New Changes to Messenger 2.01

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Dorcas Howard
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January 2009 CPI 475 Quadrangle Drive Suite A Bolingbrook, IL 60440 (630) 754-8820 As

the changes made in the new version of CPI s workstation client.

01 CPI has recently released the next major version of the OpenFox Messenger Software.

01 and includes many changes designed to make Messenger easier to use and more user

These new features involve changes to the layout of the Messenger mailbox window,

application, and a pilot project for Messenger in a mobile environment.

01, the user has the option to change the arrangement of on-screen components in the

The mailbox window is the screen with which the user interacts to perform all message

populate other Messenger transaction screens, etc.

1 January 2009 CPI 475 Quadrangle Drive Suite A Bolingbrook, IL (630) As announced in our last issue, this edition of the newsletter will be devoted to showing the changes made in the new version of CPI s workstation client. New Changes to Messenger 2.01 CPI has recently released the next major version of the OpenFox Messenger Software. This new version is 2.01 and includes many changes designed to make Messenger easier to use and more user friendly. These new features involve changes to the layout of the Messenger mailbox window, enhancements to the message workflow process, integration of the NICB Vin Assist application, and a pilot project for Messenger in a mobile environment. Messenger Mailbox Window Layout In Messenger version 2.01, the user has the option to change the arrangement of on-screen components in the mailbox window. The mailbox window is the screen with which the user interacts to perform all message related functions, such as viewing messages, printing messages, casting messages to populate other Messenger transaction screens, etc. In prior versions of Messenger, the list of messages was placed above the message content area, and the user was free to drag a separator bar to allocate more room to the list of messages or to the message content area. During CPI s annual User Group Conference, CPI received feedback regarding this layout. Users felt that they were constantly in a battle between how many messages they could see and how much of a particular message that they could view. Vol. 8 Special Edition 1

Thus the layout is only applied when a particular users signs onto the system, and the layout will follow a user around if the user accesses the system from different terminals.

2 April 2009 CPI Fox Tracks To address the concerns of its users, CPI has developed support for user configurable layouts for the mailbox window. These layouts are configured by an individual user and are stored in that user s preferences. Thus the layout is only applied when a particular users signs onto the system, and the layout will follow a user around if the user accesses the system from different terminals. The screen below shows the different options that are available to a user. These options allow the user to place the list of messages to the side of the message content area instead of the vertical layout used in previous versions. Users feel that these options utilize the screen real estate more efficiently because law enforcement messages tend to be vertical rather than horizontal. For example, the Side by Side Right layout is shown below. This layout places the list of messages to the right hand side of the message content area. Using this layout, the user may simultaneously view the entire contents of an NCIC hit response while also seeing a list of more than 45 messages in the Inbox. Page 2 Vol. 8 Special Edition

CPI Fox Tracks April 2009 Message Workflow Enhancements CPI also received feedback regarding the OpenFox Messenger software that users resisted the change to a mailbox style workstation after using

3 CPI Fox Tracks April 2009 Message Workflow Enhancements CPI also received feedback regarding the OpenFox Messenger software that users resisted the change to a mailbox style workstation after using one of the scrolling message window style workstation applications for so long. CPI hosted an interactive discussion group with its users to determine exactly what features or functions users felt were more difficult or missing in the mailbox style workstation. One of the differences raised by users was that, under the scrolling message window style software, a user submits a query form and all responses are immediately available on the screen without the user taking a single action. To address this concern, CPI has built into Messenger version 2.01 the feature to automatically display solicited responses on the user s screen. When a user submits a query (or any transaction) Messenger generates a unique identifier number. Every message that is delivered to the user s terminal as a result of this transaction, for example response messages, contains the same id number. This feature allows Messenger to logically tie a query with the responses generated as a result of that query. Under the new version of Messenger, the software will automatically select and display solicited responses to the last message submitted by the user. This feature happens automatically without any action by the user. For example, the above screen shot shows Messenger after the user ran a wanted person query. This query has been spawned to both NCIC and the in-state hot files. Without any action by the user, Messenger automatically displays both responses on the user s screen in a fashion very similar to the scrolling message window. Please note that a user can disable this behavior in Preferences. One key difference between this feature in Messenger and the equivalent function in a scrolling message window workstation, is that Messenger will only display the solicited response messages delivered as a result of the query. Thus, if a workstation receives an unsolicited administrative message in the middle of the query responses, Messenger will not display that AM message. Only the messages related to the user s query will be displayed. Of course, the administrative message is marked as unread in the user s Inbox until the user chooses to view the message. In conjunction with the new feature of automatically displaying response messages, Messenger allows the user to view all related messages via a keyboard shortcut. Messages are related if they contain the same id number. Thus messages delivered in response to the same query are all related to each other. This action is useful if the user is navigating through old messages and wishes to display all response messages in the content area at the same time. This action is available on the mailbox window toolbar as well as through a keyboard shortcut. Vol. 8 Special Edition Page 3

April 2009 CPI Fox Tracks Also, Messenger version 2.01 provides the user with a keyboard shortcut to quickly view the oldest unread message in the in folder.

