© Copyright Bizness Inc, 2005. All rights reserved.
This html document is for the user section of BizRAS. There is another
html document called ADMINISTRATOR's GUIDE that covers the administration side
of BizRAS.
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Overview of BizRAS User Screens
1.2 Overview of BizRAS Adminstration Screens
1.3 Overview of Reports -- No Report Writing
1.4 Overview of Supportability
1.5 Overview of Controlled Access
1.6 Overview of Security of System
2.0 Overview of Screens and Internationalization
2.1 Login Screen
3.0 User Role Sets Menus for Screens
3.2.1 Employment Profile Screen
3.4.1 Report Filter Screen
3.4.2 Build Report Screen
3.5 Log Out Screen
3.7.1 Adding Print Date/Time to the Report
3.7.2 Adding a Report to Report Favorites
3.7.3 Cancel Add Button
3.7.4 Drill Down Reports
3.7.5 Dynamic Help
3.7.6 Encryption
3.7.7 Enforce Password Hints
3.7.8 Emailing Reports
3.7.9 Fonts for Reports
3.7.10 Granting Report Access To Users
3.7.11 Grid Size and Paging
3.7.12 Hard Delete
3.7.13 Help Desk
3.7.14 International Text Support On Screens
3.7.15 Login Access
3.7.16 Maximum Rows In A Report
3.7.17 Maximum Users
3.7.18 Menu Selection Buttons
3.7.19 Password Expiration
3.7.20 Report Access
3.7.21 Report Submission Status
3.7.22 Security Level Groups
3.7.23 Soft Deletes
3.7.24 Support Tickets and System Error Messages
3.7.25 System blocks certain characters in edit boxes to stop hackers
3.7.26 Trial Period
3.7.27 Uploading Your Data to the Host For Nightly Refreshes
3.7.28 User Roles
5.0 Report and Main Administrator Screens
5.1.1 Report Profile Screen
5.1.2 Grant Report Access Screen
5.1.2 Revoke Report Access Screen
5.2.1 Font Profile Screen
6.0 Main Administrator Only Screens
6.1 Edit User Screen
6.1.1 User Profile Screen
6.3 Billing Screen
6.3.1 Billing Profile Screen
6.3.2 Billing Charged Profile Screen
6.3.3 Billing Received Profile Screen
6.4.1 Payment Method Profile Screen
6.5.1 Support Ticket Profile Screen
7.0 Web Services
8.4 Bizness Inc News
8.6 Bizness Inc BizRAS Features
4 AREAS CORPORATIONS ARE LOOKING TO IMPROVE:
1) Find easier ways to get data from their databases to the end user (and end user’s printer) through the web without having to write a report or do a report conversion to some format like PDF.
2) Get data into their clients hands to increase sales or marketing awareness, track business processes, confirm requirements and specifications, increase efficiencies and cut call center calls.
3) Standardize their web reports and have an architecture that supports web browsers and palm tops since the cost of Palm tops keeps coming down making them a tool to look at small reports.
4) Rethink how they will deliver decision support reports to web browsers/palm tops world wide.
BizRAS is the solution as it produces standard HTML reports which are supported in web browsers and palm tops world wide without the need for any other web reporting software. BizRAS software solution pulls from the data you nightly upload to the secured web host with simple SQL statements and dynamically generates the web report based on the standard report settings or the custom settings the user has saved for that report.
There is only 1 main adminstrator role which sets the roles for all other users. Based on the role assigned to you will determine how many screens you are allowed to access as menus dynamically change at login time. As you login your first screen shows the contact numbers for your help desk to answer any questions you may have. The screens are laid out in attractive colors with large fonts making it as user friendly as possible. The screens allow you to build and save report characteristics such as filters, columns, fonts, group totals and report formats as well as let you change personal information like your password or address.
The reports are dynamic html which is support by browsers world wide. Some report are drill downs allowing you to drill down deeper into your data. Reports can be emailed to your email address you set up in the User Profile screen. The report is emdedded inside the email with no attachments making it user friendly to all virus scanning programs.
Since this is a Users Guide, the administration screens are not covered in detail here but are explained in the Administrator's Guide. . The administration screens is a large separate system that is run by the service provider that adds items to the user system such as: languages supported, font faces supported, host plans, security level groups, roles, support tickets, alerts and a myriad of other functions.
Click Here To See The Adminstrator's Guide for this International Web Report Administration System.
No need for you to write reports since we pull data directly from your tables through SQL. We work with you as to what data you want displayed and map a view to our screens. This is a huge saving of time for you. As you nightly refresh your data to the web hosts, the users can see the current data you want them to see.
Since BizRAS Reports are standaard html, they are support on browsers world wide. Browsers on desk tops and laptops and even Palm Tops. Since you choose the number of columns you want in a report, you could look at the key columns on your palm top and look at all columns on your laptop or desktop. You have the option to email these reports to your email address with the report inside the body of the email. This means there is no file attachments to your email which not only makes it friendly to all virus scanning programs buts lets you forward that report from your email system to another email id with out the trouble of having attachments scrubbed off by some security system. Since BizRAS reports are in html, there is no need to have any conversions to your reports nor any need to show them with Adobe.
1.5 Overview of Controlled Access
A user must have a username and password before they can log on. Password expirations are set by the Main Administrator so users are forced to change their password every X number of months (X can be 1 through 12 months). Once the user logs on they cannot run any report unless the Main Administrator or Report Administrator grants them access to a report. The report itself must be in operational status and active status as reports can be set to inactive status for a period of time based on the Administrator's descrection. Once the user has been granted a set of reports, that report is further filtered by the login creditentials (client or customer) of the user so that one client cannot look at another client's data. Data is uploaded nigthly to the web host by the Administration personnel which requires separate database user ids and passwords.
1.6 Overview of Security of System
BizRAS has tons of security built into it from the software application to the hosting application. The hosting system has intrusion prevention and spam control. The web site is secured with 128 bit SSL encryption key. The BizRAS application itself has password and credit card encryption so that even the database administrator can not steal anyones password or credit card number. BizRAS also has session control that checks if the user is still on the same session they started with. This stops URL hackers from trying to steal a URL and jump into the application. In Summary, BizRAS has all the top security web controls to make your data and application safe.
