DESIGN TIME PRO. RGSR Software Inc. Design Time Pro Support Guide

Transcription

1 DESIGN TIME PRO RGSR Software Inc. Design Time Pro Support Guide

2 RGSR SOFTWARE INC. Design Time Pro Support Guide RGSR Software Inc.

3 Table of Contents Setting Up The Database.1 Create Your Database....1 Creating the Admin Credentials... 3 DTP Database SQL Server Permissions... 3 Installing the Workstation DTP Clients... 4 First Time Run... 4 Changing Your Database... 5 Using Design Time Pro... 5 Main Menu... 6 Form Buttons... 6 Projects Form... 8 Form Fields... 8 Form Buttons Manage Sales Reps Form Form Fields Form Buttons Manage Products Form Form Fields Form Buttons Manage Tasks Form Form Fields Form Buttons Time Billings Form Form Fields Form Buttons Clients & Locations Form Form Fields Form Buttons Employees Form... 20

4 Form Fields Form Buttons Schedule Form Form Fields Reports Form Form Buttons Security Form Form Fields Form Buttons Understanding Reports... 27

5 DATABASE SETUP Chapter 1 Setting Up The Database Pre- requisites: 1. Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later running SQL Server 2008 SP1 or newer *Note: Although SQL Server 2005 or newer should work the program was never certified on SQL Server 2005 but we ll still support you until you make the upgrade. T he very first step is to setup the database assuming you have the pre- requisites. Download the server installer from the Design Time Pro website. This will essentially install the client software onto the server but this program you install on your server is never intended to be upgraded or used after the database is initially created unless there are database changes at which point the new version of the software is then installed over top. *Note: This version of the client you install on the server should not be installed on your client machines. Create Your Database After you ve downloaded the installer you ll need to install the program on the server where the instance of SQL resides. Although it is not necessary it is recommended so that you can potentially avoid permissions issues creating the database (more about this to follow). Once installed you will be presented with a dialogue to register but registration is not required for the server once it is setup so just continue by hitting the Trial Run button as seen in Figure A. Figure A Here is where you ll see the Design Time Pro (DTP) Database Setup form. This form will allow you to find all your SQL server instances on the network that Design Time Pro can see. 1

6 DATABASE SETUP Select Find Microsoft SQL Servers and wait for DTP to find your servers. *Note: In some cases DTP will not be able to retrieve the instance of SQL running on the server so this may have to be added manually to the SQL server name that was found but it all depends on your SQL setup. As previously mentioned, here is why it is important to install the DTP server install program on your server where SQL resides. Generally, using Windows Integrated Authentication can be used if you ve followed the recommended approach. If not you ll have to know Figure B whether or not the PC/server you are currently logged into has permissions to that instance of SQL server. DTP allows you to use either Windows Integrated Authentication or SQL Server Authentication and generally SQL will allow the currently logged in user on the server where SQL resides to create the DTP database and if not you ll need to know the username and password of a user that can create the database when using SQL Server Authentication method. However, either method will work see Figure B. Of course, you can test to see if the connection works by hitting the Test Connection button also found in Figure B. *Note: DTP recommends using Windows Integrated Authentication to create the database. *Note: DTP will not allow you to install more than 1 DTP database per SQL server instance. 2

7 DATABASE SETUP Creating the Admin Credentials Once you ve successfully created the DTP database you will be asked to create the default users credentials. The default user is Admin and DTP will ask you to enter the new Admin password that you d like to use. Once this has been completed you will be presented with a Login screen, simply close this screen and exit the program. *Note: This password is very important and if lost many functions cannot be performed in DTP. Figure C DTP Database SQL Server Permissions Open SQL Management Studio on your server, generally this can be found under your Windows Start menu under All Programs - > Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or 2008 depending on your version. You will need to give the users in your domain or workgroup at least read/write/dbowner privileges to your DTP database. Please consult your SQL Server documentation on how to perform this task for your version of SQL. We recommend giving your domain/workgroup users full access to the DTP database. 3

