Reporting Options Added to Staff Web Pages

We have added some basic reporting options to the Staff web sites. From the main web page you can choose the "Reports" option to move to a page that will offer reports for the Building, Zoning, Violations and Housing databases. More databases will be added later. The report screens function somewhat similar to what you are used to in the Windows interface but do not have near as many options. You can select a Date field and date range that determine which records are included. Each screen has a "Basic" and "Summary" report option. We can add more report choices as the need presents itself. When you print the pages, portions of the screen are hidden so that the reports look like reports instead of screen prints. Give it a try and give us some feedback.

Upgraded Google Maps in Staff Web Pages

Each ZP SQL customers Staff web site now uses upgraded Google maps in most instances. The primary advantage is that now the Street View option is available for these maps. If you have not used this feature before, you'll see a little person icon in the upper right corner. You can drag that icon onto a street that the Google team has photographed and see pictures of all the buildings around you. You can move around in the interface and see a 360 degree photographic representation of the street. It's pretty cool. Of course, not every area has been photographed yet so your results will vary accordingly.

Verifying SQL Inserts

There is a new option you can turn on or off in the Global Personalization screen that will "Verify SQL Insert when Adding Records". If this option is turned on, the program will check to make sure the new record has been added successfully before continuing. If the Add action fails, you are left in edit mode and either have to Save again or Cancel. An "ERR_INSERT" text message is created in the main ZPSQL folder as well. This new option should only be used for troubleshooting as it does cause an extra SQL call to the internet each time you add a record to an application database. All of the application databases have been updated to support this new option. The downloads are available now.

Occupant Mismatches Web Page

This post is a follow-up to my November 7th post. I decided to add another page to the Staff web site Contact File maintenance section. This one shows any Contact records that are listed as the "Occupant" of a property but whose Contact street address does not match the street address of the property they occupy. In the previous post I advocated using an Advanced Filter to review these same records. Now there is a web page that does it for you.

Removing Duplicate Contact File Records

I just added two cool new options to the Staff web site that can help eliminated wasteful duplicate records in the Contact File database. You can access the new pages from the Contact Search option and then going to the Contact Maintenance page. The new options attempt to find existing duplicate records in the Contact File database by showing the most frequently repeated street addresses and the most frequently repeated names. Using either of these lists as a starting point you can select duplicate records and merge them together so that only one Contact File record remains but the links are preserved. To better explain how to use these new pages and the Contact File Upkeep option in the Window interface I've also added a new tutorial "Contact File Maintenance In ZonePro SQL" to our web site. It is a riveting piece of non-fiction that I highly recommend adding to your reading list.

Web Site Linking Follow-Up

To expand on my last post, we've added special pages to the Staff web site that make it easy to link to specific property records by passing either a parcel number or Property ID. An example parcel pass would look like this: www.zpdemo.zpuser.com/work/linkparcel.aspx?parcel=500-12-003. We also added an extra parameter that lets you link specifically to our mapping page, our driving directions page, or the page that tags neighbors with a certain radius. An example link for directions would be: www.zpdemo.zpuser.com/work/linkparcel.aspx?parcel=500-12-003&link=directions. A new tutorial is available on our web site called "How To Link To ZonePro SQL Web Sites" that explains this option further.

Linking to Web Sites Via Parcel Number

Had an interesting talk with a GIS company yesterday. They wanted our mutual customer to be able to display ZonePro data for a particular property record from within their GIS interface. The solution we agreed on was that the GIS program would pass a parcel number to the Staff web site for that customer which in turn would bring up the matching ZonePro Property web page in an inset window of the GIS page. This kind of linking is very easy to with our web interface for ZP SQL. Basically we just created a special web page that captures the passed parcel number and then launches the appropriate property record page. This same technique can be used by other communities and third-party tools that would benefit from a link to ZonePro data.

Checking Occupant Integrity

A recent exchange with a customer sparked an idea for an interesting report. Theoretically any Contact File name that has a relationship of "OCCUPANT" should have the same address listed in both their Contact File record and the property that they are the occupant of. A quick way to find records that break that rule is to run the "Basic" report in the Contact File Report Screen and use an Advanced Filter like this:

CFTYPE = "OCCUPANT" AND ST_NR <> P_ST_NR

This filter just checks the street numbers listed in the Contact record and the Property record, but that should be enough. Any Contact records that show up in this list probably need a correction, either to their Relationship type or to their address.

