Recent Posts

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81
Operational Status / Server update
« Last post by norman on August 22, 2018, 05:04:28 pm »
The Bulletin Board is now operational on 3 Raspberry Pi's.

1. Main Pi
2. Backup Pi
3. Redundant Pi

We can switch remotely from one Pi to another in the event of an issue. The Main and Backup Pi's run SSD drives rather than relying on a MicroSD.

Norman
 ;)
82
Loadmaster / Loadmaster now on V44.0.1.22 - 21/08/2018
« Last post by norman on August 22, 2018, 04:58:50 pm »
Done a lot of updates on mapping due to companies changing from http: to https:

Norman
 ;)
83
Logistics Manager (LOGMAN) / LogMan - up and running
« Last post by norman on August 22, 2018, 04:45:01 pm »
The working version of LogMan has been updated and is now up and running on our test server. See the LogMan page on our main web site.

You can download the program and test it using our test server.

The LogMan database can be run on a local server or an internet server running either Windows or Linux. If running on an external internet server then you need to ensure that you do not have a restriction on storage space that would cause operational issues. We have tested the database with 900 simultaneous users.

You can move from the test server to your own server in a matter of minutes.

LogMan client can be run on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.

Norman
 ;)


84
TPN Invoicing / Emailing using Outlook 2016 - problems
« Last post by norman on July 12, 2018, 10:15:16 am »
You can test if Outlook 2016 is working properly by going into Windows Explorer, find any small file, right-click on it then choose Send To -> Mail Recipient. It should open Outlook 2016 as a draft email and the file attached. If it opens a different version of Outlook, Microsoft Mail or other email client then it's set up wrong.

It seems that Outlook 2016 has a problem with certain Sage products, Quickbooks and other programs that use MAPI and MAILTO functions i.e. any program that asks Outlook to perform emailing. Earlier versions of Outlook work fine as do other email client programs.

TPN Invoicing uses MAPI to send emails. If you cannot email out of TPN Invoicing using Outlook 2016 then got into Control Panel/Default Programs and choose the button that says 'Reset to Microsoft recommended defaults'.

Run Outlook as an Administrator and go to the Trust Centre. Find the Programmatic Access Security and set the 'Never warn me about suspicious activity'. Exit Outlook.

Test a simple function such as generating a CSV invoice. This should now work.

You should seek any further technical assistance from your original supplier of Office 365/Outlook 2016.

Norman
 ;)

85
Loadmaster / Mapped Drives - works with IP address but not URL
« Last post by norman on July 10, 2018, 06:24:02 pm »
We have been looking at various mapped drive issues, in particular the dreaded red cross on a drive in Windows Explorer.

On our system we could map \\192.168.0.55\PiShare but not \\RASPBERRYPIPLUS\PiShare to a P: drive. We could not see either when we looked in Network but both were valid.

We use Kaspersky Secure Connection (VPN).

If we turn the VPN off then we can map using the computer name instead of the IP address even though we could still not see it in Network.

With the VPN off we can map P: using \\RASPBERRYPIPLUS\PiShare

We can then switch the VPN on and still use it.

However if we then disconnect the drive and try to reconnect using the computer name it fails and will not connect at all.

We have resurrected the Drive Connect program which deals with mapped drives. This avoids the need to use NET USE commands to reconnect drives. Simple to use and set up.

This seems to work OK with the computer names on start up even though the VPN is on. It probably establishes the connection early and before the VPN invokes.

Norman
 ;)
86
Loadmaster / Mapped drives issue - cannot choose them
« Last post by norman on July 04, 2018, 01:23:25 pm »
Symptom - You go into Windows Explorer and you can see a variety of drives but when you go into Loadmaster to change the Data Directory then the one you want to use is not there.

The difference is due to Windows Universal Access Control (UAC). The missing drives are not visible due to the fact that either the program was installed under a Windows Administrative Account or the shortcut is being 'Run as Administrator'. In Windows if you run a program as Administrator then when it tries to do something that requires a higher level of privileges then these are not granted, this includes viewing mapped drives from inside a program.

A sign that you have this issue could be that when you install an update you get a message about files having ACCESS DENIED in C:\Program Data\Zipzap Computers Limited\Loadmaster

Resolution - You should install Loadmaster as a Standard User and not as an Administrator. Do not 'Run as Administrator'. Loadmaster does not need special 'rights' to operate.

Note: In Windows Explorer if you see Drive Letters that have a red cross on them then that is a different issue. The cause of this is not accessing the drive for a long period of time and the connection is automatically severed by the operating system. This is a Windows issue often caused by the power save option of your network card. Rebooting often 'fixes' this instantly. Using NET USE command with the Persistent option may also resolve this. 

