Maytech SDS Users - ECi Software Solutions

Maytech SDS Users’
GAZETTE
October 7, 2011
Inside:
Did You
Know?
1
Maytech
Mindbender
1
Credit
Memos
2
Here’s Your
Sign
3
Lagasse
3
AnzioWin
4
My, Oh My,
I Can Verify
6
Rootin’,
Tootin’, and
Rebootin’!
7
Announcements
8
The Forum
8
4th Quarter
Did You Know?
The AR Ageing Report
(AR32) only extracts „open‟
AR items at the time the report is run.
LagasseSweet no longer
provides the „fixed length‟
pricer file that has been used
since our Lagasse inventory
interface capabilities were
introduced in SDS many
years ago. The report now
used is called the Lagasse
Price Report and it is the first
report listed on their website‟s download screen. For
details, see Page 3.
Even though the SDS application itself does not functionally perform „copy and
paste‟ operations, your terminal emulator can. So, the
end result is SDS can accommodate copy and paste
functionality.
Non-stock items (category
999) will automatically disappear after 60 days of inactivity. Sixty days are counted
from the „last sold‟ date and
then the next End of Month
will purge them in EM11.
Generally, inventory items
are considered goods and
Special Charges (SCT #27)
are considered services.
However, services (such as
labor charges) can have an
item number and items can
be configured in SCT #27,
though not recommended.
Please remember, everything in SCT #27 will always
appear at the end of an order
due to their line numbers
automatically starting at 990.
Once an item‟s on-hand
quantity becomes zero, a
new series of calculations
are started to determine its
average cost.
Customer accounts will generate an ageing hold when
invoices have not been paid
within the ageing period
(SCT #30) regardless of the
account‟s terms for payment.
Example: If ageing period 1
is 30 days and an invoice
has not been paid for 31
days, the account will yield
an ageing hold even though
the account‟s terms are set
at NET 45.
When attempting to cut AP
checks (AP07) you can encounter the error message:
Previous check run has not
been completed, do you wish
to rerun checks? The most
common reason is no new
vendor invoices have been
selected for payment during
this current run. Running
AP05 (Print Pre-Check Audit
Report) can ensure proper
selection was done.
AP checks cannot be voided
once they have rolled into
history.
Daily passwords are sequenced with a numbering
scheme relative to zero; the
first password of the day is
number 00. They must be
used in that sequence. Running End of Day will reset
that sequence back to zero.
There are five different PO
Reconciliation codes to
choose from for field #16 in
SCT #01, screen 2. The
most common is „replace last
calculate average & loaded‟.
Maytech Mindbender
What makes the following question special?
“Was it a car or a cat I saw?” There is a
name for this special quality - what is it?
Did you recognize the string of numbers created by the dates of the events given? Super
Bowl XX was played in 1986. The Supreme
Court declared Mirada rights law in 1966.
The Korean War ended in 1953 and H. Ross
Perot ran for president in 1992. The addition
of the inscription “In God We Trust” first appeared on US currency in 1955. So, stringing those 5, two-digit years together gives us
86-66-53-92-55 Or maybe the string is a bit
more recognizable if grouped in this manner:
866-653-9255
….. hello, Janie?
Page 2
Maytech SDS Users’ GAZETTE
Credit Memos
If we were on Jeopardy, the „question‟ could easily be, “What is a negative invoice?” or perhaps, “What will negate an invoice?”. Either way, Alex would congratulate you and allow you
to continue on. However, if you said, “What is a transaction with a negative amount on a
customer‟s account?” you would also be correct. In SDS, there are several ways to create a
credit memo and knowing the purpose the credit will serve must be known in order to ensure
its accuracy.
Boss: “Ms.
Jones, Ms.
Smith is a
little tied up
right now,
could you
please take
a credit
memo?”
Ms. Jones:
“How do I
do that?”
Boss: “Ms.
Jones, it’s
quite easy.
Here goes Dear Visa,
please
increase my
credit limit
… by a lot.
Sincerely,
M.T.
