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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A new feature for 9.2

Revelation US have just announced that they are in the process of developing a brand new web reporting tool and development toolkit to go "hand in hand" with WebOI.

The OpenInsight for Web (O4W) Development Toolkit makes it possible for OpenInsight developers with limited or no HTML/XML/javascript experience to develop feature rich web pages. O4W is designed to work the way OpenInsight developers think, taking advantage of the skills and knowledge they already have. While users with more web development experience can use O4W's advanced features, all developers can create modern web applications (using javascript, XHTML, and AJAX) through O4W's APIs. The screen shot tied to this posting is an example of a web page generated using the O4W Reporting tool. With the Reporting tool, developers can create reports that contain menus, collector Windows, drill down to details, sortable columns and export to PDF or CSV.

The OpenInsight for Web (O4W) Development Toolkit is scheduled to be included in OpenInsight Release 9.2.

OpenInsight's .NET Explorer

It would seem that .NET integration is back on the hotlist again judging from a few calls that I have had from some of you recently. Whilst requirements vary, I thought it timely to touch on a new window that is included in version 9.1, entitled the .NET Explorer.

The .NET Explorer enables you to browse for a .NET assembly and then choose one of the Classes located within that assembly. Once selected, OpenInsight then interrogates the Class to expose pretty much everything that you are likely to need to interface to that class from within OpenInsight.

There are six tabs of information that OpenInsight extracts for you. These include the classes properties, methods, fields, events and interfaces. The sixth tab then shows a representation of the default .NET class (as applicable) along with it’s properties and values.

There is too much information to run through in this posting, but I will be happy to show anyone this useful window via a WebEx session – just drop me an email and I’ll schedule a mutually convenient time.

RevSoft UK - Support Issue Submissions

Those of you that have recently used RevUK’s support services will have experienced the allocation of a unique support issue tracking number. This number is used exclusively throughout the life of the issue to monitor its progress to closure and to maintain a complete audit of email conversations, advice and results. Furthermore, it ensures that any members of the support team can pick up the incident and contribute wherever they are in the world and at any time.

To ensure that all of RevUK’s support and aftersales care staff are aware of your support issue and that you get as quick a response as possible, all issues are initially submitted using the dedicated support issue submission form on the ww.revsoft.co.uk web site.

As of this morning, all support requests submitted through this support form will be automatically logged into Sprezzatura’s (the support arm of RevUK) support tracking system and you will receive an automated email reply with your unique support ticket number with your own one line support issue description to make tracking and identification as simple as possible. Please be sure to use this subject line and the dedicated support email address when responding to or following up on the case.

If you are not currently supported though OpenInsight WORKS or another of the support options designed to cover any Revelation product, please contact sales@revsoft.co.uk to discuss your needs and ensure that your organisation maintains a solid support safety net.

Sending a Fax from OI's Basic+

Back in April, I mentioned that version 9.0.1 would include a new function (RTI_SENDFAX) that provides OpenInsight developers with the ability to send a fax directly from within OpenInsight (from Basic+ to be precise) using the standard Windows Fax Server that is included in Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008.

Revelation have recently released an example of how to use this new function and it is copied below.

0001 Declare Function RTI_SendFax
0002 ReceiverFax = "+44 123 4567 8910"
0003 ReceiverName = "Bill Smith"
0004 Subject = "A Fax from OpenInsight's "
0005 Subject:= "RTI_SendFax"
0006 Note = "This is a test fax" : @vm
0007 Note:= "from the" : @vm :
0008 Note:= "RTI_Sendfax command"
0009 CoverPage = ""
0010 HostFile = ""
0011 ItemName = "c:\revdotnet.txt"
0012 SenderName = ""
0013 SenderEmail = me@myemailaddress.com
0014 SenderFax = "01234 567891"
0015 FaxServer = ""
0016 SendFax_Status = ""
0017 JobID = RTI_SendFax(ReceiverFax, ReceiverName,
Subject, Note, CoverPage, HostFile, ItemName,
SenderName, SenderEmail, SenderFax, FaxServer,
SendFax_Status)
0018 If jobId Else
0019 * Error Handling
0020 end