Section 1.3 outlined the advantages of you not writing reports but letting the data be pulled directly from the database to our reports. This is a huge cost savings not only saving development time but also speeding up the time to get your data shown to the world on the web. Another area of cost savings is Call Centers or Support Centers. Call or Support Centers spend their time answering calls from clients as to data needs. Why not give the user the data they need since the Call or Support Center Personnel are looking at the same data on their screens? You just filtered out the data you want on a separate database that gets uploaded nightly to the host and then BizRAS gives your clients your data in Reports under a secured system.
2.0 Overview of Screens and Internationalization
BizRAS screens are in large fonts to make it easy to read and use. Menus on screens are along the left hand side and detail screens have menu buttons along the top. Each screen has a Screen Help button that dynamically shows the help text on the screen so that users can reference it while they are still using the same screen. At login time, 3 things happen. Firstly, you choose a language from the language drop down which changes all text on the screens as well as the help text on the sceens and the help topics when the user clicks on the Help Index button. Secondly, the username and password is verified to allow you into the system. Hackers will be booted out after 3 attempts. Thirdly, once into the system, BizRAS looks at the role that your Main Administrator has set for you. The 4 roles are: Main Administrator, Report Administrator, Internal User (Corporate User) and External User (User outside the corporation that is sponsoring this BizRas implementation). The Main Administrator is allowed to see all screens therefore has 3 sections of menu buttons on the left hand side when logged in. The Report Administrator sees two thirds of the screens therefore has 2 sections of menu buttons on the left hand side when logged in. For example the Report Administrator can grant access of reports to users but cannot look at billing records nor add new users. The Internal and External User see one third of the screens therefore have 1 section of menu buttons on the left hand side when logged in. Internal and External Users are the majority of people usings the system that just want to access reports and update their user profile or password.
Language selection choices are set by your service provider. As you choose your preferred lanaguage, all screens, help, and reports will change to your desired language.
Username is 7 to 25 characters and upper and lower case is NOT checked. Password is also 7 to 25 characters. You are forced to change your password at inital logon and at certain intervals your Administrator sets.
You are allowed 3 attempts to log in and then you will be logged out. If you forgot your password, click on the Forgot Password link in the menu section on the home page. If you get the error message "Invalid Credentials", please contact your service provider as soon as possible.
Click Here To See The Login Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
3.0 User Role Sets Menus for Screens
Once into the system, BizRAS looks at the role that your Main Administrator has set for you. The 4 roles are: Main Administrator, Report Administrator, Internal User (Corporate User) and External User (User outside the corporation that is sponsoring this BizRas implementation). The Main Administrator is allowed to see all screens therefore has 3 sections of menu buttons on the left hand side when logged in. The Report Administrator sees two thirds of the screens therefore has 2 sections of menu buttons on the left hand side when logged in. For example the Report Administrator can grant access of reports to users but cannot look at billing records nor add new users. The Internal and External User see one third of the screens therefore have 1 section of menu buttons on the left hand side when logged in. Internal and External Users are the majority of people usings the system that just want to access reports and update their user profile or password.
This Main Form(first screen after login) shows contact numbers for your help desk. The grid shows Reports that have been checked as "Report Favorties" in the Build Report Screen. Clicking on a row in the Grid will auto launch that Seleted Report with the configurations saved in the Build Report and Report Filters screens. To change these configurations, click on the "Your Reports" menu item, select the report by clicking on the row in that grid and you will be taken to the Report Filters screen to set filters how you want to hone down on the data. At the top of that screen is the Build Report button which will take you to the Build Report screen to set the fonts, fields, report formulas and other details on how the report should look.
Report Access: The reports that show up on the Grid below are those, your Administrators have assigned to you. There are 2 levels of assignment: 1) To allow users to see what reports are available as these will be shown in the Grid below and 2) To allow YOU specific access to this report. In the Report Access column in the grid below you will see either a "@" symbol for access granted, or an "X" symbol for access revoked. You can only view the reports that your Administrator has granted you access. Some old reports can be marked for Deletion in the status column of the Grid below for clean up so these reports cannot be run.
Grid Paging: Grids are usually set to 20 rows unless there are 2 grids on 1 page an in that case each grid willl be set to 10 rows. If the number of rows of data exceeds the page size of the grid, then you will see numbers at the top of grid headers. These numbers represent pages for the grid so a grid with a page size of 20 will show records 21-40 when you click on the number 2 above the grid to take you to page 2. The current page you are on will not be hyperlinked.
Click Here To See The Report Favorite Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
The username needs to be 7 to 25 characters and duplicates are not allowed to stop someone from looking at some one elses data.
The roles are: Main Admin, Report Admin, Internal User (user of your corporation) and External User (user not part of your corporation). Only 1 Main Administrator is allowed and that persons role is disabled to stop the role being changed as that person needs to see all of the system. Main administrators can add users and reports and do all report functions. Report Administrators can add reports and do all report functions. Internal and External Users can only do report functions.
Security Level Groups are simply user groups and can be a group of Internal and External Users. Security Level groups range from 0 to 9 although you can have as many as you want. The main administrator can only be security level 0 since that person needs to see all of the users and reports. You should group sets of Internal and External Users together by giving them the same Security Level number. That way you can assign certain reports only to a certain security level group. The purpose is for reports as some reports only need to go to a group of users which you can assign in the "Reports Profile" screen.
All fields on this screen are required except for the Middle Name field and the Street 2 address which us used for a suite number or apartment number.
Password hints are for security purposes for when the person forgets their password. When a person does forget their password, they can click on the Forgot Password menu selection off the home page and fill in the required information. The Main Administrator can turn off the requirements for Password Hints for a short time (when a person forgets their password) however it is recommended to keep it on for higher security.
The users email id has to be correct for reports to be emailed correctly. During the trial period this field is set only to the main administrator as she or he tests out the system. When the system comes out of trial and becomes active, then the email id field is enabled and needs to be set for each person. Please make sure the email address is correct to avoid spam.
