Halcyon Message Sender GUI. v6.0 User Guide

Transcription

1 GUI v6.0 User Guide

2 Copyright Copyright HelpSystems, LLC. All rights reserved. US: Outside the U.S.: +44 (0) IBM, AS/400, OS/400, System i, System i5, i5/os, Power Systems, and iseries are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Windows and Windows Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates All other product and company names are trademarks of their respective holders. For third-party conditions and disclaimers. see the Release Notes in the Product Directory.

3 Table of Contents 4 Introduction and System Requirements... 4 Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements... 4 System Requirements... 4 IIS World Wide Web Services Requirements... 5 Installing Message Sender onto a Windows Server... 6 Getting Started Adding a Device Log On to Message Sender Using Message Sender...14 Composing a Message Clearing Message Data Saving a Draft Loading a Saved Draft Editing a Message Deleting a Message Message History Message history information Controlling the message history view View refresh Setting the page size Changing column order Resetting column order Re-sending a message Canceling a scheduled message Changing the IBM i device Message Sender Administration Administration Area Navigation Adding a device Editing a device Duplicating a device...26 Deleting a device Additional options View refresh Changing column order Resetting column order Logging Off Message Sender... 26

4 Introduction and System Requirements Introduction and System Requirements Message Sender is a PC-based Graphical User Interface that allows you to send messages via an IBM i to any one of the following pre-defined or ad-hoc message devices: Phone Pager Address Message Queue Recipient Broadcast Group Call Roster Call Schedule Escalation List Messages can be sent immediately or scheduled for delivery at a later date and/or time. The history function of Message Sender allows you to see the history of all messages sent and received on the IBM i (not just those sent through Message Sender). To improve response times between Message Sender and the IBM i, information is cached on startup and refreshed every 15 minutes thereafter. Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements The following are the minimum specifications required for the installation of Message Sender. System Requirements Software requirements for Message Sender Installation Installation server operating system Windows v7 or higher Microsoft.Net Framework 4 This must be installed on the PC on which Message Sender is installed. Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) A general installation of IIS (V6 or higher) is required. This is normally undertaken by your network administrator or in-house system configuration specialist. Hardware requirements Minimum of 512 MB of RAM (2GB or more is recommended) At least 2.5GB free hard disk space For 32-bit systems: Computer with Intel or compatible 1GHz or faster processor (2GHz or faster is recommended

5 Introduction and System Requirements For 64-bit systems: 1.4 GHz or higher processor Software requirements for Message Sender access PC or Apple Mac running one of the following browsers Internet Explorer v11.0 or above Microsoft Edge Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome Safari IIS World Wide Web Services Requirements In order for the Message Sender GUI to function correctly, specific IIS World Wide Web Services settings must be enabled. To check, or amend the current settings on your system, do the following: 1. From Windows Start select Control Panel. 2. From within the Control Panel select Programs and Features (Add or Remove Programs) 3. From the left-hand navigation panel select Turn Windows features on or off. The Windows Features dialog box is displayed. 4. Scroll down to Internet Information Services and expand the folder. 5. Expand the World Wide Web Services folder. 6. Expand the Common HTTP Features folder. 7. Ensure the following settings are enabled. Change if required: Default Document, Directory Browsing, HTTP Errors and Static Content (see screenshot overleaf). 8. Click OK to save the settings. CHAPTER 0-5 -

6 Installing Message Sender onto a Windows Server Installing Message Sender onto a Windows Server 1. Download the latest version of from: 2. Double-click the downloaded.exe file to begin the installation of. 3. To progress with the installation, the Software Licence Agreement must be accepted. Select I accept the terms of the end user license agreement and click Next to continue

7 Installing Message Sender onto a Windows Server 4. On the Welcome dialog click Next to continue. 5. At the Customer Information dialog, enter your User and Company Name. Click Next

