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Introduction Table of Contents User’s Guide Database Administration

CFAL-NetCIL Client Database System

User’s Guide and Database Administration Manual

Version 4.2 — November 2005

More current information may be available on our website at: www.ed2c.com/cfal

CFAL NetCIL User’s Manual Revised: 10/25/2005 Software Version: 4.2

http://www.ed2c.com/cfal

Introduction

If I the author were you the reader, I’d skip this introduction and head straight for the Table of Contents, User’s Guide, or the Database Administrator’s Guide, which are the only really useful sections of this manual. This introduction contains the usual self-congratulatory remarks about how great this software is, along with the obligatory disclaimer that says in effect that you use this system at your own risk.

The CFAL Database System was created by the staff of Engineering Data Corp. (ed2c) in Louisville, Kentucky. The application is designed to manage most of the data elements that pertain to the operation of Independent Living Centers or other similar agencies that are charged with case management operations. CFAL is capable of automatically generating a variety of agency reports such as the RSA 704, HUD Section 8, Shelter Plus Care, California CILR, and New York State VESID, and it can interface with external data systems such as the Social Security Administration’s BPAO database. CFAL supports remote data collection so that information can be generated almost anywhere and then transmitted to a central repository. As of this writing, the application is in operational use by over 80 agencies throughout the United States.

Acknowledgements

Version 4.2 of the CFAL system represents the culmination of over five thousand hours of development work by a number of dedicated people. The staff of ed2c is particularly grateful for the valuable assistance that professionals at a number of centers have provided. A few whose efforts we especially wish to acknowledge are: Jan Day, Mike Markiewicz, and Beverly Alford of the Center for Accessible Living in Louisville, Julie Hyman of the Center for the Independence of the Disabled in New York City, John Strothenke of the Westchester Disabled on the Move Center in Yonkers, New York, and Gordon Blacknell of the Westside Center for Independence in Los Angeles. Their contributions have played a major role in making the CFAL database system a valuable community asset.

This manual is designed to serve as a basic guide to the CFAL Database System. In the course of its use, you will find that you need to make a number of policy decisions regarding the collection and interpretation of the data that you will store in the CFAL database. As you gain insight into the system and its role within your organization, you may develop procedures that could be of benefit to other users. The staff of ed2c welcomes your input in order to make this guide and the application more useful. Feel free to forward your comments to us anytime.

Engineering Data Corp.Box 5636Louisville Kentucky 40255-0636(502) 412-4000(888) [email protected]

CFAL-NetCIL User’s Manual Revised: 10/25/2005 Software Version: 4.22

mailto:[email protected]

Product Disclaimer and Licensing Statement Most lawyers claim that Shakespeare was taken out of context when in Henry VI he said, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” But, engineers will tell you that Shakespeare was very much in context when in Hamlet he wrote, “For ’tis the sport to have the engineer hoisted with his own petard.” To prevent ourselves from being hoisted (particularly by our petards), we respectfully request that you read and acknowledge the following statements:

When you purchase a CFAL license, ed2c grants you unlimited rights to install the CFAL application at your site, regardless of the number of people who use it. However, use of this software requires at least one properly installed copy of Microsoft Access 2000, XP, or 2002 for which, as you might have guessed, Microsoft owns the copyright. “Properly Installed” means, in legalese, that you must have at least one licensed copy of Microsoft Access. If you have many users, then you must also have an Access license for each of those users, or a multi-user licensing agreement with Microsoft, or the run-time version of Access, which ed2c can provide to you royalty-free. If you fail to follow these guidelines, Billy Gates may send his minions in the middle of the night to steal all of your hubcaps. Or worse yet, he may make you listen to a Steve Ballmer speech.

ed2c retains full rights to the CFAL software and database designs. The software code and databases in CFAL took us an incredibly long time to develop, and because we put so much effort into it we decided to go to the extra trouble of copyrighting it. ed2c owns the copyright to CFAL, meaning that we’re the only ones who can use its source code and database designs for commercial purposes. In order to be granted a license to use CFAL, you must pay a license fee to ed2c. As a licensed user, you agree to use CFAL for your own internal business purposes, and you agree that you will not redistribute CFAL software or databases to any other organization without the express written consent of ed2c. You also agree that any derivative applications that you develop, if they are based on CFAL database designs, will be used only for your own internal business purposes and not for commercial distribution to outside parties. By agreeing to these terms, you’re helping us all stay in business for a little while longer.

You assume all of the risk involved in the use of this software. If you suffer data loss, financial loss, hair loss, or any kind of loss as the result of using this system, well blame Murphy, not us. The good folks at ed2c will do their level best to help you with any trouble that you might run into, but by using this software you acknowledge that Murphy is out there, lurking, and that if you’re not careful, he’ll get you.


Table of Contents

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................2

CFAL User’s Guide.........................................................................................................................6

Section 1 Data Input Forms.........................................................................................................91.1 The People Form...................................................................................................................101.2 Case Notes & History............................................................................................................131.3 Additional Disabilities...........................................................................................................151.4 Assistance Equipment sub-form ............................................................................................151.5 Consumer Goals....................................................................................................................161.6 Intake History........................................................................................................................171.7 Employment History Sub-form..............................................................................................181.8 Income/Benefits History sub-form.........................................................................................181.9 Education History sub-form..................................................................................................191.10 Housing History....................................................................................................................191.11 Services & Referrals sub-form..............................................................................................201.12 Domestic Status sub-form.....................................................................................................211.13 Insurance History.................................................................................................................211.14 VR Status sub-form...............................................................................................................211.15 Attendant Info sub-form........................................................................................................221.16 Transport Info sub-form.......................................................................................................221.17 Relationship with People sub-form.....................................................................................23 1.18 Relationship with Organization sub-form............................................................................231.19 Mailing List sub-form..........................................................................................................23 1.20 Volunteers sub-form..............................................................................................................241.21 Keywords sub-form...............................................................................................................241.22 Phone Referral Form............................................................................................................25

Section 2 Organization Data Management – An Overview.....................................................272.1 Community Goals ................................................................................................................27 2.2 Project Form .........................................................................................................................282.3 Tasks......................................................................................................................................302.4 Events Form...........................................................................................................................302.5 Work Log Form......................................................................................................................312.6 Work Log Report...................................................................................................................33 2.7 Group Case Note ..................................................................................................................332.8 Publish to Web ......................................................................................................................342.9 Outreach Form .....................................................................................................................342.10 Organizations Form.............................................................................................................35 2.11 Site Profile............................................................................................................................37

Section 3 Reports........................................................................................................................41

Section 4 Managing Correspondence........................................................................................474.1 How to Send Letters and Make Labels..................................................................................48

Section 5 Database Administration............................................................................................525.1 Connecting to File Server......................................................................................................53


5.2 Database Users......................................................................................................................545.3 Export Queries.......................................................................................................................565.4 Import Query.........................................................................................................................565.5 Database Replication - An Overview ...................................................................................565.6 Make Replica.........................................................................................................................575.7 Synchronization.....................................................................................................................585.8 Synchronization Status...........................................................................................................595.9 SSA Data Export....................................................................................................................595.10 File Server Backup and Maintenance...................................................................................605.11 Trouble-Shooting..................................................................................................................615.12 Database Tables and Lists....................................................................................................635.13 FTP Data Transfer...............................................................................................................68

Installation Instructions.................................................................................................................69


CFAL User’s Guide

General Notes Regarding the User Interface CFAL Client is a Microsoft Windows-based application; therefore all standard features of the Windows user interface apply to the control of this software. Most data entry, editing, and statistical analysis functions can be accomplished through the use of input forms. Data entry fields and buttons are designed for access by either the keyboard or the mouse. All controls can be accessed by simultaneously pressing the "Alt" key and the appropriate underlined "accelerator" key. In the case of data entry fields, use of the accelerator key will also highlight the currently displayed data for that field. If a user types any character in a highlighted field, the highlighted information will be automatically deleted, and replaced by the new entry. Pressing the “F2” key toggles the highlighting of a field. Some controls may share accelerator keys; therefore it may be necessary to type the appropriate key twice in order to activate the function.

The “Enter” and “Tab” keys have the same effect on all input forms. Pressing either of these keys will move the cursor to the next input field in a form’s sequence. For hyperlink fields, the user must press the "Tab" key to move to the next field, or the hyperlink will be activated. Most dropdown lists are designed to "drop" automatically when the cursor is placed in their fields. Pressing the “F4” function key can toggle the dropdown state of a list.