Adding Building Inspections in Staff Web Site

You can now use the Staff web interface to add new inspections to existing Building permits. This feature should allow inspectors to use the web site in the field to do their work if they do not have access to the ZP SQL Windows program. As part of this update a new Inspections Review screen has been added to the site that allows you to get details on all the inspections scheduled in ZP SQL. This new page can be reached from the Main screen and from all of the database screens that schedule inspections.

Contractor Sort Screen

I'm using a different technique now to keep track of the current sort used in the Contractor Screen of the Windows program. This affects the way the navigation options work (as noted in the previous post). It also allows us to add back in the Contractor Sort Screen that we had in ZonePro 32. You can use this screen to change the way the Contractor database is sorted at any time. This in turn affects the order in which records appear when you use the Browse button or the green navigation buttons.

Revised Navigation Buttons and Browsing

In the Property Screen, Contractor Screen, and Contact File Launch Screen there are some subtle differences to the way the green navigation buttons and the navigation browsing screen work. In prior version of the Windows program, the navigation buttons were only available after you had successfully used the navigation browse window. Now, the programs keeps track of the current sort choice and the navigation buttons are continuously available to move to the Next or Previous record. You may also note that the navigation buttons are reduced to just two (down from the original four). The First and Last buttons have been removed but their functionality remains. You can jump to the first record in the current sort by right-clicking on the Previous button. Likewise, you can jump to the last record by right-clicking on the Next button.

Contact File Launch Screen Added To Windows Interface

A new Contact File Launch Screen can be accessed from the Auxiliary Tab of the Main Screen in the ZonePro SQL Windows program. This new feature allows you to search for any name in the Contact File database and then navigate and browse through all of the names stored. This is in contrast to the Contact File Screen accessible from the Property Screen which only lets you browse through the names associated with the current property record. You can jump from the Contact File Launch Screen to the Property Screen by using the Show Property option to see all of the property links associated with the current name. This option displays a Related Property browse window where you can use the hot-key combo to jump to a selected property record. This jumping option is also available from the Related Rentals and Related Violations browse windows. The feature has also been added to those three functions in the original Contact File Screen. You can take a shortcut to the new Contact File Launch Screen by right-clicking on the Access Permit Databases button on the Main Screen.

Contact File Screens Expanded on Staff Web Site

Several new pages have been added to the ZP SQL Staff web site that enhance the options associated with the Contact File database. These changes all stem from the "Name Search" option that was added to the opening screen a little earlier. When you view a record in the Contact File Screen you can now use a "Contact Links" option to see all the Property links, Violation links, and Rental Links associated with that name. Another new option is the ability to manage relationships directly from the web site. With the correct security clearance, you can change the relationship a person has with any of the properties he or she is associated with. Another new option is the ability to navigate through the Contact File database. You can use "Prev" and "Next" buttons to move to the previous or next name stored in the database alphabetically. One final new addition is the "Match & Merge" option. This new page gives you an extra way to clean up your Contact File database by merging duplicate entries into one record. All of these features provide a different functionality than what is currently available in the Windows interface. This is just another example of how the two interfaces are complementary to each other.

Staff Web Site Shows Recent Blog Entries

The opening page of the ZP SQL Staff web site now has an option that will show the three most recent entries in this blog directly on the page. The idea is to help ZP SQL customers keep up to date with the latest developments in the program. There has long been a link on the main page that opens this blog but the new option pulls the actual text across for reading there. In fact, if you hurry, you can read this entry on the Staff web site.

Unknown Publisher Banished

Version 1.22 of the Base Module is now available for download. The main ZPSQL.EXE executable file has been amended to include a Digital Certificate. The lack of such a certificate is what leads to the "unknown publisher" alerts in Windows.

New Troubleshooting Option To Log Errors

We've added a new option to the Global Personalization Options screen in Maintenance. The new option is listed on the second tab and reads "Log SQL Errors to Text Files". This is an option that aids in troubleshooting problems by guaranteeing that all error messages are saved to text files in your main installation folder. Customers can then forward these text files to ZP Systems so that we can see the exact error message you saw. I would recommend that all customers should turn this option on, just in case. This new feature is available now for downloading.