Click Here To See The User Profile Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This screen is not to be a full blown Employee Management system but is only to capture some basic information for reporting. For example, there is a Birthday/Aniversary Report that will show all upcoming birthdays and employment annivesaries for the month which is helpful for managers to recognize their employees.
Job Title: Is the title the person has for employee records.
Governement Social Number is SSN in the United States, SIN in Canada or another goverment number in another country.
External payroll number is used if you want to link this to a payroll system. It would be the payroll id for this person in that external system.
There are no checks on BirthDate for minors.
Hire date is used for employee records.
Employee Status is for employee records and has no relation to log on status.
Your password must be between 7 and 25 characters. Upper or Lower case is not checked.Passwords are encrypted in the database so they cannot be stolen.
Your confirmed password must match what you entered in the the password data entry field. Your new password cannot be the same as your old password.
Click Here To See The Change Password Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
All reports assigned to you are displayed regardless of their status. Clicking a "Generate Report" button for a row in the grid will take you to the "Report Filters" screen to set any filters for that report. You could immedidately view the report or click on the BUILD REPORT button at the top of your screen to go the customization of the report and the setting of report favorites to put this report on your Main Form - Report Favorites screen for 1 click viewing of a report.
The grid shows a list up to 20 reports which are sorted alphabetically by Report Name. This group of 20 is called a page. At the top and bottom of the grid you will see numbers which correspond to other pages (groups of 20) your grid can show you. If you have under 20 reports then you will only see the number 1 at the top and bottom of your grid since there are no more users to see. After the 21st report is added then the number 2 will appear at the top and bottom of your grid and that 21st report will not be shown on page 1 but you must click on that number 2 and you will see the next set of reports(the group from 21 to 40). If you had 100 reports then you would have the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 showing with all numbers hyperlinked for pages you can jump to.
The last 2 columns in this grid are for audit purposes for you to see if anyone else but you has modified you report records. If a report disapears on you one day then your Main Administrator has cleaned up that deleted report.
Click Here To See The Your Reports Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
You can set your own custom filters for this report and your settings will be saved. On this screen you can fitler up to 3 date fields (the first 3 rows), up to 3 character fields (rows 4 to 6) and up to 3 number fields (rows 7 to 9). If you see "NOT USED" in the Field Description text area for a row, then your administrators have set this up not to be used as some reports cannot be filtered on 3 date fields if they only have 2 date fields. The date fields can be set to the current date plus or minus some time span. This means that tomorrow, these date filters will dynamically change since the date filters will go off the current server time date. Date Filters in the system can be saved with the current date with your username so that the dates move as the current dates move which makes it excellent for daily reports.
Filters are set up different based on different reports as some reports do not have 3 date fields in them so they wont be used. Your corporation works in partnership with your service provider to set up the fields and filters for each report.
Build Report Button: Click this button at the top of your screen as most users want to order their report in some fashion and select certain fields fonts and add totals at the bottom of their report.
Print Preview Button: The difference between Print Preview and View Report is that the Print Preview button sets all the font sizes to 1 in the 100 percent mode. This is for you to check if you can print all columns in your report since your computer screen will likely be wider than what your screen although the report widths dynamically resize. The reports will have a print button which will pick up the your list of available printers you have set up in your local PC control panel.
Preview Zoom: Clicking from 100 percent to 400 percent will give you differing sizing to print your report. 100 percent is the smallest you can print at as in preview mode, all the fonts are set to size 1. As you zoom in to percents higher than 100 percent then the report will blow up the size of the fonts.
Click Here To See The Report Filters Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
Click the View Report button to see the Report on your screen with the exact font sizes per column field that you set in this screen. The Print Preview button is for you to check if you can print all columns in your report since your computer screen will likely be wider than what your Printer can Print and dynamic width resizing will take place.
Clicking from 100 percent to 400 percent will give you differing report sizing to print your report. 100 percent is the smallest. As you zoom in to percents higher than 100 percent then the report will blow up the size of the fonts.
Select each report column by checking or unchecking the 1st column selection box. Note: You have to have atleast 1 column in your report so the 1st column check box is disabled for this purpose and for the purpose that it usually has a formula option tied to it.
The Report Column Name Descriptions are a description of the field that you would set up for your reports. You then can choose a different font for each column. You can set the report column order on the report and the sort order (rows of data) for the report. Field Formulas are Count, Average and Sum and they are on fields you would set up for your reports. There are business rules around these as abviously you can only sum numeric, integer, money or decimal fields and not character nor date fields. Turning on or off Group Formula Totals will group your data and allow subtotalling. Normally we allow up to 9 filters per report.
Checking the "Add to Report Favorites" check box will add this report to the Report Favorites grid in your Main Form which is the 1st screen you see after login in. Its purpose is for 1 click easy viewing of your report with your saved report filters and settings in this screen. If you dont see any data then there is no data for your report from what was uploaded last night, or you have a filter in the Report Filter screens that is filtering out all records.
The "Email Me This" button shows up when you select the option at the bottom of the screen to have the reports emailed.
Click Here To See The Build Report Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This screen confirms your choice to log out. You can log out or return to the application.
Click Here To See The Log Out Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
Help Index tells you the screens the topic applies to. It is in the language you selected at log in time assuming your provider has translated all topics into your language.
Choose from the drop down choices and your screen will dynamically be filled with content for that topic you chose.
Click Here To See The Help Index Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
Listed below in alphabetical order are close to 30 topics that assist you learn the system. These are shown in english in this document and shown in English in the Content Window box of the Help Topics Screen. If you selected a different language, other than English at log on time, then this Help Topics screen would dynamically display all the text in your preferred language.
Adding Print Date/Time to the Report is found in the BUILD REPORT at the bottom of the screen. To get to the Build Report screen, click on the YOUR REPORTS menu option, then select "Generate Report" for the report row you want to configure, which will take you to the Report Filter sceen. Click on the BUILD REPORT button at the top of this screen and you are now on the BUILD REPORT screen.
Add the Print Date/Time to this Report by checking the check box and Save the configuration with the Submit Request button.
