The Best Web Design And Graphic Software Is Available In Academic Software Versions

Writen by Ispas Marin

Macromedia's Studio 8 Suite Academic Software Package

Macromedia Dreamweaver

My first choice for HTML editors is Macromedia's Dreamweaver. It has an easy to use, intuitive user interface and state of the art design tools. With a customizable user interface, you can work the way you need to. Although the student software doesn't come with manuals, Dreamweaver has excellent online tutorials.

You can design intricate CSS-based layouts and designs easily with tools that allow for quick selection and control of page and site wide style properties. There is a built in graphics editor that uses Macromedia Fireworks technology. Dreamweaver allows you to develop HTML, XHTML, XML, ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, and Macromedia ColdFusion websites.

It has a cross-browser code validation feature that automatically checks tags and CSS rules for compatibility across all the leading browsers and allows you to configure browser preview for multiple browsers.

One of the nicest features is the Property Inspector that enables quick, comprehensive property editing that makes getting it perfect a no-brainer. This is the editor I use to create and maintain all of my web sites. I have used all of the professional and many of the other HTML editors available and can say that Dreamweaver is absolutely the best HTML editor. Since Dreamweaver is taught in most graphic design curriculums, it inclusion in the academic software package is needed.

Macromedia Fireworks

Fireworks is Macromedia's answer to Photoshop and is included in the student software package. Fireworks has all the tools a web professional needs to create everything from simple graphical buttons to sophisticated rollover effects. You can import, edit, and integrate all major graphics formats, including vector and bitmap images and easily export Fireworks images to Flash, Dreamweaver, and third-party applications.

Besides all of the normal features you would expect in a professional photo editing program, fireworks includes new interactive design features and the ability to create pop-up menus in the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) format without the need for programming. One thing Fireworks does exceptionally well is batch processing. I use Fireworks batch processing all of the time to optimize entire directories of photographs. I can resize and optimize 50 photographs in just a couple of minutes.

Macromedia Flash Pro 8

Flash is the industry leader for creation animation and video movies for streaming over the internet. Flash creates movies with surprising small files sizes. That translates to quick download times and the availability to use flash animation on slower links and mobile devices and comes complete with tools for video creation especially for mobile devices. Flash pro 8 provides everything needed to create great looking videos. Since flash is being used more frequently is essential that it be part of an academic software package.

Macromedia Contribute

Contribute is Macromedia's answer to the problem of content management. It provides the ability to change the content of a website without having to know anything about HTML, but does not need all the expensive software and databases that a regular content management system uses. Contribute allows companies to buy an inexpensive tool that lets them provide content without messing with the design. Contribute is a solution that is custom-made for small to mid-sized companies that don't need all the power of CMS, but would like some of the benefits. Being included in the academic software package will give students an opportunity to see how a very simple CMS system works.

Macromedia FlashPaper

FlashPaper generates compact, fast-opening Flash documents that can be published to any website using Macromedia Contribute, Dreamweaver, or any other HTML tool. FlashPaper creates Flash documents through intuitive Microsoft Office integration and file drag and drop. Create Flash documents that are immediately available cross-platform on any web browser. Compact Flash documents open within a web page, eliminating the need for a separate viewer application. Flash documents can also be incorporated into Flash projects. Adding this to the student software package allows the student to experience using a very handy tool.

Adobe Creative Suite 2.0 Premium Academic Software Package

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is the graphics industry standard and my choice of photo editing software. I have to admit I love Photoshop. You can create original images or modify photos using a wide range of painting, drawing, and retouching tools. You can work the way that's best for you by creating personalized workspace and tool settings and customized keyboard shortcuts. You can achieve sophisticated results by compositing images, text, and effects on hundreds of layers that you control by grouping into sets, color coding, and locking. You can simulate traditional fine-art techniques with dry and wet brush effects, pastel, charcoal, and more and even use brushes to add special effects such as grass and leaves. There are tools to improve the color, contrast, and dynamic range of any image, easily remove dust, scratches, blemishes, wrinkles, and other flaws with the Healing Brush. Photoshop can give high quality output by working with the complete raw data files from most major digital camera models. It's great all-around imaging software. Photoshop is taught in all graphic curriculums and had to be included in the student software package.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is also taught in every school's graphic curriculum and is another essential part of a student software package. It is also an essential tool for anyone who needs to express ideas visually in print, on the Web, and in any other medium. When my clients send me a rough pencil drawing of the logo they want for their business, I create the logo in Illustrator then import into Photoshop to get it ready for their web page. Illustrator has great 3D features, advanced typographical controls, Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) integration and enhanced printing options. Illustrator will help create and efficiently publish your artwork anywhere.

One of the nicest features is the ability to apply live effects without affecting the underlying artwork, so you can edit at any time without starting over. There are blending modes and transparency effects similar to those in Photoshop software but, unlike Photoshop, Illustrator has intuitive tools such as the Pencil, Smooth, Erase, and Pen tools.

Adobe InDesign

InDesign is the best page layout software available and is the choice of most print design professionals. With the advent of paid subscription totally-digital magazines, it is getting popular for laying out the print like pages of these products. It can integrate with both Photoshop and Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) file formats and supports the multiple layer capability of Photoshop. It is an all around necessary tool for the professional graphic designer. Although not usually covered in most curriculums, it is a welcome addition to any academic software package,

Adobe GoLive

GoLive is Adobe's answer to Dreamweaver. It has all of the features that you can find in Dreamweaver and is integrated directly into the rest of adobe products. Personally, I prefer Dreamweaver but golive is an excellent HTML editor and completes the suite for a web designer. Although usually on touched in classes, GoLive is welcome addition to any student software package.

Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat is the number one tool used to create the widely used PDF document format. With its built in security features that can prevent the user from copying or changing the document and the ability to require a password to open the document, acrobat is still one of the leading choices for creating paid e-books. This program is an absolute necessity for a web designer and therefore a welcome addition to the academic software package.

Adobe Version Cue

Version Cue is a file manager that tracks the different versions of the files you create with the graphics as well as some others. It is a very nice tool if you have several people collaborating on a project since you can maintains a complete change history of the files.

If you are a student, teacher or educational institution that qualifies for the academic software discount price, please visit http://www.sprysoft.com to see what is available.

Will Firefox Win The Browser War

Writen by Craig Rowe

For as long as you can remember the basic Internet browser was Internet Explorer. Of course, there was a moment in time when Netscape was trying to get that market share, but Internet Explorer won out and there are many people that don't realize Internet Explorer is only their browser and they can change if they like. In fact, most folks believe Internet Explorer is the only option for reaching the Internet. However, this is not the case and there is a new kid on the block that is taking advantage of the security issues Internet Explorer has experienced and pulling a significant amount of market share in a short period of time. This newcomer web browser is Firefox.

Firefox is a browser that focuses on opening web sites rapidly while keeping those nasty pop-ups and spyware at bay. Firefox was in its final stages last summer and fortunately for the up and coming browser two federal agencies recommended Internet surfers choose a different browser than Internet Explorer due to security issues IE was facing. This timing was perfect for Firefox and when it was placed on the web for download there were so many people trying to download at once the server almost could not handle all of the requests.

However, Firefox came through and many web surfers switched from Internet Explorer. In fact, Internet Explorer held the market share for web browsers at 95.5%, but has slipped to 92.9% in just the few months Firefox has had its test version on the market. This might seem like just a few percentage points, but these percentage points represent millions of individuals who have switched from IE to Firefox. In fact, approximately 23 million preview copies of Firefox have been downloaded.

So, what does this mean for IE and Firefox? Who will win this browser war? If Firefox continues gaining market share as it has then Firefox might come out on top. However, if IE works to fix its security problems it can probably hold onto its 90% plus market share. Only the future has the answer, we will just have to wait and see.

SearchArticles.net features over ten thousand articles, tips and information on a variety of subjects. For additional tips and articles, visit http://www.SearchArticles.Net

What Is Graphic Design

Writen by Bharat Bista

Graphic Design is a visual communication, an art, a profession, and a process of bonding texts, images, signs, symbols, photographs, colors and diagrams to communicate an effective language with an observer. It is an architecture where visual sequence is arranged in shape and structure, as a result graphic design eloquently guides more than a text statement. It is a combined force of writer's words and designer's design to enhances and integrate an effective communication.

Graphic Design arranges information visually, utilizing typography and illustrations in such a way, that it successfully projects the concept to visual appearance. Graphical elements facilitate expression of thought to visualization, and snatches attention of the watcher pleasing and mesmerizing their eyes.

Today, Graphic design is practiced in various fields of media, distributing its effective message through logos, graphics, signs, brochures, posters, and other type of visual elements. Main industries encompass this creative work of art in media are such as: websites, print, advertisement, publication, digital media, motion pictures, animation, product design, packaging, information signs, etc.