New Cover Picture Option in Staff Web Site

The newest enhancement to the Staff web sites for ZP SQL customers is the Cover Picture option. This option allows users to add a cover picture to each property record. This picture is then displayed on the main Property page when that record is viewed. This cover picture is only viewable through the Staff web site. There is in fact no data stored in any database. Rather the picture file is stored in a special folder on the internet server. You can change cover pictures or delete them. Only one cover picture can be added per property record. I would typically expect this to be a basic photo of the property that would then make it easy to recognize when you view that property record. Of course, the photo could also be site plans or another type of drawing. You can upload any type of JPG file. The photo is resized to 500 pixels in width and displayed at that size. You must have the highest security access to use this feature, although anyone can view the results. This is a fun feature to try so enjoy.

Better Navigating & Sorting on Property Screen

Working on the Staff web site I figured out a better way to navigate from record to record in the Property Screen. I just applied the new technique to the Windows interface. After installing the latest Property update you'll see a new set of Navigation buttons. These will be the familiar 4 green arrows to those of you who came from ZP 32. Unlike before, the Navigation buttons are now always available, whether you have used the Locate Screen or not. Also you now have a First and Last button to jump to the beginning or end of the current sort. I have also added a Sort button, which again will be familiar to former ZP 32 users. This opens a screen that lets you change the way the Navigation buttons sort to determine the next or previous records. These changes should make the navigation options more smooth and useful.

Driving Directions Now Available

Another of the new Geo-coding  options on the Staff web sites is a page for Driving Directions. This page automatically displays a map showing the route from one location to another, along with written directions. You can save your From location, which I expect would be your community's office so that it defaults to that starting point each time. The To location defaults to the most recently selected property record. Of course you also have the option of typing in your own starting and ending locations.

Using Geo-coding to Find Neighbors

Each ZP SQL customer's Staff web site will get some new pages devoted to Geo-coding options. These are options that use the Latitude and Longitude fields to do mapping, etc. The most exciting page, I think, is the Find Neighbors page. This page uses the Latitude and Longitude fields to calculate distance between property records. It gives you the option to find neighboring properties around a starting property record and then uses the Tag field to mark these records. You can then print reports or labels for these records from the Mailing Label report screen. I've set up the Find Neighbors option to find properties at a radius of a tenth of a mile, a half a mile, or a mile. This option should be useful in many cases where you need to notify neighboring properties of a change a specific property wishes to make. This option only works if surrounding properties have their Latitude and Longitude values filled, so to facilitate that process another new page can be used to Map Streets. This page allows you to select a street name from a drop-down box and will then fill in the Latitude and Longitude fields for every property on that street that has a valid address. It's a quick and easy way to populate these fields.

On-Line Educational Meeting 8/19

I've been threatening to do this for a while but tomorrow I will host the first on-line educational meeting for ZP SQL customers via GoToMeeting.com. This meeting will demonstrate the recent changes to the Photo Module and show how it now supports the on-line storage of photos and PDF files. Space is limited for these on-line meetings but I expect there will be enough room for those who have the time and the interest. I hope to have many more such meeting if this one is a success. Details for the meeting are:

Thursday, August 19 at 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time.https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/831437328

Adding and Deleting on Staff Web Sites

We're starting to enhance the Staff web site interface so that you can now Add and Delete records in some places. I recently wrote about the new Photo Module pages and the pages in support of the Tickler Message option. Both of these page sets offer the ability to Add and Delete records via the web site. I've also added those privileges to the Misc Fee page and the Contractor page. You can experiment with these options on our demo web site. 

Tickler Message Options for Staff Web Site

The Staff web site interface for ZonePro SQL now includes options for the Tickler Message feature. After you log in, the Main Screen will automatically show any unread messages pending for you. You can select a message to open it in its own screen. You can also add new messages to the system from the web interface. All of the main application screens have a "Tickler Message" button that will create a new message with references to the current record. This is the same as the feather button that appears throughout the Windows interface of ZP SQL. Once such a message is created you can then "jump" back to the referring permit record when you read the message. I think having a web interface access to the Tickler Message will make that feature even more useful because now you can check for pending messages from any web-enabled PC or device anywhere at any time.

Photo Module Pages For Web Interface

Previously our web page interface for ZonePro SQL did not have any Photo Module pages because there was no way to view any of the images. Now the web interface will have a Photo Module section. You can only view photos and PDFs that have been copied to the internet database, but you can see the basic field information for all the photo records. We will also include an option to add photos and PDFs to ZP SQL directly from the web interface. In this case those images will be stored on the internet without a local path. The other limitation, at least for the moment, is that there is no Batch Loader option for the web. You have to add photos one at a time. With the addition of this feature we will be discontinuing our experiment with the Web Album internet option. Thanks to all the customers who helped test that feature.

