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Update System Preferences Window

The Update System Preferences window is available only to System Administrators
The window allows them to:

 set several options and values for administering and maintaining ResSched;

 set the default values for User Preferences for new users;

 reset the User Preferences of all users to the default values; and

  establish special days.

 It is called by File>System Preferences from the main menu.



GENERAL TAB

Display Week From  A System Administrator can choose which day of the week is defined as the start day. Once this selection is made, all Scan windows and printed schedules will start with this day.  

Alert   ResSched can automatically alert users to forthcoming bookings. By selecting All from the radio buttons, all users will be alerted to any forthcoming bookings. User Only will alert only the user who made the booking. For either of these selections, the lead time between the alert and the booking must be entered in minutes. Selecting None disables the alert function.

Alerts query the database on behalf of the user at intervals that are one-sixth the lead time. For example, if the lead time is set for 20 minutes, the database will be queried for forthcoming bookings by each logged-on user every 3.33 minutes. With large numbers of users logged on and short lead times, these queries can be a noticeable burden on the network. If you do not need these alerts, it is best to leave them disabled.

Disallow Conflicts   If ResSched should not permit general users to double book resources, check this box. Resource and System Administrators can still choose to double book the resource.

Lock Bookings   If ResSched should lock new bookings as a default, check this box.

Enable Actual Times   If you wish to collect and analyze information on the actual times a resource is used, as well as when it is scheduled, check this box.

Use Multi-day Bookings   This feature allows you in a single entry to have a start time on one day and an end time on another. It is particularly useful for scheduling staff on a 24-hour basis. See: Multi-day and Repeat Bookings for important information on this setting.

Allow Private Bookings  This feature allows users to make bookings that only they can see.

Optimize for Many Resources   If bookings will be spread over many resources, check this box. If bookings are concentrated on just a few resources, leave this box unchecked. The precise point at which ResSched should be optimized for many resources varies from organization to organization and over time, so some experimenting is useful.

Allow General Users to Add Clients   If general users should be able to add new clients to ResSched, check this box. Otherwise, only System and Resource Administrators can add clients.  

Allow General Users to Add Projects  If general users should be able to add new projects, check this box. Otherwise, only System and Resource Administrators can add projects.

Cache Resource Data on Startup  When this box is checked, resource data will be cached when a user starts ResSched. This improves the program performance, but because the cache is loaded on startup, startup may take longer. Booking information is not cached, however. Thus, resource availability and conflict checking are not affected by caching.  Caching resources is desirable if an organization wishes to limit those users who can view or book certain resources, or use color to designate resources.  Do not use caching if you routinely add or change resource information (other than bookings) more frequently than your users start ResSched.

Cache Client Data on Startup  When this box is checked, client data will be cached. This improves the program response rate, but because the cache is loaded on startup, startup may take longer. Do not use caching if you routinely add or change client information (other than bookings) more frequently than your users start ResSched.

Maximum Days In Advance   This spin box limits how many days in advance that users can book resources. If set to 0, there is no limit on how far in the future users can book resources.

Hours Between Backups   ResSched does a cascading backup cycle of its data files (resdata.tps). The first backup file is resdata.bk1. A second set, with the .bak extension, is created from the old .bk1 files. If a number greater than 0 is entered in this spin box, when ResSched is closed it will do this backup cycle if more than the specified number of hours has passed since the last backup cycle.

If your resdata.tps file is somehow corrupted, you can rename one of the backup files to resdata.tps and start again with only limited data loss. This backup cycle can be a drain on network resources, so you must balance how often you wish to back up your data. The default value is 24.

Please Note: these backup files are NOT a substitute for regular back ups to external media. Because they are located in the same directory as the data files, they are just as vulnerable.

USER SETTINGS TAB



Users can set their own default and routine entries and their own scan settings. ResSched uses the values in System Preferences as the initial settings for each new user scan and lets System Administrators reset all users' preferences to common values. Default and routine entry values are used to speed up the booking entry process for users. When making a new booking, the default values are automatically displayed and the routine values are available from drop-down lists. Users can accept or change any of these values when making a booking.

Scan settings are the initial values used when a Scan window is opened. ResSched also uses some of this information to create drop-down lists for selecting start and end times when adding bookings.  

Apply to Existing Users   Resets the User Preferences values of all existing users to those shown in System Preferences.

Defaults

Start Time   The time that is initially displayed when creating a booking. Set the default start time either near the middle of the active part of your organization's day or close to the time when many bookings are scheduled. The default start time is displayed in your Windows time format,  but you can use any standard time format to enter it.

Duration   The default duration is added to the start time to display a proposed end time. If many of your bookings are for the same length of time, this feature saves having to enter that information numerous times. Use the Hours:Minutes format to enter the default duration or click the Down Arrow button to select a duration from the drop-down list.

Routine Durations   A list of commonly used duration times that can be selected from drop-down lists here and when booking resources. To change the list, click this button. The current list will appear to which you can add a new duration (Add button), or change or delete an existing routine duration. Users can add their own routine durations to this system wide list.

Booking   If many of your bookings are the same type, you may wish to enter a default booking which will be automatically displayed when creating a new booking. Click the Down Arrow button to select a booking as the default.