Pockets.”
Looking at the Order Processing menu, you can see there is OP04 (Credit Memo Entry) and
OP11 (Convert Pick-Up / Inv. to C/M). What‟s the difference between these two programs?
(Don‟t say seven!) Their names actually signify the basic difference between the two: OP04
is an entry program and OP11 is a conversion program. OP04 requires the entire credit
transaction be keyed in from scratch whereas OP11 converts an existing transaction. All
elements of the credit must be keyed in with OP04 as opposed to no elements of the credit
are required to be keyed in by the operator in OP11.
Please keep in mind that both OP04 and OP11 can create orders with an order type 5. (On
pages 4 and 5 of the Q42010 Gazette, order types are fully explained.) So, both will create a
valid credit memo. But, if your sole purpose is to ‟wash‟ an invoice (cancel it out), you should
always rely upon OP11. OP11 will find the invoice in question, identify each element, and
reverse it. Using this method, you can rest assured that the invoice in its entirety has been
reversed. Could the same thing have been done by creating a credit memo with OP04?
Absolutely. However, the entire order (credit) must be keyed in. All too often when OP04 is
used for this purpose, the proper cost (embedded in the invoice) is not chosen. If that does
happen, the prices and the customer‟s account appear correct but what isn‟t correct is the
Cost of Goods GL account. One cost was applied to the invoice and in an attempt to reverse
that amount, another completely different cost was used resulting in the cost not being correctly reversed.
There are several reasons why you would need to cancel out an invoice. Mistakes such as
using the wrong price, cost, discounts, or tax code(s) are often an issue. Whatever the reason, OP11 is the answer. Also be aware that OP11 allows you to convert a pickup order
(order type 4) to a credit memo. Pickup orders are merely “pieces of paper” designed to
instruct your delivery driver to pick up goods that have been delivered in error. Just as we‟ve
seen, OP11 will create this credit memo based off of the pickup order just like it can with an
invoice. (Keep in mind that pickup orders are automatically deleted during End-of-Day
[ED02]).
Generally speaking, invoices or pickup orders that are converted into credit memos would
require the goods involved should be added back into your inventory. Both OP04 and OP11
will ask if this needs to happen - just make the appropriate choice. The question to add back
to inventory will not appear while running OP11 if the order that created the invoice in question was not a warehouse order (order type 01). More specifically, direct orders that were
invoiced had the goods shipped directly from the vendor, not from your warehouse. So, in
this case, the goods won‟t be added back into your inventory. Also, keep in mind the credit
memo created from this invoice will be an order type 08 (direct credit memo), not an order
type 05.
Lastly, a credit can be applied to a customer‟s account without involving anything from the
Order Processing menu. In AR02 (Accounts Receivable Transaction Entry), a credit memo
can be entered by choosing option 2. You can enter an amount that will be deducted from
this customer‟s account and the transaction as a whole will only affect Accounts Receivable.
So, depending upon what you are trying to accomplish by issuing a credit, the information
supplied above should be able to help you isolate which method should be used. Be it one
whole Accounts Receivable transaction or a manually versus automatically entered order
through Order Processing, there is definitely a correct method to the credit madness.
October 7, 2011
Page 3
Here’s Your Sign
Here is a sign that something has definitely
gone wrong GL journal entries aren’t on your Trial Balance.
All GL activity relies upon a control date. In
GL02, the control date is field 05, Reference
Date. This field is the only date field on the
GL02 screen and it also shows MMDDYY to
ensure you enter the date in the proper format. For any transaction to be included in
the Trial Balance totals, that control date
must reflect a valid date within the current
open GL period. If not, it will be ignored.
For instance, if the current open period is
June, 2011, only dates beginning with 06
and ending with 11 will be reflected in the
Trial Balance.
To see exactly what any given GL account
contains, you can print (GL25) or display
(GL50) every transaction. Please remember, closed periods cannot be adjusted and
future period dates will only get recognized
when that period is „current‟.
