StatusView

FAQ00100: Is the free 20-user version of StatusView shareware?

NO - It is free commercial software.

• Shareware is typically software which you are permitted to use, free-of-charge, for a limited time only (typically 15-30 days), for the purpose of evaluation. After the evaluation period expires, you should either stop using the software, or send in a registration fee if you wish to continue using the software. Often, shareware programs will remind you that you need to register by displaying so-called "nag" screens as long as you are using the evaluation version. In addition, you are generally encouraged to pass shareware along to friends and colleagues, for the purpose of promoting it.
• StatusView's free unregistered version is a fully-functional program, which is not time-limited, and has no nag-screens. Although the software is free-of-charge, its unregistered license does not permit you to give the software to others. The unregistered license permits you to use StatusView on a single network server (or a single standalone PC), with a single database containing up to 20 users. You must acquire it directly from us (IDP Corporation), or from an authorized agent.

FAQ00110: We're using the free 20-user version of StatusView. Do we need to purchase a registered license?

FAQ00120: We're using the free 20-user version of StatusView. We would like to purchase a registered license, but we have less than 20 users. Do we have to purchase a 50-user license?

FAQ00130: Our temporary registered license key information is due to expire within less than 30 days and we have not yet received our permanent license key. What should I do?

FAQ00140: We have our permanent registered license key information, but our temporary license key has already expired and we are unable to run StatusView. How can we enter the permanent information to restore normal operation?

You can run the Administration Utility directly, even if your temporary license has expired.

Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the StatusView server path and locate the Administration Utility executable file. Depending upon which version of StatusView you are using, the Administration Utility will be any one of the following files:

• svadmin.exe
• svadm32.exe
• svadm16.exe

Note: If you have more than one of the above files in your server path, use the one nearer the top of the list above.

Note: If your Windows Explorer is configured to hide the extensions of known file types (the default), then you may see the names as shown above without the ".exe" extensions.

Once you have located the correct file, double-click on it to load the program. If prompted, you may need to login as a known StatusView admininstrator before continuing. At this point you have limited use of the Administration Utility so that you can enter your permanent license key information. Always re-enter the full Licensee Name exactly as given, followed by the complete Product ID. Your entry will be identified as "invalid" until all characters have been fully and properly entered.

Once the new, permanent license information has been entered and recognized, you can restart StatusView. Although this information will never expire and you should not need to re-enter it, be sure to keep a copy in a safe place should you need to reinitialize a new database file in the future.

FAQ00144: We have our registered Licensee Name and Product ID, but when I try to enter this information into the Administration Utility, it displays the message "Invalid Product ID". What's wrong?

The message "Invalid Product ID" will continue to appear until both the Licensee Name and Product ID have been completely and correctly entered.

When entering your registered license information into the Administration utility, use the following procedure for best results:

1. Open the Administration Utility and perform a Global Shutdown.
2. Enter the full Licensee Name, exactly as given to you, including UPPER and lower case letters and punctuation.
3. Enter the complete Product ID as given. Note that all letters in the Product ID must be capitalized.
4. If you've entered the correct information, the message "Licensed for ?? users" should appear when you type in the last digit of the Product ID. You can now close the Administration Utility and restart StatusView.

FAQ00150: We have reached the limit of our 20-user (or 50, 100) license and need to upgrade to the next larger license. How do we do this and what is the cost?

You can order an upgraded license using our online registration form. We give full credit for your existing license, so you pay only the difference in cost between your current license and the new, larger one.

To order an upgrade license, fill out the registration form exactly as you would to purchase a new license of the required capacity. Then, use the comment area presented at the end of the ordering process to indicate that you are upgrading your existing license. You must also provide the following information:

• Your current Licensee Name
• Your current Product ID

This information can be found by selecting "About" from the StatusView "Help" menu. Be sure to provide the information exactly as shown in StatusView to qualify for an upgrade.

Note: Although the online order form will show your new (larger) license at the full price, your credit card will be charged only for the difference between the new and current licenses. (This will be confirmed when you receive your updated license key information.). If we have any questions about your upgrade order, we will NOT charge your credit card until we contact you first.

FAQ00200: Does StatusView require Exchange or any other supporting software to use its messaging features?

NO - StatusView's messaging system is completely self-contained.

StatusView does not require Microsoft Exchange or any other type of electronic postoffice or groupware-support software to function. StatusView creates and manages a Microsoft Access database on your network server to provide all messaging and in/out board functions.

FAQ00210: We're already using email in our office. Can we use StatusView without its built-in messaging features?

YES - StatusView's messaging system can be disabled.

If you disable StatusView's messaging system, all messaging features are hidden.

To disable StatusView's messaging system, start the Administration Utility from the Office menu. Next, perform a Global StatusView Shutdown, taking the StatusView database offline. You can now un-check the Enable Messaging check-box. Finally, Close the Administration Utility, and restart StatusView.