With a purpose of lucidity and efficient message conveying to the viewer, graphic design can be powerful, purposeful or sometimes just a distinctive artistic presentation. It can be just an imaginary drawing or a realistic creative revelation.

The use of graphic design is to make it easy for the viewer, as an enhancement for textual description, and is an effort to assist readers in their understanding of any particular concept more clearly and compelling through visuals and designs.

Progression of graphic design has been closely bound to technical novelty. Designing skill has been practiced in diverse forms, adjacent with human evolution, with reference to ancient manuscripts found in China, Egypt, India and Greece; but it starts really bounding from 15th century with the development and growth of printing and publication, to 19th century's industrially revolution in west.

After the arrival of desktop publishing in 1980, and launching of the software like Abode Illustrator, and PageMaker; designer generation was metamorphosed and the designers' world rapidly ramped up towards computer imaging from illustration to 3d image generation; which was manually unattainable and thought to be impossible before. Computers at present time are considered to be a crucial instrument used by graphic designers and photographers as well as fine artists.

Apple Macintosh computers are very popular in graphic design, though new developments in hardware and software on other platform, i.e., Microsoft; theses days both system are widely accepted. Common graphic design software applications include Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, Corel Graphics Suite, Flash, FreeHand, Fireworks, Paint Shop, etc. From simple graphics to advance 3d graphics, these days graphic designing overshadows visual images seen everywhere else.

Regarding graphic utilization on websites, the use of graphics have become convenient and feasible since about 1990, as the internet speed increased dramatically and internet browsers being capable of viewing large images. Graphics used by websites are logos, banners, advertisements, navigation buttons, etc. in gif format and in addition modern browsers today supports jpeg, and swf formats as well. This makes websites fabricate and interface their web design much more attractive and outstanding, rather then plain text content.

At present, Graphic Design stands as a solo industry, sheltering millions of artist worldwide as professionals. Graphic design is the design of visual displays of information and data, expression and projection, painting and drawing. A visual communication molded with art and skill of arranging information in methodical approach, so that it can be used by viewers with effective understanding of expressions.

Author: Bharat Bista

Resources and References:

Graphic Design - Custom Web Site Design - Silk Flowers

Article Software Legitimate Use Or Abuse

Writen by Roderick Fewer

Products have come and gone on the internet. What was yesterdays "next big thing" has been replaced by another product or a "bigger and better" version of the same product. Throughout it all, one product has remained constant and in high demand since the dawn of the World Wide Web.

The product I am referring to is information. It seems we can't get enough of it these days. It still is, by far, one of the hottest selling commodities on the internet. However, this voracious appetite for fresh information has spawned a new type of problem; a problem whereby the supply can't keep up with the ever increasing demand.

Enter the software developers. At about the same time the first article idea was born, software developers were busy planning ways to churn out multiple "unique" copies of the original written word in an attempt to satisfy this insatiable demand for content.

This plan has succeeded, even beyond the wildest dreams of the person that planted the first seed. At present, articles are being spun and re-spun until they are stripped entirely of whatever dignity they may have had to begin with.

In the beginning, the software was used for "black hat" purposes only. The reproduced content was used to feed search engine robots and was never seen by human eyes. Todays software has gotten much more sophisticated, so much so that some of these reproduced articles could even fool a human editor.

This has created a dilemma for article authors. Knowing there are potential dishonest software users out there who could take my original articles, spin them until they are unrecognizable, and claim them as their own, leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Just recently I was given over 100 PLR Articles in exchange for signing up for a free service. After quickly browsing through them it was easy to see they were not all original articles, but rather articles that were re-written using software. Of course, they immediately went to the trash. If you plan on purchasing PLR Articles, make sure you use a reputable source. If the price seems "too good to be true" it probably is.

However, not all reproduced articles are easy to spot. Some of these spun articles are of such high quality, they are being submitted to article directories. Not all article directories use human editors to scan for abuse, so it's fairly easy for these articles to get distributed all over the internet.

Don't get me wrong. There is some great software out there that can be helpful to authors if used properly. Using a software program to enhance your writing skill is one thing... using the software to turn out random pieces of garbled junk that no human could possibly decipher, another thing entirely.

Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved

Roderick Fewer has been marketing online since 2002, and providing Internet Marketers with information, tools and resources essential for online business development.

Visit us at http://www.freeassociateprograms.com or contact us using our help desk at http://www.freeassociateprograms.com/hesk/ anytime. Cheers!

Most Common Ways To Accumulate Spyware Where It Is Downloaded To Your Pc

Writen by Mark Berger

It is possible that if one avoided all sources of spyware, ad-ware and virus infection that infection would be at minimal levels. Although I don't recommend using only this method as a form of fighting spyware, it can be a potentially effective mean. Used in conjunction with a virus scanning program (I recommend Avast), abstaining from visiting these web sites or using these programs will help your PC to fight off infections, infestations and slower speeds due to unneeded running processes.

The most common places where your PC will pick up spyware, ad-ware and viruses will be adult websites or websites related to security. By security, I mean websites related to computer hacking and the like. If you partake in software piracy, you will notice that many of these websites that are piracy download zones have javascripts and cookies running that download software to your computer unknowingly. They usually come in the form of cookies. If you run a good virus program while you visit these sites, your virus program will most certainly warn you to "abort the connection" or "terminate the script." This means a server-side script is running to put spyware in the form of cookies onto your hard drive.

Another good spot to accumulate spyware, especially trojans, is peer to peer file sharing software. Such programs like Bearshare, ARES, Kazaa, etc. have been known to be breeding grounds for trojan horses and keyloggers for sometime. I recommend if you decide to use these programs, you use the "lite" version of the program. Lite versions of said programs have been scaled down in memory usage and the like. They will still operate just as well as the full program, but your computer will like you better for not subjecting it to unknown dangers.

And alas, the final spot of interest would be chain mail letters with attachments. These annoying buggers are usually sent to you by friends with too much time on their hands. Some people become addicted to chain mail letters; they send out every single one they receive. These letters sometimes can have viruses in their attachments, but because the average computer user does not realize it, he or she is spreading a virus. ALSO NOTE: Chain mail letters have been known to connect pedophiles with their prey. This is because the person who receives the letter can trace it back to every single person who has read it. Notice a chain mail letter has tens, maybe hundreds of e-mail addresses upon it, and sometimes these belong to young people (as young people make up a large portion of Internet users). Use a virus scanning program that checks your incoming mail (Avast will do this), and use something like NetNanny to make sure your kids have no strange men or women talking to them on MSN messenger.

I am a young, aspiring computer engineer into Internet Marketing, hardware, software, web design, SEO and just about anything related to computers. Please come check out my growing PC forum at http://www.markspcforum.com

Convoqs Asap Products

Writen by Peter Cullen

Convoq is a software company located near Boston, founded in 2002 to develop an affordable, Web-based instant meeting solution. The company offers a range of products targeted at different audiences. I'll briefly describe the product set but will concentrate primarily on MeetASAP.

The ASAP product family is Flash-based and includes all the features you'd expect these days from an online meeting solution including: text chat, screen sharing, Powerpoint integration, VoIP audio, video, and record and playback. The pricing model is basically a flat-fee, unlimited usage approach - but more about that later.

Convoq's SellASAP is essentially instant meeting technology tightly integrated with SalesForce.com - a popular CRM product. SellASAP leverages the power of Salesforce.com by automatically logging meeting activity in Salesforce, thereby eliminating manual entry. SellASAP also supports popular instant messaging services, so sales reps can communicate instantly with prospects.

ConferenceASAP is Convoq's straight web conferencing offering (although it is also offered as a tight-integration with salesforce.com). ConferenceASAP has all the conferencing features mentioned above and is offered in different sized packages. You buy an unlimited use annual license the price of which depends on the number of meeting attendees you plan to support. The license is offered in 4 sizes: 25, 50, 100, and 200 attendees. Again, once you have the annual license you can hold as many meetings as you wish within your license size at no additional charge.

MeetAsap is Convoq's small business version of their conferencing software. It includes all the standard bells and whistles, such as support for instant messaging, desktop sharing, video and VoIP, meeting record and playback, text chat and file transfer, attendance monitoring, and Powerpoint integration (except transitions). The difference here is the number of attendees supported. MeetASAP is currently limited to 15 attendees. More can be added, but at an additional charge. I haven't included specific price quotes here purposely. Prices tend to change and are best obtained directly from Convoq. MeetASAP is, like the other offerings mentioned above, sold on an annual license basis (it is a hosted solution), and supports unlimited usage, subject of course to the attendee numbers as described. The annual license fee for MeetASAP I saw when researching this article was very reasonable. If the attendee limit fits your needs, this is an attractive offering.