The Date/Time will be the time the server is located in. This is used rather than the users computer PC clock for 3 reasons:
1) Clocks on PCs can go a few minutes fast or slow over time
2) Users can change their local PC time on their clocks
3) Users can be in different time zone than the server and then email their report to someone else in another different time zone which will cause confusion when the report was actually run.
Adding a Report to Report Favorites is done by checking the report favorites check box on the BUILD REPORT screen. To get to the Build Report screen, click on the YOUR REPORTS menu option, then select "Generate Report" for the report row you want to configure, which will take you to the Report Filter sceen. Click on the BUILD REPORT button at the top of this screen and you are now on the BUILD REPORT screen to set that report as a report favorite.
The Cancel Add Button shows up on Profile screens when you have clicked on an Add button on the previous screen. Validation of data entry fields gets turned ON when you are adding a record, so you cannot jump to another screen while adding a new record. You need to complete adding the new record or if you want to cancel out of adding the new record, click on the Cancel Add button at the top of your screen and you will be taken back to the previous screen you came from.
When you are not in "Add Mode", you can navigate to any other screen freely using the menu buttons. The Cancel Button is used to Cancel all validation when you are in "Add Mode" are return you to the screen where you originally clicked the Add button.
Your Service Provider in partnership with your Database people provide reports in either list format or drill down format. Drill down reports have hyperlinks on the columns to take you to a deeper level of information on that row of data you clicked on. The system allows for "n" level deep drills downs but it all depends on how your Database people want to set it up. Drill down reports usually start with a Parent Summary Report and then you can drill down on a row to a child report and further child report.
List Reports provide more summary information therefore do not need to be drill down.
Since help is all stored in the database then certain specific client installations can add to the help dynamically on the fly. The administration system has a user interface to both the help for the screens and the Index Topical Help.
The software uses custom encryption code that is not copied from any other source. This encryption code is used to make your password secure, your credit cards secure and your database access secure. Different encryption code is used for each of the previously mentioned areas for extra security.
The system also uses SSL 128 bit encryption as you see from the lock icon at the bottom of your web browser. SSL is used by most corporations to stop hackers from stealing information on your web screens.Enforce Password Hints is a check box on the Corp Admin screen. By checking this check box you then force users that forget their passwords to answer all 3 of the password hint questions and answers they set up in the User Profile screen. This is the recommended setting for higher security.
If the Enforce Password Hints check box is not checked, then a user Forgetting their password needs only to enter the correct username (user id) and correct email id on file and they will be emailed their forgotten password. (The link to the Forgot Password screen is off the home page in the menu section.)Report Email options are found in the BUILD REPORT screen. To get to the Build Report screen, click on the YOUR REPORTS menu option, then select "Generate Report" for the report row you want to configure, which will take you to the Report Filter sceen. Click on the BUILD REPORT button at the top of this screen and you are now on the BUILD REPORT screen.
In the Build Report screen, turn on your email options and you will see an "Email Me This" button at the top of your report. When you click on that, the report will close and the report will be sent to your email address that you set up at the bottom of the User Profile screen.
If you do not get the report then one of the following occured:
1) You have a typo in your email id that you set up at the bottom of the User Profile screen so it sent it to an invalid id
2) A rare event in which the mail server had a hardware failure. In this case you will ne notified on your screen that the email was not sent and that you are to contact your Main Administrator Help Desk and notify them of the problem. The system saves email that it cannot send due to a hardware failure. When the system is restored, the System Administrator has a screen that they use to send out Unsent Email.
A base set of font faces, font sizes and font colors has been set up by your Service Provider which can be added to if necessary.
You Main Administrator or Report Administrator is responsible to add more font groups. Active font groups will be shown in font selection combo boxes in the Build Report Screen and the Report Profile Screen.
Size naming conventions for these font groups are XXSmall, XSmall, Small, Meduim, Large, XLarge and XXLarge. Small fonts should be selected for report fields. Larger fonts can be selected for Report headers.
Here is where the power of this Reporting System helps you out. You can grant report access for a report (in the Report Profile or Report Grant Access screens) to 1 user or a group of users.
Granting Users Report Access On the Report Profile Screen: Using the radio selection buttons on the Report Profile screen, your group report access assignment can be: to all users, to all users that have a role of INTERNAL or all users that have a role of EXTERNAL, or to all users that have a specific Security Level Group. If you need further selections of users to GRANT or REVOKE access to this report, click on the Grant Access or Revoke Access buttons at the top of this Report Profile screen.
Granting Users Report Access On the Grant Report Screen: The Grant Report Access screen shows all the users that currently DO NOT have access to the report. By selecting 1 or more users (highlighting them) and clicking the Submit Request button, you will GRANT access to the report for those specific users. You can REVOKE access to this report to those users using the REVOKE ACCESS button at the top of the Report Profile screen.
Report Favorites and Your Reports Screens: On these 2 screens, their will be a column in the grid called Access. In the grid there will be a "@" or an "X" in this Access column (using international symbols rather than the English text: GRANTED or REVOKED.) "@" means GRANTED so you have access to that report. "X" means REVOKED so you DO NOT have access to that report. If you try to run a report that you do not have access to, you will be stopped. Your Administrators are responsible for Report Access. Contact them if you feel you need access to a certain report. Help Desk Contact numbers are at the top of your Report Favorites Screen.
Most grids show up to 20 rows of data per page (screens that have 2 grids on them often show only 10 rows of data per page for due to screen space). Grid data is usually pre-sorted by the main name in the grid. Some grids have an EDIT button that will take you to a Profile screen to see the details for that particular row of data.
If you have under 20 rows of data in a grid then you will only see the number 1 at tthe top and bottom of your grid since there are no more pages of data to see beside page 1.
After the 21st record for a particular grid has been entered, the number 2 will appear at the top and bottom of your grid and that 21st record will not be shown on page 1 but you must click on that number 2 and you will see the next set of 20 records (the group from 21 to 40). If you had 100 records then you would have the numbers 1 2 3 4 and 5 showing with all numbers hyperlinked for pages you can jump to.
The last 2 columns in the grid are for partial audit purposes for you to see who changed the record last and at what time.
Most profile screens have a Status combo box to allow you to set the record to Active (to use it in the system), Inactive (to possibly re-activate it later) and Deleted to soft delete the record.