Norman
 ;)
87
Loadmaster / Editing CSV files prior to import - a warning
« Last post by norman on July 02, 2018, 05:40:58 pm »
As a general rule DO NOT use Excel to manipulate CSV files - Use Notepad.

This is why.

Before a file went into Excel it looked like this :-

"123456789012345","ABC123","32, The Street","Anywhere"

After it was saved by Excel as a CSV file it looked like this :-

1.23457E+14,ABC123,"32, The Street",Anywhere

Long numbers get altered into Scientific notation and it removes formatting. This can cause all sorts of problems.

A worse case scenario would be :-

1.23457E+14,ABC123,32, The Street,Anywhere

This now has five fields when the original had four.

Norman
 ;)



88
Windows / Mapped drive available as Admin but not as a User
« Last post by norman on June 23, 2018, 07:01:14 pm »
This is the effect of the User Account control (UAC) which was added in Windows Vista in 2006. When you map drives at logon, they are mapped with the filtered token (standard rights). When you now run an application elevated (with full admin token) it can't see the mapped drives of the normal permissions.

When network shares are mapped, they are linked to the current logon session for the current process access token. This means that if a user uses the command prompt (cmd.exe) together with the filtered access token to map a network share, the network share is not mapped for processes that run with the full administrator access token.

To allow admin programs to see the normal mapped drives, enable the setting EnableLinkedConnections

Click Start, type Regedit in the Start programs and files box, and then press ENTER.

Locate and then right-click the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

Type EnableLinkedConnections and then press ENTER.

Right-click EnableLinkedConnections and then click Modify.

In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

Restart the computer.

As a general guide, do not map drives under an Administrative account.

Norman
 ;)
89
TPN Invoicing / Error while decoding the response from the Webservice
« Last post by norman on June 22, 2018, 03:44:56 pm »
This simply means that the data coming from TPN cannot be deciphered. It can be due to two reasons -

1. TPN are restricting the download size from the server. Try to download again but choosing consignments only.

2. The data includes invalid characters which should not be present in the data.

It seems that the TPN Web Services currently do not handle multiple lines in Special Instructions nor do they deal with some non standard characters either.

They cause a malformed returned XML wrapper which cannot be decoded properly. So TPN SOAP will return an error as it cannot get a valid reply. It will also be wrong in other programs such as SOAPUI.

You will see something like this :-

Error at line 140 of Local Procedure GetAllRecords process.

Error while decoding the response from the Webservice:

The XML document has not been loaded.

System Error Details:

Row 4, Column 187536: xmlParseCharRef: invalid xmlChar value 2
Row 4, Column 190094: xmlParseCharRef: invalid xmlChar value 2
Row 4, Column 192655: xmlParseCharRef: invalid xmlChar value 2
Row 4, Column 195213: xmlParseCharRef: invalid xmlChar value 2

or another example :-

Error at line 140 of Local Procedure GetAllRecords process.

Error while decoding the response from the Webservice:

The XML document has not been loaded.

System Error Details:

Row 1, Column 324161: xmlParseCharRef: invalid xmlChar value 7
Row 1, Column 324183: xmlParseCharRef: invalid xmlChar value 7

Valid characters are normally from 32 to 126. In the text above we see 2 on the top example and 7 on the bottom.

In TPN Connect simply DO NOT enter text and press the Carriage Return key on the Special Instructions field or use non standard characters in other fields.

TPN are going to correct this but no date is scheduled.

Fixing requires finding the invalid characters and replacing them with valid ones.

The solution is to run SOAPGUI on the TPN Web Services procedure of GetConsignments. The response will be a single line of text rather than the formatted XML reply. Cut and paste this into Notepad and look for the indicated xmlChar which will be embedded in a short string starting with &#x. You will be able to see the consignment number and the field involved. Go to this record in TPN Connect and alter the text to remove the characters. This will resolve the issue.

Norman
 ;)

90
Sameday Express / Cannot choose my mapped drive as a data directory - red cross
« Last post by norman on June 21, 2018, 09:15:03 am »
This is the effect of the User Account control (UAC) which was added in Windows Vista in 2006. When you map drives at logon, they are mapped with the filtered token (standard rights). When you now run an application elevated (with full admin token) it can't see the mapped drives of the normal permissions.

When network shares are mapped, they are linked to the current logon session for the current process access token. This means that if a user uses the command prompt (cmd.exe) together with the filtered access token to map a network share, the network share is not mapped for processes that run with the full administrator access token.

To allow admin programs to see the normal mapped drives, enable the setting EnableLinkedConnections

Click Start, type Regedit in the Start programs and files box, and then press ENTER.

Locate and then right-click the registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

Type EnableLinkedConnections and then press ENTER.

Right-click EnableLinkedConnections and then click Modify.

In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Norman
 ;)
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