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.