Thursday 27 August 2009

Launching OI tools from code




Did you know that from OpenInsight version 7.0 onwards, Revelation have enabled you to launch OpenInsight tools from within BASIC+ code. This is achieved through the use of the RUNTOOL message which handles all of the details with regards to building the correct command line for launching the tools. The calling sequence for the message is:

Send_Message("SYSTEM", "RUNTOOL", WINDOW, TOOL.NUMBER, TOOL.COMMAND)

In the above command WINDOW is the name of the active window that is initiating the call. TOOL.NUMBER is the number associated with the OpenInsight tools, for example the Form Designer is 1 and you would use 2 for the System Editor. TOOL.NUMBER is the command line options that are used by the tool to open a specific entity.

Examples are:
* Start up the Form Designer.
Send_Message("SYSTEM", "RUNTOOL", "", 1)
* Invoke the System Editor and open the BALANCED stored procedure.
Send_Message("SYSTEM", "RUNTOOL", @WINDOW, 2, "/TN=SYSPROG*STPROC**BALANCED")


I’d like to thank my colleagues at Sprezzatura for providing the content of this posting.

Monday 17 August 2009

A neat Bar Code solution.





The question of using bar code readers from within OpenInsight applications comes up from time to time and the solutions that people look at and choose vary widely. However, Ed Keeman from Van Der Laan in the Netherlands, recently told me about a really neat solution using a windows CE device with a scanner and WiFi connection.
The device shown above was sent with Ed’s email to me. It shows a Datalogic Memor handheld bar code scanning device running Windows CE. The device ships with a RDP client that enables the device to run OpenInsight in a terminal session.
Ed told me that they have run some tests and the system looks very good. All being well, they plan to use five or more of these devices to enhance processes within their warehouse.

Monday 10 August 2009

New Edit Table Styles




Did you know that OpenInsight release 9.1 includes a form and stored procedure called TEST_NEW_EDITTABLE_STYLES. This test form provides examples for programming the new edit table styles and the associated stored procedure has all of the code exposed for developers to review how things are done.

Some of the examples included in the test form include:

  1. Options button within a cell that calls the options event for the edit table control.
  2. Using vertical styles.
  3. Forcing uppercase in rows.
  4. Multiline processing.
  5. Including drop down controls in cells, columns and rows.
  6. Including drop down edit controls in columns.
  7. Using a Multi-Line Header.
  8. How to change the test in the row buttons (all buttons and also only some buttons).

The test form can be run from the Application Manager or the Form Designer in the normal way. The accompanying stored procedure can be viewed using the System Editor by opening the TEST_NEW_ET_STYLES stored procedure, it too can be opened from the Application Manager window.

Thursday 6 August 2009

OI System Error codes




OpenInsight has a large number of system error codes that are produced from time to time when a problem occurs. These error codes are grouped into 17 categories with the first part of the error message identifying the category and the remaineder being some detail about the error.

For instance, there have been six error messages introduced for the Socket functionality – SOCK101 through SOCK 106.

All of these error messages can be found in the REVERROR.DAT file and which is found in your main OpenInsight folder. For ease of reference this list can also be found on http://www.revsoft.co.uk/devcodes.htm. Overnight, this list was updated to include three new/missing error codes and also the error codes for SOCK, PING and EV were added as three new sections linked from the above web page.

WORKS subscribers can get additional assistance with regards to these error messages as needed, by submitting the relevant details to our support team via the dedicated support issue submission form. In addition, there are a couple of pages dedicated to the FS231 and FS472 errors, being common errors produced whilst configuring the Revelation network products.

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Q4 '09 Roadshows




With the world conference scheduled for April 2010, Revelation are planning a series of road shows to meet developers and users prior to the end of the year and ahead of the main conference. These road shows will take place across the USA and in England and Australia during the last quarter of 2009. In order to choose the best cities to host the shows, Revelation are currently seeking your opinion as to which cities should host these one day events.

The agendas for the road shows are yet to be set, but topics that will no doubt be on the agenda include an update on how Revelation is doing and plans for the future, a look at the new features and enhancements released in OpenInsight 9.1 and discussion about plans for the 9.2 release.

People often ask me what they are missing in OpenInsight since the last release, how they can get more productivity from the toolset and how they can make better use of the new and emerging technologies that OpenInsight supports. These road shows are the perfect way for you to keep abreast of OpenInsight’s enhancements, discuss plans for future enhancements and to have your say about what your business needs in OpenInsight. Along with the world conference, these road shows really are a must attend event for anyone developing with OpenInsight or considering an ARev32 conversion.

Revelation value your opinion on the choice on venue and your selections will be taken into account as the final venues are set and booked. It is intended that the final set of city selections will be announced in the September newsletter, so please go to the City Voting Page on the US web site as soon as possible to make your voice heard.

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Reauth.exe & Netdrv.exe Issues




Revelation have recently received a number of support calls and emails with regards to the reauth.exe and netdrv.exe programs failing. The reauth.exe file was introduced with OpenInsight version 8.0.3 and it is used to add additional users to an OpenInsight system and to also reset the license expiry date for Developer Class/Network User licenses. The netdrv.exe program has been around for a long time and it is used to set and change the network driver.

Two of the most common error messages that are being reported are:

  1. “Authorization failed. Please contact Revelation software or you vendor for additional support.”
    This issue is primarily produced when a user is prompted for, and enters, a new 5x5 authorisation key. It is a result of the reauth.exe file failing to run owing to a file still being is use.
  2. “Opening of the file failed. The process of changing drivers cannot be continued.”
    This issue is reported during the changing of the network driver using NETDRV.EXE. Again, this is a result of a file still being in use.

These programs require single user access to the entire OpenInsight system and for this reason ALL users must be logged out of the OpenInsight application and ALL services must be stopped, as they might well be using a user count or have files locked. In every case where a support issue has been raised, the problem was found to be an active OpenInsight session which was keeping the system locked. This situation can arise for several reasons, the two main reasons being a workstation with an open session and a hung engine that is still running in memory.

The obvious resolution to this issue is to ensure that all users are out of the system and all services are fully closed down before running the reauth.exe program – the UD 4.6 can be useful for this as it reports all locks on the system and provides Administrators with a way to release those locks gracefully. However, Revelation have released a script to automate the process of closing all connected sessions, killing running oinsight.exe programs and stopping the service. This script is a little overkill, but it is designed to be a “when all else fails” solution.

The script and further details can be found at Troubleshooting REVAUTH.EXE, NETDRV.EXE and OENGINE;DLL Upgrades.

Monday 3 August 2009

Back and ready to post.





Thank you to those of you that have prompted me recently about the blog postings going a little quiet over recent weeks - it is nice to know that the reduced activity was noticed and that the blog is still useful to some of you :-).
I’m now back from a week by the Red Sea (some great snorkelling over the reefs) and once I’m caught up I’ll begin catching up on Revelation news and other postings – watch this space.