Clients & Profits | System Manager Newsletter

SYSTEM MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

GUARANTEED GREAT IDEAS!

System Management Tips from Real Clients & Profits Users

These Clients & Profits users share their system management tips:

Promote continuing education "It's an important part of being a C&P system manager to keep my co-workers informed about Clients & Profits," says Angela Albanese of Bandy Carroll Hellige Advertising. "I usually send e-mails once a month with tips and reminders about proper usage of C&P. I also usually forward any information, like FAQs, that I find on the C&P web site if it's relative to someone's job here."

Install updates as they are released "I am anxious to incorporate any new concepts to make the business run smoother," says Sue Augustine Bartholomew of Creative Concepts Inc. "I install updates as soon as I am informed that there is a new one."

Upgrade your hardware and network periodically "As your business grows, spend the money to upgrade your server and network," says Rebecca Cox, a Clients & Profits consultant. "It's not like buying the latest fashion to look good. Periodically upgrade your equipment to maintain the overall health of your hardware and network. Improvements are made constantly and at some point, it's time to invest in those improvements. After all, how many of you are still using your 8-track?"

Stay informed "I use the Clients & Profits web site bi-weekly," says Jim Kennedy of Brokaw Inc. "I want to keep up to date on patches and known issues. I also subscribe to all the C&P e-mail lists. I find those to be valuable sources of information; also the Helpdesk."

Monitor the health of the database "On a daily basis, our data's integrity is checked when someone with manager's level access, namely me, opens our database," says the Princess of Power, Deb Harrington of in10city. "Then, I keep Clients & Profits open all day as I am office manager, receptionist, secretary, human resources, bookkeeper, payroll specialist, and C&P system manager. In my spare 27 seconds, I am the social director."

Q. Our users are asking for different fonts on reports and forms in C&P. Is this possible?

Font settings in Clients & Profits are not specific to individual reports and forms, so the quick answer here is no. However, in the Report Fonts area, you can experiment with using different fonts that would affect a wide range of reports and forms at one time. (There is no guarantee that a given font will work, so trial and error would be the method you'd use.) Any changes made have an effect only on the computer you're working from because the changes are in the C&P program installed on that computer.

Q. What's the difference between fields and files?

Your database is comprised of about 66 files. A file is information from a specific area of your database, e.g., jobs, costs, and staff. A file is comprised of many fields. As users enter data, they enter it into different fields in your database. Each field has a field name. So within the jobs file, you'll find fields named job number, job name, job start date, etc.

Q. Why does a pointer cursor sometimes turn into a padlock?

During data entry or saving, you'll sometimes see a padlock. It means that the same file is in use by some other user--whoever got it first. This is a natural feature of record-locking multi-user databases, and occurs to ensure that two people don't edit the same record at the same time. Padlocks disappear automatically as soon as the person who's editing the record saves it. Each user should know to never turn off a computer to break a padlock as this can damage the database. Padlocks can be canceled by pressing control-break (on a PC) or command-period (on a Mac) or wait for them to resolve which usually is a matter of seconds.

Q. Is bad data and damaged data the same thing?

No. Bad data, e.g., account balances that aren't correct, one-sided journal entries, billing amounts that don't add up, etc., happen because of posting problems and user mistakes, as well as system errors. Damaged data means the structure that holds the database's clients, jobs, costs, etc. is actually broken in some way. Bad data can be caused by damaged data, but not always.

Q. What is the database path?

The database path shows the location of the database on the file server or wherever it resides. A setting can be made in Agency Information to warn users if they open a database other than the one specified.

Q. Can a software bug cause database damage?

No. If a software bug could cause database damage, the damage would be consistent and occur frequently--which isn't the case. The usual causes of database damage include: disk fragmentation on the server's hard drive, power surges, bad server hardware, poor LAN wiring and even excessive heat in the server room!