For forms with record navigators, pressing the “F5” function key will move the cursor into the record navigator window, where a specific record number can be typed. Pressing "Shift-F9" will initiate a re-query of a form's data set. For more information on “Hot” keys, please refer to the CFAL Database Administrator’s Guide.

Once data is typed into any record in the database, it is automatically stored unless you press the “Esc” (escape) key. If you make a mistake while typing data within an individual field, simply retype the correct information while the cursor is still in that field. If you make a more serious mistake such as editing the wrong record, press “Esc.” Normally, you will be able to undo all of the changes that you have made to the record.

CFAL Client input forms are designed to display full-screen at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. At lower or higher resolutions, input forms will shrink or expand to utilize all of the viewable screen area. Users with vision impairment who use a screen resolution of 640x480 may find that some controls are difficult to read. In such cases, we recommend the use of the Windows screen magnifier that is integrated into the CFAL application.

CFAL Client is equipped with a form for reporting problems or recording general comments regarding its use. Selecting the “File a Bug Report” entry from the CFAL Client Main menu reports list will activate this form. If your installation is properly equipped, you can e-mail your comments directly to ed2c by clicking the form's blue hyperlink.

CFAL users are divided into two main groups: “Standard” users, and “Power” users. Normally, standard users will have an input form such as the “People or “Phone Referral” form assigned to them by the system administrator. If a form is assigned, it will open automatically when the application is launched. When the form is closed, so will the application. “Power” users have access to the Main form, which acts as a control panel for database configuration, reporting, and output to external data systems.


To enhance the accessibility of the application, CFAL utilizes a number of shortcut or “hot” keys. A shortcut is a combination of keys that when pressed together accomplish the same task as a mouse click. For example, by pressing F1 instead of clicking “Help”, the CFAL Client help file will appear.

Shortcut keys are identified with an underlined letter on controls. By simultaneously pressing the ALT key plus the key that corresponds to the underlined character, your input will have the same effect as if you clicked the control with the mouse. On the Main form you can use the left and right arrows, the tab key, and the enter key to navigate from one button to another. Once the cursor focus is set on the desired button, you can press Enter to open the form that the button controls. Alternately, you can use shortcut keys to open the form. Because of space limitations some keystroke combinations will open more than one form. For example, both the Organization and Community Goal forms can be accessed by pressing ALT + G. If the form that opens is not the one that you want, press ALT + X to close it and then press the original key combination again.

The following table lists the standard keystroke combinations that are implemented in the CFAL application:

Data Entry Forms

ALT + P opens the People form ALT + W opens the Work formALT + G opens the Organizations formALT + G opens the Community Goal form ALT + J opens the Project formALT + E opens the Events formALT + O opens the Outreach form

Reports

ALT + 1 moves to the 1- Reports sectionALT + V Select Preview mode; ALT-V again selects additional report options

Database Administration

ALT + O opens the Connect dialogALT + B opens the Database Users form ALT + Q opens the Export Queries optionALT + K opens Make Replica option ALT + Y opens the Synchronization option

Report Options and Letters

ALT + L opens the Letters formALT + C clears out the Comments section on the Main formALT + F to edit the From DateALT + T to edit the To DateALT + N to select Print Report


ALT + V to select Preview ReportALT + M to select the FormALT + H to select Labels

Other

ALT + A to access the Accessibility FeaturesALT + D to access the Database WindowALT + X to Exit CFAL Client application

The following shortcut keys are standard on all forms:

TAB or ENTER to navigate from one field to the other within a form or sub-form(In a note field, use the Tab key to go to the next field. The enter key creates a new line in your note)

ALT + N to open a new recordALT + X to exit a form or sub-formSHIFT + TAB to go to the previous fieldALT + DOWNARROW to make a list drop down (if it doesn’t happen automatically)SPACEBAR to check a checkbox fieldALT + Underlined Letter to set the focus on a specific field ESC to undo the last action performed or to clear data entryF3 unlocks records in the People, Work Log, and Organization

forms to allow editing of existing data while helping to preventaccidental overwrite.

CFAL is designed to be integrated with your computer’s accessibility features. When you press the Accessibility Features button (or ALT+A), a sub-form opens that allows you to enable the accessibility features that are built into the Windows operating system, such as the Narrator and Magnifier. CFAL will also work with the JAWS screen-reader application.


Section 1 – Data Input Forms

The Main form, which is the default form that is loaded on startup, has controls that are divided into four distinct areas: Data Entry, Reports, Database Administration, and Report Options. Buttons are organized into two distinct groups: Black text for data entry and reporting, and blue text for database controls.

Report Options apply to a number of database reports. Almost all reports will return information based upon the “From” and “To” dates that can be set in the report Options area of the Main screen. For convenience, these dates can be set automatically by selecting an option such as “Last Quarter.” Using these controls will cause the “From” and “To” dates to be set to appropriate values based upon the system clock. For more information, refer to the Reports section of this manual.


1.1 – The People Form

People Form – An Overview

The People form represents the core of the CFAL application’s consumer database. All information regarding consumers, collateral contacts, intakes and referrals, and agency contacts can be entered and edited from the People form.

Before you begin to enter data, you should make a few policy decisions regarding the manner in which personal records will be handled. During initial contact with an individual, every effort should be made to collect enough information so that the individual can be uniquely identified. Only you can decide what constitutes “enough information,” but a good minimum criterion is a name and a phone number. For the inevitable cases where callers wish to remain anonymous, it’s recommended that you create a record with last name “Anonymous” or “Anon”, and that you record a note for each interaction with anonymous callers. By doing so, proper “credit” will be given when calculating statistics regarding activity.

Often “collateral” contacts will call on behalf of a consumer. You must also decide how to handle such circumstances. Ideally, a record will be written for both the collateral contact and the consumer, and each can be classified according to contact type. Practically, interactions directly with consumers or with collateral contacts may be combined into a single record for the sake of expedience. In such cases it’s best – if possible – to record the consumer’s own name, and to reference the collateral contact in the notes field for that consumer.


Another subject for consideration is the issue of privacy. The CFAL database is designed with security features that will – to a point – prevent unauthorized disclosure or alteration of consumer information. It is NOT, however, designed to thwart malicious attack, and therefore great care should be exercised when recording very sensitive information. It’s recommended that extremely sensitive information NOT be recorded in the database, but in an external document that can be physically secured. Then, in the notes field for the individual you can simply write, “see file.”

People in the CFAL database are distinguished by Contact Type. When an individual’s record is first entered into the database, their contact type will default to “Information and Referral”. Once set, the Contact Type will never automatically be changed by the database. If you begin to provide services or interact with the individual in any meaningful way, you will probably want to change their status to “Consumer.” If you stop providing services, you may wish to set the consumer’s status to “Inactive”. The criteria that you use in order to define a person’s status are entirely up to you.

The CFAL database contains a number of list tables that are used to categorize consumers and your interactions with them. These lists are designed to provide standard information for statistical reporting systems such as the Department of Labor 704. By design, these lists cannot be modified in the People form. This restriction helps to ensure that demographic information is categorized in a logical way. In many cases the system administrator can modify these lists, but care should be taken in order to ensure that the accuracy of these reporting systems is maintained. In any event, it’s best to form a consensus with your colleagues about information policy before beginning data entry. Consistency in data entry will improve the accuracy and utility of the statistics that you will gather from your database.

The People form is divided into three sections. The first is located at the very top, and is used to search for specific records. Searches can be performed using one of four fields:

F5: To search by: CFAL ID number, Person, Keyword or Query. When searching by name, a dropdown list that contains all records in the database will be displayed, and only the selected record will be returned. When searching by keyword or query, all records that match the search request will be returned.


At the bottom left corner of the People form there is a record navigator. If many records are returned as the result of a search, you can scroll through the records by clicking on the right arrow located next to the record number until the desired record is displayed.

F3: Unlock current record for editingF9: To search by Last NameF10: To search by Social Security NumberF11: To search by Home Phone numberF12: To search by Work Phone

“Last Name” searches can utilize the wildcard character “*”, and are not case-sensitive. For example, a search for “sm*th” will return all records with last names “Smith” and “Smythe.” You can enter as many wildcard characters in the search string as you wish. “Sm*th*” will return all “Smiths,” “Smythes,” and “Smithsons.” Note that the use of wildcards may result in slower search results. All other searches will only return records that match the search criteria exactly.