8 Installing Message Sender onto a Windows Server 6. On the Choose Destination Location dialog, click Next to accept the default location of %Program Files%\Halcyon or click Browse to navigate to and select an alternative directory path (not a compressed drive). 7. Review your choices and either click Back to amend previously entered information or click Next to initialize the installation routine and start extracting the installation files

9 Installing Message Sender onto a Windows Server The installation is now complete. CHAPTER 0-9 -

10 Getting Started Getting Started Once the installation has completed, you can log onto to Message Sender via your chosen web-browser. Open your web-browser (see Software requirements for Message Sender access for supported browsers) and in the address bar type: Adding a Device If this is the first time the software has been initialized, you first need to add an IBM i device in your network that has at least Halcyon Console Lite installed. 1. Click Actions to display a drop-down menu. 2. From this menu, click Add to open the Add Device dialog

11 Getting Started Name Enter the name of the IBM i device as recognized and identified on your network. Address Enter the IP Address of the IBM i device as located on your network. Port Enter the Port number on the IBM i environment on which Halcyon is running so that Message Sender and the IBM i can communicate. Please refer to your Network Administrator prior to changing this setting if you are ensure. Connect Timeout Sets the time, in milliseconds, within which the connection must be made between the IBM i and Message Sender. The default setting is milliseconds. Read Timeout Sets the time limit, in milliseconds, for the beginning of the read of data from the IBM i to Message Sender to be considered successful prior to timing out. The default setting is milliseconds. Time Zone If required, select the time zone to take account of the geographical location of the device. For example, with the host device based in the UK, devices in Paris, France, would have a time differential of to GMT. The settings for this field are derived from the Windows time zone defaults, as found in Windows Start Control Panel Date and Time. Note: Ensure that the time settings on the remote device are correct prior to activating this feature otherwise timing inaccuracies can occur

12 Getting Started Use Connection Pooling Enable this setting to allow connection pooling. Connection pooling allows you to spread the load of retrieving information from the IBM i device, rather than having one browser connection for each web session opened. The connection is only active when a request for information is generated by a user. Once the data has been retrieved, the connection is reset and available for use by other users. Note: Connection pooling is independent of each device. Minimum Pool Size Specify the minimum number of connections that form the available connection pool. The default setting is 5. Should more than five connection requests be generated at exactly the same time, the first five requests will be processed and subsequent requests will have to wait until one of the connections becomes available again. Should this persist or a large number of users complain about slow loading times, consider increasing the value in this field. Maximum Pool Size Specify the maximum number of connections that form the available connection pool. The default setting is 10. If a large number of users require a simultaneous connection to this device you may want to consider increasing this value to prevent any lag in data retrieval. Click OK to save the device details to the configuration file. You can now add further devices using the same instructions. Once you have added at least one IBM i system with which you want to use Message Sender, you are ready to Log on to the system. Log On to Message Sender In the top-right corner of the display click the user drop down and select Log on. You are now prompted to log on to the system that you have just added

13 Getting Started Enter a User Name and Password associated with the displayed device. If you have added more than one device, you can use the Device drop-down menu option to select an alternative system from the one shown. Note: The user profile must already be defined on the IBM i system and environment to which you are attempting to log on. Note: Message Sender only supports the use of the following characters in the User Name parameter. a-z (lower case) A-Z (UPPER CASE) 0-9 #@ Additionally, the Password parameter only supports the use of the same characters for User Name plus the addition of;. (period / dot) _ (underscore) Click Log On to continue

14 Using Message Sender Using Message Sender Once you have successfully logged onto the selected device, Message Sender opens ready for you to compose a message

