Changing used defined

[musiccorner]

Hi

I have inserted a used defined variable into DESIGN TEXT > WEB SITE (contd) > Invoice address in V6.

Does anyone know how to change the title 'user defined' in the greyed area on the left to show the query title.

Thanks

;)

[Jan]

The text in the greyed area is the default text and so can't be changed.

Regards,

[musiccorner]

Thank you....it was just a thought to make it easier for the staff !

[Jan]

I see what you mean. Thinking about it you could always hack the database, look in the checkoutprompts table for the nPhase
nID = 0
nStatus= 14
sDefault = 'User Definable'

and change the sDefault value to your text. As with any database change, you might get side effects but I can't think of any ATM.

Regards,

[musiccorner]

I'll have a go, but where is the "checkout prompts table" The rest sounds quite straightforward.

:D

[Jan]

It's in your catalog database. ActinicCatalog.mdb in your site directory. You have to edit it with microsoft access. My advice would be to leave it well alone if you don't know much about access.

Regards,

[harlequin]

Hi Jan, Chris is a client of mine (im very proud to say) and I will guide her how to look at this. (This I CAN manage...) So I am sure she will be back on here soon with her next question, she usually is...hahaha.

Funnily enough I was on here to post a message to you Jan, coincidentally regarding Access 2000, I desperately need to know what you consider to be a good book I can get to guide me further with Access.

It is showing itself to be a hole in my knowledge I need to plug now....preferably before the bookshops shut at 5pm.....hahaha....

In particular I need to know how to take data from clients existing databases and write the queries to get it Actinic ready. I need to understand Hierarchical files and the Header thing....rather than use flat file all the time with its very limited capabilities. A sort of Access bible springs to mind....

Thanks

[NormanRouxel]

Hi all. Since we're having a party let me jump in too. The text "User Defined" is in Actinic / Design / Text and is modifiable in the usual way.

Unfortunately there's more than one instance of this so you'll have to look at the context to see which one applies. You may need to change more than one as some refer to the same thing but on different phases of the checkout.

Just go to Design / Text and search for "User defined" and you'll see them all.

Norman

p.s. Could someone pass the crisps!

[harlequin]

hi norman, this is all your fault i jumped in here...... :D

http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=258

..and I DO have a snapshot for chris so can see clearly which context she is applying it to.

ps. is there any book you would recommend? there seems to be a bewildering array (geddit) of them and obviously at £40 + I'd like to find a good one...

[NormanRouxel]

Hi Steve,

Regarding hierarchical imports and customers data. There you are with a client who has 10,000 records in some database or other. You (and they) don't fancy bleeding fingers retyping that lot in so some form of automation is required.

Unfortunately not everything you might encounter out there is in Access or Excel so one area worth tinkering with would be using a programming language that is database aware.

I use Borland Delphi, which can talk to just about any database (including the ancient ones which you'll find a lot of clients may be using) and uses a Pascal like language (handy for old-timers like me). Delphi ships with extensive help and tutorials, including a sample database and a step-by-step tut' on handling said database. Delphi 7 (personal edition) was on the front cover of various PC magazines a few issues ago so you may already have a copy lying around. This freeby version is bang up-to-date but probably doesn't have all the database capabilities that the paid for Professional version has. However at 0 bucks it might cheaply let you find out whether it's for you or not.

As well as handling databases it's also quite quick for knocking up a one-off program that reads a textfile and does some simple processing and writes a modified copy. Great for cases where the data is in text form but not quite right.

You're already running a couple of Delphi prog's as NorMenu and NorTree are written in it.

Anyway back the party ... where are those crisps?

Norman

[musiccorner]

Oops, first question and what a tado

I'll let my first class problem solver at it when he's free (!) with an upto date sanpshot ~ i've been fiddling again.

Access is not too good with me. I only use it when I have too; and I only have 97. I'll have a look but not touch yet.

Till next time.......

[NormanRouxel]

"Oops, first question and what a tado"

Don't panic. It's not usually as noisy as this (it just seems to have turned into a party). Anyway I think I answered your original question in my first resonse. It's easy to fix. Have a look up past all the noise to my first posting and you'll see it.

Norman

[musiccorner]

It is quite a quick forum.

Steve will sort it, he always does...I'm trying to master the finer points. I enjoy finding out and knowing, whatever.

I think my Access is to old to open the database so I'll wait till Harlequin have a minute. I'll be back soon enough.

:D

I've got the half changed that the customer see's; it's my staff 's bit that's causing the fun, as on invoice.

Or maybe it's just that I like messing. Hmmmm..... This is what has happened now I'm with H/SQ.

Thanks for you attention back to work now, break over......

[Jan]

The user guide and online help are actually quite good. If you want to manipulate data then you probably need to know SQL. You can do most things with the query builder in access, it shows you the tables and fields and lets you select stuff, specify record orders and define filters.

Are you sure that you need to understand how to use access or do you really need to know how to map information into catalog? If it is the latter then you can't buy a book on that. With the exception of components and some product properties it the database structure in Actinic is fairly easy to follow.

I can't recommend a book, I just sort of picked it up. If you have a copy of the MSDN that has some tutorials on it. If you want to produce hierarchical import files then you will probably have to product several and then concatenate them together because each 'type' of information in them will have a different format and you will have to define the header records as well. It's worth doing, once you have got the hang of it, it is much better than flat file import.

Regards,

[Jan]

Originally posted by musiccorner

I've got the half changed that the customer see's; it's my staff 's bit that's causing the fun, as on invoice.

I think that it is a bug that the invoice displays this text, it is meant to display your version of it - but then again if you have HTML in it then that wouldn't be very good either because the invoice just prints it rather than interpreting it.

Regards,

[harlequin]

After chatting with Chris Music Corner on the phone it transpires that its not the prompts in Actinic she wants to change, more the way it prints out on the packing list.

This is the exact same as a post I made the other day and the solution for was to go to Design>Text>Order Processing Reports>Packing List> and change the prompts 'User Definable 1,2,3' to match the questions she asked in Design>Text>Web Site (Cont)>Invoice Address.

Now when the packing list is printed instead of saying Userdefinable 1,2,3...it mirrors the actual question she asks and this makes it clear for her staff.

[NormanRouxel]

Wooohooo another satisfied customer. And on a Saturday too. Well done Steve. Oh well that's the party over.

Norman