Routine Bookings   Click this button to create a list of routine booking names that can be selected from a drop-down list when making a new booking. The current list of routine bookings will appear, to which you can add others by clicking the Add button, or you can change or delete one of the existing routine bookings. Users can add their own routine bookings to this system-wide list.

Client   If one client represents a significant number of bookings, you may wish to make that client the default. Click the Down Arrow button to select a client as the default. If you expect to make many bookings without any client, consider selecting 'No Client' as the default client.

Resource   If one resource is being booked a significant portion of the time, you may wish to make that resource the default. Click the Down Arrow button to select a resource as the default. Once selected as default, a resource will be placed in the resource list for every new booking.

Project   If one project represents a significant number of bookings, you may wish to make that project the default. Click the Down Arrow button to select a project as the default.

Notify when booking...  Two check boxes are available for checking, depending on whether a booking involves a weekend or is outside the normal work day.

Scan

Begin Day   The normal start of the work day for your organization. Bookings that occur before this time are shown in the Scan functions as 'Before' this time.

End Day   The normal end of the work day in your organization. Bookings that occur after this time are shown in the Scan functions as 'After' this time.

Interval   The amount of time you wish to cover with one time slot when using Scan functions. With large intervals, Scan functions take less space on the screen or paper, but booking information often overlaps. Small intervals provide better distinction between bookings, but take up more screen and paper space.

Scan Width   The width of each column in the Scan Group Booking. Narrower columns let you fit more resources on a page, but reduce the amount of text shown in booked time slots.

Scan Height   The height of each row in the Scan display functions. Short rows let you see more time slots, but may be difficult to read.

Scan Text   The text to be shown in the booked time slots of Scan functions. You can choose among showing no text, the booking name, the client's name, or the first three letters of the booking, and use the remaining space for the client's name.

SPECIAL DAYS TAB

Special days are those days that you wish to be treated differently when scheduling bookings. Religious or civic holidays and vacations are possible special days periods. Once you identify a special days period, you will be notified of a possible conflict before bookings are scheduled in that period. The special days list box includes start and end dates and a description for the period.

To add a special days period, click the Insert button. A blank Add/Update Special Day Period window will appear for you to enter the information for the special day period.

To change a special day period, highlight the period and click the Open button, or double click the period. The Add/Update Special Day Period window will appear for you to edit.

To delete a special days period, highlight the period and then click the Delete button

The Add File button lets you add one or five years of public holidays to ResSched as special days. See: Special Days, Set.  

SECURITY and MAINTENANCE TAB



Use Network User Name   If this login box is checked, ResSched will automatically fill in the user's network login in the User Name field when ResSched starts up. Also, when this box is checked, the Skip Password check box will be enabled. When the Skip Password box is checked, ResSched assumes that a user who is properly logged on to the network is also the ResSched user in question. Hence, he or she will not be asked to provide a password, and the user is then presented with the main ResSched menu without having to log in. Each network user name must be added to ResSched's list of users before this function will work. Existing ResSched user names can be changed to their network user names.

Save user name between sessions  Each time ResSched is started, the user name of the last user to use ResSched on the workstation will entered for log in.  The user must still enter the right password.  This function is disabled if network user names are used as above.
 
Login Tries Allowed   The maximum number of consecutive failed attempts to enter a password that ResSched will allow before suspending the user's access. If this field is set to 0, there is no limit.

Save user name between sessions  Each time ResSched is started, the user name of the last user to use ResSched on the workstation will entered for log in.  The user must still enter the right password for that

Allow view-only users to change password   System administrators can allow or disallow view-only users from changing their passwords. Licensees having the unlimited view-only option can use this with a single shared view-only user.

The Reset Control File button allows technical support staff of Madrigal Soft Tools to quickly correct certain rarely occurring conditions. Most users will never need to use this button. While the button is harmless, we recommend you contact Madrigal tech support before using it.  

LABELS TAB

You can use your own terms instead of  ResSched's standard 'booking,' 'resource',  'client' and 'project.'  By entering the singular and plural forms of your terms across from the ResSched term, users will see their terms in all ResSched windows and reports. The Help system will still use standard ResSched terms, and the standard terms must be used if you call our technical support. Users can see the standard terms and their equivalent terms by selecting Help>ResSched Terms from the main menu.

STATUS & COLORS TAB

The Status and Colors Tab is used for changing the foreground (text) and background colors of Browse and Scan displays. Scan color selections are the reverse of the foreground/background selections of the Browse window. You may restore the colors to their default settings using the Restore Default button. Note: color changes made here are system wide.

Allow colors for clients, resources and routine bookings   This box must be checked before colors can be used for resources, clients and routine bookings.

Enable booking status colors   Checking this box lets you assign a status to a booking and colors to represent that status. The status colors are shown in the time columns of browses and, if you select 'Status' as the color source, in several Scan windows. When ResSched is shipped, it includes five Booking Status terms, and all five status levels can be used. Users can change the labels of all these terms. Except for the first status level (the default status), the first character of the status label is used to indicate the status of the booking when printing reports.  

 
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