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Happy
Spring Ahead From
Kore Technologies! |
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Welcome to the Spring
2006
Edition of News From the Kore.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
Back issues are
available on the
News menu of our Web site.
 By
Keith Lambert --
With 2005 ending on another high note for Kore, the momentum carried over
as we kicked off 2006
with a bang! The first quarter of 2006 has been a very busy one for Kore
as the demand for MultiValue custom solutions, data
integration, and Microsoft SQL Server data warehouses has been very
strong. Accordingly, we have been hard at work implementing
Kourier Integrator and
DTS Accelerator
products for our clients. Additionally, we have seen IT departments
continuing their quest to conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, for which our
Sarbanes-Oxley Enhancements for DataFlo has been an excellent
solution.
Kore once again hosted a booth at the International Spectrum
MultiValue conference in March (see below for more information) and based on the
attendees we talked with, MultiValue applications and technology are
still an important component of business infrastructure and the
overall interest in MultiValue remains high. However, we've noticed more emphasis is being placed on improved
developer tools, better user interfaces (Web and Client), more
integration with third-party products, and enterprise data warehousing. As experts
in both MultiValue and Microsoft technologies, Kore is well positioned to provide these solutions to our
clients. If Kore can be of service to you, please
contact us.
Kourier
and KommerceServer 4.4.2 are available. See below for new
Kourier
and
KommerceServer
product features. Please call us to request the
latest release or schedule an upgrade.
Kourier Products
Kourier
Integrator for U2
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New ability
to automatically create Export Specifications from U2 dictionary
definitions and schema properties.
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Simplified installation and
operation for UNIX-based systems by removing requirement for NFS
services.
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Improved Net-change design is
compatible with virtually any database configuration.
-
Enhanced utility programs for
generating MS SQL tables from Export Specifications to use new
schema properties and improved MS SQL Sever compatibility.
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Automatic resizing of Event and
Message Log files when log file size is reduced.
Kourier
DTS Accelerator
-
DTS Accelerator now supports MS
SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft's Integration Services, although
it's still compatible with MS SQL Server 2000.
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The current product will be renamed to
Kourier SQL Accelerator.
Kourier
Freight Control
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Tighter integration between Kourier
Forms Manager and
BarTender
makes it easier to create and design new labels and change
existing ones.
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New concept of Named
Stations improves support for multiple devices
(scales, document printers, label printers) with intelligent device
selection.
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Streamlined the process for
making changes to rates and zones.
Kourier Integrator Classic
(For DataFlo Systems Only)
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Kourier Services now run as
individual background processes and do not require the Preview
Batch Scheduler.
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Significant improvements to the
BarTender
Interface:
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Includes the concept of Named "Stations"
(e.g., Shipping Station 1)
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Facilitates printing to multiple
devices with intelligent device selection. .
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Created several new @DATE_XXX
substitution variables.
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Added the ability to resend
messages from the KT_MESSAGES file.
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Modified active Users Listing
(SYS-U-20) to display Kourier Services in the report.
KommerceServer Products
webSalesForce &
webServiceCenter
-
New integration to our
webTeam product enables sales and service team to execute and
collaborate more efficiently
-
Follow-up Tasks can be
created automatically in
webTeam when sending an e-mail or when creating a new Communication
Log entry (phone call, note, etc.).
-
Sales and Service Teams
can manage their own projects and tasks using work flow defined for
their team.
Other Products
Sarbanes-Oxley Enhancements
(For DataFlo Systems Only)
We have added some
new capabilities to We have created several new and enhanced
features for our very popular SOX Suite, please contact us if
you are interested.
-
2 New
System Access Reports
-
New Secure TCL Environment
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Replaces the Preview
TCL shell with a more functional and secure environment for
ad-hoc TCL commands.
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Includes a Command
Stacker, which stores previous commands for easy recall,
editing, and execution
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Supports use of
Select lists (SELECT, SSELECT, QSELECT, GET-LIST, et al.)
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Enforces all Preview
Process, File and Field level security.
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Enhancements to Software
Change Controls
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Allow software
components to be viewed in display-only mode when accessed
outside of development account.
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Optional E-mail
notification to all effected Users of released SCN's (requires Kourier Messenger).
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Optional ability to
require a specific User's approval before SCN release. Changes to an
SCN after approval is entered resets the approval.
Coming Soon...
We are improving our
KommerceServer
Architecture in Release 4.5 to be compatible with
Microsoft .NET Version 2.0.
This is cool because:
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Our applications will
be able to use rich graphical interface components (grids, tree
controls, drag-and-drop, etc.), which means a more advanced
user-interface that acts more like a Windows client application.
-
We will be able to
use master pages, making it much easier to customize the look
and feel of KommerceServer applications to match the look and
feel of your Web site for example.
The
International
Spectrum MultiValue Conference and Exposition was held March 7-10 in Long Beach,
California. Kore sponsored a booth and was there in full force
giving product demonstrations of our
Kourier Integrator
and
KommerceServer Web solutions.
