Screen And Messages

The Screen and Messages form allows you to set several global options for messaging, printing, editing notes, formatting, debugging and quick sort performance. This form also provides access to the Date Format form where you can control how dates are displayed and printed in Collect!.

Accessing Screen And Messages

Providing you have access to the various menus and forms, you can access the Screen and Messages form in the following way.

1. Using the menu bar at the top of Collect!, select System to display the drop-down menu. Select Preferences from this menu and the System Setup menu will appear.

2. Select the Options, Sounds and Colors button to display the Screen And Messages form.

Screen and Messages

Turn Off Normal Beep Sounds

This switch disables the beep sound used for standard attention getting. Use the spacebar to change this setting.

Turn Off Error Reporting Beep

This switch disables the beep sound used when a system error or other important system event is detected. Use the space bar to change this setting.

Verbose Message Display

This option displays more messages to the screen when Contacts are being scheduled.

Switch ON Verbose Message Display to write to the Collect! Log when processing a batch. When you perform batch operations, a completed log of Events and a list of file numbers processed will be written to this file.

When this switch is ON, it affects performance speed. You may want to turn it OFF until you need it for a specific procedure.

Messaging is largely controlled by the setting in the Operator form (Normal, Advanced, Expert.) The Verbose switch has been structured to control contact scheduling messages and to log batch processing routines.

This switch should only be used temporarily for very specific testing and debugging processes. It should never be left on for normal operations in Collect!.

By turning on 'Verbose message display' and 'Enable internal debug checks', Collect! will write detected printers to the Application Log under DEBUG. This can be used to search for other network printers which have not yet been added to the local system registry.

Enable Internal Debug Checks

This option enables several internal checks as the program is running.

1. Allocated memory is tested before and after use
to ensure the program never writes past the end of an allocated block and does not attempt to use a previously freed block of memory.

2. Network locking procedures are also checked to
report any potential areas of deadlock.

If you are experiences issues with Collect!, you can switch this ON to help determine if the problem is an internal system error.

This switch does adversely affect performance. In general, this switch should be turned OFF, and activated only when problems are occurring.

This switch should only be used temporarily for very specific testing and debugging processes. It should never be left on for normal operations in Collect!.

By turning on 'Verbose message display' and 'Enable internal debug checks', Collect! will write detected printers to the Application Log under DEBUG. This can be used to search for other network printers which have not yet been added to the local system registry.

No Daysheet Autocalc

Normally (when this switch is OFF) Collect! automatically recalculates a daysheet when you open the Daysheet form.

Turn this switch ON to stop the automatic recalculation.

You will need to select the Recalculate button on the Daysheet form to update its totals.

This switch is useful when you have a large number of Contacts or listings on specific dates, and find the recalculation of daysheets an exhaustive task.

Write Note To File When Printing

When you switch this ON with a check mark, Collect! automatically writes a line, with a date and time stamp, to the Debtor or Client notes when a letter is printed. This works for any letter that is designated to 'Start On' Debtor, Client, or Debtor Cosigner.

No Duplicate ID In Notes

Normally, when this switch is OFF, every time you enter Debtor Notes, your ID and the current date and time are written at the top of the notes.

When you switch this ON with a check mark, the first time you enter the notes for an account, your ID and the date and time are stamped into the notes. However, when you enter notes a second time on the same Debtor right away, that is, on the same day and no one else has entered a note since your last one, the ID and other information is not loaded into the notes.

Disable Web Host Session ID

Switch this ON to disable the Session ID security checking - useful when debugging Web Host.

Disable Batch Messages

Switch this ON to prohibit messages from popping up during batch letter printing. This is important for running a batch unattended, as a message popping up would temporarily stop the printing process until you respond to the message. Any messages will be written to the Application Log instead when this switch is ON.

Batch Assign To Disabled ID

Switch this ON to let Collect! assign accounts to an operator whose ID has been disabled. By default, when the check box is NOT checked, Collect! will display a prompt asking for confirmation from the user prior to assigning accounts to a disabled operator. They can select YES or NO to proceed.

Don't Convert Case On Name Entry

Switch this ON if you want Collect! to retain the exact capitalization you have used when it transposes the Debtor's Name into the Contact field during data entry.

For example, "VanAllen, James" by default (with setting unchecked) is transposed as James Vanallen. With switch set, it is transposed as James VanAllen.

Enable ODBC Debug Logging

Switch this ON if you are attempting to debug your ODBC Sync operations. This switch is only used with ODBC Sync.