15 Composing a Message Composing a Message The following options allow you to compose a message and send it with a specific priority and at a time of your choosing. Send To: Enter the name of the message device to which you want to send the message. Only one message device can be entered in this parameter. As you type the entry, predictive text shows you the choices for entry compiled from addresses and phone numbers that have already been defined on the IBM i device. There is no memory facility for this parameter. Devices are cached directly from the IBM i to improve response times. If you have recently added a phone number or address to the IBM i and it does not appear as you type, use Device > Reload Message Devices to re-cache the entries recognized by Message Sender. When sending messages to phones, the full international dialling prefix must be included in the number (+1 for US, +44 for UK, and so on). Subject Type the text that will appear as the subject header of the message. Text Enter the text of the message that you want to send. When sending to a phone, the message is automatically broken into segments if it exceeds the value in the Maximum message length parameter in the appropriate Work with Service Providers setting on the IBM i. Priority Specify the priority with which the message is sent. The default priority is Normal. Any messages sent with High priority are sent immediately and cannot be scheduled. Send It Specifies the time at which the message is sent. The default setting is Now. If you select the Later option the Date and Time parameters are enabled. Note: This option is not available when the Message Priority is set to High. Date The default is today's date. Type or select the required date from the drop-down selection. If the date selected is earlier than today, the message is sent as soon as you click Send. If a later date and time has been selected, the message is held until the date and time are reached. Time The default is the time at which the Later option was selected within the Send It parameter. Type or select the required time from the drop-down selection. If the time selected is earlier than now, the message is sent as soon as you click Send. If a later time is selected, the message is held until the date and time are reached. Click Send to send the message with the specified parameters. Clearing Message Data If you have entered the message detail and have a change of mind prior to sending, click Clear to remove the text from the Send To, Subject and Text parameters and return all settings to their defaults. If you want to save the message prior to sending, see the following section, Saving a Draft

16 Composing a Message Saving a Draft It is possible to compose a message and set priority and timing parameters before saving it as a draft so it can be actioned later. Follow the instructions for Composing a Message. When you have entered the message details and set the priority parameters, click Save and select Save from the drop down menu. The message is then saved on the IBM i and can be selected from the Recent History panel at the bottom of the Message Sender window. This shows you all the messages attributed to your user profile. To see all messages sent from this system select Message History from the left-hand navigation panel. To reload a saved message, see the following section Loading a Saved Draft. Loading a Saved Draft If you have previously saved a draft of a message, you can load it back into the message parameters from where it can then be sent, edited or re-saved as a new message. To reload a previously saved message: 1. Click on a message that was previously saved and is displayed in the Recent History panel. It is now highlighted. 2. Either right-click on this message to display a pop-up menu, or select Message from the Message Sender toolbar. 3. Click Load

17 Composing a Message The message data is now reloaded into the message parameters and the previous message priority and timing settings restored. Editing a Message You can make changes to a message that has previously been saved or sent. This saves time if the main body of the message is the same but minor adjustments need to be made, such as timings, dates or named persons. Once the saved message has been reloaded, you can make changes to any of the message parameters, priority and timing settings. Make the amendments to the required message parameters and click Save. To save the changes to the current message select Save from the pop-up menu. To keep the original message and save the changes as a new message, click Save New. Deleting a Message You can delete a message, originated by your user profile, that is no longer required. 1. From the Recent History panel, select the message that you want to delete so that it is highlighted. 2. Either right-click on this message to display a pop-up menu, or select Message from the Message Sender toolbar. 3. Click Delete. 4. You are prompted to confirm the deletion of the message. 5. Click Yes to confirm and remove the message from the system

18 Message History Message History You can view the history of any messages sent or received by the IBM i device onto which you are currently logged, regardless of whether they were sent through Message Sender. From the left-hand navigation panel select History. A list of the most recent messages sent is displayed in the Message History panel. This list includes messages that have been scheduled but may not yet have been sent as the entered date and/or time has not been reached. see Canceling a scheduled message for more information. Message history information The following columns are displayed when viewing message history. Status This column indicates, by way of an icon, the status of the message. Active Allocated Closed Complete Error Waiting/Message File Wait/SMTP Wait Pending Received Receiving Receive abort Receive wait

