Need help publishing enterprise directory

[phadobas]

Hi all out there. I have NEC SV8500 and MA4000. I'm the inhouse tech who maintains it all. I'm looking for a way to publish some enterprise directory (some 1000 names and numbers). I have an MS Access Database with all this data, and have a module that generates a word doc which I then import into Publisher and print. However, I want to put this on some server that's accessible from our company LAN computers. I've never done web-design, or even programming. I just started to get some grip on Python programming language, and I'm very computer savy otherwise, which means I'm willing to learn anything.
I see MA4000 has an option for 'Organization' but I'm not sure if it will get me where I need to go with this. I don't mind starting to build the database from scratch if at the end it gives me what I want. I know nothing about xml, but have a feeling I should.
Either way, anybody has ideas how to do it with NEC's MA4000 or MS applications?
Thanks

 

[neax]

We will... soon.

 

[phadobas]

Okay. Here is what I'm looking to accomplish:
I would publish a web-address that employees can browse to from their internal LAN connected computers. The page would present them a tree-like representation of the organization. It would list the divisions, with a '+' sign next to each, which one could click on to get the departments of the division. Those departments would have a '+' sign to expand their sections. And when you click on the section, it will list all the employees of that section, and clicking the name would provide the available information (extension, DID, email address, etc) for the person.
There should also be a 'quick search' box, where one could type in part of a name, or even an extension, and search for the employee directly like that.
So! What do I do. I'm chewing through books on XML, HTML, server config materials, but I don't have an idea formulated yet, and I might even be on the wrong track.

What's your input?

 

[OzzieGeorge]

Phadobas

I think I have tried to help you in the past and I would like to help you now but MA4000 and help are conflicting terms in my humble experience! I have never tried to get to grips with the product and that is because it trades on dumbing down the person who is trying to administer the system! the simple fact with MA4000 is that it generates cash for NEC because it is licensed on an equipped end basis but the problem is it doesn't truly deliver (IMHO).

There is a thread running at the present about a Hotel system where a tech is seeking tech support (wish I was more local and could help there too) but in it he posts a link to a GUI that may be worth looking at as an alternative to MA4000.

My advice would be to go back to NEC as you have paid good money for this product, so if it isn't delivering, give the problem back to them!

 

[phadobas]

Do you have the link for that thread you are referring to?

As for the MA4000, I have mixed feelings. It's kind of handling a computer via GUI vs CLI. MA4000 would be the GUI, and PC Pro is the CLI. One needs some fairly good understanding of PC Pro before he can effectively use the MA4000. I think I managed, and now use MA4000 for programming the system, and it makes things faster. However, I don't have enough documentation to know what everything it can or supposed to do, so I have a feeling I could get more out of it. It does have a feature to build a database for your organization, but it is only for managing, and not for publishing the information for the masses.

So, looking forward the link for the other thread you referred to.

 

[OzzieGeorge]

check here....

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1629794&page=1