Caice Attenuator Selector - Specifier Edition

Transcription

1 Caice Attenuator Selector - Specifier Edition System Administrator s Guide

2 2 Introduction This document gives IT infrastructure managers and system administrators an overview of Caice & the Caice Attenuator Selector software package. The subsequent sections explain what the software does, how it works, how it handles data and how it is supported by Caice. About Caice Caice are an established manufacturer of environmental building products. The company has developed a product portfolio which covers heating and ventilation products, noise control solutions, solar shading and louvre systems. Since the company s inception, information technology has been at the heart of the business. Caice have invested heavily in bespoke software to run their business, select & manufacture products, all of which has been produced by their in-house software development team. In 2008 Caice released the first version of the Caice Attenuator Selector to a group of reseller business partners to enable them to leverage the benefits of efficient & cost effective product selection. It was this release, which after independent testing and certification, enabled Caice to earn the Silver Application Development accreditation from the Microsoft Partner Network. Since 2008 development of the software has continued, leading to further improvements in product selection techniques and the development of a new edition of the software specifically tailored to the needs of product specifiers. What is the Specifier Edition of the Caice Attenuator Selector? The Specifier Edition of the Caice Attenuator Selector is an HVAC attenuator product selection and scheduling tool available free of charge for use by Mechanical & Electrical Services specifiers. The program allows attenuators to be quickly selected based on a wide range of user requirements including noise criteria, air volume, pressure loss, unit size & construction options. Product selections are collated into projects which represent the real world building projects that users are working to specify. Having selected products these can then be converted into product schedule documents in PDF & Microsoft Excel file formats for inclusion in specification documents. Caice Attenuator Selector projects can be saved for later reference, shared with colleagues or used as templates for future projects with similar attenuator product requirements.

3 3 Minimum Operating Requirements The Caice Attenuator Selector has the following minimum operating requirements: A computer running one of the following operating systems: Windows XP (Service Pack 3) Windows Server 2003 Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2 Windows 7 (Service Pack 1) Windows 8 Windows Server 2012 Installation within Microsoft Windows of the Microsoft.Net Framework v3.5, which in turn requires: Windows Installer v3.1 Internet Explorer 5.01 or later. Up to 500 MB of available disk space on a single hard disk. A connection to the Internet with permitted access to secure (HTTPS) web services. The program also has the following optional requirements in order to take advantage of some features: A printer is required to produce printed copies of the program s reports. Adobe Reader version 8, 9, X or XI is required to view documents generated by the program in PDF file format. Other PDF document viewers are available, document rendering may vary in different viewers. Microsoft Office Excel version XP, 2003, 2007 or 2010 is required to view and edit documents generated by the program in XLS or XLSX file formats. Other spreadsheet software packages which support XLS or XLSX file formats can also be used, document rendering may vary in different programs.

4 4 Installing the Caice Attenuator Selector Self-Contained ClickOnce Installation The Caice Attenuator Selector is a Microsoft.Net Framework Windows Forms application which requires installation on to the local computer. To make the installation as secure and as easy as possible the software uses the ClickOnce deployment method. The securely signed ClickOnce installer enables the program to be installed as an isolated, self-contained application with limited access to resources on the computer. The isolated nature of the application enables it to be installed by users without administrative privileges & only permits the application access to run in the Internet & Intranet security zones. The self-contained approach means that program installs & runs from a per-user, per-application cache, thereby not disrupting any other programs on the computer. Automatic Updates Once installed the application checks for new versions of the program each time it is started. If a new version is available it will be downloaded & installed replacing the previous version. This ensures that everyone who uses the program is working with the same version. Installation & Removal The program will be installed onto the local computer s hard disk into a dedicated ClickOnce cache located in the logged on user s user profile. It also adds a shortcut to the user s desktop & to a Caice folder within the Start Menu s programs folder. No other files are added, deleted or modified during the installation. The installation process adds the program to the Windows Control Panel s Add & Remove Programs or Programs and Features list (depending on the version of Windows being used). This enables the program to be easily removed if no longer wanted.

5 5 The Installation Process The software is installed directly from the Caice web site by visiting our dedicated Attenuator Selector web page: The following steps explain how to install the program using the Internet Explorer web browser. The installation can also be performed using Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari & Opera. Open your web browser application and type attenuatorselector into the address bar. The Caice Attenuator Selector web page will appear. Click on the Download Now button at the top of the page. The installer will check that any additional software which is required is installed e.g. The.Net Framework. The Application Install - Security Warning window will appear displaying Caice Attenuator Selector as the product name. Click the Install button. The program will now be downloaded and installed on the computer for the currently logged in user. Once installation is complete, the program will be started.

6 6 How the Program Works Licensing Each authorised user of the program will be provided with a license key, free of charge, which authorises them to use the program on one computer. The key is validated with Caice s servers each time the program is launched. When the key has been validated the user will be able to access the program. Architecture The Caice Attenuator Selector is a client server application. The program installed on the local user s computer provides a user interface to facilitate the selection and collation of attenuator products. This user interface interacts with a secure server hosting a web service which selects the most appropriate attenuator product based on the user s requirements. Product requirements are passed between the client application and the web service via an Internet connection using the HTTPS protocol to secure the data being transferred. Storage of Data This section explains how the program processes the data the user provides to the program along with how & where it is stored. Data Passed to the Attenuator Selector Web Service The data passed to Caice s web server is used to determine the most appropriate product selection and then discarded when the available product selections are returned back to the client. Neither the product requirements nor the resulting attenuator product selections are stored on the server at any time. Project Details & Schedules of Product Selections All details of the projects created using the Caice Attenuator Selector and all product selections within those projects are stored as files in a location of the user s choice, much like documents in Microsoft Word. By default, these files are stored in user s My

7 7 Documents folder. These files remain totally within the user or user organisation s control and are not accessible to Caice. Project files created using the Caice Attenuator Selector can be opened by other users of the program if the file is made available to them (e.g. sent via or saved in a shared location such as a shared folder on a network file server). Product Schedules & Other Reports The details of product selections in a project can be exported to a PDF document or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. These reports are generated locally on the user s computer and are saved in a location of the user s choice. These files remain totally within the user or user organisation s control and are not accessible to Caice. Usage Statistics To protect the service against abuse we monitor the number of requests made using each license key. This data is stored and monitored for irregular or high usage patterns. Help & Support Help Documentation The program is supplied with comprehensive context sensitive on-line help documentation which is easily accessible from within the program. In addition we publish a full user guide available to all users in PDF format for easy reference. Support Availability The software is supported by our product selection experts and the software development team. Support requests can be made via our web site at attenuatorselector, by to support@caice.co.uk or alternatively by telephone on Support is available during our office hours (8:30am to 5:30pm) Monday to Friday. We aim to respond to all support requests within 24 hours. Questions If you have any questions or queries about how the software works or need any further information or assistance about deploying the software please contact our dedicated support team by on support@caice.co.uk or telephone on Testimonials We are happy to put organisations looking to use the Caice Attenuator Selector Specifier Edition in touch with existing users who have agreed to share their experiences using the software. Please contact us for further details.

8 Telephone Facsimile Caice Acoustic Air Movement Ltd. Riverside House 3 Winnersh Fields Gazelle Close Winnersh Wokingham RG41 5QS Registered office and head office Company Registration Number VAT Registration Number GB