To reverse any unwanted transactions,
merely do a journal entry (GL02) for that
(bad) date and reverse the amount by entering the opposite sign. GL02 requires you
enter a minus sign (either before or after the
value) for a credit.
Speaking of reversing, seems someone
installed a beautiful, personalized stained
glass window that only they can enjoy from
the inside! G-whiz, why did they do that?
Here’s Your Sign!
Lagasse
Those of you who are using SDS‟ inventory interface with LagasseSweet products (formerly
Lagasse Brothers) know Lagasse is not what you put in Le Car to make it La Go. This SDS
interface allows your customers to order Lagasse products from you without having to physically stock those items in your warehouse. It‟s „virtual‟ inventory, if you will. If you have purchased the interface, you download a new „pricer‟ file from LagasseSweet every quarter. We
take that file and convert it to correspond to our inventory format so SDS can access all the
items and prices correctly.
Originally, there was a specific file developed by Lagasse in a fixed record length format for
our use. With no warning, Lagasse discontinued supplying that file. So, we have changed
our interface to accommodate the file now being made available. This file is called the Lagasse Price Report and is the default „pricer‟ available on their website.
When you sign on to the LagasseSweet homepage and click on Customized Price Report
(indicated by the red arrow), you will see five possible choices for files to download. The
first, Lagasse Price Report (indicated by the blue arrow), is already selected by default. Just
download that file for us to use.
If you currently do not have this interface but wish to purchase it or you would like more details about the new pricer file, please contact sdssupport.
La Gas por
Le Car!
Qu’est-ce que
c’est?
No gas para
el auto
No va
Page 4
Maytech SDS Users’ GAZETTE
AnzioWin
Over the years, we have seen the likes of many terminal emulators including TinyTerm, ETerm, NetTerm, and FacetWin. Each of them had their own unique benefits though all
served their purpose extremely well and got the job done. Some terminal emulators became
a user‟s favorite because of a specific feature such as screen scrolling or maybe even price
while others were directly tied to specific pieces of SDS functionality such as local printer
sharing or CSV, PREV, and email. As technology advanced and products changed, many
more compatibility issues arose. As Windows evolved, their part behind the scenes supporting FacetWin‟s local printer sharing changed to the point where we can no longer support
that functionality. Also, their approach to drive mapping was altered in Windows 7 which
gave many of us (page 6 type) headaches. Lastly, some terminal emulators are Unix and
Linux compatible - some are not.
Emulates:
Viewpoint
Wyse50
Wyse60
VT420
Vt320
VT220
VT100
Anzio
SCOANSI
Linux
AT386
C332
TV965
N7900
IBM3161
Adds200
In the new SDS 3.04 release, we have included the recommendation of yet another terminal
emulator by the name of AnzioWin. Our recommendation focuses on the fact that AnzioWin
offers a myriad of features and functions that can dramatically enhance your operation of
SDS. AnzioWin works on Unix and Linux platforms and the list of features, functions, and
benefits makes it incredibly attractive for an SDS user.
Like most other terminal emulators, AnzioWin can support multiple emulation types and several communication methods. It can establish serial, modem, telnet and secure shell (SSH)
connections just as most do. However, AnzioWin adds support for user-defined macros,
scripting, FTP and SFTP (secure) file transfers, and includes embedded support of their Print
Wizard. The Print Wizard offers capabilities that can enable SDS users to print ‟special‟ jobs
including such things as forms overlays, labels, odd paper sizes, rotated text, auto-fitting to
the page, faxing, emailing, PDF and TIF output. These features combined with the support
of laser, inkjet, dot matrix, receipt, and label printers in either parallel, serial, USB, or network
mode open up huge avenues for the user.
The security that AnzioWin provides is also noteworthy. Not only will AnzioWin support an
SSH session complete with authentication and encryption, it will also allow encryption of the
print traffic data. Other security features include control over the use of menu selections,
hibernation, and screen savers. AnzioWin can also block host commands and the ability to
invoke more than one instance of the emulator.