FAQ00300: We're using StatusView's security features, but some of our people don't ever work on a computer. Right now, only receptionists can change other people's status. Is there any way to let other people change your status if they are not a receptionist?

YES - If a user's password is blank, anyone else can change their status.

Note: If your password is blank, other users can login to StatusView under your name, and gain access to confidential messages sent to you by others, or sent by you to others.

To blank out your password, select Change Password... from the User menu. Next, enter your existing password in the Old password box. Leave the New password and Verify password boxes empty, and select Ok.

FAQ00400: I've sent someone a StatusView message, and then realize that I may have left something out. Do I have to send another message?

NO - You can edit your first message.

Unlike traditional email, StatusView's messaging system is designed to replace all of those paper "while you were out" notes, where privacy is not as important as ready access to messages. Even though every StatusView message is sent to a specific user, all messages can be viewed by any other user (StatusView does support confidential messages - see below). In addition, once you are reading a message, you can then edit it.

To edit a message, you must first open it for reading. To do so, locate the message recipient on the in/out display, and right-click with your mouse on the message pad to the left of their name. Select Open Message Box... from the popup menu. Next, locate the desired message and double-click on it. This opens the message for reading. Now, click the Edit button, and edit the message as desired. Finally, Save the edited message, and Close the Message Box.

Note: Whenever a message is edited by anyone other than the intended recipient, it is marked as a "New" message, even if the recipient has already read the message. In addition, the original sender's name, time of the message, and workstation from which it was sent are remembered.

If you wish to send a message to another StatusView user, but do not want other users to be able to read it, select the Confidential checkbox when you are composing the message. Confidential messages can only be accessed by the sender and the intended recipient. Note that confidential messages are only available if Security Features are enabled. Security Features are only available with a registered StatusView license.

FAQ00410: I want to send the same message to more than one person. Is there a way to do this with StatusView?

Yes - You can use the System Message feature of StatusView to post a message for all users (search the online help for "system message"),

...and...

No - StatusView does not include any type of message "distribution lists"; each regular message goes to only one user.

...and...

Yes - If the number of recipients is reasonably small, then either of the following methods can be used effectively. We think that method #1 is the best, but we suggest you try both a couple of times and decide for yourself:

1. Use the Windows clipboard and StatusView's "auto subject" feature: (Using this method takes literally about 5 seconds per recipient to send the same message to as many individuals as desired, and requires no typing of recipient's names, nor any re-typing of the message subject or body text.) Start by composing a message to one of the intended recipients. If you wish to have a copy of the message yourself, you can send the first message to yourself.

   Important time-saver: Do not enter a subject!!!, and do not check any of the items like "Urgent", "Please call", etc. Instead, enter your subject as the first line in the body of the message itself. Begin the body of the message on a new line. (When you send the message, StatusView will automatically fill in the subject line for you!)

   Before clicking the "Send" button, use your mouse to select all of the text you've entered (subject line and body), then type <Ctrl-C> on the keyboard to copy the selected text to the Windows clipboard. Now you can "Send" the message.

   Next, begin composing a new message to the next recipient by clicking to the left of their name on the main in-out board. Once the composition window is open, click once in the body area, and then type <Ctrl-V> to paste from the clipboard. Then just click "Send". Repeat this as many times as necessary.

2. Use StatusView's forward feature: Start by sending a message to one of the intended recipients in the normal manner. If you wish to have your own copy of the message, you may prefer to send this first message to yourself.

Next, open the Message Box of the user to whom you just sent that message, and read your own message. (To open another user's Message Box, click on the message icon to the left of their name with your right mouse button.)

Now that you're reading your own message, use the Forward button to easily forward a copy to any other user. Then, simply repeat this forwarding as many times as necessary.

FAQ00500: I can add new users by selecting "New User" under the "Office" menu. Is there any way to delete users?

YES - There are two ways adminstrators can delete StatusView users.

CAUTION: Delete users carefully. Once a user is removed from the StatusView database, any messages which may have been on file for that user are permanently lost, and cannot be recovered.

StatusView administrators can delete users by either of the following methods:

• To delete a StatusView user while the database is online and in use, begin by changing workgroups and/or scrolling the display until the user you wish to delete is visible. (As an alternative, you can use the "Find" command.) Next, click on the user's name with your right mouse button. From the context menu which appears, select the "delete" option. When deleting users with the database online, all other StatusView users will see the change immediately (as soon as their next automatic or manual refresh takes place).
• To delete a StatusView user while the database is offline, begin by starting the Administration Utility from the "Office" menu. Then perform a Global StatusView Shutdown. You can now move to the "User" tab, and perform any type of user maintenance, including adding, deleting, or changing users. When all user maintenance is complete, close the Administration Utility and answer "Yes" when asked if you wish to restart StatusView.

FAQ00600: Can StatusView generate a report of all status-change actvitity?

FAQ00700: After receiving a warning that database optimization is needed, I used the Administration Utility to optimize the StatusView database. However, I'm still getting the same warning message. Why?

