SYMENU System Manager Introduction 3
Special Startup Options
Creating a desktop shortcut
You can create a shortcut on your desktop and use it to start Elliott with many different options. Our example has Elliott installed on the M: drive under the NSI directory. You can create a desktop icon by right clicking on your desktop and then click new and shortcut. Browse to your Elliott directory and click on EL700.EXE.
Fill in a name for your shortcut and click Finish. A new icon will be created on your desktop for you to run Elliott.
You can right click on the icon and then click Properties. This will show you the properties for this shortcut.
Startup A Module Directly
When you start up each session, by default it will bring up the main menu. If you wish to start up a session and go directly into a specific module, you should add the following startup parameters to the startup command line:
EL700.EXE 02
EL700.EXE is the executable file for the first session and “02” stands for Accounts Receivable. By using these parameters, when you choose this icon the system will start up the first session and go directly to Accounts Receivable. When you exit Accounts Receivable, the system will exit immediately without exiting to the main menu first. You may want to use this option if a user only has access to a limited number of packages, and there is no need to let them go through the main menu selection. The following is a list of package IDs for each module:
01 – General Ledger
02 – Accounts Receivable
03 – Accounts Payable
04 – Payroll
05 – Bankbook
06 – Inventory Management
07 – Customer Order Processing
08 – Purchase Order
09 – Bill of Material Processor
Startup A Menu Item Directly
It is also possible to start at a specific menu item (module) directly from the icon. For example, you may set up an icon with the following startup command parameters:
EL700 02 0101 02
By clicking on this icon, the system will start at the customer file maintenance in change mode where:
02 – Accounts Receivable
0101 – Maintenance, Customer File
02 – Change
After the user is done with the Customer file in change mode, the system will allow the user to access other menu items without exiting out of the system. However, once the user exits out of the A/R module, the system will exit out of the entire system (because “02” is specified).
This function is universal and applies to all menu items. If you wish to start at a menu item on the main menu utility section, specify “00” for the package ID.
There are many potential uses for this function. One example is the accounting system administrator can setup the month end process by setting up a separate icon and parameters for all the steps that need to be done in the process. This makes it easy for the user to perform the month end process step by step without the need to lookup notes and navigate through the menu system.
This function does not bypass the user security rights. Therefore, the user must have the right to access the menu items before this function will work.
Startup A Company Directly
By adding /CO:01 as a parameter, you can start Elliott directly in company 01. You can combine the company selection option with Elliott Macro features. For example:
EL700.EXE /CO:02 02 0101 02
This will bring up Elliott and go directly to company 02, choose the Accounts Receivable module (02), Customer File Maintenance (0101) and end up in change mode (02). You may consider using this capability to organize routine tasks and set them up as icons on your desktop or in a folder.
Execute A Program Directly
You may choose to execute a program directly from the command prompt, or you can set it up as a short cut. For example, you may specify the command line parameters as:
EL700 02 0101 05 “000100” “000200” {enter} {enter} %S {enter} {close}
This command will start Elliott and go into Accounts Receivable, Customer File Maintenance, select print Numeric Edit List and supply the following information for prompt window:
Starting Customer No 000100
Ending Customer 000200
Print Comment? N (use {enter} to accept default value)
Any Change? N (use {enter} to accept default value)
After the print option window pops up, Alt-S (%S) will specify print to screen. It will then issue {enter} key to accept [OK] button. Once the edit list is printed, and the focus is returned to Elliott, the system will close Elliott and exit.
In short, this command will print a copy of the numeric customer edit list to screen and exit out of Elliott. The implications of this function are enormous. You can automate most of your routine tasks by setting up the short cut as we just discussed, and placing them in a folder, and then executing them as needed. This also makes every single Elliott application callable from other applications.
