Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Agenda l Overview of Event, Condition, Action (ECA) l What’s new in release 7.0 l Designing effective workflows l Questions

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Overview ECA is an event driven messaging system that increases productivity by automating workflows where Events are data base changes that trigger actions Conditions are data qualifiers that limit events & actions Actions are the output methods that inform others of the event

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Overview – (cont.) l ECA versus database triggers l Advantages of ECA l No programming required l Supports Read and Scan events as well as updates l Flexible output (Print, , Fax, Screen, Lists & Alarms) l Multiple update suppression

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Overview – (cont.) l ECA versus Database triggers – (cont.) l Disadvantages of ECA l Not 100% implemented throughout MANAGE 2000 l Designed more for messaging than related file updates

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Overview – (cont.) l Basic setup and maintenance functions Optional Tables l ECA.KEYWORDS – Define distribution lists l ECA.CLASSES – Define class codes l ECA.NOTIFY.TEXT – Define standard text blocks Pre-Configured Tables l ECA.SYSTEM.REFS – Define distribution lists l MONITOR.CLASSES – Define monitor entities

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Overview – (cont.) l Basic setup and maintenance functions Optional Setup l MONITOR.CONTROLS – Pop up Inbox setup l MONITOR.INTERFACE – Pop up Inbox control Required Setup l ECA.BUILD – Define ECAs l CONTACTS – Define recipients l ECA.AGENT.CTLS – Control message processing

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting The Players l Sets up event/condition/action l Controls own actions Source User Recipient l Initiates event and may control distribution Event Administrator

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Event Administrators l Define the events, conditions, and default actions l Control the distribution channels l Administer security l Maintain contact information

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Source Users l Trigger events by performing transactions l At the Event Administrator’s discretion may preview and update the distribution list l At the Event Administrator’s discretion may preview and update the notification text

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Recipients l Recipients control their interaction by: l Setting default receipt method for all ECA's l Setting override receipt method by ECA l Subscribing to “Sign-up” enabled ECA's l Deactivating undesired ECA’s l Setting “Nag Buffering” by ECA l Maintain contact information

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Recipient Definition l Recipients can maintain their: l ECA subscriptions and delivery methods l Address and contact information l Keywords l System Administrator rights are required to maintain: l ECA keywords l ECA system references l Another users ECA subscriptions and delivery methodsEventAdministratorRecipient The CONTACT.MASTER file defines ECA recipients and their options.

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Recipient Definition (cont.) l ECA system references are used to associate contacts with things like: l System User l Customer Service Representative l Customer Service Responsibility Group l Buyer l Departments l Employee l Inventory Planner l Sales Representative l Customer l Vendor l Work CenterEventAdministrator

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Recipient Definition (cont.) l ECA Keywords are used to group contacts by keywords like: l Sales l Officers l VP l Use ECA system references and keywords to create distribution lists l System Administrator rights are required to maintain ECA system reference and keyword contact dataEventAdministrator

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Recipient Definition (cont.) l Contact keywords may also be used to create distribution lists l Recipients addresses are defined by: l Phone types l address l System user ID or external address l Fax number l Phone device must be a fax device l Auto notify l ‘Y’es / ‘N’o flag for address use Recipient

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD l Used by Event Administrator to define ECA’s l Defines the output format and content l Defines the events, conditions, and actions l Controls the distribution process

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Controls l Status l Active/Inactive flag l Effective/Non-effective dates l File references l Assign short names to data files used l Function associations l Limit to specific functions (e.g. CASE, ITEMS, SO.ENTRY, etc.) l Function list is either inclusive or exclusive

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Controls (cont.) l Tolerance limits l Establish a list of percent or value limits for use with individual events l Options l Provide control of: l Notification list preview/update l Output preview/update l Testing tools

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Controls (cont.) l Scan l Scan a file for events such as past due dates l Use an index to limit the scan l One message per hit is sent

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Message Scripting l Text keywords l Assign names and formats to derived data l Data is derived from the reference files at run time l Derived data may be used to translate to another reference file l Attributes can be real or virtual, single or multi- valued, standard or custom