When you set the Status combo box to Deleted and save that record, it is soft deleted meaning it still exists in the system but is marked for clean up when the Main Administrator runs the Corp Admin screen to clean up deleted records. The system allows soft deleted records to remain in the system by setting the number of months before deletion to 12 in the Corp Admin screen. If immediate hard deletion of soft deleted records is needed then the Main Administrator sets the number of months before deletion to 0 in the Corp Admin screen and clicks on the Submit Request button. The soft deleted records are now hard deleted and are permenantly removed from the system.
The name and phone numbers at the top of the Main Form - Report Favorites screen (which is the 1st screen after you log on) should contain the Help Desk contact numbers. Help Desk is a support group that are experts with the system and can help any user with questions. Help Desks are available (usually) at all times depending on how your corporation has implemented them. Help Desk people have access to the Administration side of the application so they can make any adjustments that are necessary on the fly.
Administration currently has only turned on English, Spanish and French which are the 3 choices in the Language combo box when you log on. More languages can be added for specific client installations. Currently only the first 2 screens have all the international text in place for English, Spanish and French just to prove that the database has all been dsigned and it is just a matter of time before all the rest of the screen messages get entered into the database for each language.
Based on the language you choose at log in time, the Help Text and Help Index topics are all designed for international support to show you text in the language you logged in with.
All international text is stored in the database and Administration has a user interface to these screens to add data dynamically on the fly or change a word if a spelling mistake is found.
Your Login User Name must be between 7 and 25 characters. Upper or Lower case is not checked. It is unique in the entire database. You are notified if a new username being entered is a duplicate.
You are allowed 3 attempts to log in. If you cannot remember your password, then go to the home page and click on the FORGOT PASSWORD link in the menu section.
Only those users with a login Status of Active can login in to this system. Users that have a Deleted Status can be permenantly deleted in the "Corp Admin" screen by the Main Administrator. Users that need to go on leave of absence can have their Status changed in the User Profile screen to Inactive. This will stop them from logging on to the system but will not delete them out of the system. When the user returns from a leave of absence, their status should be changed back to Active for them to be able to log on and use this system again.
ALL LOGINS FOR ALL USERS ARE STOPPED AT END OF A TRIAL PERIOD. At that time the corporation using the system must move from from Trial Status to Active Status to continue using the system. If you have questions on moving from Trial Status to Active Status, contact your Service Provider.
Administration sets this to a certain limit so that someone does not run a crazy report with a million rows creating a 20,000 page report by mistake. The system as been performance tested at 10,000 rows or about 200 pages. Realistically someone looking at a decision support report wants to look at a 1 page report (or 2 at the most) as that is the reason for so many report filters to hone in on the data they want to see rather than try to find a piece of data in a 200 page print out.
If your report exceeds the Maximum Rows In A Report then you will see a message at the top of your report showing you have exceeded the maximum (and showing what the maximum has been set to). If that happens to your report, you need to use the Report Filter screen and further fine tune the report as this is a decision support tool and not a paper dump session.
Click on the Billing button (only Main Administrator can see this button) and look at the lower grid that shows what host plan you are on. This grid will also show you the maximum number of users in that certain plan.
When you at are the maximum number of users (regardless of user status) and try to add another user on the User Browse screen by clicking on the Add User button, you will be stopped and notified that you are at the maximum and no more users can be added.
If this is a problem, call your Service Provider and move up to the next higher host plan.
Certain menu buttons in the left panel of your screen are hidden for 1 main reason: 1) Based on your Login Role, you are not authorized to do some funcitons like add reports or add users.
When you are on a screen, the menu button for that screen will be disabled for 2 reasons:
1) To show you where you are on the menu
2) To shop you from re-navigating to the same screen you are already on.
There are also function Buttons at the top of the screen in some of the screens. These are placed there since you must be in the context of 1 report or 1 user you have selected. These subscreens do not show up on the main menu at log on time but when you select them with one of these top function buttons, a half size menu button will dynamically appear in the menu column and this button will be disabled for the 2 reasons above.
Users are forced to change their password the very first time they log on since at the start they have only been given a temporary password. Users should update their User Profile in the User Profile Screen to set the password hints to something they can remember.
Administration sets the number of months before users are required to change their password in the Corp Admin screen. When their password expires, the user is automatically redirected to the Change Password screen the next time they log on.
You can only access a report if the following 4 conditions are met:
1) The report design and implementation has been completed and the report submission status says "Operational"
2) The report status stays ACTIVE as sometime Administrators retire old reports and set them into an INACTIVE or DELETED state
3) Your Administrator has granted you ACCESS to that report which is shown in the Report Favorites, Your Reports screens with the "@" ACCESS symbol.
4) The report appears on your grids to choose from as Administration can delete old reports and remove them entirely from the system.
If you had access at one time to a report and now you dont, contact your Main Administrator Help desk which is shown at the top of the Main Form (1st screen when you log in.)
Here are the main stages of Submission Status:
1) "Client Submitted" (You ask for a new report and a view is required to be created for a set of columns from separate tables in your database)
2)"Review" (The application company(Service Provider) creates a new view and changes the Submission Status of this report from "Client Submitted" to "Review")
3a)"Client Accepted" (You review the new report. After you review the report to make sure all the fields you requested are correct, you change the Submission Status of this report from "Review" to "Client Accepted"
3b) "Client Changes" (Similar to the step above, if after you reviewed the report, you found some incorrect fields, you change the Submission Status of this report from "Review" to "Client Changes".
4a)If the Submission Status is now "Client Accepted" the Service Provider changes the Submission Status of this report from "Client Accepted" to "Operational" assuming the billing of the new report was charged correctly. The report now stays in the Submission Status of "Operational" and you can grant access of this report to other users now.
4b) If the Submission Status is now "Client Changes" the Service Provider fixes the error, and changes the Submission Status of this report from "Client to "Review"). Then you go back to step 3 and 4 to get the report into "Operational" status.
