Module 232- Definitions and Conventions (Rev3).ppsx

INTERNAL TRAININGModule Number 232-AMIS Imperium- Definitions and Conventions

Rev 3 20-08-10Rev 3 20/08/101Introduction

This training module is to introduce the general terms used within AMIS and the conventions for the system that are generic throughout. It is also the place to learn tips and short cuts for use.

These should help you to have a better understanding of the system and how it works.

MORE2IntroductionSQL (Structured Query Language)

For the more technical and computer mined among you the database runs on SQL 2008, for those for who this means nothing then dont worry you dont need to understand the intricacies of this but its good to know that SQL is one of the 2 main database software systems and because its Microsoft it integrates with almost all other system you are probably familiar with.3Definitions - Field

Whilst using the help files you will hear various terms used, it is necessary to have an understanding the different terminology.

The basic unit of data is called a field, a filed is a single entry but can be a line of text, a date, a memo, numeric, etc. some fields are mandatory and have specific entry requirements or masks.

The filed is the part you enter data into and the marker is know as the label. In most cases within the system the fields have a white background so they are easily identified.

You can navigate between fields either by using the mouse to click in each field or those that are more used to using the keyboard you can tab between them.

You will see various types of fields. Plain data entry, Date and dropdown. This will be further explained later.4Definitions - Record

When you have a group of Fields together, these are know as a record. Hence a set of client data or a user details are examples of records.

In the example this is the record for a client and as you can see within the record are several fields.

5Definitions - Table

And then you have a table this is a set of records, hence again using our example all of the user records are held in the staff table.

So summarising you have individual fields, records which are groups of fields and tables which are sets of records. 6Required Fields

You will note that some fields have a red * against them this identifies that they are mandatory fields and that they cannot be left blank. However this does not mean that you can automatically leave the rest of the fields blank. The system works better and can do more if all the fields are filled in.

Many part of the system are interrelated and leaving NULL values can cause errors in the script, it also means that co-ordiantors or clients viewing data may not be able to see all the data.

To eliminate data entry each filed has been assessed for its relevance and importance and unnecessary fields have already been removed. Hence if there is a filed in the system it is there for a purpose and you should find the data and complete it.

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Filters and Data Verification

In Addition some filed have filters and data verification masks applied to them, so that data that is not in the correct format will not be accepted by the system.

Here for instance phone number cannot contain spaces or letters. And an email address must be a valid format.

This is to try to reduce data entry errors.

On trying to enter data you will find that you will revive an error message either immediately on trying to exit the field, or at the point of saving the data.8Drop Downs

When using drop downs it is necessary to understand the way in which they work for quick access to data.

When you see a dropdown box it will usually default to say select - what ever the field requires and you have an arrow next the box, clicking the arrow brings up the list of available options and you can scroll through and select the desired entry.

Alternatively those who used to using the keyboard for data entry, are able to tab from the previous field to move you to the drop down field. Then you can start to type the entry that you require. However you should note that there is a time delay on the entry.

In the example shown the user is trying to select Germany and therefore types G and the cursor goes straight to the Gs within the list, the user has then enter E as the second letter however they have delayed the key stroke too long and the drop down has taken them back to the Es in the list, to select Germany the user has to enter GER in succession.

The more of the entry that you type the closer the selection gets to the correct one. You will become familiar with the common drop down fields, for instance the United Kingdom has been purposely shortened to UK to make it easier to find and select.

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Date FieldsFormat: 01-Dec-2009

Date fields are specifically formatted to allow a date entry only, the display of dates is restricted to Day Month & Year, were the month is a 3 character ref. this has been done to alleviate the issue with reverse American dates.

Rather than use the icon and selecting the date it is possible to type in the date directly into the filed but you must use the correct format else the system will not accept the entry.

10Searching

Whilst using the system there are several search features they all work using generally the same principals.

