out.

Another difficulty is that some fields may contain a LOT of text. In particular the Description and Journal fields can get very long. If the full text is displayed, the table is very elongated. For this reason, the shortened form is displayed by default. However, a user may click on a field and cause it to be displayed in full.

Implementation

The following HTML extract shows how the notes field is implemented:

<td class="List" onclick="show_field('Notes<#N>','Short_Notes<#n>');"><div id="Short_Notes<#n>"><#F=Short_Notes></div><div id="Notes<#n>" style="display:none"><#F=Notes></div></td>

A pair of div's are used; one containing the short notes and the other, the complete notes. The short notes are visible, the full notes are not displayed. When the mouse button is pressed in the cell, it invokes the javascript function 'show_field()'. This function switches the divs so that the full notes are visible, and the short notes are hidden:

function show_field(full_field,short_field)
{
// this function switches between the given full field and the
// short field so that the full field is displayed and the
// short field is hidden
// these fields are remembered
// on subsequent calls, the displayed fields will be reversed
// If the full field and short field names are null, only
// the prev fields will be changed.
var e;
if ( (prev_full_field) && (prev_short_field))
{
prev_full_field.style.display = "none";
prev_short_field.style.display = "block";
}
if (full_field)
{
prev_full_field = document.getElementById(full_field);
if (prev_full_field)
{
prev_short_field = document.getElementById(short_field);
if (prev_short_field)
{
prev_full_field.style.display = "block";
prev_short_field.style.display = "none";
}
}
}
}

The column highlighting is performed when the page loads by invoking the function highlight_field(). This invokes the function highlight_column() for each field that requires this capability:

function highlight_column(name, search_text)
{
//alert('highlight column '+name+' '+search_text);
if (search_text.length < 1)
return;

var n = 1;
var e;
var found;

while (e = document.getElementById(name+n))
{
//alert('highlight '+name+n);
//found = e.innerHTML.indexOf(search_text)
//search_text = '/' + search_text + '/i';
var pattern = new RegExp(search_text,"i");
found = pattern.exec(e.innerHTML);
if (found)
{
//alert('found');
e.parentNode.style.background = "White";
}
n++;
}
}

function highlight_fields()
{
// this function looks through each of the fields and
// will highlight those that match the search text
//alert('highlight_fields');
highlight_column('NAME','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=PRODUCT_NAME>');
highlight_column('QTITY','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=QTITY>');
highlight_column('PRICE','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=PRICE>');
highlight_column('TOTAL','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=TOTAL>');
highlight_column('NOTES','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=NOTES>');
highlight_column('PURCHASE_NAME','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=PURCHASE_NAME>');
highlight_column('PURCHASE_DESCRIPTION','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=PURCHASE_DESCRIPTION>');
highlight_column('JOURNAL','<#PARAMETER PARAMETER=JOURNAL>');
}

Technical Issues

The main difficulty with the above approach is that the search results do not appear to paginate. This implies that a large number of results may swamp the results. eLink supports a mechanism for paginating results, but I cannot see how this can be implemented in this system.

Source Code

The full source code for this example will be made available at a future date, when testing is complete and the outstanding technical issues have been resolved.

LOOKUPGRID

mbw — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:23:33 CDT

Undocumented Elink Tag

SEARCHDETAILGRID

mbw — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:21:00 CDT

Undocumented Elink Tag

DATAGRID

mbw — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:12:42 CDT

Undocumented Elink Tag

Link Task Scheduler

petejenkins — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:41:47 CDT

Process to follow in order to setup a Task with the eLink Task scheduler :

1. Stop eLink's Task Scheduler service (called NextApplication Task Scheduler) using windows control panel

2. Open eLink Task scheduler administrator (in the eLink programs folder)

3. Setup a task

4. Run the Task manually by clicking on 'Run' (not 'Start')

5. Edit the Task and setup up a date/time for the task to start

6. close the Task scheduler administrator

7. optional : backup 'CronService.ini' file (which is located in the Bin\eLink 2006 directory) ; re-open Task scheduler Admin making sure the task is saved !

8. start Task scheduler service using windows control panel

Executing SQL in Javascript

mbw — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:40:11 CDT

Introduction

There are occasions when it would be very useful to query the elink database using SQL from within javascript. The standard elink libraries do not provide this capability directly. However, there is a script client active X which can be adapted for this purpose. I have written a simple script which obtains the SQL from javascript and returns all the required results back to javascript for further processing and reporting.

Limitations

1. The script client and the javascript are client-side scripts, meaning they operate on the client's computer, not on the elink server. This implies that all results have to be passed from the server to the client. This has a number of important implications:
a) If the query returns a high volume of data, the time for that information to pass from server to client will be significant. Furthermore significant resources may be required on the client computer.
b) Care must be taken to construct sql statements that will not return too many results.
c) The script includes facilities to limit the number of rows of results returned

2. The SQL query will only return results that appear in the database; any altered data in the current open edit windows will not appear. If the functionality depends on data visible in the window, the functionality should not use an SQL query to obtain the data, but should query the window elements themselves.

3. There appears to be a problem executing script client-based code when the page loads. The solution is to introduce a time delay, e.g.:

function finish_load()
{
..... execute code to load the page....
}

function load()
{
//alert('load');
window.setTimeout("finish_load();",500);
}

If the above code is omitted, or the time delay is too short, the page may fail to open properly, or consistently. 500ms seems to be adequate for most situations, but slower client computers may require longer delays. The trouble with these sorts of timing issues is that there is no delay which is guaranteed to be long enough.