The last version of the product is called SupportASAP for AppExchange. AppExchange is the relatively new feature of salesforce.com that supports easier integration of third-party applications with salesforce. SupportASAP is targeted toward the customer support end of the spectrum and provides live chat capability tightly integrated with salesforce. Support ASAP automatically logs the chat into the appropriate case in salesforce, and includes remote desktop control and Powerpoint facilities.

In summary, Convoq offers a powerful set of targeted conferencing products, with a pricing structure that covers a number of different levels of need. To get further details go to:
http://www.convoq.com

Pete Cullen runs http://www.Web-Conference-Info.com where web conferencing software is reviewed and relevant articles are posted.

Crm Solutions For Better Business

Writen by Grady Hawley

In this fast growing marketing world customer is every thing. Companies work day and night hard to satisfy their clients. More over, internet marketing is now evolved as the fastest growing marketing field. Because of all these facts the storing and tracking of customer information, their tastes and dislikes, finding customers; all together known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), became much more important. CRM solutions are software and hardware products intended to the sole purpose, customer relationship management.

Modern CRM systems integrate sales, marketing and customer service processes. They can perform a lot of tasks such as customer data integration, data conversion, database management, building partner programs, employee training, trouble shooting and much more. CRM software programs are firmly integrated with all resources and proceedings that they can track even minor transactions to large scale undertakings with proper client information. CRM systems use their vast database to find good customers who frequently want service the company and are willing to spend more money on the company products.

CRM software systems usually have three parts as operative part, analytical part and collaborative part. The operative software part track and manage customer contact points like marketing, sales and service. The analytical software part conducts researches through the database to find out methods for customer relationship enhancement. This part helps in forecasting company status, decision making and planning new practices. The third part, collaborative software part, co-ordinates individual functions through multi channel collaboration methods.

Using of CRM solutions for your business will provide you certain advantages. This include full automation of processes, better problem resolution, customer tracking, contact management and market management, cost effectiveness, reduction in working capital, easy in administration though sales force automation, easier collaboration of works & data quality management, on-demand analytics, and flexibility in internet marketing.

Today, on internet and in open market, there are many CRM vendors who provide customized CRM software programs and systems. You can choose one of them according to your business area and business volume. The cost of a CRM system depends mainly on the type of the software, type of customer and the business strength of the implementing company. If you are a small scale businessman you can choose either an open source CRM or a hosted/on-demand CRM. With an open source CRM, you can customize the software according to your needs and situations. Hosted CRM or on-demand CRM is a CRM outsourcing method, in which a service provider will integrate all customer relationship management activities for you.

Before purchasing, compare technical features of each software solution available on market. The things to be considered when purchasing a CRM solution include the data integrity in the database and privacy considerations. It is advised that you have to only select a company/vendor who offers full security to all your inputted and tracked data. Make sure that your CRM software solution use data encryption techniques for securing your data.

This article has been published by eSalesTrack, US based providers of on-demand CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and other application software such as Sales Force Automation and Mobile Solutions. To learn more about CRM visit CRM Articles.

Microsoft Dynamics Crm 30 Implementation For Large Corporation Overview

Writen by Andrew Karasev

Since December 2005 we are talking about Microsoft CRM version 3.0. In the case of established corporate business we usually deal with such legacy environment as IBM Lotus Notes Domino (predecessor of all the modern CRM applications as well as legitimate generic CRM platform), integration with Microsoft (such as MS SQL Server) and non-Microsoft database platforms and applications: Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Financials and custom Oracle databases, IBM AS/400 and RS6000 DB2 applications, SUN Java II EJB (as eCommerce front and back ends). Microsoft CRM should be integrated with existing applications and there is no way to simply switch all the corporate ERP to become Microsoft Windows workshop. Let's look at Corporate MRP for large corporation and how Microsoft CRM 3.0 could contribute and be a part of its computer environment.

• Sales Module. You should probably begin with simple. If you are facing sales department reshaping (from computerization standpoint) – you can apply all your MCSE skills and knowledge to install, integrate (with MS Exchange, Active Directory, custom MS SQL databases) and train Sales people to use MS CRM as their sales automation software. It is pretty intuitive: you register Sales Lead, then move it to the Opportunity (where you can create a quote), then move it to Account/Customer and then you can use MS CRM Outlook client to print Sales Quote with Microsoft Mail Merge technology (MS Word format template with your company logo and quotation lines). If you start with Sales module – the investment (MS CRM software license cost) will be optimized/minimized – all the other departments will be working with their "legacy" CRM applications, such as Siebel, SalesLogix, Lotus Notes Domino, custom CRM systems, etc.

• MS CRM Security. Security comes one of the firsts when we are talking about corporate environment. In MS CRM you have two conceptions: Owning and Sharing CRM objects. You can share object with unlimited number of groups, the drawback of sharing – shared object (Lead, Opportunity, Account, Contact) doesn't show in my Leads, my Opportunities, my Accounts, etc. as well as in MS CRM Outlook client calendar

• Integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0/Microsoft Great Plains. Microsoft CRM 1.2 had Microsoft Great Plains CRM integration tool, utilizing BizTalk behind the scenes and our company used it to move MS CRM Customers and Orders into our Accounting – Microsoft Great Plains 8.0. With the version 3.0 of Microsoft CRM and Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 we see that Scribe Software is the champion with the integration between the two – however Scribe Software dictates the price for its integration tool

• Integration with IBM Lotus Notes Domino. This was relatively long story. Both Microsoft Business Solutions and Lotus Software were reluctant to recognize and support Microsoft CRM Lotus Notes Domino connector, written and supported by Alba Spectrum Technologies, beginning with MS CRM 1.2 and Lotus Notes 6.0 (when Java agents were introduced for IBM Lotus Domino). Then, when Microsoft Business Solutions lost Microsoft CRM sales to such client as Caterpillar in LATAM to Saleslogix CRM – Microsoft in Sao Paulo changed its position. Now Alba Spectrum connector is recognized by Microsoft and is on the way to be recognized and recommended by IBM as well. One of the main reasons to keep utilizing both CRM solutions: Lotus and Microsoft – to optimize software licenses cost – IBM Lotus licenses (used in Legal, Production/Manufacturing, Customer Support) and Microsoft CRM licenses (used in Sales & Marketing departments)

• International Considerations. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is preferred Microsoft Business Solutions CRM worldwide, however Microsoft Dynamics AX (Microsoft Axapta) and Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Microsoft Navision/Navision Attain) have their own CRM modules. Integration between Microsoft Great Plains exists, plus integration with Navision and Axapta is and will be available through third parties. If you are Multinational corporation with manufacturing facilities in Latin America, Brazil, Africa, Asia, Australia – and you would like to use one of MBS ERP products in your headquarters: Axapta, Navision, Great Plains or Solomon (Microsoft Dynamics SL). Localization question is relatively simple for Microsoft CRM 3.0 – it is easily translated to Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Russian, Polish, Chinese, Dutch, Japanese, etc.

• Competition. We already mentioned Oracle E-Business Suite. From SAP – you should consider SAP Business One with its CRM module and integration with Microsoft Office/Outlook (this is not related to Mendocino SAP mySAP SAP R/3 or SAP all-in-One project with Microsoft – SAP Business One has its own original integration with MS Office)

Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com, http://www.greatplains.com.mx, http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally. We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Austin, Kansas City.

40sec To 500sec

Writen by Ramesh Kumar Thiagarajan

Introduction

Surprised, by the title? well, this is a tour of how we cracked the scalability jinx from handling a meagre 40 records per second to 500 records per second. Beware, most of the problems we faced were straight forward, so experienced people might find this superfluous.
Contents

* 1.0 Where were we?

1.1 Memory hits the sky
1.2 Low processing rate
1.3 Data loss :-(
1.4 Mysql pulls us down
1.5 Slow Web Client

* 2.0 Road to Nirvana

2.1 Controlling memory!
2.2 Streamlining processing rate
2.3 What data loss uh-uh?
2.4 Tuning SQL Queries
2.5 Tuning database schema
2.5 Mysql helps us forge ahead!
2.6 Faster...faster Web Client

* 3.0 Bottom line

Where were we?

Initially we had a system which could scale only upto 40 records /sec. I could even recollect the discussion, about "what should be the ideal rate of records? ". Finally we decided that 40/sec was the ideal rate for a single firewall. So when we have to go out, we atleast needed to support 3 firewalls. Hence we decided that 120/sec would be the ideal rate. Based on the data from our competitor(s) we came to the conclusion that, they could support around 240/sec. We thought it was ok! as it was our first release. Because all the competitors talked about the number of firewalls he supported but not on the rate.

Memory hits the sky

Our memory was always hitting the sky even at 512MB! (OutOfMemory exception) We blamed cewolf(s) inmemory caching of the generated images.But we could not escape for long! No matter whether we connected the client or not we used to hit the sky in a couple of days max 3-4 days flat! Interestingly,this was reproducible when we sent data at very high rates(then), of around 50/sec. You guessed it right, an unlimited buffer which grows until it hits the roof.