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Message Scripting (cont.) l ECL commands l Any valid UniData ECL command l Construct commands from: l Free form text l Text keywords enclosed in ‘&’ l ECA variables l Results can be used in the message body

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Message Scripting (cont.) l Message (like an ) contains: l From - who sent the message l Subject - short Description l Body - text of the message l Construct From, Subject, and Body from: l Free form text l Text keywords enclosed in ‘&’ l ECA variables

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Message Scripting (cont.) l Body also supports the inclusion of: l Notification text (TM table 176) l Copy in or include dynamically at run time l Summary or detail of enabled events l Sent To List l Result of ECL command l Formatting commands l Tabs and page breaks l Multi-valued tables l Text formatting

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Events l Each ECA may define one or more logical or actual events l Events are based on changes to an entire record or individual attributes l Events have 0- n related conditions and actions l Tolerance limits can be used to restrict events l Event distribution can be restricted or published for open “sign-up” E

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Events (cont.) l Event types l Determine what reference file elements are used l Record types: l Created, deleted, read l Attribute types: l Add, change, delete l Increase or decrease in value l Is null l Is present l Attributes can be real or virtual, single or multi-valued, standard or custom E

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Conditions l Used to qualify both events and actions l Supports AND/OR logic and standard operands l Comparisons based on: l Literal values l Data derived from files l Attributes can be real or virtual, single or multi- valued, standard or custom l Text keywords l ECA variables l SYS.CTL values C

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Actions l Actions can be associated with 0- n events l 0- n conditions can be used to qualify an action l Depend on recipients CONTACTS data l Group notifications based on: l ECA and standard keywords l System references (e.g., Buyers, Planners, etc.) l Specific notifications based on: l Contact ID l System user ID A

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Actions (cont.) l Notification methods l External contacts (e.g., Customers, Vendors, etc.) l - external l Fax l System users l - internal or external l Fax l Printer l Alarms l ECA transactions l Action 1 records A

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Actions (cont.) l Notification methods (cont.) l Source user l Screen message l - internal or external l Fax l Printer l Alarms l ECA transactions l Action 1 records l Other programs l Action 1 records A

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting ECA.BUILD - Testing l ECA’s can be tested and debugged prior to general activation using ECA options. l Choose one of the truth result options l Assign yourself as the source user l Trigger the ECA until you achieve the desired result

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 l Packets l Scheduling l Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) l Application Data ECA variable l Enhanced scripting options

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 – (cont.) l Packets l Supports bundling of action messages from one or more ECAs into a single notification l Defined within the ECA or by contact l Supports the use of scheduling to determine the frequency of distribution

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 – (cont.) l Scheduling l Supports scheduling of Packets and File Scans l Provides a variety of scheduling methods l Not yet available, currently planned for release with SP2

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 – (cont.) l HTML l ECA Transaction Inbox and Message format l Application data ECA variable l Variable that the application programmer may set to control ECA processing l Currently used only by SO.ENTRY to indicate final update mode

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 – (cont.) l Enhanced Scripting options l New Commands l + - Line continuation l /From - Override the From text l /Subj – Override the Subject text l /Packet – Assign the ECA to a Packet

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 – (cont.) l New Commands – (cont.) l /Opt.Url – Access a URL within the EOTBrowser l /Opt.Urlx – Access a URL via your default browser l &nbsp – Include a space, non-breaking or untrimmed l - Include predefined HTML format commands

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting What’s New in 7.0 – (cont.) l Enhanced Scripting options l Enhanced Commands l /Set.Pri - Define priority descriptions as well as priority l /Call – Return formatted data as text l /Opt.Fcn – Define a description to display in place of the function name. Also applies to all other /Opt commands.

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Designing Effective Workflows l Define the process on paper first l Identify base event for each step in the process l For each event identify the base file and data l Is there a discrete data element to trigger the event l If not is there a logical set of data elements l If not can you define one with user defined fields l If not this is a manual step and falls outside of ECA control

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Designing Effective Workflows – (cont.) l For each non-manual step l Identify links to pass l Identify recipients and method of notification l Construct an ECA l Simple is better l Short messages get more attention l Group links in logical blocks

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Question and Answers

Mid-West Tri State Users Group Meeting Thank You!