The central part of the People form displays basic demographic information. As new data is entered, it will automatically be formatted. For example, if you enter a first name of “ mary” the database will eliminate the leading spaces and retype the “m” in uppercase, so that the name reads “Mary”. This formatting will only be applied to new records.

After first and last names are entered, you will be given the opportunity to associate the individual with an organization that has been stored in your database. If you select an organization from either the “Organization” or “Acronym” dropdown boxes, the address and telephone information for that organization will automatically be copied into the individual’s record. Note that acronyms reference the same list as organizations; the acronym list is provided as a shortcut method for ease of use. If any of the contact information is found to be incorrect after it has been copied, you can edit it and the updated information will be retained in that person’s record.

If you do not associate the person with an organization, the individual’s contact type will default to “Information & Referral”. You may select the Contact Type dropdown box and change the contact type to any available listing. Only pre-defined contact types may be used.

If a date of birth is recorded, CFAL will automatically calculate and continually update the individual’s age based upon the system clock. Age data cannot therefore be edited directly, but the cursor stops in this field so that users who employ a screen reader can hear the age that has been calculated.

In order to avoid duplicate records, the database will not allow you to enter a Social Security Number more than once. A warning message will also appear if a duplicate telephone number is detected. In the event that a possible duplicate record is found, you will be asked if you wish to store the current record or retrieve the duplicate. If you choose to retrieve the duplicate, your current edits will be discarded. In the case of a duplicate Social Security number, you can only save your current edits if you change the SSN or if you leave the SSN field blank.

The CFAL database comes equipped with a complete zip code list for the United States and its territories. When entering new records, the cursor will skip city and state fields and jump into


the zip code field. After a zip code is entered the database city, state, and county or borough information will automatically be entered into the record. In case an error is made, this information can always be edited.

The People form always opens to a blank record. No previously–stored data will appear unless the Show All checkbox on the upper right corner of the People form is selected. This feature was implemented as a safeguard against accidental deletion or alteration of an existing record.

On initial data entry for records throughout the CFAL database, records will be automatically tagged with the User ID of the person who is logged on to the workstation. Users may change the User ID of the record if needed. Only users with privilege level 10 are allowed to delete a consumer record once it has been stored.

The Current Status area of the People form is designed to retrieve and display the most recent transactional information for a given individual. For example, it will display the sum of all current income records and the most recently entered records for housing, education, and domestic status.

The CFAL system is designed so that you can easily record your interactions with people whose information is recorded in its database. The third part of the People form contains controls to sub-forms where you can enter interactive data. There are two sets of sub-forms; pressing the More Options button will display the alternate set.

Sub-forms

1.2 - Case Notes & History sub-form


The Case Notes & History sub-form provides a method to record general interactions with an individual. As new records are written, the date and time of entry and the user’s ID are automatically recorded so that a transactional history can be compiled. An “Initial Entry” record is automatically generated when an individual’s data is first recorded. Do not delete this record, as it is used for reporting purposes. To enter a new case note, press the New button, and select a category for the entry from the drop-down list in the Category field. Select a category that relates to the information that you need to enter. The Date field can be edited as necessary. Hours spent on the transaction can be recorded in fifteen-minute intervals. If services were provided and/or your work was performed as part of a grant, specify Grant Type and Services as applicable. Contact Type is an optional field that can be used to further categorize your notes.

To edit an exisiting record, you must first click “Preview” or select ALT-V on your keyboard.

You’ll note that the selection of certain categories causes additional edit fields to appear. For example, if you select the category “Consumer Becomes Inactive,” an additional field appears next to the Grant Type drop-down box where you can record the reason why the individual became inactive. The following graphic illustrates such a case:


Often during interaction with a consumer, more than one service will be provided or work will be performed under more than one grant. The most accurate way to record such activity is to write multiple case notes – there is no limit to the number of notes that can be recorded. By writing multiple notes, the amount of effort expended for the provision of each service will be accurately recorded. All reporting in the CFAL system is based upon the number of hours recorded by service or grant.

At your option, you can also specify the core services that are provided during each interaction. Any or all of the core services check boxes can be selected. Note that these boxes are provided for your internal reference only, and are not used for reporting.

The notes field is a free-form area where you can record any comments regarding your interaction with an individual.

1.3 – Additional Disabilities sub-form


An individual’s primary disability can be recorded on the People form. If additional disabilities need to be recorded, you can do so via the Additional Disabilities form. Select the disability from the drop-down box, assign it a rank, and enter the date and any notes as applicable. If the disability is considered to be severe, check the Severe box. 1.4 – Assistance Equipment sub-form

The Assistance Equipment sub-form is used to enter data on equipment that is loaned by you to an individual, or to enter information about any assistance equipment that they may already possess. Select the equipment type from the Assistance Equipment drop-down box, indicate if the equipment is a loan, and in such cases enter a loan date and a return date. When the equipment is returned, enter the Returned Date. The Borrower Form button will display a Borrower’s Agreement form for the consumer to sign. The View Inventory button allows you to enter, edit, and manage your inventory. By checking the Equipment Loan box, the item will automatically be removed from your inventory until it is returned.


1.5 – Consumer Goals

Use this sub-form to set goals for a consumer. By pressing the New button you can select the type of goal from the drop-down list and set the Goal Start Date. The Goal Target Date represents the target date set for the consumer to meet the goal; the Actual End Date represents the actual completion date of a goal. You may set as many goals as you wish to for anyone in your database and add any notes that pertain to the consumer activity, consumer progress, staff activity and the final outcome of the goal, as shown below.

CFAL contains an expanded capability for goal tracking. Note that there are new fields that can categorize Consumer Activity, Consumer Progress, Staff Activity, and Outcome. There is also an Outcome Score dropdown box where you can grade the goal’s outcome. The use of any of these new fields is entirely optional. Only Goal Type and Dates as appropriate are currently used for federal and state reporting purposes.

The “Consumer Agreement” button will generate a form that can be printed and then signed by both the consumer and the staff member.

The “Consumer Goal Report” button will generate a detailed report of a specific consumer goal.


1.6 – Intake History

The Intake History sub-form is used to intake a consumer into a grant or program. By pressing the New button you can select a Grant or a Program from the drop-down list. Set the Intake date and a comment if you wish. Certain grants or programs have an associated Requirements Form, where you can record any required additional information. When you press the Req. Form button the associated Requirements Form will appear, or you will see a message that says, “No form has been defined for this grant”. Complete the form as applicable and press Exit to return to the Intake History sub-form.

The next graphic illustrates an SSA Grant requirements form:


1.7 – Employment History sub-form

Use Employment History to enter data about a consumer’s past or present employment. Enter applicable data as desired. If you are working with the consumer under an SSA grant, ensure that you fill in the fields that are marked [SSA]. Doing so will ensure that proper employment statistics are furnished to the SSA BPAO database. The number of days worked is automatically calculated based on the dates that you enter. If the employment is current, leave the end date blank, and the number of days worked will be calculated based on the system clock.


1.8 – Income/Benefits History sub-form The Income/Benefits History sub-form is used to enter data about a consumer’s income and benefits history. Select the type of Income/Benefits from the drop-down list, and then enter the Amount, Start Date, End Date, and Notes as applicable. Reports that calculate income will use this information rather than data from the employment section.

1.9 – Education History sub-form

The Education History button is used to record the education experience of a consumer. Select the applicable Education type from the drop-down box, the date, and any appropriate comments.


1.10 – Housing History

Use Housing History to enter present or past housing data for a consumer. Select the Housing Type from the drop-down box, and enter the Date, Address, City, State, and Zip as appropriate.

1.11 – Services & Referrals sub-form

The Services & Referrals sub-form is used to specify any referrals that you make for an individual. Select the Service and enter the Request Date, Completion Date, Grant, Referred from Organization, Referred to Person, and Referred to Organization as appropriate. If the consumer is receiving services under an SSA grant, other input fields will appear. In such cases, enter all SSA data in order to ensure the accuracy of information that is transmitted to the BPAO database.