Security Level Groups are simply user groups and can be a group of Internal and External Users. Security Level groups range from 0 to 9 although you can have as many as you want. The main administrator can only be security level 0 since that person needs to see all of the users and reports. You should group sets of Internal and External Users together by giving them the same Security Level number. (You do this in the User Profile screen.) That way you can assign certain reports (In the Report Profile screen) only to a certain security level group. So the purpose is for reports as some reports only need to go to a group of users which you can assign in the "Reports Profile" screen. The Main Administrator has the Security Level of 0 which cannot be changed for the purpose of being able to see all reports.
Most profile screens have a Status combo box to allow you to set the record to Active (to use it in the system), Inactive (to possibly re-activate it later) and Deleted to soft delete the record.
When you set the Status combo box to Deleted and save that record, it is soft deleted meaning it still exists in the system but is marked for clean up when the Main Administrator runs the Corp Admin screen to clean up deleted records. The system allows soft deleted records to remain in the system by setting the number of months before deletion to 12 in the Corp Admin screen. If immediate hard deletion of soft deleted records is needed, then the Main Administrator sets the number of months before deletion to 0 in the Corp Admin screen and clicks on the Submit Request button.
Soft Deletes are to be cleaned up in accordance with your standard Corporate policies.
Most error messages on your screen are to show you that you have some incorrect data entered in some data entry field. However the system is robust in that it has try catch code around all transactions that if some system error arises for some unforseen reason, an email is immediately sent to Tech Support behind the screens telling them the screen and the error message to start researching the problem.
The Administration code has a complete Issue Tracking system that looks at the issues logged, and takes them through to resolution. Most of the time, there will be no impact to the users of the system.
Hackers try to use special characters like apostrophes, greater than signs, less than signs, and percent signs to cause a crash in data entry screens. You will be notifed if you use any of these special characters with a red indicator beside the field and the message at the top or bottom of you screen saying "Keyboard Data Entry Error". Fix the characters in the data fields and then save with the Submit Request button at the bottom of the Profile screen.
Trial Period is usually for 1 month for you to test out the system with the 6 free reports that have been set up for the Main Adminstrator already. You can add up to 10 users and see the User List report change as the Main Administrator adds each user. Each user will have the main administrators email id until the trial period is over. As you log in, each user is shown at the top of their screen (Main Form - Report Favorites screen) when the trial is over. The added user can log in to the system during the trial period and see the reports that the Main Administrator has granted to them through the Report Profile and Report Grant screens.
Before the trial is over you should contact the Service Provider that emailed you your welcome to BizRAS emails and tell them your intentions and what host plan you want (see the lower grid in the Billing screen). If you decide to use the system then you want to work with your Database people as to what data you want loaded into reports. You need to set up an active payment method in the Billing Profile screen.
When your Service Provider changes your account from trial to active, billing begins and you can change the email ids for the users you added to the correct email address. You also can start uploading your data to the host and set up new reports with your Service Provider. (See topic called Report Submission Status). As you reports become operational, then assign users to them (See topic called Report Access) and then let the users start using your reports.
Your Database people work with the Service provider to provide an automated DTS package that will send up to date data from your database to the secured host database that only has your information on it.
Scheduled Nightly Refreshes can accure between 3 and 5 AM based on the the time zone the server is installed in. These times are flexible depending on your needs however only 1 refresh per day is allowed.
Your Main Administrator is reponsible for giving you your role which is one of:
1) Report Administrator,
2) Internal User (an employee of the corporation that is organizing this application) or
3) External User (a user that is not an employee of the corporation that is organizing this application.
There can be only 1 Main Administrator. Users with a Login Role of either "Internal User" or "External User" can only work with the top set of Menu selection buttons under the Header "All Users". Users with a Login Role of Report Administrator can work with all Menu selection buttons except those under the "Client Admin" Header. The Main Administrator Role can select all buttons and that person has authority to add users, deactivate users, add reports, and grant and revoke report access permissions to all users, check billing, add payment method profiles and perform other administrative functions.
There is only 1 main administrator and that person can set up as many Report Administrators as that person wants.
The Report Administrator can add or edit new font records to be used for reports. They also can edit report status and grant or revoke report access to users.
The Main Administrator can do all functions. This person sets up the help desk contact numbers (displayed on the Report Favorites screen) in the Corp Admin screen. The Main Administrator can look at billing records, set the payment method for the invoices,add new users, set the inital passwords for new users, set the time when users are forced to change their password, and clean up soft deleted records as per corporate policy.
The Main Administrator can see all the screens mentioned below in sections 5 and 6. The Report Administrator can only see screens in section 5 below.
All reports are displayed regardless of their status. Clicking a "Select" button for a row in the grid will take you to the "Report Profile" screen to edit that report. The grid shows a list up to 20 reports which are sorted alphabetically by Report Name. This group of 20 is called a page. At the top and bottom of the grid you will see numbers which correspond to other pages (groups of 20) your grid can show you. If you have under 20 reports then you will only see the number 1 at the top and bottom of your grid since there are no more reports to see. After the 21st report is added then the number 2 will appear at the top and bottom of your grid and that 21st report will not be shown on page 1 but you must click on that number 2 and you will see the next set of reports(the group from 21 to 40). If you had 100 reports then you would have the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 showing with all numbers hyperlinked for pages you can jump to.
The last 2 columns in this grid are for audit purposes for you to see if anyone else but you has modified you report records. If a report disapears on you one day then your Main Administrator has cleaned up that deleted report.
Click Here To See The Edit Report Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
Report Name: Enter a unique name that describes this report internally to you. This name will not be shown on the report.
Report Headers: Enter the top 2 headers and select the font you want for them.
Here are the main stages of Submission Status:
1) "Client Submitted" (You ask for a new report and a view is required to be created for a set of columns from separate tables in your database)
2)"Review" (The application company(Service Provider) creates a new view and changes the Submission Status of this report from "Client Submitted" to "Review")
3a)"Client Accepted" (You review the new report. After you review the report to make sure all the fields you requested are correct, you change the Submission Status of this report from "Review" to "Client Accepted"
3b) "Client Changes" (Similar to the step above, if after you reviewed the report, you found some incorrect fields, you change the Submission Status of this report from "Review" to "Client Changes".
