Auto log off 1

[MacolaHelp]

I've had others ask me this before, but have never researched a solution: can we force a logoff if someone is sitting on the PWE or Explorer screen? Or better yet, force open screens closed if inactive for a period of time? Might this be done with event manager?

 

[crystalreporting]

It may be possible to establish that a user is at the menu by looking at the files they have open. You'd need some way to establish this - if not, you'd run the risk of killing their session while they were in the middle of a transaction.

Peter Shirley

http://www.linkcorp.com

 

[MacolaHelp]

I can tell in pervasive what files are open, but can't force a graceful close in pervasive, only a "delete user". Is MSSQL, I believe I can see who is in the database, but not necessarily what tables they are in: one of the things I think is less superior in MSSQL. There are several ERP programs that are capable of disconnecting inactive users, but I'm not sure how we could go about this with our macola toolbox. Peter: you know quite a bit about Event Manager, don't you? Do you think it is a possibility if I pursue the research? I just don't want to waste a bunch of time chasing this option only to find it really won't work. Thanks.

 

[dgillz]

I don't believe this can be done with Event Manager, but it is probably worth a phone call.

However go to

http://www.fabsoft.com

and check out their scripting tool called Shortcut. It is very affordable and I have used it before with good success. I have talked to Gary at Fabsoft and he assures me this can be done with shortcut.

As a quick example of Shortcut's abilities, at one of my clients we combined Flexibility and Shortcut to automatically display a cntact's record in Goldmine at the time the order was being entered in Macola. Shortcut changed the active window from Macola OE0101 to Goldmine, found the correct contact record, and changed the focus back to the Macola order entry screen. The 2 screens were placed side by side so the user could see both of them easily.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[crystalreporting]

I agree - while Event Manager is useful, I don't think it is the tool to log people off automatically. The problem you'll run into is identifying what the workstation is doing. You could establish this by looking at the users open files - so in theory, you could 'kill' their session if they were at a menu. Are you trying to do something in order to reduce the number of licenses in use?

Peter Shirley

http://www.linkcorp.com

 

[MacolaHelp]

yes, we are trying to disconnect inactive users so others can log in without necessitating adding another 20k for an additional 5 users because people are sitting in the program, sometimes even after they go home for the day. I'll look at fabsoft in the next couple of weeks to see if it's more affordable/doable than the extra users or having someone monitor the user activities & disconnect inactives via vpn.

Why do other programs seem to have these features built in that we continually have to find a third party solution for?

 

[crystalreporting]

Your last question is a good one - but I'm not sure how to answer it! Seriously though, you may be better to find a non-software solution if people are leaving their workstations logged in. Try firing the next person that forgets to log off, that outta make people remember..

Peter Shirley

http://www.linkcorp.com

 

[maccrystal]

The Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit "WinExit" tool, a screen saver, lets you automatically log off inactive users. After a period of user inactivity, instead of displaying fancy graphics, which most screen savers do, WinExit displays a user-defined message and a brief countdown. When the countdown reaches zero, the screen saver logs the user off.

http://www.appstratinc.com

 

[MacolaHelp]

Thanks for the suggestion on "WinExit". We are, however, just trying to disconnect inactive Macola users. We don't really care what they are doing on the network. We are just trying to manage our Macola licensing. I headed back to the fabsoft option. I'll let you know if will seem to work.

 

[abaldwin]

I have fielded this question so many times in the past it is plain crazy. Other systems that can automatically log people off have a lot of code in them to gracefully shut down. The problem is not only that a person may be in the middle of a Macola transaction but anyone who has data open technically is in the middle of a database transaction. (granted they may only be viewing data ) but they have still instructed the DB to lock the record for them.

In pervasive this would be worse since it page locks instead of record locking in SQL.

The one time I used WinExit we ran into a Macola problem in that Macola does a lot of processing AFTER the screen is closed to complete data entry. For instance, OE. When entering line items you are not writing to the OE Line file. Macola writes to a temp file and at the closing of the form will write it to the line file. Using auto exit and logoff software may not allow this processing to take place thus loosing work or corrupting databases.

I like the idea of firing the next person who stays logged in all night.

Andy

Andy Baldwin

 

[AKPolarBear]

We use Citrix and I manually log users off at night through that. If I am lucky, I can shadow the session and close Macola properly.

Then I force the user to change their network login password each time I have to do that.

Some are hard headed and takes them a week or so to get it into the habit. Sometimes a refresher course is required but it usually only takes one time.

A suggestion for using less Macola licenses; assign certain terminals for the causal users to work from, deny access to others. Inconvenient yes but one license can serve many if you can live with the downside. We use some "counter" terminals this way for OE. We modified the order entry screen to add the users name to the order header so one login will work for that and the author can be still be identified. Again not perfect, many other issues with using a single login.

 

[dgillz]

If you use shortcut, all the processing after a screen is closed will not be an issue. I have used this sucessfully in a couple of environments, but not with Citrix/Terminal Services.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[kstickler]

We use Windows Terminal Server to access Macola and Crystal Reports. It is set to log a user out after 1 hour of inactivity. Then we have a script that runs every hour to clear out those pesky user files that take up licenses. The users, at first, found it aggravating to not be able to leave their sessions open but they are now diligent about logging out when they will be away from their system for an extended period of time. Plus, I no longer have to "clear" out the inactive user files when the licenses get used up. In fact we've had this in place for over a year and it works very well for us.

 

[AKPolarBear]

Could you provide a copy of the script? I would like to use something like that myself so I can stop doing that manually to clear out the leftovers.

 

[crystalreporting]

Doesn't PWE clear out the 'dead' temp files every time you log in as Supervisor?

Peter Shirley

http://www.linkcorp.com

 

[dgillz]

That was my understanding as well Peter.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[MacolaHelp]

Yes, pwe does indeed do this if it sees *tmp files = to your user license count. However, this does not help if the users forget or purposely do not log out, which is what I struggle with and others apparently do, too. I go into pervasive control center to determine the IP of the offending machine, then VPN or remote control to that machine & close out their macola session. Putzy but it works.

I, too, like the idea of firing the person, but the changing password option might be equally effective.

 

[AKPolarBear]

PWE may do that but we don't use PWE. Too many issues in the past with it.

Nearly every day there are open files left in the user directory.

Of course we all know how they get there but I think Exact ought to add an enhancement to sweep those files out when the user exits the program normally.

Or use a script to do that before backups start or on some other schedule as needed.

 

[kscheeler]

I would rethink your hesitation on using PWE. The users I have set up on it like the multi tab functionality and ability to move to another machine and keep their desktop. If someone were to exit Macola correctly, the user temp files would be deleted.


Kevin Scheeler