8 Installing the Workstation DTP Clients The client installer uses a special web based installer that allows the users to get updates of the clients pushed to their workstations where DTP is installed. Go to to download the client installer. The installer will begin to download the files (Figure D) required to install the program. The installer will install the program and put a shortcut on your desktop and in your Start Menu. Figure D First Time Run The first time you run the DTP client on your workstation PC s you will be presented with the DTP Database Setup window. This window will allow you to connect your client to the DTP database you created in the previous steps. *Note: You must ensure that your SQL server is listening on the correct ports (normally 1433) and that there are no firewalls blocking SQL connectivity back to the database. It is sometimes required for an administrator to open these ports on your Windows PC in certain situations. You can either click on Find Microsoft SQL Servers in order to auto- populate the drop- down list or you can type it in. *Note: Auto-populating the dropdown may not necessarily work when trying to connect. You may still need to append an instance name to the found server. For example, if one of the servers it finds is MSSQLSERVER you may still need to append \DTPInstance to the end of it if that s the name of your instance on MSSQLSERVER. Select your authentication type matching what you had setup in the previous section called Create Your Database. If you do not select the correct method you will never be able to connect. Select Open an Existing Database and select Test Connection or Open Database in order to create your local connection to the DTP database. Now you re ready to start using DTP! 4

9 Changing Your Database The first time you login to DTP you will need to login using the Admin username and password you created in the previous section called Creating Your Admin Credentials. However, on the login page you ll notice that there is a small button called DB. This button allows you to change your DTP database at any point in time. Upon pressing this you will be presented with the Design Time Pro Database Setup window again to choose your connectivity options. Once you ve successfully selected your options you will be presented with the login window again to login to your newly selected database. (Figure E) Figure E Using Design Time Pro The first time you enter Design Time Pro there are certain things you should do first. 1. Use the Designers/Employees form from the Main Menu and enter all the applicable Designers/Employees. 2. Use the Security form from the Main Menu and setup your DTP Users. 3. Use the Projects form from the Main Menu and at the bottom of the form you can manage your Sales Reps, Products & Tasks. Enter all Sales Reps, Products & Tasks applicable to your organization. 4. Use the Projects form from the Main Menu and enter your Projects. 5. Use the Time Billings form from the Main Menu and enter your billable time. 6. Use the Schedule form from the Main Menu to manage your schedule 7. View Reports from the Main Menu to analyze your employees & organization. 5

10 Main Menu Once you ve logged in successfully you ll see the DTP Main Menu. This menu will allow the user to access everything they ll need in order to use DTP. Form Buttons Check for Updates: This allows the user to update DTP if there is a new version available at anytime. Projects: Displays the Projects form where users can manage their projects. Designers/Employees: Displays the form that allows the user to enter the Designers/Employees that will be used in DTP and not necessarily the users of DTP. Time Billings: Displays the form where the users of DTP can manage their billable hours. Schedule: Displays the Outlook style schedule that allows DTP users to schedule & manage their time and also see other employees schedules. Clients & Locations: Allows DTP users to manage client information along with their locations. Reports: Displays another menu of various reports & analysis forms. Security: Used to manage DTP users and grant or deny permissions to areas of DTP. 6

11 Exit Design Time Pro: Exits DTP. About: Displays the About form. View Log File: Shows the user the log file. Settings: Allows the user to change the global DTP settings. Can only be changed by the Admin user. Send Log: Automatically generates an e- mail using the users default e- mail client and attaches the log file to the e- mail. Prompts the user to enter additional information if required. 7

12 Projects Form The Projects form will allow you to manage the projects. Projects are the basis to billing your clients and is the true starting point to begin using DTP. Form Fields Search By: This allows the user to search projects by the column selected in the dropdown menu. The search criteria can either be selected from the dropdown list or typed in the dropdown menu next to this field. Reference/Project ID: Displays the Projects auto- generated ID or reference number. This number is unique in relation to other projects ID s. Project Status: Allows the user to select either Opened (if work still has to be completed for the project) or Closed (if the project has been completed). 8