Each field allows Boolean type searches ie if you enter VEL in the company name it will return results for all records where the letters VEL appear anywhere within the field searched. It is not necessary to prefix or suffix the search term with * or #

Searches are also not case sensitive.

The example shown is for searching for an office, there are multiple fields available and you can search by any number i.e. just one filed or by multiple fields.

However it should be noted that when selecting multiple fields the criteria between fields is and AND function hence the results returned for say company name VEL and contact Bill will return results where the company name contains VEL AND the contact name contains BILL, it is not either or.

Therefore if you entered something in each field the return results would need to be positive for field 1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4 AND 5.

The results of the search are shown tabulated and summarised at the bottom of the screen.

Leaving all the fields blank will give a full list of all entries, please not however that large tables with lots of data entries may be slow in returning the full list. Hence its better to enter some search criteria.

Some of the searches default to live data only hence deleted records will not be shown unless you specifically request them.

Also you should be aware that there are automatic filters in place so that you will only be able to se data that is relevant to your work or work for your office. Again this is based on your security level.

11Auto Log Out

The system has an automatic auto log out after inactivity of 20 minuets.

However it will accept internet explorer remembered passwords.

when the system has been inactive for more than 20 minuets it will still show the last screen in which you were working and any data entered will be still in the screen however when you try to save or navigate away to another screen it will go back to the log in screen and ask for you credentials, on logging in it will them automatically go back to the area that you attempted to go to rather than go back to the home page.

If you have entered a large amount of data it is best to save that data if you know that you may not be using the system for a while, else you may loose the data already entered.12Deleting

When deleting a record form the database, the system should give you a check box to verify that you really want to delete the record.

Once confirmed the record is not actually removed form the database it is still shown but marked as inactive. The record can still be viewed and copied but can no longer be edited. It also cannot easily be reinstated so you must not deleted things without being absolutely sure.

The reason for this is that the record may have been used elsewhere within the system hence say a contact is deleted within the system there will be many assignments that are linked to this contact and deleting the contact would remove the field form the assignments.

Deleting is also restricted dependant on your security level.13

Auto Fill

For those that have installed the Google tool bar within their explorer you may find that some of the main of the fields within AMIS are highlighted in yellow, this can be particularly annoying and not usually applicable to data entry within AMIS. It is possible to turn of the colour coding and leave the feature running, by selecting the auto fill feature and un-ticking the box shown.14

Skype

For those of you who use Skype to contact other group staff it may be that when Skype installed it automatically enables an add on to windows explorer which changes phone numbers on the web to Skype contacts.

This can be particularly annoying for AMIS because Skype gets it wrong much of the time and will try to change fields such as PO numbers into phone numbers as shown here.

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Skype

To turn off this add in you go to open your internet explorer and then select tools form the main menu, you will then see an option for the Skype add in select this option and a pop up will appear.

16Skype

Within the popup simply un tick the option turn number highlighting on you will note that all the countrie then grey out.

Click Ok to return to your explorer. You can always turn this back on should you prefer.

As an alternative you can also uninstall this add in completely. 17

Caps

You will now find that through out the system the use of caps has been blocked, this has been done to try to standardise data entry. Much of the data that is entered is used in other situations, such as CV updating and experience lists for tenders and if some staff are using full caps all the time this does not look professional.

Hence if you try to ender some fields using caps and then try to save you will be informed that it is not allows and you will have to re enter all the data. 18

Edit / Save

You will also find through out the system depending on your security level that you have read only access to some parts, for instance as a coordiantor you are allowed to view the client information for the clients related to your office.

However The system will actually allow you to change the data on screen, however you will note that the save button is disabled. Hence if you do make changes they will not be saved as you dont have the correct permissions.

This also applies to things like inspector selection which must be done by the scopeID co-ordinator and not the assignment owner.

Details of this are fully described in the training modules for each section.19

Search Results

When you have completed a search you will normally end up with one or more pages of results depending on the number of filters selected. As mentioned before is it better to add more filters as the searches are quicker and the results easier to review.