Hopefully you were able to attend this event and had a chance to stop by
and visit Mark, Ken, Keith, and Paul and of course collect some of our
cool give away items. If you couldn't make it this year, be sure
to save the date for next year as it's the one MultiValue conference you
should attend.
This year Kore hosted two educational and informative conference
sessions at
International Spectrum. Click on the links
below to download a copy of our presentations in
PDF
format.
Deploying Scalable and Secure eCommerce Solutions for MultiValue
Applications
Examine the advantages and disadvantages of “connected” vs.
“disconnected” architectures. Find out how you can deploy flexible, secure, and
scalable Web solutions using a Microsoft SQL
Server database and .NET application framework.
Building a MS SQL Server Data Warehouse From Your MultiValue
Database
Review software that
you can use to build and deploy business intelligence and
reporting solutions, including: Kourier Integrator, Microsoft
Integration Services (previously Data Transformation Services),
and Microsoft Reporting Services.
We hope to see you at the
show next year!
 By
Paul Trebbien
-- Yesterday, I was
thinking about when I was hired at DataWorks back in 1986. What were
they thinking as they wanted a Tech Support person to assist their
customers with the PICK Operating System and the DataFlo MRP
package. Right now, I would say Frank Busalacchi hired me because of
what he thought I could be and not really on my background. During
our interview, I know he could tell I knew the PICK Operating System
and was pretty self-sufficient in programming but I really did not
have much, if anything, in the way of a background in Accounting,
Inventory, Manufacturing, and Planning. Here’s the Job history Frank
was looking at: 2 years in the US Army, 4 years in college, 8 years
in construction (roofer), 2 years part owner in a beekeeping
business while roofing, 8 months in a trade school for programming,
and 2 years Assistant Data Processing Manager with a finance
company. I started at DataWorks in 1986. After only a little study
in the manuals and a short introduction to D-PRO (the 4GL that
preceded Preview) and to the DataFlo software, I went live working
with the Customers. I did express some concern that first live day
as I did not know anything about most of the modules but Frank said
" not to worry as the Customers know how it should work and my job
was to help them with their data and examine the software to find
out why it was not working the way the Customer thought it should".
Hey, I’ve been supporting DataFlo Customers for over 20 years now,
that’s 16 years for DataWorks/Epicor and over 4 years with Kore
Technologies—and still loving it! So, if you need help or have
any questions, feel free to
e-mail or call me for
a little help.
In my workshop, I’m finishing up a "Flip-Top Tool Table" using plans
I found in a magazine. It’s going to be great as I’ll be able to put
two machines on one table in the same space it takes for only one
machine. Note, my chop saw will be on one side of the top, the
scroll saw on the other, and when I want to switch tools I simply
have to roll the table top over and secure it. I’ve just completed
some toys for my woodworkers club as we give them away to children
in hospitals, shelters, and other organizations – more on that in
the next issue of the Kore Newsletter.
Click
here to see a picture of the toy cars,
trucks, and buses I built. My wife saw them and asked me to
build 8 sets of them (race car, Model T car, pickup truck, and a
bus) for her as she wanted to give them to our Grandkids, niece,
some people at work, and a set for her desk. So, I put the DVD
cabinet that was my next big project on hold as I’m back in the Car
Business – Cool!
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been reviewing our previous Newsletters
and creating new Tech Tips from my columns and Q & A’s. These will
soon be posted to our
Tech Tips page. So when these are posted, instead of having to
search through all the newsletters to find a solution you can simply
scan the list of tech tips on our Tech Tips page. If you have a
question or idea that would be a good Tech Tip, feel free to
e-mail it to me.
Starting this issue the Q
&A section of my column will be included in the
new Ask Kore column. Now your questions will be answered
from me and the rest of the Kore Team.
Bif Turbo: Space Hero
is taking a break from maintaining peace and order in the
manufacturing universe (at an undisclosed, top-secret location) so
he can recharge his weapons and his own batteries. Stay tuned until
next time.
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Spectrum Spotlight Article -
In case you missed it, the January /
February 2006 issue of Spectrum Magazine had an in-depth Spotlight
article on Kore Technologies. Read more about Kore and how we help companies
using our products and services to integrate their MultiValue
applications with Microsoft SQL Server databases and other
best-in-class solutions.
Interviews
with Mark Dobransky and Ken Dickinson, managing
partners and founders of Kore Technologies, and
Keith Lambert, vice president of marketing and
business development, provide insight regarding
the company history and future opportunities for
Kore.
Also
included is information about the current and
upcoming features of our flagship integration and
business automation product
Kourier Integrator as well as
KommerceServer, our powerful suite of Microsoft
.NET Web solutions.
To download a reprint of the Kore Spotlight
article in PDF format,
click here.