19 Message History Retry wait Scheduled Sending Date/Time Displays the date and the time at which the message was sent. The icon to the right of the date/time indicates the priority with which the message was sent. High Priority No icon Normal Priority Low Priority System Displays the name of the system from which the message was sent. If the IBM i device uses message routing through a remote system, the name of the remote system is displayed. Device Displays the name and type of device to which the message was sent. *ADHOC indicates that the message device entered is not defined on the IBM i system from which the message was sent. The icon to the left of the device name depicts the message device type. Message Displays the beginning characters of the body text of the message. Message ID Displays the unique message ID attributed by the system to this message. Controlling the message history view The following options can be used to control the message history view within Message Sender. Refresh Page Size Changing column order Resetting columns View refresh Refreshing the view updates the current history display with any new messages that have been sent since the History option was selected. To refresh the current view, select View > Refresh. Setting the page size Setting the page size specifies the number of messages that are displayed on a single page of the message history. Providing there are more messages to display than your chosen page size, subsequent history pages can be accessed by clicking the page number at the bottom of the panel

20 Message History To update the page size, select View > Page Size. From the pop-up menu, select the number of messages you want to display on a single page of the history. The page reloads to display the selected number of messages. Changing column order You can change the order in which the columns are displayed on the history view. Click on the column heading of the column that you want to move and keeping your finger depressed on the mouse button drag the column to the location on the page where you want it displayed. Release the mouse button, and the columns are now displayed in the new sort order. Resetting column order To reset any previously changed column ordering, select View > Reset Columns. This returns the columns to their default placement. Re-sending a message You can resend any message that has previously been sent. The resend is an exact replica of the message, you cannot amend any parameters. To resend a message from the Message History panel, click the required message so that it is highlighted. Select Actions > Resend. Canceling a scheduled message You can cancel a message that has been scheduled to be sent at a later date and/or time which has not yet been sent. 1. From the Message History panel, click the message that you want to cancel so that it is highlighted. It is only possible to cancel messages that have a Scheduled or Pending status. 2. Select Actions > Cancel. 3. When prompted, click Yes to confirm the cancellation request. The status changes to Closed

21 Changing the IBM i device Changing the IBM i device Message Sender displays the interaction between a user profile and a single IBM i device. You may need to change which interaction occurs, because for example, you want to send a message to a message device that is only defined on a different IBM i to the one onto which you are currently logged. Providing that you have defined more than one IBM i for use with Message Sender, you can change the IBM i device with which you interact at any time. From the Message Sender toolbar, click the down arrow next to the system name. This option is available regardless of whether you are in Compose or History mode. The drop-down menu showing other defined devices is now displayed. The current IBM i is highlighted. Click on another IBM i in the list to select. You are now prompted to log on to the selected IBM i. As before, the user profile must be defined on the IBM i to which you are attempting to logon. Click Log On to log on to the selected IBM i with the credential entered or Cancel to return to your previous IBM i connection

22 Message Sender Administration Message Sender Administration Message Sender Administration allows you to set up administration elements to control the use of Message Sender within your operating environment. From the main Message Sender display, select the Administration tab from the Tab Menu along the top of the display. The following information is displayed within the Administration panel. Name Displays the name (and environment) of the IBM i device to which connection is made. Address Displays the Host name or IP Address of the IBM device as well as the port number on which the connection is made. Description Displays the textual description of the IBM i. Connection Pooling Identifies whether the IBM i is configured for connection pooling. Minimum If configured for connection pooling this column displays the minimum number of connections allowed. Maximum If configured for connection pooling this column displays the maximum number of connections allowed. Administration Area Navigation When using the Administration area of Message Sender, there are two ways of adding, editing and deleting information