With the use of AnzioWin, SDS users can implement emailing and faxing capabilities much
quicker and simpler than ever before. Also, the ability to preview a print job that we currently
do with PREV can be accomplished through AnzioWin. Checking an option box in the
Printer Setup screen (which is the first option button in the upper left-hand corner) will enable
the user to „preview‟ to a PDF formatted output. This same screen can allow you to configure emailing and faxing as well. (A sample Printer Setup screen is shown on the next page.)
To acquire a free evaluation copy of AnzioWin, go to anzio.com and download the current
version. Please be aware that there is also a product called Anzio Lite that is void of many
features including the Print Wizard. The PDF, emailing, and faxing capabilities are contained
within the Print Wizard. There is a comparison chart available on the website that illustrates
the differences between the two products.
There also are charts on their website that completely outline their pricing schedule and pricing breaks depending upon the number of users supported. In summary, AnzioWin starts at
$150 per PC with quantity discounts beginning at 10 copies. We encourage you to evaluate
AnzioWin and see how it can improve your operation. We will continue to investigate all the
AnzioWin features and inform you as best we can of all the benefits they can provide and
thereby enhance your use of SDS.
continued on Page 5 …
October 7, 2011
Page 5
AnzioWin (continued)
… continued from Page 4
Here is a sample of the SDS Master Menu in AnzioWin. Color options are extensive.
Security:
SSH
Here is a sample of the Printer Setup screen (first option button over the Master Menu‟s date).
authentication
encryption
print traffic
Disable
host cmds
quit
settings save
menu options
hibernation
screen saver
>1 instance
Kiosk mode
If you have any questions or concerns regarding AnzioWin, please do not hesitate to call or
email sdssupport.
Page 6
A
customer
walked
into a drug
store and
asked the
pharmacist what
he recommended
for a
headache.
The pharmacist
answered
while
pointing
to this
picture
and said,
“I can
verify this
will
definitely
do it!”
Maytech SDS Users’ GAZETTE
My, Oh My, I Can Verify
One thing many SDS users have wanted to be able to do is to verify that a tape backup they
just created actually contains valid data. Well, now you can!
If you call or email sdssupport, new, unique users can be added to your system that will allow
you to automatically interrogate a tape to see if the proper data resides on that tape. To illustrate, let‟s say you just ran End-of-Day. If you leave the tape in the tape drive and sign on as
verifyed, the tape will be examined and a pertinent data file that is updated daily will be displayed on the screen. This file is Order Processing‟s transaction file (open orders) OPS120TR. If that file shows today‟s date, then the tape certainly reflects a good backup for
End of Day.
In the case of End of Month, after the EOM tape backup is run, you log in as verifyem. Just
like the EOD verify, the tape is examined and all the monthly history files will be displayed. As
examples, the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable monthly history files are
ARS710HI and APS710HI. If both show today‟s date, then a successful End of Month tape
backup was done.
For End of Year, the same concept applies but there are no calendar year history files, per se.
So, since the EY menu does not create any yearly history we can interrogate, the next best
thing is to verify EY was run. As you probably know, the ED, EM, EY, and GC suite of programs are monitored step-by-step by the system. This is done with the aid of an audit file so
each step can be tracked in two ways - to ensure each step was run successfully and that
each successful run was done in the proper sequence. If, immediately after you‟ve run EY,
you log on as verifyey, the End-of-Year audit file (EY-AUDIT) will be displayed. Check the
time and date stamp of EY‟s last step to ensure it matches when it was actually run. (When
you run the last step from the EY menu, the last step is EY51. However, the actual program
name that will appear in the file is COPYTAPE.)
For verifying GL period closing backups, log on as verifygl. All the GL files will be displayed.
For fiscal period closings (both monthly and yearly), check the file GLS950HI. Ensure the
time and date stamp matches when the period close was run.
Full system backup tapes contain lots of data, as you know. These tapes not only hold SDS
data (which is a very, very, small portion of their contents), but hold EVERY file on the disk.