Photo Batch Loader Redesign

In order to give users the option of storing copies of photos on the internet we decided to redesign the Batch Loader in the Photo Module. It now has a series of tabs that you move through; more like a wizard-style interface. On the opening tab there is a new check box option to "Save Image In SQL Database On The Web." This does just what you expect, saving a copy of the image on the internet. In the tab that has the global fields there is now an option to define an "Album" name for all of the moved images. One final change occurs when you use the Preview Pane option. I added a right-click option that allows you to move a file from one list to the other while previewing. This is a handy shortcut if you are being selective about which photo you want to place in the Images to Move category.

New Photo Module Fields

To allow for storing photo paths or storing a copy of the photo in an internet database, we've added some new fields to the Photo database. There is now a "Web Store" field which is either true or false. ZonePro takes care of this field itself. You cannot edit this field. Another new field is the "Folder Link" true or false field. There has always been an option to mark a record as a Folder Link when you were adding a new record, but previously that bit of information was not saved. And finally we have added a new field called "Album." This field was added for organization purposes. It gives you a way of creating subgroups of photo records within a given property. The idea is that any given property can have multiple photo "Albums" and you can easily view just the album you are interested in. When you click on the Camera icon on the Property Screen you are now prompted to choose the "Album" you wish to view. This should make it easier to find what you are looking for when a property has accumulated lots of photo links.

Photo Module Now Has On-line Option

One of the modules I have struggled with in the conversion to ZP SQL is the Photo Module. The problem is that we only store the path to a linked photo and that path is typically only valid on your local network. The great advantage of ZP SQL is that you can use it anywhere. You are no longer tethered to your local network. And that works great...except for the Photo Module. I have tried several solutions and none of them have been sufficient. This new option may not be perfect either but it is the best so far. The Photo Module has been enhanced so that it gives you the option of both storing a local path and storing the image in  a database on the internet. The copy that is stored on the internet is then accessible anytime you are not on your local network. You can even store copies of photos on the internet using the Batch Loader. There are some limitations we are imposing to keep the internet storage option from getting bogged down. You can only store JPG images and PDF non-image files on the internet. All JPG images are resized to no larger than 1024 x 768. Each customer is allotted 1,000 free photo records stored on the internet. This new approach gives you the flexibility of three storage options: 1) You can continue to use the Photo Module to store just the path of locally linked files; 2) You can store local links and place a copy on the internet for remote access; and 3) You can store a copy solely on the internet.

Printing Contractor Info in the Building Document Screen

I just posted an update to the Building Module that makes more fields available for inclusion in documents printed from any of the Building Document screens. You can include more Contractor information in your documents by referencing the "contdetail" database and the fields: con_id, contractor, company, first_name, last_name, address1, address2, phone1, and phone2. Those first two fields were always available. The last seven are new. For permits these extra fields can be used to print the address information for the lead contractor. For the Contractor Detail document these fields can be included for each contractor that is linked to the record.

New Message Checking Option

A ZP SQL customer asked me today if they could use the Message Center to alert the inspectors in the field to canceled inspections. Why yes, I said, that can be easily done. The only flaw I saw is that the inspectors would have to manually check for messages from time to time. You can turn on an option that checks for messages each time you start ZP but that does not help if you leave the program up most of the time. But an easy fix to that was to add a Personalization Option that tells ZP to check for new messages any time a user returned to the Main Screen. On the Functionality tab of the Local Personalization Screen there is a new check box that reads "Always Check Message Center at Main Screen". When you mark this option ZP SQL will look to see if there are any unread messages in your Message Center queue and display a message telling you how many there are whenever you return to the Main Screen. To make it easier to launch the View Messages screen I added right-click code to the Schedule button in the lower left corner of the Main Screen. While I was at it I added middle-click code to that button to launch the Recent Permits screen. I actually fixed a number of bugs in ZP SQL today so this would be a great time to download updates and get the new message checking option in the process.