13 Rate: Ability to select what rate the client will be billed at: Client: this rate is the client rate specified in the Clients form. Any time an employee posts a time billing against this project it will allow the user to select any one of the possible 3 definable client rates the time billing will be billed at. Generally used when a client gets special rates for certain tasks. Designer: this rate is the specific designer s rate and is specified in the Employees form. Generally used when a project requires various designers (junior vs. senior) working on the project and the client is not billed at a special rate but your regular designer (employee) rates instead. Global: this rate is a standard set default rate and is specified in the Settings form. This rate is generally used if the design house has a standard rate that they use across all designers or clients for a certain project. Project Name: Enter an identifiable name for the project. Almost like a friendly name you can refer to the project with. Project Scope: Used to narrow the scope of a project. Example: Certain jobs for clients may require you to break the job up into various peaces such as a client who requires several floors of a building to be spec d a user may enter something like second floor in this field. Project Type: The type of project this is: Tender: The project is still in tender and has not been awarded yet and time is generally not billable. Project: A full blown project that is billable to the client. Admin: Administrative projects not necessarily related to any clients. Project Product: The product used in the project. Products are managed in the Products form. Change Type: The type of change the project entails. New / Creation: A new project generally starting from client specifications or drawings. Move / Add / Change: A new project making changes to existing drawings, rearrangements to existing layouts, moving or adding new items. 9

14 Project Begin Date: The date work will commence on the project. Project Delivery Date: The expected delivery date to the client or the anticipated project completion date. Project Delivered Date: The actual date delivery to the client occurred or the date the project completed. Generally, this coincides with changing the project status to Closed. Sales Rep: The Sales Representative who either made the sale or is involved in the project. Client: This is the client you intend on billing the time spent on the project. Client/Project Location: The client or the project location. Employee: The employee/designer doing the work on this project. This field does not limit the project to be billed by just one employee/designer as you can simply enter different employees/designers when entering the time billed against this project. If multiple employees/designers are working on this project then enter the project lead or the employee responsible for the entire project instead. # of workstations: The general size of the project measured in the amount of workstations involved. Client Purchased Hours: How many hours were purchased by the client. Estimated Hours: An estimate of the amount of hours it will take in total to complete. This helps determine how well projects are being quoted when compared to the actual hours spent. Actual Hours Spent (Time Billed): The total amount of time billed against this project. This field is read only. Hours Difference: The difference in hours between the estimated hours field and the actual hours field. This field is read only. Form Buttons Print: Prints the Time Billed grid located to the right of the fields. Manage Sales Reps: Opens the Sales Rep form allowing the user to manage Sales Reps. Manage Products: Prints the Time Billed grid located to the right of the fields. Manage Tasks: Prints the Time Billed grid located to the right of the fields. Refresh: Prints the Time Billed grid located to the right of the fields. New: Starts a new project entry. 10

15 Delete: Deletes the project you are currently viewing. Cancel: When adding a new project clicking on this will cancel the new project entry. Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new project. Manage Sales Reps Form The Manage Sales Reps form will allow you to manage the sales reps. This form will help populate certain drop down fields found in the Projects form. Form Fields Sales Rep Name: This allows the user to add or edit a sales rep to the existing list of sales reps. Form Buttons New: Starts a new sales rep entry. Delete: Deletes the sales rep you have currently selected. 11

16 Cancel: When adding a new sales rep clicking on this will cancel the new sales rep entry. Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new sales rep. Manage Products Form The Manage Products form will allow you to manage the products you be using in your projects. This form will help populate certain drop down fields found in the Projects form. Form Fields Product Name: This allows the user to add or edit a product to the existing list of products. Form Buttons New: Starts a new products entry. Delete: Deletes the product you have currently selected. Cancel: When adding a new product clicking on this will cancel the new product entry. 12

17 Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new product. 13

18 Manage Tasks Form The Manage Tasks form will allow you to manage the tasks. This form will help populate certain drop down fields found in the Projects form. Form Fields Task Type: This allows the user to add or edit a tasks name to the existing list of tasks. Task Category: Associate the task to a category. If the task is of type schedule it will be selectable from the appointments form when creating new scheduled tasks. If the category selected is Time Billing then the task will be visible to the task dropdown in the time billing form. Task Color: This allows the user to select a color for the selected task. When an appointment is made with this selected task it will color it on the schedule whatever color you select here. Only available if the task category is schedule. Form Buttons New: Starts a new task entry. Delete: Deletes the task you have currently selected. 14