Merely selecting one or a few specific files to look at will not be sufficient to ensure the validity
of the tape. As long as the full system backup process ends (quite probably anywhere between 45 minutes to 3 hours) and the total number of blocks copied displays on the screen,
the backup will be deemed valid.
As some of you know, the traditional login and password scenario changed when we moved
from SCO Unix to Red Hat Linux. The SCO Unix user logins did not require passwords but
the current Red Hat Linux user logins do. Rather than keeping with that format, we feel the
best way to implement all the tape verify user logins mentioned above will be to have them all
require passwords regardless of the Unix versus Linux platform. As a result, every site using
the tape verify logins will have to supply a password.
The login/password scheme will be:
LOGIN:
PASSWORD:
verifyed
!verified
LOGIN:
PASSWORD:
verifyem
!verifyem
LOGIN:
PASSWORD:
verifyey
!verifyey
LOGIN:
PASSWORD:
verifygc
!verifygc
To get all of the new user logins installed on your system, all you need to do is call or email
sdssupport. They can be implemented as soon as time is available.
October 7, 2011
Page 7
Rootin’, Tootin’, and Rebootin’!
From time to time, you may be the recipient of advice from Support asking you to “reboot”
your system. Have you ever wondered why that‟s necessary? What does it matter if your
server hasn‟t been shut down and rebooted in quite awhile? And how much time constitutes
“quite awhile”, anyway? Let‟s take a look.
Whether your server is running SCO Unix or Red Hat Linux, a complex series of system level
programs are set in motion when the server is booted. This boot process establishes a starting point for the operating system to take control. This starting point is built on certain parameters that were configured when the operating system was initially loaded on the server.
Every time a user logs on, the operating system issues a set of tasks to initially recognize
that user and control that user within the configured parameters. And, as you all are well
aware, sometimes, those tasks must be eliminated in order to allow a user to continue a specific operation or so a user can start again from scratch, so to speak, by logging on again.
We‟ve all experienced having to call support in order for a user to get „killed‟. Please remember there are two levels of control for an SDS user. One is at the operating system level
and the other is at the application level (SDS). Killing an operating system task or rebooting
will „clear‟ that user at that level. However, SDS maintains an active user file that is only
updated correctly as the result of logging in and logging off properly. So, rebooting will reset
operating system tasks but will not reset the SDS active user file.
The complex control cited above is governed by rules called protocol. If the protocol is followed, all is good. However, break the rules and all bets are off. Meaning, there will be no
guarantee things will be controlled completely or correctly. One observation we can relate is
a Red Hat Linux system has shown better ability than SCO Unix to maintain that control for
longer periods of time. However, in both Unix and Linux scenarios, rebooting at least once a
month is still recommended - the more the merrier.
Why do
we have to
reboot?
boot
Many of you have attempted a tape backup and have encountered some sort of error condition. Many times, you have been asked to reboot the system in order to „clear‟ the tasks
assigned to control the utility that performs the backup. Due to the complexity of the tasks‟
execution priority and the control of the physical device (tape drive), rebooting is the only
way to clear the „phantom‟ tasks left behind - there is just no other way.
reboot
Another situation that arises periodically concerns DSME users. Two key Distributor Station
programs controlling its overall communication processes are started at boot time. Again,
due to the complexity of how these programs are controlled at the operating system level,
once they have stopped (for any number of reasons), the only way to start them again is
through rebooting. This specific DSME situation seems to be related only to SCO Unix.
boot again
SDS‟ original add-on query language, IQ (which of course is no longer supported), was
sometimes guilty of hogging the system‟s “idle time” which resulted in poor throughput and
response times. To clear the condition, a reboot was necessary. IQ‟s replacement, Relativity, can also be involved in gobbling up the system‟s processing time but it‟s not Relativity‟s
fault. As you know, Relativity is merely a conduit, or pipe, that „connects‟ SDS data to ODBC
compliant software such as Microsoft Access enabling the user to create customized reports
by issuing SQL queries. Problems arise when those queries are poorly constructed and
stray beyond standard SQL guidelines. Once again, rebooting is the only answer. (Another
downside to this issue is if the user closes [red X] that query‟s window. This will leave a
huge „swap‟ file [work file] out on the disk that could easily lead to running out of disk space!)