Security Option to Assign All

A new button has been added to the Security Maintenance screen that makes it easy to set all of the Access Details values to a new level. The Assign All button has a spinner field that you can set from 1 to 9. Then when you click on the Assign All button, all of the Access Detail levels will be changed to match the spinner value. This is a feature that is in ZP 32 but I didn't think it was needed in ZP SQL until I started advising new customers to change the default setting on the "zpdemo" user account. Rather than having to change each Access Detail manually, this new button makes quick work of making the "zpdemo" account more secure.

Contractor Activity Twofor

I just added a new Contractor Activity Browse screen to ZP SQL. This feature actually started as a new addition to the Staff web site. After you look up the record for any given contractor you can proceed to another screen that will show you all the permit records that contractor is linked to. I liked this idea well enough to also add the feature to the Windows interface for ZP SQL. There is a new Activity button in the Contractor Screen that brings up a special browse screen that lets you page through a list of all the permits that contractor has been linked to. There is also a Jump button on the browse screen so you can navigate directly to any of the listed permits if so desired. The information listed in the Contractor Activity Browse screen is nothing you could not already obtain from the Contractor Activity Report screen but this new option makes it much easier and faster to get that information directly from the Contractor Screen.

SQL Browser Tool Added

Although the Database Browser tool was carried over from ZP 32 to ZP SQL, it is of limited use in the ZP SQL environment because it cannot browse SQL databases. Now we have added a SQL Browser tool that gives you a way to directly view the contents of any of the databases in your SQL account. This tool can be very useful for troubleshooting purposes. Like the Database Browser, it also includes an option for printing the file layouts of databases. This is a great resource for learning the field names you need when customizing documents and reports in ZonePro SQL. One of the major differences between the SQL Browser and the Database Browser tool is that the SQL Browser does not allow any editing of the data. This is a limitation that we just have to live with because the data is internet-based. Still this new tool will be a welcome addition to the Toolbox Module arsenal.

SQL Archive Utility Added

A SQL Archive Utility has been added to the Toolbox Module of ZP SQL This utility gives users an easy way to archive unused records from the Building Inspection Details database and Building Fee Details database. Because of the way lists from the maintenance databases are copied over when new Building permits are created, it is easy to accumulate inspection and fee detail records that are never actually used. Removing these excess records, especially if there are thousands of them, can help increase the response speed of the Building Module. The Archive Utility automates the removal process while still providing a way to retain the records until you are ready to permanently delete them.

SQL Sweeper Gets Advanced Filter And More

This past week we added several enhancements to the Toolbox Module for ZP SQL. The SQL Sweeper tool has been upgraded so that you can now use an Advanced Filter option to define your selection criteria for global changes. This allows for much more complex replacement operations. The initial version of SQL Sweeper only supported character fields. The upgraded version now supports numeric and date fields as well.

Avoid Using "zpdemo" User After Installation

When you initially install ZP SQL you have to access the program the first time using "zpdemo" as the User and Password. One of your first tasks should be to setup new user names. Then either delete or reduce the access levels assigned to "zpdemo". By default "zpdemo" has an access level of 1 for all categories. That's too risky to leave as is. If you keep this generic log-on, I would advise settings of 4 or greater. In the past, we at ZP Systems have used this generic log-on to troubleshoot problems for ZP SQL customers. Recently, however, I've written a utility that allows ZP Systems to add a more secure log-in to ZP SQL installations for our use if a customer needs us to view their data. So now there is no reason to keep the "zpdemo" user around after installation.

Advanced Filter Issues

Just made a minor change to the Advanced Filter screen which is accessed from the report screens. It no longer adds periods to the AND and OR statements when it adds them into a filter expression. That syntax works in ZP 32 but not ZP SQL. We're finding that you also have to be more careful with OR statements in ZP SQL Advanced Filter expressions. If you create a filter expression that includes an OR statement it is usually best to enclose your entire filter expression in parenthesis. One last note, if you are converting Advanced Filters from ZP 32 to ZP SQL keep in mind that the same field name changes that apply to documents also apply to filters.

Changing Owner Names Video

As I expected, some former ZP 32 users are having trouble adjusting to the Contact File database in ZP SQL. In ZP SQL names are no longer stored in the property database. Rather, all names are stored in the Contact File database. This means the process of changing the owner name for an existing property is different in ZP SQL. I just posted a new Training Video on our web site to walk through how it is done. We've had a couple of cases where customer errantly tried to edit the existing Contact File name rather than add a new one. To help curb this  I also added an alert message to the Contact File screen if you attempt to edit the Last Name of a contact record there. In general you would never change that field unless the person (or company) legally changes their name. That doesn't happen too often.