Low processing rate

We were processing records at the rate of 40/sec. We were using bulk update of dataobject(s). But it did not give the expected speed! Because of this we started to hoard data in memory resulting in hoarding memory!

Data Loss :-(

At very high speeds we used to miss many a packet(s). We seemed to have little data loss, but that resulted in a memory hog. On some tweaking to limit the buffer size we started having a steady data loss of about 20% at very high rates.

Mysql pulls us down

We were facing a tough time when we imported a log file of about 140MB. Mysql started to hog,the machine started crawling and sometimes it even stopped responding.Above all, we started getting deadlock(s) and transaction timeout(s). Which eventually reduced the responsiveness of the system.

Slow Web Client

Here again we blamed the number of graphs we showed in a page as the bottleneck, ignoring the fact that there were many other factors that were pulling the system down. The pages used to take 30 seconds to load for a page with 6-8 graphs and tables after 4 days at Internet Data Center.

Road To Nirvana

Controlling Memory!

We tried to put a limit on the buffer size of 10,000, but it did not last for long. The major flaw in the design was that we assumed that the buffer of around 10000 would suffice, i.e we would be process records before the buffer of 10,1000 reaches. Inline with the principle "Something can go wrong it will go wrong!" it went wrong. We started loosing data. Subsesquently we decided to go with a flat file based caching, wherein the data was dumped into the flat file and would be loaded into the database using "load data infile". This was many times faster than an bulk insert via database driver. you might also want to checkout some possible optimizations with load data infile. This fixed our problem of increasing buffer size of the raw records.

The second problem we faced was the increase of cewolf(s) in memory caching mechanism. By default it used "TransientSessionStorage" which caches the image objects in memory, there seemed to be some problem in cleaning up the objects, even after the rerferences were lost! So we wrote a small "FileStorage" implementation which store the image objects in the local file. And would be served as and when the request comes in. Moreover, we also implmentated a cleanup mechanism to cleanup stale images( images older than 10mins).

Another interesting aspect we found here was that the Garbage collector had lowest priority so the objects created for each records , were hardly cleaned up. Here is a little math to explain the magnitude of the problem. Whenever we receive a log record we created ~20 objects(hashmap,tokenized strings etc) so at the rate of 500/sec for 1 second, the number of objects was 10,000(20*500*1). Due to the heavy processing Garbage collector never had a chance to cleanup the objects. So all we had to do was a minor tweak, we just assigned "null" to the object references. Voila! the garbage collector was never tortured I guess ;-)

Streamlining processing rate

The processing rate was at a meagre 40/sec that means that we could hardly withstand even a small outburst of log records! The memory control gave us some solace,but the actual problem was with the application of the alert filters over the records. We had around 20 properties for each record, we used to search for all the properties. We changed the implementation to match for those properties we had criteria for! Moreover, we also had a memory leak in the alert filter processing. We maintained a queue which grew forever. So we had to maintain a flat file object dumping to avoid re-parsing of records to form objects! Moreover, we used to do the act of searching for a match for each of the property even when we had no alert criteria configured.

What data loss uh-uh?

Once we fixed the memory issues in receiving data i.e dumping into flat file, we never lost data! In addition to that we had to remove a couple of unwanted indexes in the raw table to avoid the overhead while dumping data. We hadd indexes for columns which could have a maximum of 3 possible values. Which actually made the insert slower and was not useful.

Tuning SQL Queries

Your queries are your keys to performance. Once you start nailing the issues, you will see that you might even have to de-normalize the tables. We did it! Here is some of the key learnings:

* Use "Analyze table" to identify how the mysql query works. This will give you insight about why the query is slow, i.e whether it is using the correct indexes, whether it is using a table level scan etc.

* Never delete rows when you deal with huge data in the order of 50,000 records in a single table. Always try to do a "drop table" as much as possible. If it is not possible, redesign your schema, that is your only way out!

* Avoid unwanted join(s), don't be afraid to de-normalize (i.e duplicate the column values) Avoid join(s) as much as possible, they tend to pull your query down. One hidden advantage is the fact that they impose simplicity in your queries.

* If you are dealing with bulk data, always use "load data infile" there are two options here, local and remote. Use local if the mysql and the application are in the same machine otherwise use remote.

* Try to split your complex queries into two or three simpler queries. The advantages in this approach are that the mysql resource is not hogged up for the entire process. Tend to use temporary tables. Instead of using a single query which spans across 5-6 tables.

* When you deal with huge amount of data, i.e you want to proces say 50,000 records or more in a single query try using limit to batch process the records. This will help you scale the system to new heights

* Always use smaller transaction(s) instead of large ones i.e spanning across "n" tables. This locks up the mysql resources, which might cause slowness of the system even for simple queries

* Use join(s) on columns with indexes or foreign keys

* Ensure that the the queries from the user interface have criteria or limit.

* Also ensure that the criteria column is indexed

* Do not have the numeric value in sql criteria within quotes, because mysql does a type cast

* use temporary tables as much as possible, and drop it...

* Insert of select/delete is a double table lock... be aware...

* Take care that you do not pain the mysql database with the frequency of your updates to the database. We had a typical case we used to dump to the database after every 300 records. So when we started testing for 500/sec we started seeing that the mysql was literally dragging us down. That is when we realized that the typicall at the rate of 500/sec there is an "load data infile" request every second to the mysql database. So we had to change to dump the records after 3 minutes rather than 300 records.

Tuning database schema

When you deal with huge amount of data, always ensure that you partition your data. That is your road to scalability. A single table with say 10 lakhs can never scale. When you intend to execute queries for reports. Always have two levels of tables, raw tables one for the actual data and another set for the report tables( the tables which the user interfaces query on!) Always ensure that the data on your report tables never grows beyond a limit. Incase you are planning to use Oracle, you can try out the partitioning based on criteria. But unfortunately mysql does not support that. So we will have to do that. Maintain a meta table in which you have the header information i.e which table to look for, for a set of given criteria normally time.

* We had to walk through our database schema and we added to add some indexes, delete some and even duplicated column(s) to remove costly join(s).

* Going forward we realized that having the raw tables as InnoDB was actually a overhead to the system, so we changed it to MyISAM

* We also went to the extent of reducing the number of rows in static tables involved in joins

* NULL in database tables seems to cause some performance hit, so avoid them

* Don't have indexes for columns which has allowed values of 2-3

* Cross check the need for each index in your table, they are costly. If the tables are of InnoDB then double check their need. Because InnoDB tables seem to take around 10-15 times the size of the MyISAM tables.

* Use MyISAM whenever there is a majority of , either one of (select or insert) queries. If the insert and select are going to be more then it is better to have it as an InnoDB

Mysql helps us forge ahead!

Tune your mysql server ONLY after you fine tune your queries/schemas and your code. Only then you can see a perceivable improvement in performance. Here are some of the parameters that comes in handy:

* Use the buffer pool size which will enable your queries to execute faster --innodb_buffer_pool_size=64M for InnoDB and use --key-bufer-size=32M for MyISAM

* Even simple queries started taking more time than expected. We were actually puzzled! We realized that mysql seems to load the index of any table it starts inserting on. So what typically happened was, any simple query to a table with 5-10 rows took around 1-2 secs. On further analysis we found that just before the simple query , "load data infile" happened. This disappeared when we changed the raw tables to MyISAM type, because the buffer size for innodb and MyISAM are two different configurations.

for more configurable parameters see here.

Tip: start your mysql to start with the following option --log-error this will enable error logging

Faster...faster Web Client

The user interface is the key to any product, especially the perceived speed of the page is more important! Here is a list of solutions and learnings that might come in handy:

* If your data is not going to change for say 3-5 minutes, it is better to cache your client side pages

* Tend to use Iframe(s)for inner graphs etc. they give a perceived fastness to your pages. Better still use the javascript based content loading mechanism. This is something you might want to do when you have say 3+ graphs in the same page.

* Internet explorer displays the whole page only when all the contents are received from the server. So it is advisable to use iframes or javascript for content loading.

* Never use multiple/duplicate entries of the CSS file in the html page. Internet explorer tends to load each CSS file as a separate entry and applies on the complete page!

Bottomline Your queries and schema make the system slower! Fix them first and then blame the database!

See Also

* High Performance Mysql

* Query Performance

* Explain Query

* Optimizing Queries

* InnoDB Tuning

* Tuning Mysql

Categories: Firewall Analyzer | Performance Tips This page was last modified 18:00, 31 August 2005.

-Ramesh-

Ecommerce Microsoft Dynamics Gp Great Plains Web Development

Writen by Andrew Karasev

Microsoft Great Plains ecommerce architecture: website with Sales Order Processing and Microsoft Dynamics GP as accounting back office. Highlights to automatic invoices posting, inventory item allocation

Technically you can start from scratch and purchase webstore, however typically customers have to use evolutionary approach to their ecommerce strategy. If you have your existing ecommerce website, you next step to link this specific ecommerce (often developed inhouse) with your ERP application. Former Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise and currently Microsoft Dynamics GP has broad number of installation across the US and you may not have another option, but work with you existing MRP – Great Plains.