Setup

1. Script client ActiveX object
This must be added to the end of the template, just before the </body>:
<OBJECT ID="ScriptClient"
classid="clsid:EF219FF0-027C-44C6-B30E-E69ADE2EEF05"
codebase="<#ROOTDIR>activex/<#LANGUAGEDIRECTORY>ScriptClientXControl1.cab#version=2006,1,0,5"
width=0 height=0 align=center hspace=0 vspace=0></OBJECT>

2. Include the SQL javascript library:
<#SCRIPT Page="scripts/ctlGenericSQLQuery.js"> and include this script in the scripts folder

3. Include the script client script scripts/ctldosql.pas in the scripts folder.

Operation

function get_project_document_data(idproject,is_subproject)
{
// query to obtain all documents attached to this project
var sql = "select doc.iddocument, doc.reference from proj, doc, proj_doc where "
+ " proj.idproject = '"+idproject+"'"
+ " and proj.idproject = proj_doc.idproject"
+ " and proj_doc.iddocument = doc.iddocument";
//alert(sql);
var result = execute_sql(sql,'iddocument/reference');
var n = 1;
var iddocument, ref;
// identify each document type from the results
//alert('results---');
while (iddocument = result.getVariable("iddocument"+ n))
{
//alert('results2---');
ref = result.getVariable("reference"+ n)
.....
.....
n++;
}
//alert(iddocument);
}

The pivotal statement here is:
var result = execute_sql(sql,'iddocument/reference');

This function executes the SQL statement and obtains the results if any. There are three parameters:
1. sql - the sql statement as a string
2. fields - a string containing a list of the fields to be returned separated by /
3. maxrows - omitted = return all rows
0 = return nothing (e.g. update statement)
number = return anything up to that number of rows.

The results are returned in a variable array and can be accessed by:

ref = result.getVariable("reference"+ n)

where n = the row number.
'reference' = the name of the variable to be returned.

If there is no variable of that name, or if there are fewer than that number of results, the result will be null.

Javascript Timing Issues

mbw — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:36:02 CDT

The following timing issues have been observed when writing Elink Javascript

1. Invoking active X scripts during page loading can cause strange lock-up; the page fails to display correctly. Refer to the Executing SQL in Javascript page for an example.
2. Opening an edit page and immediately refreshing the existing page has timing issues.

As an example of the second of these, consider the following code:

EditAction(-1,idaction);
top.location.reload();

The problem with this code is that EditAction() does not open the action editing window, it only initiates the opening on this window. So it is entirely possible that the reload will occur before the action editing window has been fully opened. The consequence of this is that the action editing window does not work as expected. In particular, I have observed strange apply button behaviour, where the apply button reloads the parent window into the the action editing window.

The workaround for this problem is to delay the reload until the edit window has fully opened:

EditAction(-1,idaction);
window.setTimeout("top.location.reload();", 5000);

This code gives the EditAction five seconds to open the edit window before causing the parent window to reload.

Document Templates fail to run successfully

petejenkins — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:57:02 CDT

Sometimes running a Document Template merge from an eLink document will fail with the error cannot create INF###.dbt. This means that the eLink COM+ Service user does not have rights on the C:\Windows\temp directory on the server. The COM+ user was the one created during the installation and setup of eLink (generally something like LinkServer. So add this user to ahve rights on that folder.

Log File Sizes on SQL Server 2005

petejenkins — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:48:17 CDT

On some servers running SQL Server 2005 with eLink 2006 the log files for each database hosted on that server grow at a rapid rate until they reach potential disk filling sizes (27GB log file for an 8GB database file).

To cure this:

1) Set the eLink Admin Console (found in the Utilities folder of the eLink program directory) to have Detailed log unticked.

2) To reduce the size of the log files to something more reasonable, open SQL Server Management Studio, highlight your database and open a New Query. Then backup your Database using the following code:
BACKUP LOG YOURDATABASENAME WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY
then run the following code:
DBCC SHRINKFILE(YOURDATABASENAME_log, 200)
where the 200 is the size in MB that you are setting the log file to.

Outlook 2007 AddIns Disabled

petejenkins — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:10:36 CDT

Sometimes Outlook 2007 (particularly when installed on XP rather than Vista) gets its knickers in a twist (technical term). What we mean is that if it crashes or closes unexpectedly Outlook automatically blames the eLink Outlook AddIn and disable it.

In order to re-enable it you have to do the following:

In Outlook go to Tools -> TrustCentre -> Add-ins -> then click the Go button at the bottom. You will now see a short list which includes one called NextApplication AddIn which wil have an unticked tickbox next to it. Please highlight this and click remove. Then click Okay.

Now you're back at Outlook and again go to Tools -> TrustCentre -> Add-ins -> then click the Go button at the bottom and at the short list click Add, then browse to C:\Program Files\eLINK Add-In Components and select the file LinkOutlookAddIn.dll. Now it appears in the short list and you need to tick the tickbox next to it and then click Okay.

Now you're back at Outlook and now go to Tools -> Options -> Link and you will see an address bar that is empty. Now go to the Link Command Centre icon (the butterfly) in your task bar at the bottom right of your screen, right click it and select properties, view the Options screen and highlight and copy the eLink Server Web Address upto and including the characters http://yourwebserver/elink.dll/ and paste this into the address field in the Outlook Link Tab we have open. Okay out of this screen and you are back at Outlook once again. It will now work!

I have also seen Outlook get corrupted in such a way that launching it from the Start menu Outlook shortcut always disables the Link Add-In. In this case starting Outlook by clicking on the Mailbox button in the eLink Navigator Bar will open Outlook correctly each time.