Windows O/S allow up to 256 characters for the command prompt. If you need to execute a script that has more than 256 characters, you may put it in a macro file and execute it with the following command:
EL700 02 /F:ARLIST.MAC
EL700 will launch Elliott and the “02” will launch the “Accounts Receivable” module. The “02” for the module is required. The rest of the menu path, along with the data will be stored in ARLIST.MAC file. The following is an example of what the macro file may look like:
0101 05
“000100” “000200”
{enter}
{enter}
%S {enter}
{close}
For writing the macro file, it is pretty much up to your personal preference to determine where to insert a line break. As long as you do not have more than 256 characters in one line, you will be OK. You can have unlimited number of lines in a macro file. This capability allows you, for example, to load a large number of customer or item records through a batch if you have another application that can create the macro file.
By default, the macro file has MAC as an extension. If you don’t specify the file extension, the system will assume the extension to be MAC. By default, it will look for Macro files in MACRO directory if the path is not specified. That is, it will look for Macro files in:
\ELLIOTT7\MACRO
Macros can also be executed inside Elliott. For more information about Macros, especially, the syntax for special keys, please refer to the chapter MACRO.
Bypass Username, Password and Company Selection
In some situations, the user may want to completely automate the startup process by not entering the password or selecting a company. To do so, you can add the following line in a batch file before starting up Elliott:
SET NWSMDLOG=$USERNAME$PASSWORD$99$
Where:
USERNAME is the name that the user logs into Elliott as.
PASSWORD is the password for the user.
99 is the company that the user wishes to log in to.
This information can also be setup in the login script or computer Environmental Variables area of System Properties. However, the setup of this information may potentially cause security problems since others can easily find out the user’s password. Use this feature at your own discretion.
Suppress Startup Image
You may want to suppress the startup image and background image if you are running Elliott on a Terminal Server over a slow connection. Once Elliott is on the main menu, click the Setup Preferences icon and click the Misc. tab. A checkbox is available in the middle of the window, Suppress startup and background images. When this is checked, the background images will not display until the box is unchecked.
Canadian Installation
If you are running Elliott in Canada, simply use the Elliott Configuration utility (icon installed during the installation) and choose “Canada” as the country. This will tell the system that this application is running in Canada and will make certain changes that are unique for Canada.
Special Path
Users may specify the following environmental variables in the EL700.CFG file [Path] section:
[Path]
Mdata=M:\ELLIOTT7\DATA_05
Mprog=M:\ ELLIOTT7\PROGRAMS
Mhelp=M:\ ELLIOTT7\HELP
The EL700.CFG file is in the \ELLIOTT7 directory. For Mprog, it is possible to specify multiple paths to look for program files:
Mprog=F:\STDPROG;F:\CUSTPROG
This is most helpful for the developer when there is a need to keep one central common program directory with many individual smaller custom modification directories. The Mprog option is only valid for Developers with the special license flag turned on.
Files/Directory Structure
Directory Structure
By default, Elliott will be installed into the \ELLIOTT7 directory. All program files are under the \ELLIOTT7 directory. There are the following subdirectories under \ELLIOTT7:
\ELLIOTT7 Contains all the runtime programs and configuration files for Elliott.
\ELLIOTT7\ADOBE Setup program for Acrobat Reader 5.0 to read Elliott documentation
\ELLIOTT7\CONTRACT Stores Predefined Link Type CONTAC
\ELLIOTT7\DDF PSQL Database Definition Files for Legacy Programs (Version 3.0)
\ELLIOTT7\DDF40 PSQL Database Definition Files for ODBC (Version 4.0)
\ELLIOTT7\DOC Contains Elliott on line documents – requires Acrobat Reader 5.0 installed
\ELLIOTT7\HELP Contains the help files as well as error codes for Elliott.
\ELLIOTT7 \IMAGES Stores images for Predefined Link Type IMAGES
\ELLIOTT7\LOG Contains log files for tracing and diagnostics for Elliott
\ELLIOTT7\MACRO Contains the macro files shared by all users
\ELLIOTT7 \PROGRAMS Stores programs file for each module
\ELLIOTT7 \SOUND Stores sounds for Predefined Link Type SOUND
\ELLIOTT7 \SPEC Stores files for Predefined Link Types SPEC
\ELLIOTT7\TUTORIAL Tutorial database, (Company 00)
\ELLIOTT7\WAVE Contains wave files for sound effects
\ELLIOTT7 \WGE PSQL 2000 Workgroup Engine Installation Files (discontinued in Version 7.2)
Company Data As you create (add) new companies, Elliott creates the following subdirectories to store company data.