• eConnect. In the past budget was an issue to purchase eConnect, so you might be designing or purchasing simple stored procedures, helping you send Sales Order or invoice from ecommerce web site to Great Plains. Our recommendation is – when eConnect became available – do not invent the wheel and utilize it in you ecommerce web integration. The most elegant way is to call XML web services interface of eConnect

• Beyond eConnect. If you want complete automation, when posting of SOP invoice is done automatically (upon the credit card payment), then you need to call portions of Microsoft Dynamics GP internal logic, which is currently the realm of Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity, where you need to know Dex architecture, sanscript, GP tables, etc. Instead of investing in dex learning, you may decide to purchase Dexterity Posting Server

• Some eConnect restrictions. Old Great Plains modules are out of eConnect scope, such as Invoicing module (do not confuse – Sale Order Processing or SOP is automated in eConnect). Plus do not expect third party modules to be in standard eConnect, however ISV companies might have eConnect extension, automating their third party modules

• Auto Posting Server. Supported and distributed by Alba Spectrum it uses so-called Great Plains Dexterity source code programming – it calls GP posting logic when your batch is ready for posting

Please feel free to call us: 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, help@albaspectrum.com or skype: albaspectrum

Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.enterlogix.com.br ), serving Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Miami, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Aurora, Austin, Dallas, Milwaukee, Madison, Springfield, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, New Orleans, Seattle, Montreal, Vancouver, Atlanta and USA nationwide, plus internationally: Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil. Please check with if you have GP customization needs.

Net Solving The Multiple Inheritance Issue Under Net Platform

Writen by Thomas Kaloyani

.NET platform does not support multiple inheritance. Do not confuse multilevel inheritance with multiple inheritance. With multiple inheritance we can have a subclass that inherits from two classes at the same time.

Let's suppose we have an application that has a class Customers and another class Vendors. If you wanted to combine these two classes into one CustomerVendor class it would be a combination of Customers and Vendors just like the diagram below.

Please copy the following URL into your browser to view the diagram: http://www.vbprofs.com/images/Article Images/ThomasArt1.gif

In the above diagram we see how the CustomerVendor class inherits from both of those classes.

Multiple inheritance is complex and can be dangerous. The advantages of code re-usage prevail over complexity is up to your choice.

Multiple inheritance is not supported by VB.NET or .Net platform. Instead of multiple inheritance we can use multiple interfaces to achieve similar effect to multiple inheritance.

In VB.NET all objects have a primary or native interface, which is composed of properties, events, methods or member variables declared using Public keyword. Objects can implement also secondary interfaces by using Implement keyword.

Sometimes it is helpful for an object to have more than one interface, allowing us to interact with the object in different ways. Inheritance allow us to create subclasses that are a specialized case of the base class.

Example

Sometimes we have a group of objects that are not the similar, but we want to handle them the same manner. We want all the objects to act as if they are the same, even though they are different.

We can have some different objects in an application, such as customer, product, invoice etc. Each object would have a default interface appropriate to each individual object, and each of them is a different class. No natural inheritance is implied between these classes. Let's suppose we want to print a document for each type of object. In this case we'd like to make them all act as printable object. To accomplish this we can define a generic interface that would enable generating a printed document. By implementing a common interface we are able to write a routine that accepts any object that implements a printed document.

To conclude, by implementing multiple interfaces in VB.NET , we can achieve a similar effect to that of multiple inheritance.

Thomas is an experienced Visual Basic developer, with expertise of 7+ years developing especially financial applications. His main IT skills are VB, SQL, Crystal Reports - should you need a Visual Basic developer for your projects feel free to contact Thomas through his personal website Kaloyani.com or through VBprofs.com - the newest Visual Basic and VB.NET resources portal.

What Is Groupware

Writen by Mike Nielsen

Vince Lombardi once said that, "The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual." If this is the case, then what do we need to do in order to insure success in our companies? How can we combine the efforts of each individual as Mr. Lombardi said was so key to the success of a particular organization? While there are many possible solutions to these questions, I have found something that will help your company become more organized, and your employees more unified in their work. I am talking about groupware.

What is Groupware?

Groupware is software that facilitates the communication between the members of a network workgroup. It allows people within a company, whether they are physically in the same location or in several locations all over the world, to share documents, information, and data. It allows them to collaborate on ideas and projects, by allowing them to essentially work on the same page at the same time. With groupware there is no limit to the number of people that can work on the same project without creating duplicate ideas and work. Since groupware can track all document information, you will never wonder if you are using the latest version of a document.

What about CSCW?

If you have ever heard anything about groupware, you have probably also heard of CSCW. CSCW stands for Computer Supported Cooperative Work and is the study of groupware, i.e. how it is designed, developed, adopted, and used. People that are involved with the study of CSCW not only include software designers and computer scientists, but also researchers and people that study organizational behavior.

How does Groupware differ from the Traditional User Interface?

Where a traditional user interface generally focuses on the use of only one person, groupware relates to groups and understanding how people work and function in a group. Groupware is also more focused on the ease of use for the user because the system must be more responsive as the pace of a particular application is generally driven by the pace of the conversation. Other factors, such as the size of the group, and the roles that people play are taken into consideration when designing groupware.

What can Groupware do for you?

Groupware has many functions and can be a very useful tool to keep your company organized and your employees working in unity. While there are many advantages to using groupware I have listed a few key ideas below. By having some sort of groupware in your company you can allow your employees to:

• Share information

• Keep common schedules

• Manage e-mail

• Maintain bulletin boards

• Have several people work on one document

• Write Collectively

• Hold real-time network meetings

• Share files

• Share calendars

• Share database access

• Share spreadsheets

• Have electronic conferencing

• Have cooperative project management

As you can see, there are several advantages to using groupware to keep your company more organized and unified. Groupware will allow your employees to collaborate on information, ideas, and many other facets of their work and allow them to be more effective, productive, and organized. We already know that when we combine the efforts of each individual in an organization, we will see greater achievements and more success. If your company could benefit from groupware, then I encourage you to find out more about it and explore different possibilities to see which one will fit your needs the best. It will be one of the best decisions you will make with regard to the organization of your company documents, ideas, and information.

Mike Nielsen is a client account specialist with 10xMarketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For more information about groupware, visit NextPage.com.

Definition Of Computer Aided Design Cad Software

Writen by James Hunt

CAD is computer aided design. CAD is used for designing objects such as architectural designs, mechanical designs, and electrical designs. When you use this type of software tool you'll be able to get results that are perfect each time and that look very professional. Most software packages will come with a multitude of graphics that are already built into the system. All you need to do is choose what you want and add them to the design that you're working with. You don't need to be an artist to use a CAD tool. The features that are built into this type of software will do all the aligning for you. You'll be able to have all the design power that you need when you use CAD software.

Most CAD software programs will also come with many templates that you can use, as well as the symbols that you need to create designs that are readable and 100% useable. Besides using the CAD tool to create designs for your architectural or mechanical business you can use it to create floor plans to design your new home, landscaping designs for your garden, circuit diagrams for your electrical needs, and block diagrams.

There are many CAD software packages that you can choose from. The best thing is to know exactly what you want from the software so that you're not disappointed with your purchase. CAD software doesn't come without a high price and most times will be un-returnable once you've opened it and installed it on your computer. If you're unsure about what CAD software package to buy you may be able to try a free download that many software manufacturers will offer to try and get your attention. This will allow you, for a short period of time, to work with the CAD software to be sure it's what you want and does what you want it to do.

James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest. Read more at http://www.cad-software-center.com

Falling In Love With More Than One Screensaver The Fun Part

Writen by Roman Kramar

Having from five to ten and more favorite screensavers is cool. But how do you enjoy them all in a straightforward and convenient way? Draw the power you need from the little yet useful tools discussed in this article!

As you remember, earlier in my article What to Do if You Fall in Love With More Than One Screensaver we discussed the standard way of switching between multiple screensavers. Having that possibility is a pleasure indeed. Just imagine that your operating system doesn't let you easily vary screensavers to suit your mood. You'd be forced to uninstall the installed screensaver, and then install a new one. Avoiding this effort would lead you to a fabulous triumph of utter boredom! Thankfully, it's not the case. Furthermore, as you will see, there are tools that make switching between your favorite screensavers a breeze.

As strange as it may sound, computers were created to make our lives easier. Really, they are very good at automating repeating and boring tasks. And now is the very moment to remind them of that.

Imagine your innermost dream. You just sit doing nothing and your computer, your dutiful servant, takes care of your problem without your slightest intervention. All what is left to you is to enjoy the fruits of its labor. Nice, huh? Ta-da! Enter Random Screensaver!

