introduction to maintain and related features: come see what you are missing!

Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 1

Introduction to Maintain and Related Features: Come See What You Are Missing!

Mark DerwinInformation Builders


MaintainAn Introduction

What is Maintain? Maintain is a way to easily manage your data!



What is Maintain? English-like syntax and language wizards used to create

robust commands for database retrieval and update. Our code is very simple and short. Java requires many

more lines of code, as compared with maintain, for doing a specific task like interfacing with databases.

The Maintain language and development environment can be learned in a short amount of time.



What is Maintain? Graphical User Interface for designing and deploying

multi-form applications. Pixel perfect positioning of objects on your forms

including, List Boxes, Combo Boxes, HTMLTables, Buttons and Radio Groups

Seamlessly integrate JavaScript, VB Script and HTML code into your forms.



What is Maintain? Easily retrieve, display and manipulate large sets of data

from up to 15 separate databases. Databases can be on different servers across your

enterprise. Databases can be dissimilar. With the IWAY adapters,

your application can switch to any database engine. If your outgrow your database vendor or you think your

database vendor is not treating you well, the switch is almost effortless.



What is Maintain? Modular code allows for Team Development, Cross

Enterprise deployment and reusable procedures. Integrate existing Table and Graph procedures for both

database retrieval and display. Closed-Loop Business Intelligence

Ties Maintain to Table Update Assist for Rapid Application Development Excel Write-Back feature – Under Review


MaintainWho uses Maintain?

More than 300 client sites around the world are using Maintain. Manufacturers

GM, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Siemens Westinghouse Schools and Universities,

Brown, Omaha Public Schools, Harvard, Henry Ford, Seton Hall Government and City Agencies

US Army Corps of Engineers, US Navy, NASA, US Dept of Justice, Florida Dept of Transportation, City of Philadelphia

Insurance and Healthcare Nationwide, Harleysville, Allstate, Blue Shield, TriHealth

Banks Citizens Bank, Bank of Montreal, Comerica

Other Boston Globe, Qwest, Bell Canada, Burlington Northern


Maintain:New Enhancements


Maintain: New Enhancements

A push has been made to allow Maintain to perform on all browsers.

Compatible with portable devices that use Opera BrowserCompatible with FireFox and Safari Browsers Issues

Active-X object Grid VBScript Triggers – Phase out.


Maintain: New EnhancementsBrowser Compatibility


Maintain: New EnhancementsJavaScript Based Grid


Maintain: New FeaturesIBIValidate


Maintain: New FeaturesUTF-8 Support


Maintain: New FeaturesMixed Case Support

Currently Master File Descriptions used with Maintain must all be in upper case.

New Mixed Case support allows for Master Files to contain both upper and lower case characters.

New switch to allow for this behavior Requires that mixed case coding be respected in

application. Maintain will no longer be case insensitive


Maintain: New FeaturesZ-Index

Browsers can change the “weight” of an object, thus placing one object behind an other instead of how you create it.

New Z-Index feature to control the placement of objects on the form: Currently controlled by either JavaScript or StyleSheet

Option is being added to the properties sheet inside the MDE.


Maintain: New FeaturesPresetting the Grid

Current Active-X grid allows for presetting of fonts, colors, protection, etc before the grid is displayed.

Operating on the object before it is fully displayed can cause timing problems and errors.

New chgGrd JavaScript created to prevent timing issues.


Maintain: New FeaturesDevelopment Enhancements

Ability to perform almost any actions from inside a Maintain procedure: Anything that you can do with JavaScript! Kicking off e-mail either with or without conformation Placing appointments on Outlook calendars

Restricting Calendar object to “Select Only”Applying and managing Style Sheet (CSS) files


Maintain Applications


Maintain: Come See What You Are Missing!Information Builders – TimeTrack

Internal application used by all IB System EngineersTracks

Hours Projects Events – Demos, site visits, meetings

Tied into DashboardUses Single Sign-on and has dynamic group hierarchies

Changing group in system changes security access Incorporates Update Assist for Table MaintenanceUses Closed Loop BI for Look up and EditGenerates “live” reports and graphs


Maintain: Come See What You Are Missing!Deltec International Courier / SkyNet International Courier

SkyNet is a worldwide courier operation with many branches and their own internal systems. Their task was to create a system to allow SkyNet and Deltec, their parent, to have an integrated system for invoicing, deliveries and other operations.

Created a web based system to run all the daily operational requirements of the company. Invoicing is carried out in a specialist system, and data is exported to this every 15 minutes.

They turned to Update Assist to create the applications. They created 16 UA programs in 20 days, including

customization AND testing. These programs maintain: Countries and Towns, Stations, Postal Codes,

Companies, Programs, Agents and User Access


Maintain: Come See What you are Missing!Omaha Public Schools

Omaha Public Schools needed a system to allow educators from all over the city to enter grades and scores into a central system.

Maintain easily allows for entry, with security, over the internet.They can launch their verification report out of the application

and it is completely "real time". If they made a change a second before, they can see it reflected in their report.



Once the Teacher is signed in, they can update scores by class, by exam, and by standard.



Display real-time reports at the push of a button


Maintain: Come See What you are Missing!Bronze Age Pots

Develop an application to track, display and compare information gathered about bronze age pottery.

Contains interactive screens for entering data on new pots and locations for discoveries.

This pottery archive currently consists of approximately 200 pots from two sites excavated by Brown University under the direction of R. Ross Holloway, a set of early bronze age tombs excavated in the late 1960s (San Antonio) and a middle bronze age village excavated in the 1990s (Ustica).



Display bronze age pots, sites, motifs, shapes and maps



Select pot to update



Update / Delete information for individual record


Maintain: Come See What you are Missing!US Army Corps Of Engineers

A Validated User in the Gulf Region needs to record a facility (barracks, clinic, warehouse etc.). They Log In through the Web and receive the menu page.

They choose:

Contingency

Updates

Facility



A Grid is preloaded with the Gulf Regions locations for which the user is validated.

The user can narrow the records displayed by choosing from the drop downs

Updateable fields are in the columns with blue background.

Scroll to view and update additional fields.

To add a new facility click the Add New Facility Button



Automatically populate fields


Maintain: Come See What you are Missing!Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide Insurance needed a system to track travel expenses.

TES*Net transactions are stored on a Unix box but its history files and batch processes are in MVS.

They use the MAINTAIN language to do all our database adds/updates/deletes and all of our databases are FOCUS.


Maintain: Come See What you are Missing!NASA

The Shuttle Processing Directorate needed a Web-based integrated electronic log and engineering surveillance system -- a daily communication tool between engineering, quality, and operations personnel. They turned to WebFOCUS Maintain to provide the answer.


Maintain: Come See What You Are Missing!Florida Department of Transportation

Needed a system to manage contract funds.The system currently handles all of the contracts and

purchase orders entered into by the Department of Transportation.

There are over 1400 users and the system processes in excess of $6,000,000,000.00 annually.

The system saves from four to six processing days over the previous system and in addition, saves the department over $185,000.00 annually

introduction to maintain and related features: come see what you are missing!

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