When this switch is ON, Collect! will generate an "odbcsync.log" in your Collect\bin folder. This log gives very specific information about Collect!'s attempts to connect to the data source you specified. It also includes the exact SQL command with details for each account.

This file will grow very large very fast! So it is recommended that you only enable the switch for short periods while debugging a particular issue or when requested to do so by Collect! Technical Services.

Field Level Editor Access

Switch this ON with a check mark if you need to set access rights on a per field basis for Text Editor windows. With this switch enabled, when you set the access rights for a field that uses the Text Editor to display data, the Text Editor will take on the same access level that you set for the field. So if you make a field Read Only, then the file that you attach to that field will open in Read Only mode in the Text Editor.

You can set access rights individually for Notes, Contact Data and Attachment, Attachment File and any other fields that use Collect!'s Text Editor to display contents.

Legacy Notes

Switch this ON to use background highlighting in the notes. The color for the highlighting is based on the option set in the ' Notes Color' field on the Operator Detail tab for each operator.

If this is not switched on, Collect! will highlight the text instead.

No Duplicate Records In Search

Switch this ON to only display one result per debtor.

For example, if you are searching for a phone number and the number appears on the Debtor, a Cosigner, and the Phone Tab, the result will appear in the list 3 times.

If this box is enabled, the same search will only display the Debtor once for the phone search.

Sort Imports Alphabetically

Switch this ON to sort the import maps ( File Format Specification record) alphabetically on the name field.

If left off, the maps will sort by rowid in the database.

Write Millisecond Notes

Switch this ON to include milliseconds in Debtor Note lines. This enables Notes entered at virtually the same time to sort correctly using a fixed-length date/time stamp. Notes entered in quick succession, by contact plans or imports, for example, will sort correctly when this switch is enabled.

This works with Status Codes between 1 and 4 characters and Operator IDs between 1 and 6 characters. Extra spaces are padded to maintain the fixed-length.

This switch is helpful for sorting notes lines written to the Debtor through a batch process. Many notes may be written in quick succession and they will appear in the correct order in the Debtor Notes.

Only Numerics In Phone Fields

Switch this ON with a check mark to strip non-numerics from all phone fields as data is entered.

Whenever you leave any existing phone field, non-numerics will be cleaned out of the phone number. Any phone data you enter will be cleaned up immediately, as soon as you leave any phone field.

Example:

(250) 345-4567 becomes 2503454567

This switch will also strip non-numerics from phone fields filled during an import routine.

To strip non-numerics from all phone fields of existing accounts, you can create an import/export routine and use the option 'strip non-numerics' for the phone field specifications.

For details, please refer to Help topic, Import Field Options.

When doing a phone number search with this enabled, Collect! will automatically strip the non-numeric characters before searching the database.

WARNING: Enabling this field does NOT alter the data in your database. If you wish to use this feature, you will have to remove all non-numeric values from the applicable fields in the database in order the the Find By functionality to work.

Only Numerics In SSN

Switch this ON with a check mark to strip non-numerics from the SSN field as data is entered.

Whenever you leave an existing SSN field, non-numerics will be cleaned out of the SSN. Any SSN data you enter will be cleaned up immediately, as soon as you leave the SSN field.

Example:

777-16-5972 becomes 777165972

This switch will also strip non-numerics from SSN fields filled during an import routine.

To strip non-numerics from all SSN fields of existing accounts, you can create an import/export routine and use the option 'strip non-numerics' for the SSN field specifications.

For details, please refer to Help topic, Import Field Options.

When doing an SSN search with this enabled, Collect! will automatically strip the non-numeric characters before searching the database.

WARNING: Enabling this field does NOT alter the data in your database. If you wish to use this feature, you will have to remove all non-numeric values from the applicable fields in the database in order the the Find By functionality to work.

Phone Format

Select a format from the pick list to use a predefined format for phone numbers. This only affects the display. The data in the database will only store the numeric values.

Available Formats:

None
(###) ###-####
###-###-####
###.###.####
### ### ####
##-####-####
##.####.####
## #### ####

SSN Format

Select a format from the pick list to use a predefined format for SSN numbers. This only affects the display. The data in the database will only store the numeric values.

Available Formats:

None
###-##-####
###.##.####
### ## ####
###-###-###
###.###.###
### ### ###

This option only works when 'Only numerics in phone fields' is ON.

Restrict Editor Cr

Switch this ON with a check mark to prevent the Operator from using the ENTER key, and/or pasting in a Carriage Return/Newline from the clipboard when editing or creating Debtor or Client Notes.