CFAL also contains some workflow features that are accessible through the Services and Referrals form. If you refer an individual to someone on your staff (Referred to Person), the referral will appear on the Referrals to Staff reports. This feature improves your organization’s ability to accurately track service requests from consumers.

The remaining sub-forms are accessible via the second set of controls on the People form. These controls can be made visible by selecting the More Options button.

1.12 – Domestic Status sub-form

Use the Domestic Status sub-form to enter an individual’s marital status. Select the applicable Marital Status from the drop-down box, the number of Persons in Household, the Date, and any comments as applicable.


1.13 – Insurance History sub-form

The Insurance History sub-form is used to enter data on the insurance status of an individual. Enter data as appropriate.

1.14 – VR Status sub-form

The VR/DFB Status sub-form is used to record Vocational-Rehabilitation data about an individual. Enter data as appropriate.


1.15 – Attendant Info sub-form

The Attendant Info sub-form is used to record information about an individual’s attendants or attendant needs. Enter data as appropriate.

1.16 – Transport Info sub-form

The Transport Info sub-form is used to record information about an individual’s transportation needs or capabilities. Enter data as appropriate. Note that multiple transportation records can be written, so that changes in a consumer’s transportation capabilities can be recorded.


1.17 – Relationship with People sub-form

The CFAL database has the ability to associate many of its data elements with other elements in the database. The Relationship sub-form allows you select any person in your database (from the drop-down list) and associate them with the individual whose record you are editing. You can also specify their relationship in the Relationship field.

1.18 – Relationship with Organization sub-form

The Relationship with Organization sub-form allows you to associate a person with an organization. Every organization that has previously been entered in the Organizations form will automatically appear in the drop-down list. You can associate a person with as many organizations as you wish.

1.19 – Mailing List sub-form


The CFAL database administrator has the ability to create mailing lists. This sub-form allows you to associate a person with those predefined mailing lists. You can associate a person with as many mailing lists as you wish. Mailing lists provide an easy way to manage correspondence.

1.20 – Volunteers sub-form

This sub-form is used to identify people in your database who are willing to work as volunteers. The form is designed to categorize volunteers by the types of activities that they are willing to perform as well as the times that they are available.

1.21 – Keywords sub-form


Keywords provide another way to make associations in your database. The CFAL database administrator can create a set of keywords in order to classify groups; the sub-form allows you to associate any keyword with any person in your database. Press the Keywords button at the bottom of your screen, then the New button to add a keyword association. You can repeat this process as many times as you wish. When done, press Exit to return to the People form. By associating people with keywords, you will enhance your search capabilities.

1.22 – Phone Referral Form

Interactions with people often involve no more than a quick phone call. As such the Phone Referral form was designed as a companion to the more complex People form, so that basic intake information can be recorded quickly.


Many of the same features of the People form are utilized in the Phone Referral form. Records can be searched as follows:

F5: Opens a drop-down list of every person in your database. Selecting a person from this list will retrieve all of their information into the Phone Referral form.

F9: Last Name search.F10: Search by a staff member

Note that the layout of the Phone Referral form is somewhat different than the People form. Nevertheless, all of the information that is entered in the Phone Referral form will also be accessible through the People form. A button is provided that will allow you to quickly switch to the People form. When the button is pressed, the People form will open and automatically retrieve the same record that is displayed on the Phone Referral form.

The Phone Referral form also contains a section for referrals. This section of the form can be accessed without the use of a mouse by pressing F6.

To refer an individual to more than one organization, select the Services and Referrals button.


Section 2 – Organization Management

Overview

In addition to information about people, the CFAL system is designed to manage most of the data that is related to the operation of your center. Its structure is goal-oriented, so that all of the effort that your staff expends can be related to the objectives of your organization. You can establish as many goals as you wish, and associate them with the standard goals that are measured by the Department of Labor 704 Report. All of your organization’s projects, events, outreach activities, and staff work can be tied to your objectives.

Before you begin data entry, there are a few concepts that you should consider. A Project is a long-term activity for which you may or may not have Events, Outreach Activities, or Work Log entries. An Event is an activity that normally occurs only once. There can of course be recurring events, but in such cases you may wish to define these events as a Project. The same is true of Outreach Activities. An Outreach Activity represents a special kind of Event, and it can be associated with any Project. The Work Log is designed to record any activity by a staff member, and in many cases it can be used as a complement to other entries. The general philosophy that you apply to these concepts is entirely up to you. Just like the information that you collect about people, it’s best to form a consensus with your colleagues as to how you should organize your activities. Doing so will greatly enhance the usefulness of the data that you record.

CFAL also allows you to associate all of the major elements in your database with Keywords. A keyword can represent any concept that is meaningful to you. For example, the core concept “Advocacy” can be listed as a keyword in your database. You can then associate “Advocacy” with any person, organization, project, goal, or event. Making these associations can help you to realize the full potential of a relational database.

A new CFAL installation comes equipped with a set of predefined keywords that provide a representative list of the concepts that are normally associated with an Independent Living Center. You can modify this list in any manner and that you wish, but it’s best to define as many of your own concepts as you can before you begin data entry. Doing so will help to improve the utility of your keywords. It’s also best to keep the list as short as possible. The longer the list, the more difficult that it will be to make logical associations.

2.1 - Community Goals (Systems Change) Community Goals represent the method by which you measure the effectiveness of your organization.

The CFAL database comes equipped with ten standard Community Goals. The goals are designed to conform to Department of Labor 704 reporting criteria. As of this writing, the ten goals are:

1 Community Integration2 Collaboration3 Educational4 Housing Opportunities5 Information Access/ Technology


6 Mobility/ Transportation7 Personal Assistant Services8 Physical/ Attitudinal Barrier Removal9 Vocational10 Other

The goals are contained in a table called “Community Goal Codes”. The contents of this table should not be modified. Doing so may result in the reporting of erroneous statistics.

The CFAL database also contains a table known as “Community Goal History” where you can define the specific goals of your organization. A new CFAL database installation will already have ten records in this table – one for each of the Community Goal Codes. You can add, subtract, or edit the records in this list as you see fit. Take care to associate each record in your Community Goals list with a Type of Goal and at least one Project or Event – doing so will ensure that each of your goals is properly reported.

Note that any number of projects or events can be associated with a Community Goal. The same associations can also be made from either the Projects or Events forms.

2.2 – Project Form

You can search for Projects in much the same way that you search for people. To do so, utilize one of the following methods:


F9: To search by Project Name – list of projects will be displayed in the dropdown box.

F10: To search by Keywords that are associated with a project. If a keyword is associated with more than one project, all of the projects associated with that keyword will be returned by the search. You can view the number of projects returned from a search by examining the Record field at the bottom left corner of the form. By clicking on the right arrow located next to the record number, you can select the project that you wish to open.

F11: To search for projects starting on a certain date. F12: To search for projects ending on a certain date.

To add a new project, press New and then enter a Project Name, Project Description, Start Date and End Date if applicable. By clicking on Goals or Keywords a drop-down list will appear from which you can select associations as you see fit.

The following graphic illustrates the Projects form:

At the bottom of the form there are additional buttons:


The Project Report (Narrative) button will generate a Narrative Report as a Word Document that will show the Project Name, Date, and Description, with Work Log entries and Community Goals linked to it.

The Project Report button will generate a detailed report on a specific project and all information pertaining to it.

2.3 - Tasks

The Tasks button will open a sub-form that allows you to associate tasks with a project.

To enter a task, press the New button, and enter the Task, Estimated Hours, Start Date, Target End and Actual End dates as appropriate. By clicking the Event field, a drop-down list will appear that displays all of the events that have been entered into your database. You can select one event to associate with your task. You can select any number of your staff members to be associated with the task. Staff members must have been previously entered as database users. You can also select any number of volunteers to be associated with a task. Volunteers must be designated via the People form.

2.4 -- Events

The Events form allows you to enter events that can then be associated with Projects and Goals.


As with most forms, there is a section that allows you to search for an event.

F9: To search by Event nameF10: To search by KeywordF11: To search for events with a specific start dateF12: To search for events with a specific end date

To enter a new event, press the New button (or ALT + N) and enter an Event Name, Time & Date, Event Type and a Description as appropriate. By clicking on Associated Goal or Associated Project a list of previously entered goals and projects will be displayed. You can associate the event with as many goals and projects as you wish. If you wish to record a work log entry to be associated with the event, press the Work Log button at the bottom of the screen.