4a)If the Submission Status is now "Client Accepted" the Service Provider changes the Submission Status of this report from "Client Accepted" to "Operational" assuming the billing of the new report was charged correctly. The report now stays in the Submission Status of "Operational" and you can grant access of this report to other users now.
4b) If the Submission Status is now "Client Changes" the Service Provider fixes the error, and changes the Submission Status of this report from "Client to "Review"). Then you go back to step 3 and 4 to get the report into "Operational" status.
Report Status: The report status is used to retire old reports. Change it from Active to Inactive or Deleted if you do not want users to use this report. Changing the status to Deleted means your Main Administrator will permenantly delete this record at some point in time. (For information on hard deleting soft deleted records, see the help on the "Client Admin" screen.)
Granting Report Access Users:
Here is where the power of this Reporting System helps you out. You can grant report access for this report on the screen (after it becomes operational as explained above in the Report Submission Status section) to 1 user or a group of users. Using the radio selection buttons, your group report access assignment can be: to all users, to all users that have a role of INTERNAL or all users that have a role of EXTERNAL, or to all users that have a specific Security Level Group. If you need further selections of users to GRANT or REVOKE access to this report, click on the Grant Access or Revoke Access buttons.
Click Here To See The Report Profile Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This screen shows all the users that currently DO NOT have access to this report. By selecting 1 or more users (highlighting them) and clicking the Submit Request button, you will GRANT access to this report for those specific users. You can REVOKE access to this report to those users using the REVOKE ACCESS button at the top of the Report Profile screen.
This screen shows all the users that currently have access to this report. By selecting 1 or more users (highlighting them) and clicking the Submit Request button, you will REVOKE access to this report for those specific users. You can re-GRANT access to this report to those users again using the GRANT ACCESS button at the top of the Report Profile screen.
Add Font Button
Clicking on this button takes you to the "Font Profile" screen where you can add a new font.
Font Grid
All fonts are displayed regardless of their status. Clicking an "Edit" button for a row in the grid will take you to the "Font Profile" screen to edit that report. The grid shows a list up to 20 fonts which are sorted alphabetically by Font Name. This group of 20 is called a page. At the top and bottom of the grid you will see numbers which correspond to other pages (groups of 20) your grid can show you. If you have under 20 fonts then you will only see the number 1 at the top and bottom of your grid since there are no more fonts to see. After the 21st fontsis added then the number 2 will appear at the top and bottom of your grid and that 21st font will not be shown on page 1 but you must click on that number 2 and you will see the next set of fonts(the group from 21 to 40). If you had 100 fonts then you would have the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 showing with all numbers hyperlinked for pages you can jump to.
The last 2 columns in this grid are for audit purposes for you to see if anyone else but you has modified your font records. If a font disapears on you one day then your Main Administrator has cleaned up that deleted font.
Click Here To See The Edit Fonts Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
Enter a Font Group Name such as XXSmall Arial Red for the font size of xxsmall, the font face of arial and the font color of Red. The choices in the combo boxes should give you ample supply of font group combinations for your reports. If you need a special font face or color that is not in combo box selection, contact your Service Provider and see if they have plans to add that. Only Active (status) font groups can be used in the Build Report and Report Profile screens for your reports.
Click Here To See The Font Profile Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
The Main Administrator is the only one that has menu choices to access the following screens:
Add User Button
Clicking on this button takes you to the "User Profile" screen where you can
add a new user.
User Grid
All users are displayed regardless of their status. Clicking an "Edit" button
for a row in the grid will take you to the "User Profile" screen to edit that
user. The grid shows a list up to 20 user which are sorted alphabetically
by Users Last Name, then First Name, then Middle Name. This group of 20 is
called a page. At the top and bottom of the grid you will see numbers which
correspond to other pages (groups of 20) your grid can show you. If you have
under 20 users then you will only see the number 1 at tthe top and bottom of
your grid since there are no more users to see. After the 21st user is added
then the number 2 will appear at the top and bottom of your grid and that 21st
user will not be shown on page 1 but you must click on that number 2 and you
will see the next set of users(the group from 21 to 40). If you had 100 users
then you would have the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 showing with all numbers
hyperlinked for pages you can jump to. This means if you had a Users Last
Name starting with the letter "Z" then likely it would be in the group from
81-100 so you can click on the 5 button and jump to the last 20 records in
alphabetical order (which is page 5).
The last 2 columns in this grid are for audit purposes for you to see if anyone else but you has
modified your user records. If a user disapears on you one day then your Main
Administrator has cleaned up that deleted user.
Click Here To See The Edit Users Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
The username needs to be 7 to 25 characters and duplicates are not allowed to stop someone from looking at some one elses data.
The roles are: Main Admin, Report Admin, Internal User (user of your corporation) and External User (user not part of your corporation). Only 1 Main Administrator is allowed and that persons role is disabled to stop the role being changed as that person needs to see all of the system. Main administrators can add users and reports and do all report functions. Report Administrators can add reports and do all report functions. Internal and External Users can only do report functions.
Security Level Groups are simply user groups and can be a group of Internal and External Users. Security Level groups range from 0 to 9 although you can have as many as you want. The main administrator can only be security level 0 since that person needs to see all of the users and reports. You should group sets of Internal and External Users together by giving them the same Security Level number. That way you can assign certain reports only to a certain security level group. The purpose is for reports as some reports only need to go to a group of users which you can assign in the "Reports Profile" screen.
All fields on this screen are required except for the Middle Name field and the Street 2 address which us used for a suite number or apartment number.
Password hints are for security purposes for when the person forgets their password. When a person does forget their password, they can click on the Forgot Password menu selection off the home page and fill in the required information. The Main Administrator can turn off the requirements for Password Hints for a short time (when a person forgets their password) however it is recommended to keep it on for higher security.
The users email id has to be correct for reports to be emailed correctly. During the trial period this field is set only to the main administrator as she or he tests out the system. When the system comes out of trial and becomes active, then the email id field is enabled and needs to be set for each person. Please make sure the email address is correct to avoid spam.