This is only in effect, when you have set the operator's Notes to Read Only or No Delete.

To set Notes, please open Access Rights item, "notes," and set to Read Only.

It is recommended that you also restrict editor characters used in the Date/Op Stamp to prevent faking a Date stamp in Notes.

Restrict Editor Characters

Enter the characters that you wish to prohibit the Operator from entering in Debtor or Client Notes.Switch this ON with a check mark to prevent the Operator from using the ENTER key, and/or pasting in a Carriage Return/Newline from the clipboard.

This is only in effect, when you have set the operator's Notes to Read Only or No Delete.

This also handles pasting from clipboard.

To set Notes, please open Access Rights item, "notes," and set to Read Only.

It is recommended that you also restrict editor characters used in the Date/Op Stamp to prevent faking a Date stamp in Notes.

Run Plan When Operator Changes

Select a contact plan to run when the Operator is changed on the Debtor form. The plan you select will run automatically whenever a user manually select a different Operator. You can create any events that you need in the Contact Plan you select.

Run Plan On Batch Op Assign

Select a contact plan to run when a batch process is run to Assign Accounts to Operators. The plan you select will run automatically on every account where the Operator was changed by the batch process. You can create any events that you need in the Contact Plan you select.

Run Plan When Phones Change

Select a contact plan to run when a Phone field is changed on the Debtor form. The plan you select will run automatically whenever a user manually updates a Phone field. You can create any events that you need in the Contact Plan you select.

No Phones

Select a contact plan to run when a Phone field is emptied on the Debtor form, rendering all the phone fields empty. This plan will run only if any remaining phone numbers are emptied on this visit to the Debtor. It will not run if you visit a Debtor with no phones.

Log On First Entry

Switch this ON with a check mark to enable logging on first entry when you have "Log to Notes" enabled for any field on the Debtor, Client, or sub-records of either of those records.

With this switch ON, Collect! will log changes to notes even if the field was blank initially. Collect! will attempt to disable this when you are creating a new records, such as Debtors, Clients, or Transactions. If the record is being modified on the same day it was created, Collect! will only log the first entry if the record is being modified by a different user from the one who created the record.

With this switch OFF, Collect! will not log a field change to notes if the field was initially blank.

Copy Attachments To Global

Switch this ON to disable the 'Do you want to copy this file to the Global Folder' prompt that appears when attaching a file to an attachment.

When enabled, Collect! will copy the file to the applicable location in the global folder.

Don't Copy Attachments To Global

Switch this ON to disable the 'Do you want to copy this file to the Global Folder' prompt that appears when attaching a file to an attachment.

When enabled, Collect! will NOT copy the file to the applicable location in the global folder. Collect! will fill in the full file path to the location of the file.

WARNING: This option should only be used if you do not want Collect! to manage your global folder and the respective file attachments. This option should also not be used if you normally attach files from your local computer like the Desktop folder. This option is designed for users who manage their documents in a their own network location.

This option is not to be used at the same time as COPY ATTACHMENTS TO GLOBAL as the 2 options contradict each other.

This option is for your own managed attachment file system and is not related to the GLOBAL FILE ACCESS PATH field on the DATABASE PREFERENCES form.

Notify Admins Of Update

Switch this ON to enable Collect! to check for updates.

When enabled, upon closing the application, Collect! will invoke the Version Check function available under the Help Menu.

If a new update is available, the user will be notified and will be provided with the download button.

Clicking the download button will not close Collect!.

This functionality will only notify the User Levels that Collect! considers to be administrators: 1, 10, & 99.

Word Wrap

Put a value in this field to set the column width for editing reports printed to screen. When you print a report to screen and make changes, the text will word wrap at this column instead of the screen width. In all other respects, the editor remains unchanged.

Quick Sort

This is the maximum number of records loaded into RAM when sorting debtors. It is set internally at 5000 records. If you have over 150,000 to 200,000 accounts and you do a lot of searching and sorting, you may want to set this number to 25000 to speed up the sorting process.

Lists exceeding the Quick Sort Limit will be sorted directly on disk. This is slower than the Quick Sort, but can handle any number of records.

OK

Select this button to save any changes you have made and return to the previous screen.

Date Format

Select this button to open the Date Format form where you can edit the date format and choose how you wish to display dates throughout Collect!.

Cancel

Select this button to ignore any changes you have made and return to the previous screen.

Help

Press this button for help on the Screen and Messages form and links to related topics.