2.5 – The Work Log The Work Log can be used to record any activity by a staff member. The activity can be work performed for a group of people or an organization, or it can simply be a log of general work. Enter a Date, an Entry Type, Organization, Hours, Community Service, Site, and Mileage as appropriate. You can also associate your entry with a Project, Event and a Grant Type. If Tasks have been assigned to your project, you can select them from the Project Task/Goal list, and the hours that you enter in the Work Log will be allocated to that task.

If you enter the name of an organization that has not been previously stored in your database, you will be prompted to enter the organization. If you answer yes to the prompt, the


Organization form will automatically open. When you exit the Organization form you will return to the Work Log form where your entry was made.

If you enter the name of a site that has been previously stored in your database, the mileage to that site will automatically be recorded. If the site is not in your list, you will be asked to enter it along with the mileage. The site will then be added to your list for future Work Log entries.

To enter a new work log record, select “New”. To edit an existing work log entry, you must first select “Show Only My Records” or ALT-W, or you must select the “Date” field (ALT-D).

Note that as with case notes, you can apply your work log entry to any of the four core services. This data is for your internal use only. It does not affect any reporting statistics.

You can search for a work log entry by using the search controls at the top of the form:

F3: Unlock current record for editingF9: To search for a ProjectF10: To search for Entry TypeF11: To search for an Organization NameF12: To search by Beginning and Ending Date

Additional buttons are located at the bottom of the Work Log form:


2.6 – Work Log Report

Pressing the Report button will generate a detailed report for a specific work log entry.

2.7 - Group Case Note

The Group Case Notes feature of CFAL allows you to post the notes from your work log entry to the files of anyone in your database. When you press the Group Case Notes button (or Alt-C), the notes from your work log entry are automatically copied to the Group Case Note form. From there, you can edit your notes and select as many people from your database as you wish.

You can also associate a service with your group case note. When you press the Post Case Note button, all of the text in your note will be copied to the case notes records of each person in the People list.

If you forget to include someone in your list, you can always retrieve your work log entry and post the note to that person. If you wish to edit a previous entry that you’ve already posted, you may do so by selecting the Update previous notes box before selecting the Post Case Note button. All people whose records contained the old version of the note will have their records updated.


2.8 - Publish to Web

In conjunction with other agencies, Engineering Data is in the process of developing a web-enabled knowledge base for use by consumers and centers. During the course of your work you may collect information that can be of use to others. The Publish to Web feature allows you to send your notes to our information repository, where it will eventually be incorporated into the knowledge base.

2.9 – Outreach

Outreach – An Overview

Outreach represents a special type of project or event. As such, a special form is provided to record outreach activity. If the outreach activity involves recurring events, consider the creation of a Project with the same name as the activity. By doing so, you can allocate and segregate all of the hours that you spend on the outreach activity and associate that time with one of your organization’s goals. If the activity is not a recurring event, it’s still a good idea to associate the effort expended with one of your organization’s projects.

The following graphic show the outreach form.


The Outreach form can be used to collect information about Outreach, Training and Educational Activity programs. Enter the Title of Activity, Date and Time as appropriate., You can associate any Participating Staff member and/or Organizations with the outreach event, and answer specific questions related to the activity. The Outreach form also lets you associate a Project and record the hours spent on a specific activity. By pressing the Report button you can generate a detailed report of the Outreach Activity. By pressing the Copy to Work Log button, the Work Log form will open and some of the information will be transferred automatically onto the form.

2.10 – Organizations

The CFAL database can store information about any of the Organizations with which you normally interact. As with most CFAL forms, a facility is provided to search for organizations in your database. To conduct a search, select one of the following methods:

F3: Unlock current record for editingF5: To display a list showing all organizations in your databaseF9: To search by OrganizationF10: To search by CityF11: To search by a Keyword associated with an organization. If a keyword is

associated with more than one organization, all of the organizations associated with that keyword will be returned. The number of organizations will appear in the Record field at the bottom left corner of the form. By clicking on the right arrow located next to the record number, you can navigate through the list of


organizations that were returned by the search.

F12: To search by phone number

To add a new organization to the database, press the New button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Enter all desired information such as Organization, Type, Primary Contact, e-mail, and Phone. You may also associate keywords with the organization in order to enhance your search capabilities. An organization can be associated with as many Keywords as you wish.

The Organizations form also lets you associate people with an organization. All names in your database will automatically appear in the drop-down list. You can as many people with an organization as you wish. Note that doing so will not automatically change the contact type of the person with whom you have recorded an association.

The Mailing Lists button allows you to select a mailing list to associate with an organization.


2.11 - Site Profile

The Site Profile form allows you to record specific information about your organization. The information that you record here will be included in a variety of reports to oversight agencies such as the Department of Labor 704 Report.

The Site Profile Form is only available to personnel with administrator privileges. From the form, access is provided to three other configuration screens: Services, Disabilities, and Grants. CFAL comes equipped with several tables that contain service and disabilities codes as required for Department of Labor and RSA reporting. The tables are called DOL Service Codes,


ISService Codes, DOL Disability Codes, and SSA Disability Codes. You should not modify the contents of these tables. Doing so can result in the reporting of erroneous statistics.

CFAL also contains two corresponding state code tables: State Service Codes and State Disability Codes. If your organization has reporting requirements to a state agency, it may be necessary for you to configure these tables with data according to your state’s requirements.

The Disabilities Configuration, and Services Configuration forms allow you to list as many disabilities and services as you wish. Proper reporting statistics will be generated as long as you assign one of the standard agency codes to each record in your lists. As with other elements of your database, care should be taken in order to keep these lists as small as possible. The longer the lists, the more difficult it will be to collect accurate data.


The Configure Grants screen is used to enter information for work that you perform under specific grants like the Social Security Administration BPAO or HUD Section 8 programs.


It is important that a state be selected for correct report configuration. CFAL is designed to support a variety of state-specific reports.

To check for correct report configuration press the Check Report Config button at the bottom of the site Profile form. If your site profile is not configured properly, you will receive the following message when you press the Check Config button.

Select the Yes button to correct your configuration. You will then receive the following message:


Press Ok to Exit this window.

For more information about the configuration of disabilities and services, refer to the appropriate oversight agency’s documentation.

Section 3 -- Reports In the middle of the Main form, there is a section for configuring and generating Reports. The dropdown box contains a list of all the reports that are available to you.

To generate a report, select its name from the dropdown list and press Make Report. Some reports require you to specify additional parameters before you can generate them, such as a date range.

A few reports require you to specify several options. For example, to generate an Activity Report I & R by Staff and Services, you need to select a service and a staff member. These options can be selected on the Main form in the upper right corner (see above). By checking the View Additional Report Options box, you will be given other options for your reports. These additional options are needed if you want to generate reports that relate to certain grants or programs. The Activity Report Grants & Programs, the Grant Summary Report, the DOL Participant Characteristic Report (where you must specify the DOL Grant) all require that a Grant/Program type be selected.


If you attempt to generate a report without specifying all requisite parameters, you will be prompted to supply the missing information.

If your workstation is equipped with the full version of Microsoft Office, you can convert your reports into Word documents. To do so, preview the report and press the W button on the top menu of your report screen, or select Tools…Office Links…Publish with MS Word. Once converted into Word, your document can easily be edited.

List of pre-configured reports

1- 704 Report: Federal RSA Report For more information, please refer to the RSA 704 Data Collection protocol supplement to this user’s manual.

2- 704 Report - Counties Served (Consumers): List of all counties where consumers were served during a defined period of time.

3- 704 Report Counties Served (Non Consumers): List of all counties where non-consumers were served during a defined period of time.

4- Activity Report - Grants & Programs: List of all people who show an intake into a certain grant or program. To generate the report, the “View Additional Report Option” box on the main form must be checked and a specific Grant or Program must be selected.

5- Activity Report-I & R: List of all people (consumers and non-consumers) who received an Information and Referral Service.

6- Activity Report-I & R by Staff and Services: List of all people with a contact type “Information and Referral” who received a specific service by staff. To generate the report, a staff member and a specific service must be selected on the Main form.

7- Activity Report-Services: List of all people (consumers and non-consumers) who received any service during a specific period of time.

8- Case Notes by Staff (All Served): This report will retrieve all case notes written by staff for consumers and non-consumers.

