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.