19 Cancel: When adding a new task clicking on this will cancel the new task entry. Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new task. Time Billings Form The Time Billings form will allow you to manage the time billings. Time Billings are the basis of the analysis and the reporting in DTP. Form Fields Search By: This allows the user to search records by the column selected in the dropdown menu. The search criteria can either be selected from the dropdown list or typed in the dropdown menu next to this field. Reference/Project ID: Displays the Time Billing auto- generated ID or reference number. This number is unique in relation to other time billing ID s. 15

20 Project: The project to which the time billing will be billed against. Time Status: The reason that the time is being billed: On- going: this is time in which a user would consider it to be a continuation of some previous activity related to this project. Ordered: this is time in which a client may have ordered specifically to complete certain tasks. Cancelled: if time needs to be reversed and a reason needs to be posted for it use this time status. Task Description: The description of the task being billed. Task Type: The task category. Employee Name: The name of the employee that performed the billable task. Billing Date: The date in which the time billing occurred. Client Rate: The client s rate in which they are being charged for this particular task. Time in hours: The amount of time posted for this time billing. Total Billable Hours: The total billable hours that will be added to the time billing upon clicking the save button. Form Buttons + hours: Adds the amount of hours entered in the time in hours field to the total billable hours field. - hours: Minuses the amount of hours entered in the time in hours field to the total billable hours field. Manage Tasks: Opens the Tasks form allowing the user to manage the task categories. New: Starts a new time billing entry. Delete: Deletes the time billing entry you are currently viewing. Cancel: When adding a new time billing clicking on this will cancel the new time billing entry. 16

21 Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new time billing. 17

22 Clients & Locations Form The Clients & Locations form will allow you to manage clients and their locations. This form will help populate certain drop down fields such as in the Projects and Time Billings forms. Form Fields Search By: This allows the user to search records by the column selected in the dropdown menu. The search criteria can either be selected from the dropdown list or typed in the dropdown menu next to this field. New Client: checked if the client is a new client. Unchecked if it s an existing client. Company Name: The company name. Contact Name: The main contact representing this client. 18

23 Phone Number: the client s phone number. Fax Number: The client s fax number. E- mail Address: The client s e- mail address. Client Rate: The client rate section has 3 fields for 3 different client rates. When billing a client for example they may be billed different rates for different tasks. These fields populate the drop down client rate field found on the Time Billings form. Notes: Anything of note about this client such as special instructions. Client Locations: The grid is used to add client locations and lists existing previously entered locations for the currently viewed client. The first row of the grid is used to enter a new location. Form Buttons New: Starts a new client entry. Delete: Deletes the client entry you are currently viewing. Cancel: When adding a new client clicking on this will cancel the new client entry. Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new client. 19

24 Employees Form The Employees form will allow you to manage employee information. This form will help populate certain drop down fields such as in the Projects and Time Billings forms. Form Fields Search By: This allows the user to search records by the column selected in the dropdown menu. The search criteria can either be selected from the dropdown list or typed in the dropdown menu next to this field. Employee ID: An auto- generated reference identification number. Employee Name: The employee name. Address: The employee s e- mail address. 20

25 Employee Rate: The rate in which clients are charged when this employee is posting time up against their project. This is only applicable when the project uses the employee rate in the Rate field drop down box found on the Project form. Maximum Opened Projects: If this field is set DTP will keep track of projects that have the status of opened that are assigned to this employee. So, whenever a new project is assigned to this employee DTP will check to ensure that their project count with the status of opened do not exceed the value in this field. If the value is set to 0 then DTP will never check for this particular employee. Form Buttons New: Starts a new employee entry. Delete: Deletes the employee entry you are currently viewing. Cancel: When adding a new employee clicking on this will cancel the new employee entry. Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new employee. 21