9- Case Notes by Staff (Consumers): This report will retrieve all case notes written by

staff for consumers only.

10- Case Notes by Staff (I & R): This report will retrieve all case notes written by staff for Information & Referral only.

11- CILR – California Independent Living Report: California State report. (California centers only). For more information, please refer to the California CILR Data Collection protocol supplement to this user’s manual


12- Census Data Counties Served: Census data for all counties (by zip codes) that were served during specific dates. The CFAL database comes equipped with demographic information by county that was obtained from the 2000 US Census.

13- Community Goals: Narrative report of Community Goals (Systems Change).

14- Community Goals – Events: Narrative report showing all Events linked to Community Goals.

15- Community Goals – Projects: Narrative report showing all Projects linked to Community Goals.

16- Consumers by Staff by Service: List of all Consumers receiving a specific service by staff. To generate the report, a staff member and a service must be selected on the Main Form.

17- Consumers (AT only) by Staff by Service: List of all AT consumers (California only) receiving a specific service by staff. To generate the report, a staff member and a service must be selected on the Main Form.

18- Consumer Goals Completed: List of all the consumers who have completed their set goal during a specific period of time. An “Actual End Date” must be entered on the Consumer Goal form in order to count as a completed goal.

19- Consumer Goals Completed by Staff: List of all the consumers who have completed their set goal during a specific period of time by a staff member. An “Actual End Date” must be entered on the Consumer Goal form in order to count as a completed goal.

20- Consumer Goals Not Completed: List of all the consumers who have not completed their established goals during a specific period of time. If the “Actual End Date” is left blank, the Goal will be counted as not completed.

21- Consumer Goals Not Completed by Staff: List of all the consumers who have not completed their established goals during a specific period of time by a staff member. If the “Actual End Date” is left blank, the Goal will be counted as not completed.

22- Core Services Report: Report showing the totals of the four Core services: Advocacy, IL Skills, Information & Referral and Peer Support. The Work Log and the Case Notes & History form both have the four Core services checkboxes from which the report is generated.

23- Current EZ Residents: List of all consumers living in an Enterprise Zone. In order to appear on the list, the EZ checkbox must be checked on the People form.

24- DOL Participant Characteristic Report: Official “Disability Employment Grant Program” report of the Department of Labor. In order to be counted on this specific report, the consumer must have an intake into the DOL grant type.

25- Employment Report: List the names of all people employed during specific dates and their Grant type.


26- File A Bug Report: Form that allows the user to explain and send email to CFAL software developers regarding problems encountered with the CFAL software.

27- Geographic Client Profile by Grant: Report that lists the number of people served under a certain grant with their counties and zip code. In order to generate the report, the consumer must show an intake into a grant or program and a grant type must be selected on the Main form. The “View Additional Report Option” box must be checked and a Grant Type must be selected.

28- Grant Summary: Detailed report that summarizes the number of people served under a certain grant with their specific demographics. In order to generate the report, the consumer must show an intake into a grant or program and a grant type must be selected on the Main form. The “View Additional Report Option” box must be checked and a Grant Type must be selected.

29- List of Current Employers: List of all the employers and their data entered in the Employment history sub-form on the People form

30- Most Recent Activity Report: Displays all activity that has occurred between a date range for any people in the database.

31- Narrative Report: Narrative report showing all Project-Event-Work log entries related and unrelated to specific Community Goals.

32- New People Entries by Date: Report that lists all new entries made between specific dates, the type of contact and the staff member who made the entry.

33- New York VESID Report: New York State report. (New York centers only). For more information, please refer to the New York VESID Data Collection protocol supplement to this user’s manual

34- Outreach Narrative: Report that lists the Outreach entries made during a specific period of time, the projects associated with it, the hours spent, the number of attendees, the number of handout the questions and follow-up. This report gets generated from the data entered on the Outreach form on the Main form.

35- Past Due Equipment: List of all the equipment on loan that was not returned. This report is generated from the inventory list on the Assistance Equipment form on the People Form.

36- Phone List- All: Report of all phone numbers listed on the database for all contact types.

37- People List (All) by Staff: Lists the names of all people in the database by staff member.

38- People List (Consumers) by Staff: Lists the names of all consumers in the database by staff member.


39- People List (I&R) by Staff: This report lists the names of all Information & Referral in the database by staff member.

40- Phone List- Consumers: Report of all phone numbers listed on the database for all consumers.

41- Phone List- Organizations: Report of all phone numbers listed on the database for all organizations.

42- Project Task Assignments (All) by Staff: List of all projects with assigned tasks for all staff members during a specific period of time.

43- Project Task Assignments (Complete) by Staff: List of all projects with completed assigned tasks for all staff members during a specific period of time

44- Project Task Assignments (Incomplete) by Staff: List of all projects with uncompleted assigned tasks for all staff members during a specific period of time.

45- QOH Inventory Report: Quantity on Hand Inventory Report. Generates a list of all items listed as available in inventory. Items will be automatically removed from the available inventory if the checkbox “Equipment Loan” is checked and dates are entered correctly on the Assistance Equipment form.

46- Referrals to Staff (All): Report that lists all referrals made to a specific staff member. The data is generated from the Phone Referral on the Main Form or the Services and Referral sub-form on the People form. On the Main Form, a staff member must be selected to run the report.

47- Referrals to Staff (Complete): Report that lists all complete referrals made to a staff member. The data is generated from the Phone Referral on the Main Form or the Services and Referral sub-form on the People form. An End date must be entered in order for the referral to be considered as “Complete”. On the Main Form, a staff member must be selected to run the report.

48- Referrals to Staff (Incomplete): Report that lists all referrals made to a staff member. The data is generated from the Phone Referral on the Main Form or the Services and Referral sub-form on the People form. The End Date must be left blank in order to count as “Incomplete”. On the Main Form, a staff member must be selected to run the report.

49- Services by City: Report that lists all cities where services were provided and the total hours spend on the services.

50- Services by City and Ethnicity: Report that lists all services provided in a city by ethnicity during a specific period of time.

51- Services by Grant: Report that lists all services provided that have been associated with a grant. The “View Additional Report Option” box must be checked and a Grant Type must be selected.


52- Site Profile Report: Detailed site profile report generated from the data entered on the Site Profile form.

53- United Way by Program: Number of people served in a specific reporting period, by county, including age and ethnicity, income level and grants & programs.

54- United Way - Client Profile: Report that generates the number of people served under the United Way grant with their specific demographics. In order to be counted on the report, a consumer must have an intake into the United Way grant on the Intake & History sub-form on the People form.

55- Work Log Report: Report of all work log entries for all staff member during a specific period of time

56- Work Log Report by Staff: Report of all work log entries for a specific staff member during a specific period of time.


Section 4 - Managing Correspondence

Correspondence – An Overview

CFAL Client can manage correspondence with people and organizations whose address information is stored in its database. It takes full advantage of the mail merge and object-linking features that are a part of Microsoft Office. With CFAL Client and Office you can configure correspondence in a variety of formats, target any group of people from within your database, and track the flow of information to those groups. When entering personal information into your database, select the preferred method of communication in the “Letter Format” dropdown box near the bottom of the Personal Information screen. The supported formats are audiotape, Braille, diskette, letters in either standard or large print, and e-mail. The default is a standard letter. If the contact does not wish to receive correspondence, select “None” from the dropdown list.

Any pre-configured letter can be sent from the Personal Information (People) screen. To do so, press the “Letter” button near the bottom of the screen, select the appropriate letter name from the pop-up menu, and press “OK”. A copy of the letter will be queued for printing.

You can also generate an e-mail message to an individual from within the People form. If you have entered a valid address in the e-mail field, double-click the field, and if your workstation is properly configured, an e-mail message will be generated for you to edit. If you send the message, a record will be written to the individual’s history notes to indicate the time that the message was sent. If you are unable to generate an e-mail message, then your workstation mail system has not been properly configured. Contact your system administrator for further assistance.

Each letter name can have two documents associated with it. One document is designed to contain a standard-format version, and the other a large-text version. A sample of each type is included with the CFAL application.

In most cases, your organization will choose to send e-mail or pre-printed correspondence to its contacts. In such cases, you need only to define a name for the correspondence in the Letters input form. You can then generate an e-mail message, or create mailing labels to place on the correspondence.