Checking For Blank Dates

In report expressions, advanced filters, etc. customers often want to check for blank dates an take an action. Only do this if the date is filled, for example. In ZP 32 part of the expression to check dates might look like this:

NOT EMPTY(insp_date)

That expression does not have the same results in ZP SQL because the databases handle dates differently. In SQL there never is a "blank" or empty date field. Rather it is set to "null" to show that it does not have a specific value yet. You can still get the same results in your expressions by  adding an extra function to convert nulls to blanks. The new expression would look like this:

NOT EMPTY(NVL(insp_date,""))

There are several other ways to do this as well but this approach works well when converting from ZP 32.

Universal Numbering Bug Found (and fixed)

Just like in ZP 32, ZP SQL offers the option of having all five building databases share a universal numbering scheme. There was a bug in the code though that prevented new permits from adding correctly when you chose this option in ZP SQL. The code has been fixed and the download is now available from the web.

See More Notes in Building Insepction Details

Not long ago I added a new button to the Inspection Details Screen to show all the inspection notes in one screen. I just added a right-click option to that button that also includes the two notes fields from the permit screen. This will be of interest to former ZonePro 32 users who converted over because there older inspection notes were stored with the permit.

Permit Search Bug Found & Fixed

A new convert to ZP SQL found a bug in the Permit Search option of the Property Locate screen today. After a successful search the property info was not refreshing properly such that documents in the application screens were pulling errant location and owner info. The fix can be downloaded at any time using the Installed Modules screen in Maintenance.

ZP SQL Backup Tutorial

I've had several customers ask about getting a backup copy of their ZP SQL data. Although the hosting company makes daily backups and takes every precaution to secure the data they host, there is no substitute for having a copy in your own hands. Fortunately there is a web-based tool that makes this goal easy and quick to obtain. I have posted a new document in the ZP SQL section of the Tutorials page that shows how to use the myLittleBackup tool to get a copy of your ZP SQL data whenever you want it.

Update to Tutorial on Special Pick Box Option

I added a section to the Special Pick Box tutorial on our web site to discuss how this option would work for the Building databases. The original tutorial covers a Zoning database example but with a few minor changes you can use the same Pick Box tool in the Building Fee Detail screen too.

Guided On-line Tours of ZP SQL

If any existing ZP 32 customers are interested in learning more about ZP SQL please contact me to arrange an on-line meeting. I've got this new on-line meeting account and it should be perfect for giving tours of ZonePro SQL. All you need is a good internet connection and a PC with speakers. You'll want a microphone too if you want to talk back ...and who doesn't. Actually, you can dial into a phone number too but that option costs you long distance charges whereas the microphone option is free. I expect a typical tour would take 30 to 60 minutes depending on your questions. I'm anxious to try out this Go-To-Meeting software so let's do it!

Ease of Use Trumps Speed

I just posted updates for a few ZP SQL modules. There are a couple of minor bug fixes but the main change is that now the default Local Personalization settings optimize the system for ease of use.  Previously the default optimization was for speed. These settings are all found in the Local Personalization Options screen under the Performance section of the SQL Tab. All of the Performance options will now be turned on by default unless you specifically turn them off. In the eight months that ZP SQL has been in production use I have not had any phone calls about speed issues but several calls that were resolved by turning on one or more of the performance options. So it seems to make sense just to default to the ease of use optimization from the start.

Viewing All Building Inspection Notes

Yesterday I spoke with a former ZP 32 customer who is now using ZP SQL. She expressed concern about keeping track of all the inspection notes for a Building Permit now that each Inspection Detail has its own Notes field. In ZP 32 the inspection notes were added to the permit notes fields so there was one screen you could go to to see all of the inspection notes entered. In ZP SQL each Inspection Detail has its own notes which are each viewed independently. There was no one screen you could go to to see all the accumulated inspections notes at once. I solved this problem by adding a View All Notes button to the Inspection Details Screen. Clicking on this icon button brings up another screen which shows you all the inspection notes entered for the current permit. This new feature is available for download using the automated update feature.

SQL Permit Mover Available

I just finished translating the Permit Mover tool in the Toolbox Module of ZP 32 for use in ZP SQL. To refresh, this tool allows you to easily move a permit that was entered under the wrong property record to a new property record. Without it, your only recourse is to delete the errant record and re-enter the permit under the correct property. With this tool you only have to supply the ID Code of the permit you wish to move and the Property ID of the new property you wish to move it to and it takes care of the rest. I'll have the updated Toolbox Module available for download soon.

