October 2003 Edition

Feature Spotlight: Virtual Ticket 5.5 Buttons
Q&A with Technical Support: Jump Around
Smart Tip of the Month: Making and Reusing Static Lists
Third Party Software: Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional
Support Bookshelf: Forum Resource

Feature Spotlight

Virtual Ticket 5.5 Buttons

Virtual Ticket 5.5 users now have the option to place buttons onto their Virtual Ticket forms. These buttons allow you to execute MetaScripts to perform other tasks. For example, you may wish to allow a user viewing a job ticket to print the job ticket using a different form specially formatted for printing. In this case, you would add a button to the Virtual Ticket 5.5 form and insert a MetaScript which prints the desired print form when the button is clicked.

For example, perform the following steps:

1. Open the desired form. Click the Button creation tool and click and drag on the form to create the button.
2. Give the button an ID of Print and a label. Choose the desired availability of the button on the form: Always Enabled, Enabled During Editing, or Determined Manually.
3. In the click action expression window, enter the following script:
   
   PrintObject(“Your Printing Form”, Field( ‘Job Number’));
   
   This script will print the form “Your Printing Form” for the job number where the button is clicked.

Many other MetaScripts functions can be used with buttons including the OpenURI() examples listed in last month’s Support News which can open new Virtual Ticket browsers or jump to Internet addresses.

Instructions for placing buttons on your Virtual Ticket forms can be found in the Virtual Ticket Administrator User Guide, located here: http://www.meta-comm.com/customers/docs

Q&A with Technical Support

Can I jump into Virtual Ticket from my Job Manager custom query?

Job Manager already has jumps from many reports to various areas of Virtual Ticket and Job Manager. These jumps can also be added to your Job Manager custom queries. Suppose you have a custom query in Job Manager that returns a list of jobs and the status from a field in Virtual Ticket. By placing a jump into a custom query you will be able to choose a job from the query results and jump to that job in Virtual Ticket.

The exact syntax for creating jumps, sorting and hiding columns in custom queries can be found in Knowledge Base article 16076 located at:

http://www.meta-comm.com/support/knowledge_base/article.asp?id=16076

Smart Tip of the Month

Making and Reusing Static Lists

Suppose you have a static list of items which needs to be reused across multiple popup fields within Virtual Ticket, such as a lists of sizes, colors, users, etc. Using a MetaScript array, a list of items can be generated one time and the list reused infinitely across your Virtual Ticket forms. The script is easy to write and can save the time spent manually entering the values, much in the same way a dynamic popup list works.

To create a static list of values using an array, perform the following:

1. Open a desired form in the forms editor of Virtual Ticket Administrator and choose Global MetaScript from the Format menu.
2. Enter the following script into the Global MetaScript window:
   
   function
   getList()
   {
   var myList = new Array(“Joe”, “Steve”, “Bob”, “Sally”, “Mike”);
   return myList;
   }
   
3. Close the MetaScript window to save your script.
4. Place a popup field onto your form. Click the Value arrow and choose Custom.
5. Enter getList(); into the expression window.
6. Save your form and test.

To use this item across multiple forms, use the Stored Scripts functionality discussed in last month’s Support News.

1. Open a text editor and copy and paste the script into the text file.
2. Save the file with a .js extension. Drag and drop the file into the Stored Scripts area of the Setup menu.
3. For each form which the script should be used on, enter the following in the Global MetaScript window to reference the Stored Script:
   
   //@include “database:yourscripts.js”
   
   This statement tells Virtual Ticket to use scripts from the yourscripts.js file which has been added to the database.
   
   Repeat step 5 from the previous section to specify the function to be used in your popup menus.
   
   For more information about arrays see the Virtual Ticket/Job Manager MetaScript Reference Guide, located at: http://www.meta-comm.com/customers/docs

Third Party Software

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional

Acrobat 6.0 Professional is a very cool product which takes traditional PDF creation and modification tools to a new level. From within Acrobat Pro you can create a PDF by specifying a web address, a list of files which can be combined into one PDF, or print to the PDF Converter printer driver. New review and commenting features make the product more usable as file can be commented and emailed onto the next user from within the product, the file can be uploaded to a server location for web based reviewing by others, and a historical record of all changes is kept for later review. Plus, files can be pre-flighted by using the new color separation tools. In the Windows version of Virtual Ticket, print an extended preview of a file to PDF using the PDF Converter printer driver. Then using Acrobat Professional pass the file to any necessary users for proofing or commenting.

For more information about Acrobat 6.0 Professional, visit: http://www.adobe.com

Support Bookshelf

Forum Resource

Bitpipe.com has a large repository of IT information posted on the Internet. The web site contains access to white papers, web casts, case studies and other product information. Users can sign up to receive numerous newsletters about a broad range of topics. This month, I was looking for information about storage hardware. Virtual Ticket/Job Manager users can use a wide range of storage options from tape backups, to SANs and NAS devices, and various RAID devices. Bitpipe provides a wide range of forums where users can find information about these devices but topics also range from storage controllers to storage management and storage service providers. All of the newsletters are free to sign up for and to receive.

For more information, visit: http://www.bitpipe.com

Miss an issue of the MetaCommunications Support News? All back issues are available at:
http://www.meta-comm.com/support/support_news.htm.

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support@meta-comm.com

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