If you have never heard about Random Screensaver, fear not! "Random" here has nothing to do with a random and unpredictable mess on your screen. It's the first little tool that will help you drive away the boredom of manually switching between your favorite screensavers.

The idea behind the tool is simple yet very useful. Random Screensaver is not a screensaver in the first place. It wears this disguise to take control each time the operating system says it's a perfect moment to start the screensaver. Once in control, the tool looks at the list of available screensavers and asks a random performer from the list to start its show.

That's it! If you install Random Screensaver, you will never have to switch your savers manually. Each time a different screensaver will start. All your favorites will get a regular outing!

Oh! I've forgotten to tell you the most important thing. Random Screensaver is completely free, and you can download it from this page:

http://www.clearnight.com.au/random.htm

There you will find two different versions: "Quick download" and "Full installation." The first one is a bare screensaver file and is very small. The second is a self-extracting installation package that will do all the installation work for you, but it's much bigger. If you don't want to waste your time downloading the bigger package, it's time to recall my previous article What You Should Know About Installing Screensavers. There you can get the knowledge needed to install the bare screensaver file.

Now that we have solved our primary problem, I can hear some of my readers start grumbling. If you are one of them, I know what's bothering you. Remember in the beginning of this article I said how bad it would be if you could not match your mood with running screensavers? But Random Screensaver knows nothing about your feelings. It simply runs a random screensaver. Well, there still is a cure for those of you who can't stand this disease.

The second tool I would like to tell you about is AllSaver! Although not free, it's a perfect cure for the second problem. It works much like Random Screensaver, but in addition to running a random show, it lets you tell exactly which screensavers you would like to see. So, if you feel today is a good day for just five of your favorite savers, and other twenty of them should rest, you can have it this way! Simply add those five to the list, and it's done!

But wait, there's even more to please you! AllSaver! has one unique feature. It makes it possible to run two or four of your favorites at the same time! You select how many screensavers to run, and AllSaver! splits the screen as needed, providing the space for all running screensavers.

If you can't wait to see it in action, you can download this amazing tool using this link:

http://www.e-motional.com/AllSaver.htm

Use these tools, and say "no" to the boredom of seeing one and only screensaver! Variety is a good thing. Have fun!

About The Author

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work. webmaster@elasticsystems.com

Making The Decision To Automate Your Software Testing

Writen by Danna Henderson

Not every software testing project can or should be automated. Before your department accepts a new test automation project, you should establish a process by which projects are reviewed and either accepted or rejected. This can be done with a simple Test Automation Acceptance Checklist.

Repeatable Test Cases with Static Data

The true cost benefit of test automation is achieved only when the same scripts are executed multiple times. The first execution is very expensive because it includes the one-time cost of the automation tools and 100% of the Test Automation engineer's time. When the scripts are executed again, the cost of test automation declines sharply. The tool has already been purchased and the scripts have already been coded. If there have been changes in the application, the scripts may require maintenance before being executed. Maintenance on minor software updates should be minimal.

Because test automation is only successful when the scripts can be executed multiple times, only application which require the same test cases to be executed with the same data are good candidates for automation. For example, a mortgage application that needs to be regression tested on a weekly basis could be a good candidate for test automation. Script maintenance is minimal and the scripts can enter a mortgage application using the same group of test data in a fraction of the time it would take a manual tester to test the same functionality.

On the other hand, a mortgage origination system, which cannot use the same test data for each iteration would not be a good automation candidate. Due to the nature of mortgage systems, data could be staged in various states of approval or rejection, based on the current data and the departments who have already processed their part of the mortgage application. If the script cannot easily figure out what data to enter in the software, it is not a good automation candidate.

Another problem with automating this type of complex system is that the test environment often contains a sampling of production data that is refreshed on a periodic basis. Sometimes this can be overcome by rebuilding the test data when the test environment is refreshed. The feasibility of rebuilding test data on a regular basis depends on the complexity of the application. You will have to make that decision on a case-by-case basis.

Application or Environmental Stability

Environmental stability is crucial to a successfully automating a software testing project. Scripts cannot be coded in a timely manner if the application environment is unavailable, experiences frequent down-times, or excessive defects and errors.

Little or No Application or Environment Downtime

It takes longer to write scripts than it does to manually test the same functionality. Most automation tools are watered down version of C or Visual Basic, which means that writing automated scripts is essentially programming and takes adequate time and specialized skills. Unlike manual test cases, which can sometimes be written based off requirements and mock-ups, automated tools require the actual application. When a test environment is unavailable, automation engineers cannot create scripts, which prolongs the project and ends up costing more.

Excessive downtime can consist of any of the following:

Unstable Environment
Lack of Infrastructure Support
Frequent Application Updates
Buggy Code

Effects of Environment Instability on Script Development and Execution

When an application or environment is unstable, scripting progress is dramatically slowed or stopped altogether. In some cases, it's possible to continue scripting, but this may causes more work at a later date. For example, if you are scripting in buggy code, you may have to script around error messages and the scripts will have to be revised at a later date. Or, you may only be able to create scripts to a certain point and finish them at a later date. To help avoid and decrease environment instability, read the chapter on Service Level Agreements.

Timely Defect Fixes

Application defects do not have to be detrimental to an automated software testing project. When defects are fixed in a timely manner, scripting can continue without significant downtime. When estimating an automated testing project, it's always best to add some buffer time that will accommodate for defect reporting and revisions.

When defect fixes take an excessive amount of time to resolve and are causing the automated software testing project to be delayed, it's time to pull together a meeting. Invite all the major players and discuss the root of the problem and what everyone can to improve the situation. Maybe development is spending too much time trying to reproduce the problem and having your automation team enter better description would help them turn the defect fixes around faster. Maybe you can work together to classify defects and establish reasonable fix times for each classification. For example, a Critical defect needs to be fixed that day while a High defect needs to be fixed with in 24 hours.

Responsive Contact Person

When your team takes on a new automated testing project, you will need a contact person. This person is responsible for making sure you have the business requirements and answering questions about how the application works. This will not be his or her main job, so you will need to make sure he or she is responsive. If you cannot get adequate business requirements, test data, or questions answered, your automation project will not be successful.

Copyright 2004. Danna Henderson. All Rights Reserved.

Danna Henderson has helped many organizations automate their software testing with WinRunner. For information on creating robust, data driven scripts, and successful automated testing, visit WinRunner Experts.

Microsoft Dynamics Gp 90 Great Plains Customization Integration Reporting Amp Development Faq

Writen by Andrew Karasev

Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 has multiple improvements and "Project Green" innovations. One of the new key words, Microsoft Business Solutions people like to introduce and increase the frequency of using is eConnect. eConnect object and methods will have more exposure for Visual Studio.Net C# or VB developers through XML web services. Also emphasis shift will be in the field of Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal, this is also understandable – Microsoft has to deemphasize former legacy proprietary technologies, such as Microsoft Dexterity (former Great Plains Software Dexterity), Navision C/SIDE (this is in case of Microsoft Dynamics NAV – former Navision Attain), step-by-step phasing them off and replacing with open-source .Net web development. In this small article will touch the "top of the iceberg" in Microsoft Great Plains 9.0 customization, development and integration.

• Microsoft Dexterity Source Code Program reopening. When Microsoft bought Great Plains Software five years ago – it quickly closed Great Plains Dexterity source code program for new enrollments, leaving it open for existing VARs. One of the reasons in our opinion was Microsoft optimism in quick Microsoft Business Solutions product merge: Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Solomon. It didn't happen with the expected speed and now it is clear that serious development for Microsoft Dynamics GP requires Microsoft Dexterity skills and experience and access to the source code (DYNAMICS.DIC with Dex sanscripts codes). If you plan your custom application to work with Microsoft Dynamics GP "fat client" – it is DEX.EXE with DYNAMICS.DIC, Dynamics.set and your custom dex dictionary – the Microsoft Dexterity is the tool of choice.

• Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Manager. Former Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager – versions 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0 were based on OLE technologies, deploying Dexterity application as OLE server, and so using Great Plains Forms to implement integration. The result was moderate and slow performance. Now Integration Manager is in the process of being rewritten in eConnect – eConnect will have majority of Microsoft Dynamics GP forms and objects: SOP, POP, IV, Payroll, AR, AP, GL, BR, Manufacturing, BOM. Some drawback of this nice innovative feature – if you are using heavy customization if former Microsoft Access based IM database – you should consider rewriting your customization in new IM.

• Reporting. ReportWriter will stay, however Microsoft SQL Reporting Services will be the reporting tool of choice over former Crystal Reports. You should expect phased change from Crystal to MSSQL Server RS.