26 Schedule Form The Schedule form will allow you to manage employee schedules. This form will help keep track of your users time outside of the office. Tasks entered here are separate from time billing tasks for the fact that they in themselves are a different category and may require special treatment and analysis. Figure K Form Fields Employees: Allows you to select which users are visible on the schedule. Group By Employee: Groups the scheduled appointments by Employee. Group By Date: Groups the scheduled appointments by date. When creating new appointments the user is able to select the project and the task associated to the appointment being scheduled. The time is captured and recorded based on the length of time the appointment is scheduled for. Reoccurrences can also be scheduled and you can also change the view of the schedule to other views similar to Microsoft s Outlook such as week and month views. 22

27 The small calendars on the right column allows the user to select a date or a range of dates and then that is reflected on to the schedule itself in the left column. Reports Form Reports pull the entered data and analyze it for you to make sense of how your teams are doing. In some reports the data is dumped into a big grid allowing you to filter for the information you need to get the information you need. Some reports show you easy to read graphs and some do the number crunching for you showing the hard numbers. For more information about reporting see Understanding Reports *Note: The reporting is driven by the data entered in the forms so it is crucial that your users understand and fill in fields wherever possible. Form Buttons Projects Data Filter: Opens the Project Data Filter report. Time Billed Data Filter: Opens the Time Billed Data Filter report. Production Details: Opens the Production Details report. Budget Analysis: Opens the Budget Analysis report. 23

28 Employee Workload & Efficiency: Opens the Employee Workload & Efficiency report. Employee Timesheet: Opens the Employee Timesheet report. Project Log: Opens the Project Log report. Employee Billable Hours: Opens the Employee Billable Hours report. Employee Scheduled Tasks: Opens the Employee Scheduled Tasks report. Project Efficiency: Opens the Project Efficiency report. Status Counts: Opens the Status Counts report. Task Costs (By Employee): Opens the Task Costs (By Employee) report. Total Task Costs: Opens the Total Task Costs report. Project Count (By Year): Opens the Project Count (By Year) report. 24

29 Security Form The Security form will allow you to manage employee access rights. This form will help manage user accounts and display who is logged in and capture dates and times of login and logout times. Form Fields Username: The username that the user will use to log into DTP. Password: This field is actually a button that opens up a small form asking the user to enter a password. Login/Logout Date & Time: The specified times in which a user logged in and out of DTP. Linked Employee: Link the currently selected user to an employee. This will automatically identify the employee wherever the 'Employee Name' is required. For example, on the Time Billings form, the 'Employee Name' field will be pre- populated with the logged in user because their employee record and security user have been linked. 25

30 Form Buttons New: Starts a new user entry. Delete: Deletes the user entry you are currently viewing. Cancel: When adding a new user clicking on this will cancel the new user entry. Save: Saves the current entry whether editing or adding a new user. 26

31 Understanding Reports Projects Data Filter: Displays a grid of all the data entered in the Projects form. At the bottom of the Project ID column is a record count, in other words the amount of rows being displayed. At the bottom of the Actual Hours column is the sum of the actual hours being displayed. The row just below the column headings is the filter row. Values entered in this row will filter values for any column. Multiple filters can be applied against the grid to show only the records with the filtered values. The row count and the actual hours sum will automatically update themselves. The very top row is the group by row. This row will create groups for any column header being dragged into it. Multiple groups can be created. Time Billed Data Filter: Displays a grid of all the data entered in the Time Billings form. At the bottom of the Time Billed Ref # column is a record count, in other words the amount of rows being displayed. At the bottom of the Billable Hours column is the sum of the billable hours being displayed. The row just below the column headings is the filter row. Values entered in this row will filter values for any column. Multiple filters can be applied against the grid to show only the records with the filtered values. The row count and the billable hours sum will automatically update themselves. The very top row is the group by row. This row will create groups for any column header being dragged into it. Multiple groups can be created. Production Details: Displays a hierarchy of projects and their associated time billings. The hierarchy is initially displayed collapsed so clicking on the + beside the project record will expand to show the projects time billings. The time billing hours are summarized at the bottom of each of their respective group. At the bottom of the form are 2 pull down calendar controls that allow you to filter the grid down to a certain time frame so you can easily scan and view all the projects and time billings that happen between a particular period of time. Budget Analysis: Performs various calculations based on the project selected in the project dropdown box. The project details section displays general information about the selected project and is fairly self- explanatory. The project analysis section performs various calculations: 27