Users also reported that it is easier to immediately see which messages are large and which messages are small in the scrolling message window.

4 April 2009 CPI Fox Tracks Also, Messenger version 2.01 provides the user with a keyboard shortcut to quickly view the oldest unread message in the in folder. This feature was provided so that users could quickly jump to their new messages when they are delivered. This action is available on the mailbox window toolbar as well as through a keyboard shortcut. Users also reported that it is easier to immediately see which messages are large and which messages are small in the scrolling message window. Larger messages tend to have more importance, and thus, users like to be able to find them quickly. To address this concern, CPI has developed a message size indicator in Messenger version The size indicator is an empty white box for small messages, and the box becomes filled up with a blue color as the message size increases. For text based messages, the message size is calculated based on the number of lines in the message. For XML based messages, Messenger employs a heuristic algorithm based on the number of elements in the message. For text or XML messages, Messenger indicates the size of a message as a column in the list of messages. Thus, users are able to quickly scroll through their messages and determine which messages are large and which are small. NICB Vin Assist Messenger version 2.01 adds tight software integration with the NICB Vin Assist application. To avoid downloading the large Vin Assist database files to each individual workstation (and updating the files every six months), the database files are stored on the central message switching hardware and are queried via transactions from the Messenger workstation clients in the field. The OpenFox Messenger integration provides VIN decoding features present in the NICB application. The user may access the common Vin Assist window, which is shown on page 5. This window provides a basic method of decoding a VIN into the vehicle make, model, style, and year information. The user enters a 17 character VIN into the form and presses the Enter key, and then Messenger will query the NICB database files and display the decoded information on the screen. Messenger displays the vehicle s year of manufacture, the NCIC codes for make, model, and style, as well as a verbose text description of the make, model, and style from the NICB database files. Page 4 Vol. 8 Special Edition

CPI Fox Tracks April 2009 In addition to this generic VIN decoding tool, Messenger offers tight integration with the Vin Assist application in all applicable transaction screens.

5 CPI Fox Tracks April 2009 In addition to this generic VIN decoding tool, Messenger offers tight integration with the Vin Assist application in all applicable transaction screens. For example, on the NCIC enter vehicle screen, the user may type in a 17 character VIN into the VIN field and decode the VIN. This action is available via a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-F) or via the VIN field s context popup menu (shown below). After the user performs this action, Messenger queries the NICB database files and uses the decoded VIN information to populate the other vehicle fields on the screen. The resultant display is shown below. Thus, the user is not required to fill in the other fields. Messenger in a Mobile Environment OpenFox Messenger has long allowed users complete control over the size of the fonts used in the application. This setting is user configurable and may be changed for each individual user according to his or her preference. The user has five different font sizes from which to choose. These options allow Messenger to run across a wide variety of monitors and displays. Also, this option provides accessibility benefits for those users that have a harder time reading a computer screen. Thus, configurability is a large part of Messenger s compliance of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Vol. 8 Special Edition Page 5

01, CPI has developed the capability for an individual message screen to use a font size other than the default size.

6 April 2009 CPI Fox Tracks This setting is also applicable to mobile environments where an officer has a laptop in his or her squad car. In this scenario, the user must pay more attention to driving than to reading small text on a computer display. In Messenger version 2.01, CPI has developed the capability for an individual message screen to use a font size other than the default size. This allows for the development of simple transaction screens with very large text fields and buttons, which are perfectly suited to the mobile environment. Starting in 2009, OpenFox Messenger will be deployed to several hundred squad cars. These officers will use the below screen to run registration checks by license plate number from the safety of their own vehicles. The below screen shot shows an example of this capability. The mobile RQ screen is shown above a normal RQ screen. For more information on CPI s Messenger 2.01, please contact: Marc Smith Senior Account Executive Computer Projects of IL, Inc. (630) ext Page 6 Vol. 8 Special Edition

OpenFox. Desktop User Manual. Version 3.00 Revised 8/23/2013

OpenFox. Desktop User Manual. Version 3.00 Revised 8/23/2013 OpenFox Desktop User Manual Version 3.00 Revised 8/23/2013 Computer Projects of Illinois, Inc. 475 Quadrangle Drive, Suite A Bolingbrook, IL 60440 (630) 754-8820 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK TABLE