• Tables Structure. Will stay – this will mean certain legacy eCommerce programs staying in business reassurance. SOP10100, SOP10200, SOP30200, SOP30300, GL00100, RM00101, PM00200 and other tables will be around for the next … 10 years or so

Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com
http://www.greatplains.com.mx
http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally. We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Austin, Kansas City.

An Introduction To Time Clock Software

Writen by Thomas Morva

Time clock software is a software solution that processes time and attendance. This software forms an integral part of the automated time and attendance system by automatically calculating pay rules, reducing unwanted overtime and increasing organizational accuracy. Poor time attendance tracking can ruin any type of business' financial budgets.

Automating time and attendance for your small business has never been easier or more affordable than now. You can now safely say goodbye to those old-fashioned time clocks and manual time cards and put calculated payroll data right at your fingertips with these powerful Time and Attendance Systems. As there are several time keeping software packages available, it is always a good idea to make sure you've determined your time keeping requirements and implemented a trial version before you choose your time keeping software solution.

Depending on your business needs and the time keeping software that you have chosen, you can hope to gain several benefits from utilizing time keeping software in your business environment. Some of the benefits include: increased accuracy in time collection and attendance, increased control of hours being paid out and decreased inaccuracies in calculating pay.

Time clock software streamlines the time and attendance processes. It also significantly reduces the gathering time and attendance costs. Time clock software can also provide up to the minute reports to minimize labor costs. With tremendous competition and fast-paced businesses, many entrepreneurs have taken to time clock software to make time tracking faster and more efficient.

Time clock software has not been around long, but the advances in time clock software have grown in leaps and bounds in the last 5 years. The software is usually extremely easy to operate and even non-technical employees would have no trouble punching in and out with time clock software. The time clock software makes conventional time and attendance systems look like things of the past.

Time Clock Software provides detailed information on Time Clock Software, Employee Time Clock Software, Payroll Time Clock Software, Networked Time Clock Software and more. Time Clock Software is affiliated with Free Timesheet Software.

Microsoft Word Business Writing 1 Stop The Hairtearing Frustration Of Word

Writen by Carol Bentley

Direct Response Business writing is different to ordinary business writing and many of the automatic features in Word are an absolute nightmare!

I use Microsoft Word to write all my material; books, articles, letters, adverts, newsletters – you name it I use Word to write it.

And because I have done so for the last 15 years of my 30+ years in business life I am well aware of the irritating, hair-tearing frustration Word gives you when it won't do what you want it to.

Here's a series of mini-articles showing you how to 'get a grip' on the program and make it do what you want, not what it 'thinks' you want.

In this first article are 4 'preparatory tips' that make it easier for you to work with the program.

(Valid for Word 97 and later)

1) Turn off the Automatic Formatting Features:

From the menu: Format, AutoFormat, Options
Check the options selected in AutoFormat, AutoFormat as You Type and (in Word XP) Smart Tags

NOTE: After Clicking OK you return to the original AutoFormat dialogue box.
Click Cancel to close the dialogue box, otherwise your current document will be processed.

2) Switch off Widow and Orphan Control.

When a paragraph reaches the end of a page Word automatically prevents a line being left on its own. A line at the end of a page is known as a 'widow'; one at the top of the next page is an 'orphan'.

If you are writing a Sales letter you are happy to have a single line at the end or beginning of a page because it encourages readers to turn the page.

From the menu: Format, Paragraph, Line and Page Breaks. Remove the tick against Widow/Orphan Control

3) Add the 'Skip Numbering' option to a shortcut menu

You can use this to stop the automatic numbering/bullets whilst keeping the paragraph formatting the same as the previous paragraph.

From the menu: View, Toolbars, Customize, on the Toolbars tab, select Shortcut Menus
On the new toolbar that appears, Click on Text then Lists
In the Customize dialogue box Click the Commands tab, select All Commands
Click & Drag the SkipNumbering option from the right hand box to the Lists menu

4) Using the 'Skip Numbering' option on the shortcut menu

Suppress numbering for a paragraph, alternate (right) click on the new paragraph to display the quick menu and choose Skip Numbering

NB You can also use Shift & Enter instead of Enter to suppress the numbering in the next paragraph, but this is not suitable for justified paragraphs.

Restart paragraph numbering. If the numbering continues from a previous numbered section, alternate (right) click to display the quick menu and choose Restart Numbering

In the other articles in this mini-series I share another 21 tips:

* Formatting as you type – including a couple of neat tips that save time.

* Page formatting including Page borders; page numbering (starting at the number YOU want); and a brilliantly easy way to create underlines for forms (No, it is not the line drawing tool!) amongst others.

* Creating Contents lists; quick tips for spell checking and hyphenation

* More on Paragraph numbering and spacing (to stop your numbers and bullets disappearing when you want a line gap between paragraphs!)

©2005 Original Work by Carol Bentley

Learn more about Persuading People to Buy... Subscribe to your free reports, with no obligation, at http://www.CarolBentley.com.

Carol is the author of 'I Want to Buy Your Product... Have You Sent Me a Letter Yet? (How to create powerful sales letters, advertisements, flyers, brochures, web pages and newsletters that persuade hundreds, or even thousands, of additional customers and clients to buy from you!) by Carol A E Bentley (Rated 5-star on Amazon.co.uk) This book is available at a special offer at http://www.CarolBentley.com/offer.

Carol is one of the highest paid direct response copywriters available. If you would like to talk to Carol's office about having her work on your current or next sales project you can use the contact form on her website http://www.CarolBentley.com/contact.asp.

How To Remove Spyware For Good

Writen by Jason Frovich

Spyware and adware often slows your computer down or you begin to notice that you are seeing pop-ups every time you use your computer. You also discover that someone has access to your identifying information such as IDS, passwords, credit card information, or even that suddenly your homepage has changed, which is known as hijacking.

It is important that you know how to remove spyware, what to do if hijacked and what tools you can use to get rid of spyware.

How to remove spyware

The first method of combating spyware or adware is asking people you know questions like where can I find free spyware software or where can I find free adware removal websites. If your friends or family members cannot help you in this area, you should turn to search engines to help find the answers.

One excellent program for removing spyware is Spy Sweeper. Spy Sweeper allows you to keep your computer safe from spyware even while downloading things such as videos, music, or pictures and surfing the internet. This program delivers the highest form of computer protection available today by removing spyware programs that have infected your computer, as well as blocking any from ever entering again.

Why do we need anti-spyware protection?

Without anti-spyware protection, your computer is vulnerable every time you surf the web. Any time you access the internet, without some form of protection, like Spy Sweeper on your computer, you are putting yourself at risk for infection. Spyware is extremely malicious and can significantly slow down the processes of your computer, your internet performance or the very worst scenario might be completely rendering your computer useless.

When wanting to learn how to remove spyware and why we need anti- spyware, Spy Sweeper is a great place to start. Not everyone who uses a computer can detect which type of download might be infected; Spy Sweeper can do that for you. It will always provide you with protection thanks to their Smart Shields, which keep the emerging and known threats at bay while using the internet. This program has the capabilities of detecting, removing and blocking more than 140,000 variants of spyware, greater than any other anti- spyware program available on the market.

Where can I get the latest free spyware removal software?

Your favorite search engine is a very valuable tool when it comes to searching for anti-spyware programs. There are many available. However, you will want to be careful of which one you choose to download. While many will advertise removal, in reality, they may actually install the spyware. So be sure to get recommendations from people you trust. Some great programs include Spy Sweeper, Microsoft Defender, Spybot and Ad-Aware.

New forms of malicious Spyware and Adware are constantly created and in order to protect your computer from infestations you must choose a high-quality program and keep it updated. Supportcave.com is the perfect place to help you find out how can I get a free spyware remover.

Cd Copier Software

Writen by Kent Pinkerton

Many kinds of software are available, which make it possible to customize each copied CD or DVD. For manually operated copiers, software should be installed on the attached computer. But modern copiers have hard discs of their own, so software can be installed on that hard disc.

CD burning software is available to copy many CDs or DVDs at once. This software not only copies the file onto many CDs at once, but it also changes the format of the files such that it may be copied faster. Software is also available to zip the files while being copies and unzip them later. Software is designed to reduce the time required to burn CDs.

For music CDs, there is plenty of software available to convert audio files into Mp3, wav, wma, CD, etc. CD copiers use Mp3 encoders to convert audio files into Mp3s, which can be dumped within a small space on the CD. Most of these programs are compatible with all music players such as Windows Media Player, Real Player, DivX, Sonic Focus, etc. These programs can also reconvert downloaded Mp3 formats into normal CD format to be played back.

Similarly, there is software to convert DVD into VCD and vice-versa. Converting a VCD into a DVD not only changes the file extension, but it also enhances the video quality of the program.

Software enables the user to customize the CD that is copied. Each CD can be given a serial number. Other information such as date, title of the CD and the name of the author or the company can be fed into the CD. These graphics can be made to appear as beginning or end titles on the CD, or as subtitles when the CD is being played. It can also be inserted as a slide in between.