Because
we can’t
re-galosh!
There are dozens (if not hundreds) of articles and blogs on the web that were written by Unix
or Linux Administrators claiming there is no reason a system has to be rebooted. Don‟t believe them. Their premise is based on living in a perfect world. Do you live in a perfect
world? If you‟re not sure, we‟ve got some beautiful beachfront property in Kansas for sale
that you‟re gonna love!
So, mark your calendars - every month make sure you change your underwear and reboot!
ECi/Maytech - Complete Business Management Solutions
Announcements
ECi/Maytech
4400 Alliance Gateway Fwy
Suite #154
Fort Worth, Texas
76177
Phone:
866-653-9255
Fax:
210-736-1718
E-mail:
sdssupport@ecisolutions.com
Questions concerning the content of
this publication
should be directed to
the phone/fax number or email address
listed above.
We certainly hope
you enjoyed reading,
learning, and laughing.
We are looking forward to bringing you
the next quarterly
edition of our newsletter. We hope you
are, too!
Until
next
quarter ...
ECi/Maytech will observe the Thanksgiving holiday by closing operations on Thursday and
Friday, November 24th and 25th, 2011. Holiday phone support will be available on both days
between the hours of 9:00AM and 2:00PM at the rate of $200/hour.
ECi/Maytech will observe the Christmas holiday by closing operations on Friday, December
23rd and Monday, December 26th, 2011. Holiday phone support will be available on both
days between the hours of 9:00AM and 2:00PM at the rate of $200/hour.
As of October 17, 2011, Bob Lofgren will change from a full-time ECi employee to one of a
part-time status. He will still be actively involved with SDS Support and producing this publication.
As you know, ECi is sponsoring the ECi Connect Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, November 1st through 3rd, 2011. However, since no SDS customers have participated in this
event‟s Early Bird Registration, ECi has cancelled the legacy Maytech (SDS) portion of the
conference. Originally, the Maytech training provided at this conference was designed to
illustrate SDS functionality followed immediately by how those same features work in Maytech Next Generation. Now, all training sessions for SDS have been replaced with Maytech
Next Generation sessions. SDS will not be discussed at all.
We have completed the distribution of the new SDS release, 3.04. The software has been
placed on every customer‟s system and a formal release letter has been emailed to everyone asking them to schedule a time to activate the new release. To schedule, please contact Janie Dixon by phone at 1-866-653-9255 or email at sdssupport@ecisolutions.com.
Please be aware that upgrading to the new release cannot be done without a scheduled
appointment. This release‟s implementation should go very smoothly and very quickly. The
actual activation could be completed within fifteen minutes, however, plan for thirty to be on
the safe side.
The Forum
At one time or another, everyone of us has experienced
a problem with their tape
drive and have missed an
opportunity to perform a
tape backup. Some of you
have elected to forego doing
backups until the tape drive
problem is rectified. Others
have recognized the importance of backing up and
have (with the help of Support) found ways to improvise.
If you use CSV or PREV,
you have to use a mapped
network drive on your PC.
The key point here is this
drive is on your PC, not the
SDS server. Given that,
data can be copied from the
we do not recommend doing
this in other than an emergency situation. At this
point in time, it should NOT
replace backing up to tape.
Many issues must be addressed to even attempt to
implement such a change.
SDS server to your PC. So,
the data copied to tape during a regular backup can be
copied to your PC. And,
that same data can be copied from that mapped drive
to another removable drive
such as a flash, or thumb,
drive. In a pinch, this can
take the place of your normal tape backup. However,
Also, in that same ‟pinch‟,
copying your normally
backed up data to another
spot on the disk can be
done. However, it‟s the
same disk that the data
originated from. So, if the
disk crashes, you have no
data AND no backup.
For further details on
backup contingencies,
please contact sdssupport.