Key Files \ELLIOTT7 Directory
The following are files for which it will be helpful to know by name and function:
EXE Files:
EL700.EXE - ELLIOTT V7
EL700TK.EXE - Tickler Reminder Program
EL700ME.EXE - Mass E-Mail & Export Process
EL700RW.EXE - Conversion Utility for Realworld® 8.X users
EL700CR.EXE - Class Registration to turn on File Logging for ActiveX
EL700EV.Exe - Event Handling (Not a user program, to be run from inside Elliott only)
EL700CF.EXE - Elliott Configuration Utility (Updates EL700.CFG File)
EL700US.EXE - ELLIOTT User Count Control Program (Not a user program)
SQL2BTR.EXE - This is a DOS utility to convert Btrieve data files to be SQL compatible
CONVERTB.EXE - This is a DOS utility to convert Micro Focus ISAM database to Btrieve
Configuration Files:
EL700.CFG - Contains settings affecting Elliott global
Operation. Configure by EL700CF.EXE.
EL700S.CFG - Special Controls for Report Width,
Module, Help File and ID. Do not change!
ELL700U.CFG - Similar to EL700S.CFG, however, it is to be
Configured by users or developers to override
Or supplement the default in EL700.CFG.
(Does not come with ELLIOTT V7)
CALENDAR.CFG - Configuration file for Holidays and Vacations.
Library Files:
EL700B.LBR - Elliott V7 System Runtime Base File
EL700U.LBR - Elliott V7 System Runtime Update File
EL700E.LBR - Elliott V7 Runtime Enhancement (from your developer)
EL700C.LBR - Elliott V7 Runtime Custom Modification (from your developer)
EL700BF.LBR - Elliott V7 Btrieve File Handler
EL700US.LBR - Elliott V7 User License Control
BFH.LBR - Btrieve File Handler for DOS utility
BFH-A.LBR - Btrieve File Handler for DOS utility
SORT.LBR - Sort Library file for DOS utility
Elliott Programs - Each Elliott Module, GL, AP, AR, PR, BB, IM, CP, PO and BM, can have up
to five library files. The Standard Naming Convention is:
GL700B.LBR - General Ledger Base Library
GL700U.LBR - General Ledger Update Library
GL700V.LBR - General Ledger Version Update Library (Early Release)
GL700E.LBR - General Ledger Enhancement Library (from your developer)
GL700C.LBR - General Ledger Custom Modification Library (from your developer)
DLL And Other Files:
ELL700BM.DLL - Bitmap Images for Elliott
GUILIB32.DLL - WINCOM Support Module
BCXL32.DLL - Barcode Printing Driver
BCDR32.DLL - Barcode Printing Driver
COB32API.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
COB32ENV.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MFINTERP.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MFRTNS32.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MFRTS32.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MFRTSCAL.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MFSCREEN.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MFTXTWIN.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
MSVCRT20.DLL - Micro Focus 32-Bit Run Time
PAN2NT.DLL - Panels2 Run Time
ROBOEX32.DLL - Windows Help Support Module
EL700.SF - Panels2 Side File for ELLIOTT
EL700.INT - For Elliott Animation Purposes
COBENV.DLE - DOS utility runtime support module
COBLIB.DLE - DOS utility runtime support module
Developer’s Files
If you are a developer, you should know that Elliott will also recognize the following Library files for enhancement or customization purposes. Users or developers may put their own enhancement library files in the following files:
EL700E.LBR - Elliott System Runtime Enhancement File (From NETcellent only)
EL700C.LBR - Elliott System Runtime Custom File (From NETcellent only)
RU700E.LBR - Elliott Runtime Enhancement File (From developer or NETcellent)
RU700C.LBR - Elliott Runtime Custom File (From developer or NETcellent)
??700E.LBR - Module Enhancement Library File (from your developer)
??700C.LBR - Module Custom Modification Library File (from your developer)
The “??” represents each module like GL, AR, AP, etc.