4.1 How to Send Letters and Make Labels

In order to send a new letter to a group of people, perform the following steps:

1. If you only wish to generate e-mail or mailing labels, skip to step 2. Otherwise, write your letter using any OLE-compliant word processing application, such as WordPerfect or Microsoft Word. Create two versions – one with large text. You may want to begin with a copy of the sample letters, as they are formatted with the correct margins, hanging indents, and spacing to be compatible with the application’s reports. It would probably be a good idea to store your finished letters in a folder that is accessible to everyone who uses your network.

2. Open the Letters form from the Main form. The Letters button is located in the middle of the main form, next to the Report button. A graphic of the form is shown below:

3. Enter a descriptive name for the letter in the Letter Name field.

4. If you only wish to generate mailing labels or send e-mail, skip to step 9. Otherwise, right-click the Standard Format File field. Select Insert Object…from the pop-up menu.

5. Select Create from File from the next dialog box, as shown below.


6. Make sure that the Display as Icon check box is cleared, and that the Link check box is checked. Browse to the folder where you stored the letters that you created in step 1, and select the appropriate document name.

7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 in the “Large Format File” field. If you want to print your letters on blank paper using a custom logo file, repeat steps 4 through 6 in the “Logo File” field. For best performance when including a custom logo, use a 100 dot-per-inch GIF or bitmap image, 6.5 inches wide by one inch high. You must have an OLE-compliant application on your computer that can edit your logo image type. Examples of applications that can process GIF images are Corel Draw, Microsoft Photo Editor, or Adobe Photoshop. MS Paint, an application that is supplied with Microsoft Windows, can process bitmap images. Bitmaps therefore don’t require special software for editing, but they are larger than GIFs, and they don’t support transparent backgrounds. Sample logo images of each type, formatted with the appropriate characteristics, are included with the application.

8. Once a letter has been configured as described above, it can be edited by double-clicking on the appropriate field in the Letters form. If you selected the Link option as described in step 6, any changes that are made to letter documents will automatically update all corresponding letters that are sent using the CFAL application.

9. From the application Main screen, select the name of the appropriate letter from the Send Letter dropdown box.

10. If you want to send your letter to all consumers, organizations, organization personnel, or to everyone in your database, you can do so by making the appropriate selection in the “To Group” dropdown box. Note that organization addresses can only be printed as mailing labels. If you need to send alternate-format correspondence to a contact within an organization, list the contact in the People form and specify the format that is desired. By doing so you can also automatically track the date and time when the correspondence was sent. If you want to send your letter to every person and organization on a mailing list, select the appropriate list. If you wish to target a specific group of individuals, you can create a custom query that defines the group, and then select the query name from the “Or Query List” dropdown box. A sample mass mail query is included with the application. At a minimum, the query must include the PersonID and CommFormatID


fields from the People table. For more information on custom query development, refer to Microsoft Access documentation.

11. Press the Add to Queue button. All people in your database who have been designated to receive a letter will be added to the letter queue. If you wish, you can preview the letters and labels before printing by selecting Preview from the Options menu near the top of the Main form. When printing labels, the format (Standard, Large Print, Braille…) will appear in the upper right-hand corner of each label unless you select the Suppress Format option. If you wish to include each person’s name and address on a letter that you have created, select the Letters option near the bottom of the main screen. Letters will print with each person’s name and address correctly positioned for mailing in a standard number 10 window envelope. If you choose to print labels, addresses are designed to print three-across on standard Avery number 5160 or 5260 label sheets. A third option allows you to print addresses onto 3-panel pre-folded mailers. When printed, all letters are sorted by zip code.

12. Beginning with CFAL version 3.7, letters or labels will not be generated for anyone whose preferred correspondence type has been set to e-mail. Instead, you must select e-mail in the “Send As” option section. When you select “Create e-mail”, a message will be automatically generated, and a string of e-mail addresses will be placed in the “BCC” address line. BCC means “Blind Carbon Copy”; recipients of a “BCC" message will see only their own e-mail address. For the recipient’s convenience, two types of e-mail receipt can be configured: standard and large print. By using this scheme, any attachments that you wish to include with your correspondence can then be-preformatted according to the recipient’s requirements.

Note that you can override standard mass mail settings and send e-mail messages to anyone in your database, regardless of their preferred correspondence type, as long as their record in the People table contains a valid e-mail address. To do so, simply select e-mail as the first sets of correspondence to be generated.

13. After a batch of letters or labels has been printed, you’ll be asked to confirm that all letters have printed correctly. No prompt will be issued in the case of e-mail; it will be assumed that the message was sent. If any letters need to be reprinted, answer “No” to the prompt, preview the letters again, and reprint as required. When each batch has processed correctly, answer “Yes” to the prompt, and all letters from that batch will be marked as having been printed. It may be necessary to iterate through the printing process several times before the letter queue will record all mail as having been printed. At least one iteration will be required for each type of correspondence and format that is in the queue.

14. When all correspondence has been mailed, press the Record Mail or Clear Processed buttons near the bottom of the Main form. If you select Record Mail, a transaction record will be written for each person for whom a letter has been sent, indicating the name of the letter and the time that the letter was sent. If a custom query was used as the record source for the letter, the name of the query will be recorded as well. If you select Clear Processed, no transaction record will be stored. In either case, all records in the letters queue that are marked with the print flag will be purged from the queue.


15. When printing letters as labels, the requested letter format will be printed in the upper right corner of each label unless you choose to suppress it. For alternate formats such as audiotape, Braille, or diskette, labels will always be generated, and will list the requested format. The labels can then be affixed to tapes, diskettes, or envelopes as appropriate.

16. If you encounter any problems while creating mass mail, it’s easy to start over. Select the Letter Queue button, and examine the status of all correspondence that is waiting to be processed. You can easily clear the print flag on all records by pressing F6 or selecting Clear Status. You can also completely purge the queue and start over by pressing F8 or selecting Clear Queue.


Section 5 - Database Administration

Database Administration – An Overview

To perform the tasks of database administrator, you should have reasonable familiarity with standard networking and Microsoft Access database concepts. There are a number of excellent self-help books available to aid you. The following discussions assume basic familiarity with client-server networks, database structures, and query development.

The CFAL database is comprised of two main files. All data tables reside in a file server that can be stored in any folder on a stand-alone computer or local area network. A copy of the client-side file, containing forms, queries, and reports, resides on each workstation that utilizes CFAL Client application. Client – File Server architecture utilized by CFAL

Each workstation that utilizes CFAL will have a copy of the file "CFAL Client.mde" installed on it. This file is a compiled, executable version of a Microsoft Access database file. No maintenance of this file should be required, and no changes can be made to it. The client application will normally be installed in the directory “C:\Program Files\CFAL Client”.

You can create customized queries and store them in your copy of CFAL Client. If you have created customized queries, you can save them by pressing the “Export Queries” button on the CFAL Main form. After installation of a software update, you can then use the “Import Queries” function to restore them.

A panel on the CFAL Main menu provides you with access to most database administrator functions.


5.1 - Connecting to File Servers

The Connect button allows the CFAL Client application to connect to different Microsoft Access file servers (.mdb files). When CFAL Client is installed, by default it will search for a file server on the local C: drive in a folder called “CFAL Database.” If you are running the application on a network, everyone who uses the application must be able to connect to the same file server in a shared network folder. To establish the connection, press the Connect button, and specify the location where you have installed the file server.

Once you have specified a valid filename, the application will refresh all of its links and connect to the file server. Depending on the size and speed of your network, this operation may take several minutes. The progress of the connection operation will be displayed in the applications status bar (lower left). When the operation is complete, a message will be displayed. The connection operation needs only to be done once per workstation. After a successful connection, the link information will be retained in both the client application and an entry in the workstation registry. If you ever need to re-install the application, CFAL will use the registry information to reestablish its link to your file server.

After a valid connection has been established, a message will be displayed in the lower left portion of the CFAL Main screen showing the path to your file server.

CFAL will run on any network configuration or as a stand-alone application. If you run a server on your network, it’s best to install the CFAL file server to a shared folder on the server. If you run a peer-to-peer network, create a shared folder on your most powerful workstation and store the file server there.