Click Here To See The User Profile Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
The first check box is to enforce password hints when users forget their passwords. Three password hint questions and answers were filled out for each user in the User Profile screen. When a user forgets their password, then can click on the Forgot Password menu link of the home page and fill in the required data. If this check box is checked, then the user has to answer the 3 password questions and answers correctly in order for their forgotten password to be emailed to them. If you have this check box unchecked, then in the Forgot Password screen they only have to enter the correct username (user id) and correct email address.
The inital password when a new user is created is set by you so that you can tell your new user what their username (user id) and password is. The user will be forced to change their password on the initial logon to the system.
Number of months before user is required to change password can be 1 month or 12 months. One month is for super high security but could cause some user grumbling. This should be set to what your corporate policy dictates. As you change this number, the grid below it dynamically changes to show you users that need to change their password based on the last time they have changed it less the number of months in your combo box selection.
Number of Months of Inactivity of a soft deleted record before it is hard deleted. Each user record in the system has a last modified timestamp on it. When you change the status of a user, a report, a font or a payment method to DELETED, then the timestamp of that change is recorded. When you change the Number of Months of Inactivity combo box, the grid below it dynamically changes to show you any records that will be hard deleted IF YOU CLICK ON THE SUBMIT REQUEST BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN. Hard deleted means it is permenantly deleted and cannot be restored. Normally you set the Number of Months of Inactivity combo box to your corporate policy standard. If you need to remove a soft deleted record immediately, set this combo box to zero, see and click the Submit Request button. The only time a record does NOT get deleted after you mark it for deletion, and click on the Submit Request button, is when you have a record such as a font that is used by some one in a report. Deleting this font would cause a referential integrity issue in that report therefore the delete process is stopped.
WARNING -- CLICK ON THE SUBMIT REQUEST BUTTON ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN will delete all PAGES of records in the lower grid not just the records in the grid on page 1.
The Corporate Address section is initially filled in with the main administrators information. This should be changed to what entity will be performing the help desk functions. (See Help Desk in Index Topical Help)
Click Here To See The Corp Admin Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This screen has 2 grids. The top grid shows the billing invoices. Click on a row of the grid will take you to the Billing Profile screen showing the total charges for this selected invoice and the total payments received for this selected invoice. You can further select rows from those grids to get view only information.
The lower grid shows the software plan you have selected with your service provider. There are maximums in each plan such as maximum number of users. If you are on a plan with a maximum number of users of 10, then when you try to add the 11th user in the User Browse screen, you will be stopped. At that time you should contact your Service Provider to see how you can move up to the next software plan.
Click Here To See The Billing Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This screen has 2 grids show the records of charges for the invoice selected and the records of payments received for the selected invoice. By selecting on a row in either grid, you will be taken to another Profile screen to see more details of a charge or a payment.
If you see no payment records and only a charge record, then it shows that invoice payment has not been received yet due to the credit card not being processed yet or the check from you has not been received.
Click Here To See The Billing Profile Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This is a read only screen showing the details of a charge for a given invoice. The INVOICE button at the top of your screen will take you back 1 screen to the Billing Profile screen.
This is a read only screen showing the details of a payment for a given invoice. The payment is based on the Current Payment Profile you have active at the time. The INVOICE button at the top of your screen will take you back 1 screen to the Billing Profile screen.
Add Billing Profile
Clicking on Add Billing Profile button at the top of you screen will take you to the Billing Profile screen where you add a new payment method entering current payment information.
This grid shows the different payment methods you are choosing to pay your bills for using this sytem. Only 1 payment profile can be active at any one time which will be the one picking up by the automatic billing system. If you are paying by credit card, make sure your expiry date is up to date in our system by clicking on that row in the system and editing it in the Profile screen.
Clicking on the Edit button on a row in the grid will take you to the Billing Profile screen where you change payment method information.
Click Here To See The Payment Methods Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This Billing Profile screen allows you to add or edit your payment methods for monthly billing. You must have 1 active Billing Profile for your account to become active as the system has to know how you are going to pay your monthly bills for using this system.
Enter a name such as Corporate Credit Card if you are using a credit card or Corporate Check if you are paying by check. If you select credit card billing then make sure the credit card number you enter is correct as well as the expiry date. As you save this record, the system will look at the Status you set (Active, Inactive or Deleted) and if you set it to Active, then any other payment method record will be set to Inactive automatically since you can only have 1 active payment record at any one time. (Billing will only use the active record at the time is is processing invoices for that month.)
Credit Card numbers are encrypted to stop anyone for stealing them. Even the Database Adminstrators will not be able to understand your credit card numbers in the database.
Add Ticket Button
Clicking on Add Ticket button at the top of you screen will take you to the Support Ticket Profile screen where you add a new issue that you want fixed in the system. These issues are sent to your Service Providers Tech Support people who will respond to your support ticket changing its status and adding more comments.
This grid shows all the support tickets you have ever raised. You can only raise new support ticket issues by clicking on the add button and saving your new ticket in the Support Ticket Profile screen. You should only raise issues that are problems with the code or the system. You should not use these screens as question answer sessions. You can see in the grid the ticket status to see if it has changed from "User Entered Issue" to "Closed as Resolved". The ticket status will start out being "User Entered Issue" when you first enter it and it will be changed to "Closed as Resolved" when the problem is fixed.
Clicking on the Edit button on a row in the grid will take you to the Support Ticket Profile screen where you see detail information on the issue you raised.
Click Here To See The Support Ticket Screen for this International Web Report Administration System.
This Ticket Support Profile screen allows you to add or edit support tickets which are issues you raise with your Service Provider.
When entering a new support problem issue, enter all the information including the screen you had a failur in and click the Submit Request button at the bottom of the screen. Immeditatetly after you click on the Submit Request button, emails are sent yo yout Service Providers Tech Support people who will respond to your support ticket changing its status and adding more comments after they analyze your issue. The ticket status will start out being "User Entered Issue" when you first enter it and it will be changed to "Closed as Resolved" when the problem is fixed.
You cannot change a support issue in edit mode as only Support Personnel can do that. Look at the status of a support ticket you have entered in the past to see if it has been answered or if it is still being processed. You only use this screen if you have screen errors in the system. This is not to be used for questions of how to use the system. For questions on how to use the system, refer to the htm help files or click on the help index button at the top left of your screen.
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