Much of the software is compatible with both CD-Rs and CD-RWs. Software also depends on the operating system of the computer. Windows based software is much different than Linux based ones.

CD Copiers provides detailed information about CD copiers, CD DVD copiers, CD copier software, CD copier downloads and more. CD Copiers is the sister site of DVR Cards.

How To Make Good Use Of Spreadsheets

Writen by Abdallah Khamis Abdallah

Most computer users use spreadsheets software such as Microsoft Excel in their daily home and office. However very few are aware of the potential of spreadsheets in helping them in financial accounting and statistical analysis.

There are many uses of spreadsheets beyond the simple arithmetical and data analysis we are used to. Spreadsheets can assist us in many tasks with accuracy and speed.

Before we look at some of the uses we can put Spreadsheet software to let's look at a few of its features, which make it unique and useful.

The most important features of any spreadsheet are the calculation of figures using arithmetic signs or functions. While not completely unique to spreadsheets, this feature is particularly more visible and word processing software.

For example in Microsoft Excel, there is a formula bar for typing or displaying typed formulas. The formula can be inserted in this bar or in a specific cell preceded by an = (equal) sign.

You need not insert actual figures, as that would be cumbersome. You simply specify a function such as SUM, AVERAGE, e.t.c and enclose into brackets the beginning column and row numbers and the ending column and row numbers.

The use of functions helps to easily perform calculations. Not only would the computation be accurate but it helps to simplify an otherwise complicated calculations process.

As we have seen, Spreadsheets have many useful features, which make calculation of figures simpler. Now let's look at some of the uses you can put spreadsheets to:

Whether at the office or at home, drawing and maintaining budgets is important. Not only will you be focused and be able to pursue your financial objects clearly with a budget, but you can compare your actual versus planned performance. You can easily prepare a detailed budget with spreadsheets. The calculations can easily be done by entering appropriate formulas and getting the totals and differences.

So you can prepare a cash flow analysis for Monitoring and predicting likely income and expenditure to keep in track with financial affairs of your office or home.

Similarly you may easily predict changes in values such as effects of a price change on costs, discounts and profit. A fixed table can be prepared to show these changes but more significantly the figures could be changed from time to time to reflect new situations with same formulas in place.

Perhaps the most frequent use of spreadsheets is in financial and cost accounting. Many businesses use spreadsheets to calculate balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash books.

You can perform bank reconciliation, calculate jobs costs, taxes, schedule payments, forecast profits and control stocks. In all these tasks the spreadsheet proves a very important tool in simplifying the computation process and production of the results.

In data collection and analysis, spreadsheets can be used to record, present and analyses the results of polls, surveys and research. With new gadgets such as handheld, laptops and computerized. Mobile phones, you can do all that while on the road and getting the results instantly.

For teachers and students, in addition to the foregoing, spreadsheets can be used in class work and research activities.

In mathematics and the sciences, spreadsheets could be used to convert temperature figures whether in Celsius or far hermetic, metric to imperial measurements, pounds to kilos, exchange rates among a host of other measurements.

You can also calculate trigonometric and logarithmic functions, standard deviations and critical path analysis.

In addition, the computations may be presented in table on graphic form. There are buttons you can click to make your data appear in table format or in the form of graphs and charts. These enhance the presentability and understanding of the data.

I could give you a hundred or so uses of spreadsheets. However, the few I have mentioned are the more important. Suffice it to say that spreadsheets software is some of the most important application software used at the office and home.

About The Author

Abdallah Khamis Abdallah is a freelance copywriter and ghost writer. To find out how you can enhance your business's sales and profits through credibility and viral marketing solutions visit his website at: http://www.qualitywritingsolutions.com/

quantumpro@lycos.com

Creating Universal Systems

Writen by Tim Bryce

"There is only one problem with common sense; it's not very common." - Bryce's Law

GENERAL DISCUSSION

In this day and age of "globalization" more and more Information Systems are crossing geographical boundaries. Because of this, serious consideration should be given to making systems universally applicable to any country. Some might consider this an impossible task, but it is actually easier than you might think. It just requires a little common sense and some planning.

The biggest problem in making universal systems is that programmers tend to bury too many of the details of a system down in the program source code, which is not a good place to tinker around in. Instead, certain elements of the system should be placed in separate files thereby making it convenient to translate. Consideration should be given to creating separate files for:

PRINT MAPS - An output, such as a report or printout, can be decomposed into various sections (records). When a program is executed, one of the parameters should be the desired language (e.g., English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, etc.). Based on this parameter, pertinent print maps are called from a "Print Map File" to assemble the requested output.

SCREEN PANELS - This is similar to the "Print Map File" whereby the sections or a screen can be decomposed into its various panels (again using records). As a program is executed, pertinent panels are called from a "Panel File" to build the screen.

MESSAGES - Messages are too often buried in source code. Instead, they should be placed in a separate file for printing or display in a screen.

HELP TEXT - Help text should also be maintained separately for easy retrieval.

Separating Maps, Panels, Messages, and Help text from program source code, makes it easy to translate to foreign languages. Further, it encourages developers to share and re-use resources, thereby contributing to integrated systems.

A serious consideration in the Far-East is the Double Byte Character Set or DBCS which is used to accommodate Japanese and Chinese Character alphabets with voluminous characters. To construct one such character, two bytes must be stored in a single byte (hence the name "DBCS"). Fortunately, the technology has evolved and DBCS is implemented in most operating systems today. However, developers should be cognizant of this requirement, particularly as they are designing Inputs, Outputs, and Files. Check with your hardware or operating system vendors for specifics. Better yet, check it out on the Internet.

INPUT/OUTPUT DESIGN

During design of the Inputs and Outputs, consideration should be given to the expression of certain types of data elements; for example:

• DATES - How dates are to be expressed may vary from country to country; for example: Nov 13, 2004 - 13 Nov, 2004 - 2004-11-13. How a date is presented to an end-user is different than how it is physically stored.

• TIME - This is similar to dates; some people like to see AM/PM, others like military time, e.g., 14:30 (2:30pm)

  NOTE: Regardless of how Dates and Times are to be physically presented to the user, standards should exist to express how dates are to be physically stored, such as "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" (Year/Month/Day/Hour/Minute/Second). Failure to do so caused the horrendous Year 2000 (Y2K) problem a few years ago.

• TIME ZONE - Representing local time.

• CURRENCY - What form of monetary values should be expressed; Dollars, Yen, Marks, Pounds, Euro Dollars?

• MEASUREMENTS - Accommodate different units of measures for weights (pounds vs. grams), distances (miles vs. meters), and temperatures (fahrenheit vs. centigrade).

• TEXT - The Western world prefers viewing text horizontally from left-to-right, but as we go into the Eastern countries, they like to see text vertically, sometimes right-to-left.

Many operating systems today provide the means to capture such settings. However, it might be necessary to establish a separate "Personal Settings File" for a particular Information System.

Attention should also be given to DEFAULT settings, particularly at time of input. Further, where applicable, consider auto "UPSHIFTING" or "downshifting" text as needed. For example, most Internet addresses (such as a URL or e-mail address) should be downshifted.

The techniques mentioned above are simple and effective to implement. It is important that a translation strategy be considered as part of the system design. During design, your mantra should be "Know your audience; make it usable; think Global."

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida, a management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management (IRM). Mr. Bryce has over 30 years of experience in the field. He is available for training and consulting on an international basis. His corporate web page is at: http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/

He can be contacted at: timb001@phmainstreet.com

Copyright © 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.

School Management Software Aims Plus

Writen by Amit Sen

Last month I bought a School Management Software AIMS PLUS for my friend's school. I found the software is very useful to my friend's school administration. It was above my expectations and I am very satisfied with the performance of the software till date. The software is designed by keeping in mind the complexities my friend used to face in his day to day activities in school.

I think most of the schools will be benefitted from the features provided by the software. I am not marketing on behalf of the company whoever has developed this software but I am sharing my experience with the software to the people who are going through this article.

My friend was benefitted from the software in more then one ways. Earlier he needs to deploy a large number of employees to the administration related tasks, but now all these jobs are done by the software. Now the whole staff are fully deployed for the study and grooming of the students in different aspects.

The reports generated by the software can be customised according to the need of the hour, which is very useful for my friend's school. The software generates full fledged dynamic reports. The interface forms used to feed data are so user friendly that a user does not have to be an expert computer savvy, all the features available are menu driven and can be operated by any one with minimum computer knowledge.

I was amazed to realise that i got such a useful software in a very competitive price $2500 for the offline version. My friend still does not believe that he is running such a wonderful software in that amount of price.

If you want to know more about the School Management Software AIMS PLUS you can Visit to http://aims.dgstonline.com
URL - http://aims.dgstonline.com
E-Mail - info@dgstonline.com