The following is the calling sequence of Library files:
??700B.LBR - Lowest Priority
??700U.LBR
??700V.LBR
??700E.LBR
??700C.LBR - Highest Priority
While the system expects module programs library files like GL700?.LBR in the ELLIOTT7\programs directory, the system will expect run time library files like EL700? Or RU700?.LBR files in the ELLIOTT7 (start up) directory.
Special-File-Path
In the EL700.CFG file, you may specify a flag, “Special-File-Path”, to indicate that you have certain files that will be placed in a special directory that does not follow the Elliott directory structure:
[Path]
Special-File-Path=Y
If this flag is set to “Y”, the system will look for the following entries in the EL700U.CFG file. The following is an example how the EL700U.CFG file may look:
[File-Path]
ARCUSFIL.DAT=F:\SPECIAL\ARDATA
Every time the system tries to open the ARCUSFIL, it will look for this table to see if it is in a special path; if it exists, the system will use it. If not, the system will use the original path as designed by Elliott’s directory structure. You should be aware of the following when entering entries in EL700U.CFG:
· You can have a maximum of 200 entries in the [File-Path] section.
· When you specify Mdata=Null in EL700.CFG file, the system will use either the current directory or search path to look for data files. The entries you specify in [File-Path] of EL700U.CFG will override the Mdata=Null feature.
· You must use .DAT as the file name’s extension even though you may be using a Btrieve database.
· Do not specify a path that is too long, the path and file name must not exceed 50 characters.
The purpose of providing this feature is for the following reasons:
(1) Security Reasons: You may have certain sensitive files that you may not want to let users access. You may block users out of the Elliott password setup. However, they still can access that file from the operating system level (DOS, Windows Explorer, etc.) since you can’t block users’ rights to access the ELLIOTT7\DATA directory. Placing it in a different directory will allow you the chance to define whether each user has access to that directory or not.
(2) Wide Area Network Performance: Wide area networks require data to travel through a slower link to reach the other side. The link can be 56K, 128K, or fractional or full T1 line. The faster the link, the more expensive it will be. The fact is the wide area network link is much slower than the local area network. Therefore, the trick to get it working with acceptable performance is to minimize the data that needs to be transferred over the slow slink. Therefore, different modules can be at different drives (and different servers). If a company has two locations, and one needs to use accounting modules, while the other needs to use distribution module, you can designate a drive letter for all the accounting modules with a different drive letter than the distribution modules. This means when the distribution facility needs to access the distribution data, it will access it locally. When it needs to access accounting data, it needs to go across the slower link to access data remotely from the accounting site. This improves performance, however the speed can be improved further by specifying each file’s location. For example, in the AR module we have the following files:
Customer File Update Daily
Open Item File Update Daily
Distribution File Update Daily
Commissions Due File Update Daily
Control File Update Daily
Salesman File
Codes File
Job Code File
Service Type File
Customer Type File
Freight Rate File
Etc.
For the files that will be updated daily, it must go across the slow link to get updated data. However, for the data that is not updated daily, you may consider having a copy right on your local site with the distribution files. When accessing those files there would be no need to go across the slow link, therefore the performance can be improved. Also, if you wish to designate the order number as the invoice number, then a copy of the AR control file can be placed at the distribution site as well to further improve the speed.
Network File Locations
In a wide area network environment, data may reside remotely while programs are executed locally. The company file, however, still comes from your local server. In the company file setup, you may specify the drive letter where your system module files reside. The system file drive letter setting does not apply to the company file where it should always be reside in your data directory where you start your Elliott.
In a wide area network situation, you need to make sure the directory structure on the remote server is identical to your local server. For example, you may have your local server Elliott installation mapped to the G: drive and the remote server is mapped to the H: drive. If on your local G: drive, you have Elliott installed as such:
G:\ELLIOTT7
G:\ELLIOTT7\DATA
Then on your remote server, you will need to have:
H:\ELLIOTT7
H:\ELLIOTT7\DATA
If the data will reside on drive H, then in your local G:\ELLIOTT\DATA directory, you will have the company file (COMPFILE.DAT) and specify H drive for each module.