By
Michelle Durbin --
It
seems that more and more we are hearing about emergencies, disasters
and tragedies. There are fund cuts in our school systems, more and
more things to protect our children from and then Mother Nature
steps in to mix things up. After the Indian Ocean Tsunami and our
hurricanes in the Gulf we started asking ourselves what we can do to
help provide some relief. Of course Kore made a monetary donation
to support these relief efforts but there just seemed to be more
that we could do.
With that in mind Kore looked to the needs within our own
community. We found that, according to the
American Red Cross, that there is always a shortage of
blood and blood products that are needed to save lives. There have
been surgeries cancelled due to low blood supplies and although 60%
of the US population is able to donate blood only 5% do. So we
signed up to sponsor a blood drive and got busy planning.
Kore is located in a quiet
corporate center with very little outside traffic so we had some
work to
do just to bring people to the drive. We posted signs in and around
the complex and also invited local clients, friends, and family. At
the end of the day we had over 20 volunteers show up and were able to donate
18 pints of blood. Now before you think that is not very
much blood you have to consider that each pint of blood can
potentially help 3 people, depending on their need. There are many
different ways that a pint of blood can be used. It can be
separated into platelets, red blood cells and plasma or used as
whole blood. So, at our little blood drive we potentially helped 54
people!
We would like
to thank all of those that participated and encourage everyone who
can to continue to donate blood in the future. Kore plans to get
involved in other future events as we enjoy getting out in the
community and pitching in.
Printing from multiple trays on a HP2400.
This tech tip is very useful when you need to print different documents
on the same printer and they need different paper size, type, color,
letterhead, etc.
As a practical example, while printing the shipping
documents you might need the Shipper to print on the paper from Tray 2
and the Packing List on the paper from Tray 3 with each printer tray
containing a different colored paper.
Read the full
Tech Tip>>
Do you have a question on how something works in one of
Kore's products or in DataFlo? Ask Kore by sending us an
e-mail and
the experts here will do their best to answer it and we'll post some of
best questions here too.
Question: Why is there a blank page
(form only) when printing the Sales Order using the
Kourier Forms
Manager?
Answer: There are possibly two
reasons: 1) The Printer Driver being used was defined with a 64 line
page and baseline Kourier Forms are designed for 63 lines (the number of
lines per page is used in the print program for page length). 2) In the
print program, the page length was defined without enough lines for the
footing. Between the two, when a multi-page form was being printed it may
have printed about 4 lines over on the first page causing the form feed,
a couple of print lines on the ‘blank’ page, a form feed, and the last
page of the form.
Question: Why are e-mails generated by
Kourier Publisher in DataFlo just collecting in the
Queue and not being sent?
Answer: Actually, there are a couple
of reasons that the e-mails might not be getting sent. Assuming that UNIX Mail
is ok or the Kourier SENDMAIL Service has been started then here are a
couple of quick things to check: 1) Older Kourier Releases, check the
SMTP Queue, does the first email on the list have an empty email
address? New releases of Kourier will send this e-mail if there is a CC
or BCC email address. 2) Preview Batch Scheduler is not running or the
phantom no longer exists or has gotten stuck. Try stopping and
restarting the Batch Scheduler first, also stop and start the Queue.
Next, edit the Como file and see if there is something there to indicate
a problem (zoom from the Batch Scheduler Definition screen). On UNIX, it
could be you have a process running from the phantom that's been
orphaned – kill that process. On Windows, it could be that a user has
logged on and was assigned the same userno that the phantom process was
using (see LISTU), have the user logoff and then logoff that userno.
Note, Kourier Version 4.4.2 is no longer dependent on the Preview Batch
Scheduler because it starts each service as its own phantom.
IBM UniVerse 10.2 Early Release (Beta) Program
-- Available for the first time
on the Internet, IBM U2 is
announcing the Early Adopter Program for
UniVerse 10.2. This new release offers many enhancements in the area
of data security, high-availability, usability, interoperability,
and manageability. Some of the major new features and enhancements
include:.
- Database-level encryption
- Data replication enhancements
- Improved licensing and authorization
- model
- Updated XML/DB Tool
- TANDEM support for Windows platforms
- Transaction Logging enhancements
- Security enhancements for Windows-based
clients
- Web Services support
This Early
Release Program is expected to end on 15 June 2006. For more
information see the
IBM Web site. Contact Kore if
you need any assistance installing or upgrading your UniData or
UniVerse software.
The Kore Offices are scheduled to be closed on the upcoming holidays so that we
can spend time with our family and friends.
- Monday, May 29 -
Memorial Day
- Monday July 3 and
Tuesday July 4 Independence Day Weekend
- Monday, September
4 Labor Day
Kore is happy to provide holiday
services or support if needed. Please call us in advance at 866-700-KORE
(5673).
To learn more about
Kore Technologies or any of the products and services mentioned in
this newsletter, please visit our
Web
site,
call us at 866-763-KORE (5673), or send
an e-mail to
sales@koretech.com.
If you have any
questions or comments about our newsletter, please send an email to
kore_newsletter@koretech.com.
We want your feedback.
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