November 2003

Meet the Staff

Rick Miska

Hello, my name is Rick Miska. I have worked for Information Management Research for 3.5 years. Before that, I worked 15 years for a mainframe data storage company.

I have two daughters, Kaitlyn 6, and Melissa 9. I have multiple hobbies relating in some way to Colorado history.

I look forward to answering any questions you have regarding Alchemy, and assisting you in any way I can.

November How to Guide

This month we will be looking at permissions, more specifically, how to check your permissions. With Windows 2000 and NTFS file systems you can have permissions on folders as well as the folders when they are shared. To check your permissions, just right click on the folder and select properties. The properties dialog box opens.

To check the NTFS permissions, select the SECURITY tab. If there is no security tab, you may have a file system that is formatted with a FAT file system. If this is the case, there is no security with a FAT file system. If you’re concerned about security and are using windows 2000 you can convert the file system from FAT to NTFS. Microsoft has an article to provide instruction on how to convert your disk at : http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro/managing/convertfat.asp.

To check your Share permissions, select the SHARING tab. The security tab looks like:

From the properties dialog box (either NTFS or Share) you can select the appropriate permissions needed for that particular resource.


This is a brief overview on how to check your permissions. Next month we’ll take a closer look at the similarities and differences between the NTFS permissions and the Share permissions.

Simple Tips and Tricks in Alchemy

Modifying Columns in the Alchemy Viewer Pane

Alchemy can be customized to meet the needs of the End User by simply changing the columns in the Viewer Pane.

A database had several custom fields contained within the database. Those fields can be displayed in columns in the Viewer Pane by adding them through a right click on the first column name.
 

The New Column selection will show up as soon as you click OK or double click the Column Name. Amount Paid will now show up in the viewer and we will also choose the Right Justification to line up our decimals.

Do this for each of the Columns and delete the ones you don’t want. You can now delight your customer with the instant information they need to see which invoices are marked as Paid.
 

Decreasing the Time It Takes To Load Pages in Alchemy Web

To decrease the time it takes to load a page when browsing through a large database you can make the TOC limit smaller so it only displays a certain number of items per page

The TOC limit here is set to 100 so that will display the first 100 items on the page and there will be a next link to the second group of 100 items and so on.
 

Alchemy Training:

Learn more about Alchemy Software products from IMR Certified Instructors. IMR's Educational Services team is pleased to offer 2 of our advanced technical Training Courses geographically near you. The courses being offered are designed to inspire innovative solutions utilizing all of the exciting new features and product extensions just released by IMR.

Alchemy Training Schedule