• First, check to make sure that optimization was successful by selecting "About" from the "Help" menu of StatusView. The date and time of the last successful optimization should be shown.
• The warning message you are seeing is most likely the System Message which appears at the top right-hand side of the StatusView main display on every desktop. This warning message is created when StatusView detects that more than 10 days have passed since the last database optimization. When this message is created by the system, it is also set to notify all users, which causes an extra message dialog to appear for each user at least once each day.

This System Message will remain permanently until you clear it. This is true for any System Message. Therefore, whenever you are optimizing the StatusView database as the result of such a system- generated warning message, you should clear the message first, and then perform the optimization second. This should prevent the confusion that results from seeing the message after you have just optimized!

• For information on how to clear the System Message, search the online help for "system message".
• Note that if any system running StatusView has their system clock set to a future date, this will cause erroneous "optimization needed" warning messages to be generated, even though you may have optimized properly and also deleted the previous warning message. To correct this problem, make sure that all workstations have their clocks set correctly!
• If you have StatusView's messaging features enabled, any users who are known to the StatusView system as administrators will also receive a personal message warning of the required optimization. These messages are normally seen only by the intended receipient. Such also remain until manually deleted.

FAQ00800: We are not located in the United States, and we don't use your standard date format of MM/DD/YY. Can StatusView be configured to work with dates in other formats?

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YES - The latest release "C" of StatusView now honors the date and time format settings as specified under the Regional applet in the Windows Control Panel. This release is available to all users (both registered and unregistered) at no charge.

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StatusView versions prior to 2.305.6xxx do not support alternate date formats. Please see the information above about the new release "C".

This capability was considered during the design process, but the extra coding necessary to support alternate date and time formats was not added to the initial release in an attempt to keep costs down for the free Unregistered version of StatusView.

FAQ00900: We have problems in our office keeping the internal clocks of all of our PC's set to the correct date and time. This causes problems with StatusView and some other applications as well. What can we do?

StatusView includes a clock-sync feature which can be used to eliminate this problem. Note that this feature is network-dependent, and therefore, can not be used in every installation.

The clock-sync feature of StatusView requires that you have a server on your network which is configured as a time-server. For example, a Windows NT server can be configured as a time-server. Then StatusView can syncronize the clock of each workstation with the time-server's clock.

For complete details on this clock-sync feature, search StatusView's online help for "clock synchronization".

FAQ01000: After replacing my PC, I'm unable to re-use my workstation name. StatusView tells me that it is already in use, even though my old system is disconnected. Can't I use the original workstation name?

StatusView maintains a workstation table within the shared database, designed to prevent more than one physical workstation from having the same name (as you have discovered!). There are three ways to "recover" a previously-used name:

1. Allow at least 10 days to elapse (make it 11 to be sure) since the desired workstation name was last used (on the original system), and then run a database optimization. (Ideally you are running one every night anyway.) The optimization will purge workstation names from the database after 10 days without use. You can then re-assign the name to a new workstation.
2. If you know beforehand that you intend to transfer a workstation name to a different system, simply change the name on the old system to something else first. Then, when you go to the new system, the desired name will be available.
3. If you still have access to the old system, you can copy the initialization file "StatusView.ini" from the application folder of the old system to the new system. Make sure that StatusView is not actually running on the new system when you do this. When you next start StatusView on the new system, it will have the desired workstation name.

The default StatusView application folder is:

C:\Program Files\IDP Corporation\StatusView

FAQ01100: We want to move StatusView to a different server. Can we move the files in the StatusView server path, or do we have to reinstall the software?

There's no need to reinstall any software to migrate StatusView to a new server (or to a new location on an existing server). In general terms, the following steps are necessary:

1. Move (or copy) the entire contents of the StatusView server path to the new location.
2. Take the appropriate steps needed so that the StatusView application on each workstation knows where the new server path is located. (Note that all workstations must use a mapped drive letter to locate the server path. UNC names are not supported.)

There are several possible strategies for accomplishing the steps above:

• To minimize reconfiguration required on each workstation, if you are able to retain the same underlying server and shared resource name so that the existing drive letter mappings used by each workstation will point to the new location, then you will not need to make any changes on user workstations.
• If you cannot retain the existing server name and shared resource name then you will have to either re-define the existing drive letter mapping that each workstation uses, or create a new one and then re-configure each instance of StatusView to use the new drive letter and path.

Regardless of which specific approach you choose, you should always perform a StatusView global shutdown before attempting to move or copy the server path files. This ensures that all workstations close their connections to the StatusView database file. After the server path files have been copied or moved, you can restart StatusView in the new location.

FAQ01200: What operating systems are supported by StatusView?

StatusView is only available for systems running Microsoft Windows. The latest release of StatusView (2.305.6056 or above) supports the following Windows versions:

• Windows XP
• Windows 2000
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows ME
• Windows 98

StatusView is not available for other operating systems. Note however that the legacy 16-bit release of StatusView is still available and may be used on older Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 systems.