Fire Hydrant Inventory

I'm working on a really interesting project right now that spun out of the mapping options in the Staff web interface for ZP SQL. I have a customer who wanted to know if we could add a database for fire hydrants and then map those as well. The prototype pages are in testing right now but the site allows you to enter any address and then shows a map of the closest fire hydrants to that property. The fire hydrant database contains Latitude and Longitude fields just like our property database does. In this case though, the customer has to supply the values for those fields because we can't geocode them the way we can an address. Fortunately, inexpensive GPS units make it fairly easy to construct your own database of positional coordinates. One of the bits of code I had to develop for this exercise is a way to determine distance between two geocoded points. This is used to find the nearest fire hydrants in this site but will be very useful for distance calculations in other web-based scenarios too.

Chat Room Option on Staff Web Site

This past week I added a chat room option to the staff web page interface for ZP SQL. You have to log in to see the link (use "zpdemo" twice to try it at the demo site). The "Chat Room" link is available from the main page. You can open the chat room in the current tab,  or open a new browser tab or window for it. The chat room itself is very basic, allowing you to exchange real-time messages with anyone else who logs into the same site. It's fun to use but I'm not sure yet how practical it will prove to be. This is one of those features I'm throwing out there and hoping customers can tell me how it can be used to their benefit. If you've got ideas for using this feature, let us hear them.

Customer Web Site Maintenance

I am slowly doing some maintenance to our Customer Support Web Site. One of the changes I am attempting to incorporate along the way is a tag that tells users which version of ZonePro a given item is relevant to. I'm adding (ZP32) to those items that only apply to ZonePro 32, or (ZP32 & ZPSQL) to items that apply to both ZonePro 32 and ZonePro SQL users. You get the idea. You can look at the Scripts page or Training Videos page to see it in action.

Web Interface Milestone

I just finished a revision of the "Staff" web interface for ZP SQL. The Staff pages now allow users to log in and edit any of the ZP SQL modules. The next step will be to include "Add" and "Delete" options via the web interface. The edit feature is still rudimentary, lacking most of the bells and whistles you get with the Window's interface to ZP SQL, but it works. You'll also find that all the pages have been revised to use a window-blind style control that let you selectively show or hide different categories of fields for any database. I think this feature makes the web page more fun to use but you can judge for yourself by trying our demo site at www.zpsql.com.

Contractor Request Web Site Update

I've made some changes to the Contractor Inspection Request web site. It now requires a log-in before you can view anything. You can see the demo of this site at www.zpsql.com by logging on with the ID "ct001003" and the password "zpdemo". I have also updated the tutorial that walks through using this service. That tutorial is listed under the Sql Documents section of the Tutorias page.

New Icon for ZP SQL

Among the recent changes to ZP SQL is a change in the program icon. Previously ZP SQL shared the same program icon used by ZP 32: the venerable house and car. This caused some confusion for customers converting from one to the other. So now ZP SQL has its own icon. Yes, another house. But this one has a red roof.

Special Pick Box Feature Aids in Variable Fees

This past week I converted the City of Fostoria from ZP 32 to ZP SQL. As it turns out they are the first case I have converted that had used the variable fees option for Zoning permits in ZP 32. That feature was dropped in ZP SQL because I reasoned that formula scripts could handle those fees just as well, and as far as the fee calculation that is true. What I didn't account for, however, was the way the old variable fee feature let you pick fee choices from a list of options. I wanted that same ease of use in ZP SQL. The solution I came up with is to add a Special Pick Box feature to ZP SQL. This is a Pick Box screen that can be called from any script. You simply add a line of code to the script that calls the Pick Box and passed it the list to use as choices. It returns the selected item which you can then copy to any available field. I have added a new tutorial to the ZP SQL Documents section of the Tutorial page in our web site that shows how I used this feature in Fostoria's case. The newest version of the ZP SQL demo also uses this option for the "Sewer" Zoning permit type.

Document Section on Tutorials Page

A new "ZP SQL Document" section has been added to the Tutorials page on our web site. The initial posting include several documents that were already in existence. One of the documents goes over the field differences between ZP 32 and ZP SQL to help converting customers move over documents and reports from the old system to the new one. Two of the documents are overviews written for the beta testers of the Contractor Request option and the on-line photo storage option. More will follow, of course.