However should you get the situation where your search returns several page of results you are able to then sort these results either alphabetically or numerically by various column headings.

For example as shown each of the column heading has a small arrow next to it. Clicking on the arrow will sort the results by that column. Clicking once sorts the column in ascending order and clicking it again will reverse sort it in descending order.

Clicking a second column will sort the results by that new column, it does not keep the original sort i.e. the sort is not cumulative.

You should also note that you are able to skip between pages simply by clicking on the relevant page number. You should note however that when navigating between pages of search results you should not use the explorer back buttons as clicking this will return you to the previous page or home page and the search results are lost.

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Hovers

You will find within the system many of the display screens are tight on space and therefore you will see basic details of the information within the record.

The system now allows you to hover on some of these fields to get additional information without having to navigate away form the page that you are on,

For example shown here are the results of a schedule search. You will note that the assignment 1137 is owned by S Kumar. Hovering your mouse over the owners name gives you the full name and also office details of that person. 21Click Through

In other areas where even more data is useful you will note that the data field is shown as a blue underlined internet link. This is to highlight that this is a clickable link that will go to the record for that data.

Clicking on the link will open the record related to that data for you to review, it will open as a read only pop up so that you can review the data and then close the popup without having to leave or close the original screen.

The reason that it is a read only pop up is to ensure that it is closed down again after the data is reviewed. Leaving open these types of pop up very quickly can become confusing as to which data you are actually working on.

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In the example shown here the inspector name is listed in the results of an assignment search. As a coordinator, it may well be that you want to call that inspector or check his rates etc and hence you click his name and the record for that inspector appears.

As is the normal internet convention any visited links are changed to purple so that you can identify which links you have been to. Link history is only valid for the current browser session. 22

Pop ups

In the previous slide we discussed click through and it was mentioned that the popup that appears is read only.

However for ease of operations there are a few exceptions to this these are related to the entry of assignments, because of the way assignments are entered it can be very annoying if you get half way through and assignment and find that some of the data that you need is not already within the system. This would normally mean you would have to abandon the assignment entry, find the record that was incomplete, enter the missing data and then return to the assignment again.

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Lets take an example if you entered an assignment and selected the vendor applicable to that scopeiD and then clicked on the drop down to select the vendor contact name and you found that the contact was not in the list. You are no able to click on the arrow icon which will open the record for that vendor and allow you to edit the record. You will note that the save button within the popup is enabled. Saving and closing the popup will return you to the original part completed assignment.

You then just need to click on the refresh button to get the dropdown to include the data you just entered. 23

Direct Add ins

There is also a similar feature which allows you to add data to another record directly again without exiting the current screen or opening the other record.

An example of this is again in the assignments. In normal circumstances the details of the clients will be entered by the manager with all the contacts for that client at the beginning of a job. However the client contacts can be very fluid and new contacts added all the time, rather than have to go back to the manager each time and ask him to update the client record, coordinators are allowed to add new client contacts directly without having to actually open the client record.

Clicking on the green cross opens the data add in popup as if you were within the client record itself.

Details of these types of add in are explained in the individual modules for each section.

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Training Version

You should already be aware that there is a training version of the system available for you to use for testing and training purposes.

This is a completely separate system form the main database and hence is dose not matter if you enter data incorrectly or add information.

You an easily identify that you are within the training area by the red heading banner which appears on each page. 25

Updates

On occasion it is necessary to release upgrades and improvements to the system. In order to do this is it necessary for all users to be out of the system.

Unfortunately due to the time differences between offices there is nearly always some users logged in and using the system.

Hence it is occasionally necessary for the developer to force a log out of all users.

When this happens you will notice a red banner appear on all pages advising that the system will be closed down and how long you have to complete what you are working on.

Whilst the actual upgrade is in progress if you try to log back in you will see another message that informs you that the upgrade is not complete and to wait a few minuets before just trying again.

Updates are currently taking less that 1 minuet to complete so should not interrupt your work for too long.

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