32 The general section shows basic information about your projects timings such as how much over or under you are on your estimates and delivery times. Also, the average time spent on project per day field will intelligently calculate the average time spent on the project by only taking into account the days that a time billing was posted against the project. The tasks section shows the makeup of the time spent. Such as how much of a particular task was spent on the project and what was the percentage of that task in comparison to other tasks. It also can tell you who spent that time. The costs section is dynamic and changes what is calculated based on the cost rate of the project. Global Rate is multiplied by the total hours billed against the selected project. Example: Global rate = $100. Total billed hours = 10. Total Project cost = $1000 Employee Rate is multiplied by the employee rate set in the employee form by the total hours billed against the selected project. There may be cases where multiple employee s work on the same project that have different rates and those are also taken into consideration when calculating costs. Example: Employee Rate 1 = $50, Employee Rate 2 = $75, Employee Rate 3 = $100. Total hours Employee Rate 1 = Employee Rate 2 = Employee Rate 3 = 3. Total Project Cost = $50x10 + $75x2 + $100x3 = $950 Client Rate is calculated based on the selected client rate when the time billing was entered. Thus, the total cost is calculated by multiplying the different client rates entered in the time billing by the total hours billed at that rate for that project. A client rate can only be selected and is mandatory if the project rate is set to client on the project form. Example: Client Rate 1 = $50, Client Rate 2 = $75, Client Rate 3 = $100. Total hours Client Rate 1 = Client Rate 2 = Client Rate 3 = 3. Total Project Cost = $50x10 + $75x2 + $100x3 = $950 The details section displays a grid with the individual time billed items for the selected project. Employee Workload & Efficiency: A time based report calculating specific employee efficiencies in completing projects of various sizes over time. # of Projects: This section will display the amount of opened and closed projects the selected employee has. Displays last years numbers as well as the current year. Employee Efficiencies (Closed Projects): Calculates the average amount of hours and days the selected employee spends on any sized project. Calculations are only considered after the project status is set to closed. 28

33 Efficiency By Project Size (Closed Projects): Calculates the average amount of hours and days broken down by project size it takes the selected employee to complete a project. Completed projects are considered to have a status of closed. Employee Historical Efficiency: This line graph visually displays the calculations mentioned above in this report but separates the calculated efficiencies by year so you can see how well your employees are doing from year- to- year. Employee Timesheet: A customizable report displaying information on an employee s tasks and billable hours for a specific user selectable time period. Employee Billable Hours: Displays the total billable hours by employee per year in a simple bar graph. Employee Scheduled Tasks: Displays the total amount of hours spent by employee per year on scheduled tasks in a simple bar graph. Project Log: A customizable report displaying a list of a specific employee s work with respect to client s projects for a specific user selectable time period. Project Efficiency: A time based report calculating overall project efficiencies in completing projects of various sizes over time. # of Projects: This section will display the amount of opened and closed projects. Displays last years numbers as well as the current year. Project Efficiencies (Closed Projects): Calculates the average amount of hours and days in the selected year spent by employees on any sized project. Calculations are only considered after the project status is set to closed. Efficiency By Project Size (Closed Projects): Calculates the average amount of hours and days broken down by project size it took in the selected year for employees to complete a project. Completed projects are considered to have a status of closed. Project Historical Efficiency: This line graph visually displays the calculations mentioned above in this report but separates the calculated efficiencies by year so you can see how well your organization is doing from year- to- year. Status Counts: Displays the total count of project status per year in a simple bar graph. Task Costs (By Employee): Displays the total amounts of hours spent overall on a specific task per employee shown in a bar graph. 29

34 Total Task Costs: The total amount of time spent on each task shown in a simple bar graph. Project Count (By Year): The total count of projects per year displayed in a simple bar graph. 30