23 Message Sender Administration Actions In the top left-hand corner of the Administration menu panel is an Actions button. Click the Actions button to display the Add, Edit, Duplicate and Delete options for the menu item that you are currently working with. Right-click Instead of using the Actions button, it is also possible to right-click in the main display panel of the menu option with which you are currently working. This displays the same menu options as those displayed when the Actions button is used. Note: When using this option, you must right click on an existing entry within the current view. Adding a device 1. Click Actions to display a drop-down menu. 2. From this menu, click Add to open the Add Device dialog

24 Message Sender Administration Name Enter the name of the IBM i device as recognized and identified on your network. Address Enter the IP Address of the IBM i device as located on your network. Port Enter the Port number on the IBM i environment on which Halcyon is running so that Message Sender and the IBM i can communicate. Please refer to your Network Administrator prior to changing this setting if you are ensure. Connect Timeout Sets the time, in milliseconds, within which the connection must be made between the IBM i and Message Sender. The default setting is milliseconds. Read Timeout Sets the time limit, in milliseconds, for the beginning of the read of data from the IBM i to Message Sender to be considered successful prior to timing out. The default setting is milliseconds. Time Zone If required, select the time zone to take account of the geographical location of the device. For example, with the host device based in the UK, devices in Paris, France, would have a time differential of to GMT. The settings for this field are derived from the Windows time zone defaults, as found in Windows Start Control Panel Date and Time. Note: Ensure that the time settings on the remote device are correct prior to activating this feature otherwise timing inaccuracies can occur

25 Message Sender Administration Use Connection Pooling Enable this setting to allow connection pooling. Connection pooling allows you to spread the load of retrieving information from the IBM i device, rather than having one browser connection for each web session opened. The connection is only active when a request for information is generated by a user. Once the data has been retrieved, the connection is reset and available for use by other users. Note: Connection pooling is independent of each device. Minimum Pool Size Specify the minimum number of connections that form the available connection pool. The default setting is 5. Should more than five connection requests be generated at exactly the same time, the first five requests will be processed and subsequent requests will have to wait until one of the connections becomes available again. Should this persist or a large number of users complain about slow loading times, consider increasing the value in this field. Maximum Pool Size Specify the maximum number of connections that form the available connection pool. The default setting is 10. If a large number of users require a simultaneous connection to this device you may want to consider increasing this value to prevent any lag in data retrieval. Click OK to save the device details to the configuration file. Editing a device Editing a device allows you to amend the parameters of an existing IBM device. 1. From the main Administration panel, select the IBM i device for which you want to edit the details, so that it is highlighted. 2. Select Actions > Edit. The Edit Device dialog is displayed

26 Message Sender Administration This dialog uses the same parameters as when Adding a Device. Please see for more information regrading this parameters. Duplicating a device Duplicating a device is useful when you have more than one IBM i device to add with similar parameters. The process copies the information from the selected device and creates a new device with the same information. Amend the parameter details as required and click OK to create the new device. Deleting a device Deleting an IBM i device, removes the device from the Message Sender GUI. Additionally, you are unable to view the message history for the deleted device from within Message Sender. Note: It does not remove the message history from the actual IBM i. Additional options View refresh Refreshing the view updates the current display with any new devices that have been added or with any changes made to existing devices since the view was first opened. To refresh the current view, select View > Refresh. Changing column order You can change the order in which the columns are displayed in the Administration view. Click on the column heading of the column that you want to move and keeping your finger depressed on the mouse button drag the column to the location on the page where you want it displayed. Release the mouse button, and the columns are now displayed in the new sort order. Resetting column order To reset any previously changed column ordering, select View > Reset Columns. This returns the columns to their default placement. Logging Off Message Sender When you have finished your current Message Sender session it is advisable to log off prior to closing the web-browser window. The current user profile with which you are currently logged into Message Sender is shown in the top righthand corner of both the Messages and Administration Areas. Click on the displayed user profile button and from the drop-down menu, select Log Off. The display returns to the initial Log On display

27 AB/HMS/042418