First Custom Application Ported to ZP SQL

We just recently finished porting the first custom application from ZonePro 32 to ZonePro SQL. Fittingly, it was the Trash Billing custom program which is probably the oldest custom program we wrote. Everything went smoothly. This was a hallmark because the custom applications are the last bits of ZP 32 to be converted. All of the standard modules have made the transition.

Revised Public Pages for Web Interface

This past week we made a few changes to the Public web page component that comes with ZP SQL. Based on customer feedback we eliminated the exposure of the Notes2 field from all databases that have it. For databases like Contractor and Contact File we removed the Notes field. This affords the customer some degree of privacy so there is somewhere in each database that you can enter information that is not automatically exposed to the public. If you have suggestions about other restrictions that should be placed on the Public web page option, please let us know. Non ZP SQL users can demo the Public web pages at www.zpsql.com/public.

Mapping Mania

Okay, one more post about mapping. I've already discussed how the ZP SQL web interface provides a way to include maps as part of the Property page. The really exciting part for me, however, are the mapping options that involve multiple properties. I've implemented a few of these options already. From the opening page you can view a list of recent permit activity or upcoming inspections. Both of these lists also have a mapping option. These maps plot a point for each record in the list. So, if in the last week you had issued five permits, your map would show five flags pinpointing where the activity occurred in your community. (Just like with the Property page, when you call the mapping option it will automatically geocode any properties listed that don't yet have their latitude and longitude defined.) Clicking on the individual markers on the map even displays some brief information about the record it represents. This is very cool stuff. If you have ZP SQL I definitely suggest you go to your web site and try this feature out. If you don't have ZP SQL you can still go to our demo web site and see how it works. In addition to the opening screen the option is implemented for several of the Recent Activity buttons. Just look for the "Show Map" map on any screen.

Adjusting Geocoding

In my last post I mentioned how the ZP SQL web interface will automatically geocode a property prior to showing it on a map. Again this is done by passing a street address to the Google Mapping Server and getting back the latitude and longitude. It turns out that is not a very precise science. In other words, the geographic point that the latitude and longitude represent is not always exactly where you may think it should be when placed on the map. My understanding of this process is that the Mapping Server does not have an address to point database that it uses to return the geocode. Rather there is some estimating that occurs based on the address number and the range of addresses on the street. Of course, there are also issues where you don't have a complete address (a vacant lot perhaps) and therefor can't expect a very precise returned geocode. And of course there is also the issue of coming up with a single point to represent a much larger polygon of some kind. All of this led me to seek out an easy way to allow users to adjust the geocode setting for any given property. This option is now available from the Property page of the ZP SQL web interface. It opens a new page that shows a larger map of the property in satellite view so that you can see buildings and structures. You can then move the marker that represents the property to a new location on the map and then save that point as then new geocode representation for that property.

Automatic Geocoding With Google Maps

When we rewrote the Property Screen for ZP SQL we added a couple of new fields for Latitude and Longitude. Last month we started putting these fields to use. The web-based interface for ZP SQL now has the ability to automatically geocode a property record using Google Maps server. Geocoding is the process of determining the latitude and longitude of a given point or, in our case, address. We've added logic to the web pages that passes the street address of a property to Google Maps and gets the latitude and longitude in return. We then store these values in the database. This happens each time you request a map of a given property. (Did I mention that you can now display maps as part of the Property Screen in the ZP SQL web interface? It's very cool.) This geocoding process happens behind the scenes, automatically. Of course, it only needs to do this for properties that don't yet have geocode values. It is self-populating the database and eventually, your latitude and longitude fields will be completed filled. How cool is that?

Online Photo Storage Beta

One of the trade-offs with the anywhere availability of ZP SQL is that it doesn't always work very well with the Photo Module. The problem is that the Photo Module works by storing the file path to the desired photo or document. But once you are no longer connected to your office network, that file path isn't valid. One solution to this issue is to allow customers to store photos on the internet. These photos would then be accessible through ZP SQL regardless of where the user is. To that end we are beta testing a new service we are calling WebAlbum. This service allows ZP SQL customers to store JPGs and PDFs as part of their ZP SQL internet account. As of now this service is only accessible through a web page interface. You can try this for yourself by going to the Property Screen at the ZP SQL web demo site and clicking on the "Photos & PDFs" button.