Most recent tip added on: 08 November, 2005 08:50 PM
| HELP | Many questions and problems can be easily solved by reading the PROCESS HELP and FIELD HELP in a screen. This information is available in most screens/mnemonics and for most fields by pressing the PROCESS HELP key while in that screen, or by pressing the FIELD HELP key while the cursor is on that field. |
| HELP LINE | To avoid lost calls and duplication of effort we recommend ALL USERS call the HELP line with ALL CALLS. This guarantees your call will not be lost, it will be handled on a "first come first serve" basis, it will be assigned a priority, and it will be handled by the first available support specialist. |
| HELP LINE | Unless your HELP line call is time critical or urgent we recommend sending your HELP line call via e-Mail, rather than using the HELP phone extension. This way you can include the level of detail necessary to quickly solve your problem or answer your question. When using e-Mail your exact message can be quickly and easily copied into the HELP line call, avoiding mistakes made transcribing your phone call into the HELP line call. PLEASE include as many of the following details as possible: Mnemonics used, sample ID numbers, specific error messages and where/when they occur and any other pertinent details. For requests please try to always include: sort order, what group of people/records to include, what fields to display and any other pertinent details. |
| ERRORS | Error messages typically come in two forms, warnings and errors. A warning may or may not indicate a problem, and they are usually less severe. An error message usually indicates a definitive problem, and usually means you should STOP, take note of the exact error message and report the problem to the HELP line. This can be especially critical in a multi step procedure. If you get an error message in any step of a multi-step procedure you should NOT continue with subsequent steps until the error is corrected. Continuing can only cause further damage, or waste time since typically subsequent steps will not work if there is an error in an earlier step. |
| DOCUMENTATION | We strongly suggest all offices keep "office-specific" documentation on how their office uses the Datatel system. Documenting how your offices uses the Datatel menus/mnemonics and saved sentences/paragraphs will allow us to bridge the gap between the Datatel documentation, and how King's College uses the Datatel system. We recommend each office develop and maintain this sort of documentation, preferably in Word or Excel, and periodically submit a copy for inclusion in the Documentation section of this web page. All currently developed Kings College documentation is also contained on the I:\documents (with subdirectories by topic) directory on the campus network. Most of these documents can be viewed in Word or Excel. |
| DATATEL'S WEB PAGE | Datatel has a web page with up-to-date information on all Datatel products and training. In addition there is a "For Client's Only" section that has information and documentation for current clients of Datatel. This section has a wealth of valuable information including file/field documentation and subroutine documentation. To access this section of their web page you must register on their web page with your name and e-Mail address. Datatel will then verify this information with me to be sure you are a valid user and then e-Mail you a password to allow you to access this section. |
| INFO-DATATEL | Datatel has a moderated listserv for Colleague/Benefactor issues. What this simply means is that they have developed an e-Mail mailing list consisting of Systems Administrators and users from various Datatel sites that can be used as a discussion group. Basically you can send an e-Mail question and ask everyone on the list how their school is handling a certain situation or problem and get real world feedback from other schools. We have found it to be a very valuable tool, however you should be aware that joining this listserv will cause you to receive several hundred e-Mail messages each week that may or may not be of interest to you. If you have a question or concern you would like to have addressed by the listserv, but you don't want to join please contact the HELP line and we will submit the question and forward all answers back to you. If you are interested in joining the list please contact the HELP line and we will send you the current instructions for joining the info_datatel listserv. |
| DATATEL DOCUMENTATION | Datatel now offers their user documentation manuals in electronic format and distributes that to us on a CD. In order to make this documentation available to all users we have copied the CD to a network drive where only administrative system users can access it. This CD is in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format and is on the R15doc directory on the I: drive. To access this documentation open Adobe Acrobat, and then open any of the .pdf files in I:\webdocoll or I:\webdocben. These files are typically named after the modules they document (i.e. ac.pdf = academic records, cu.pdf = curriculum management), and are available for many but not all modules. In addition there are other documents in this directory specific to other module related topics. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat on your PC please contact the HELP line for installation. In addition this documentation is available from the Documentation section of this web page. |
| LASER PRINTERS | If your laser printer will not print output from the Datatel system we recommend trying the following items before calling the HELP line. 1) Be sure the printer is started (PTRENABLE queuename, i.e. PTRENABLE LREG from the colon prompt). 2) Check the LISTPTR to be sure your report is going to the proper queuename. 3) Try taking the printer offline for 10 seconds and then back on-line. 4) Try powering off the printer for 10 seconds and powering it back on. |
| UPDATE | Please remember the UPDATE and FINISH keys save any changes you may have made on the screen you are leaving, and in some cases actually trigger processing on the person you are updating. If you want to leave a screen without making any changes or saving/processing anything, always use the CANCEL key. |