5.2 - Database Users

Everyone who uses your database must be registered in its Database Users table. The application attempts to match the current session network logon name with a UserName entry in this table. If no match is found, or if an unregistered user attempts to run the application, the user must log on using a predefined, active account in order to gain access. If you supply a password to the system administrator account, administrator access will be denied unless the password is supplied. You will also need the administrator password if you need to open your file server directly. Do not delete the System Administrator entry in your Database Users table. Doing so may prevent you from accessing your data.

When entering the name of a new user, you must specify Initials, First Name, Last Name, and a Username, which is the same name that is used to log on to your network. A Level is also required. A Password is optional, as is a Startup Form. The Active checkbox must also be selected, or a user will not be able to log on. When a staff member leaves your organization or no longer uses CFAL, it’s recommended that you uncheck their Active field rather than deleting their record. By doing so, you preserve an audit trail of records that are tagged with the user’s ID.

Checking the High Contrast field in a user’s record will automatically activate the standard Windows high contrast accessibility feature when a user runs the CFAL application.


If the Username entry is incorrectly specified, the CFAL application will not be able to recognize the identity of the user, and the following message will appear:

If the user knows the System Administrator password, or if no password has been assigned, he or she may log on as System Administrator. Otherwise, a different account must be selected from the dropdown list. For example, in the graphic shown at the beginning of this section, user “James Moore” is listed with a Username of “jim” when his network logon identity is actually “jimmy” as shown in the graphic above. By correcting the Username entry in the Database Users screen to read “jimmy”, the user will be able to log on without being prompted.

Often staff members have assistants to enter data for them, but the staff members want records to be tagged with their own user identification, regardless of who performed the data entry. In such cases, leave the “Username” field of both the staff member and the assistant’s records in the Database Users table blank. Doing so will force a logon prompt to be generated, and it will allow users to log on to CFAL using an identity that is different from their network username. If a password is recorded in the CFAL Database Users table, it must still be supplied.

CFAL utilizes a ten-level security scheme. The Level field is used to set security permissions for a user, where 10 allows the highest level of access and 1 the lowest. Controls are enabled or disabled based upon the level that has been assigned. The following table lists each of the CFAL application’s major functions and the minimum levels that are required in order to run them:

Function Minimum LevelAccessibility Features 1People/Phone Referral 1Work Log 2Edit Records 5Organizations 5Outreach 5Process Letters 5Process Reports 5Make Replica/Synchronize 5Events 6SSA Export 6Community Activities 9Projects 6Access Database Window 10


Export/Import Queries 10Site Profile 10Edit Database Users 10FTP transfer 10Delete Records 10

A user who is assigned a privilege level of 1 must also have a startup form assigned. In the Startup Form field, a drop-down list provides a choice of all the forms that are available. If no form is selected, the Main form is loaded by default. User records that are set to a privilege level of 1 must also have a valid username entered that matches the Windows username of their workstation account.

5.3 – Export Queries

The Export Queries function allows you to save queries that you have written to an external database. The function is useful for backup purposes or to share queries with other users. When you press the Export Queries button, you will be prompted for the location of an Access file where your queries can be stored. It’s recommended that you store important queries in your file server where they will be available to all users. Queries that are stored in your client-side copy of CFAL will not normally be visible to others. If you need to install an update to the CFAL application, your queries must be saved first, after which they will be restored as a part of the installation process.

5.4 – Import Queries

The Import Queries function allows you to retrieve queries that you have stored in an external database. When you press the Import Queries button, you will be prompted for the location of an Access file where your queries have been stored. If a valid filename is specified, all available queries will be imported into your CFAL client application.

5.5 – Database Replication

Replication – An Overview

The CFAL system is designed to support remote data collection. Users who can connect laptop computers to your organization’s office network can make a replica copy of your database, disconnect from the network, collect data anywhere, and then transmit the results back to your central database.

The replication scheme that is implemented in CFAL uses internal business logic that is specific to the application, not the standard replication scheme that can be implemented in Microsoft Access. There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. The main advantage of an


application-specific replication scheme is that the replication logic maintains better control of data exchange, since it has better knowledge of the application’s requirements than a generic replication scheme can possess. The database sizes are considerably smaller than they would be if generic replication were used. The application’s internal logic also automatically handles the resolution of write conflicts between database copies, whereas a generic scheme cannot. The only disadvantage of the specific replication scheme is that it does not allow for structural design changes to the file server while there are unsynchronized replicas. This disadvantage should not impose any problems in an operational environment, as file server structure changes are rarely needed, and they can still be effected after data synchronization.

All replication schemes must employ a method to handle write conflicts. A conflict occurs when two or more users using two or more copies of a database make edits to the same record in more than one copy. When data is synchronized, one user’s changes must be preserved while the others are discarded. CFAL uses the following rules to resolve write conflicts between database copies:

Changes to configuration tables and organizations are only preserved in the master (main) file server. For example, disability and services lists will always be copied from the master to the replica when synchronization is performed. Replica users should not attempt to configure tables themselves, as their changes will be overwritten, and doing so may result in the recording of erroneous data.

Changes to personal information in the People table are assumed to be more current in the replica than in the master. If a replica user makes changes to a record that existed before the replica was created, those changes will be made to the master record when synchronization is performed. Any changes that were made to the same record in the master will be overwritten. As such, care should be exercised if you have outstanding replica copies of your database. Instead of editing existing personal records in the master database, create new records, and your edits will be preserved.

If two replicas make edits to the same record in the People table, the changes in the replica that performs the most recent synchronization will be preserved. You should be careful to coordinate with your colleagues if you plan to use multiple replicas. If two replica users must edit the files of the same person, always create new records instead of editing existing records. Doing so will ensure that all information is preserved.

There is nothing in the CFAL structure that prevents you from implementing the standard Microsoft Access replication scheme if you wish, but it is strongly advised that you not do so. If you implement Microsoft replication and are not very careful, you may accidentally lose important data.

5.6 -- Make Replica

To make a replica database, perform the following steps:

1. Make sure that your laptop or workstation is connected to your network, and that the CFAL application is connected to your main file server. You can verify the connection status by examining the “File Server” message in the lower left corner of the Main screen.


2. Press the Make Replica button. A standard dialog box will appear.

3. Navigate to any folder on your laptop’s or workstation’s local disk drive. It’s probably a good idea to keep your CFAL data segregated in its own folder, but it isn’t necessary. To

make a new folder while the dialog box is open, press the Make New Folder icon in the upper right corner.

4. Enter a filename and press Save. You can use any name that you wish for your replica copy, but it’s best to pick a name that will be easy to remember. It isn’t necessary to specify a file extension (such as .mdb) with your filename. If you specify the name of a file that already exists, you will be warned before the file is overwritten. If the file is a replica that has just been synchronized with the master, there is no harm in replacing it with a new copy.

5. An exact copy of your master file server will be created. When the copy operation is complete, you will be asked if you want to connect to the new replica. If you answer yes, the application will connect automatically. Once you are connected to the replica, you can disconnect from your local area and work autonomously.

5.7 - Synchronization

After you have collected a significant amount of data into your replica file server, you can transmit the information to the master by performing synchronization. To do so, utilize the following procedure:

1. Make sure that your laptop or workstation is connected to your network, and that the folder where your master file server resides is connected using the same drive mapping as was done before you made the replica. If you are at a remote location, you can make your connection via dialup networking over a standard modem, or via Virtual Private Networking (VPN) through an Internet connection.


2. Press the Synchronize button. A confirmation message will appear that displays the approximate time required for synchronization, based upon the size of your file servers and the speed of your network connection. If you answer “Yes” to the prompt, synchronization will be performed automatically, and progress meters will be displayed in the status bar area of the Main screen (lower left corner).

3. When the synchronization is complete, a report will be generated in preview mode. If any errors occurred during the synchronization, they will be detailed in the report.

4. If you are connected to your network via a low-speed dialup connection, it’s probably best to continue working with your replica database after synchronization, as the creation of a new replica may take a long time. If you have a high-speed connection, it’s best to make a new replica after synchronization. In either case, keep in mind that the longer you use a replica without creating a new one, the likelier that you are to encounter errors when you synchronize.

5.8 – Synchronization Status

The Synch status button provides you with basic information about the status of your replica database as shown in the following graphic:

5.9 – SSA Data Export

CFAL has the ability to export its information about consumers to the Social Security Administration’s BPAO database. The SSA Export function is used to export information to a database file that can then be transmitted to the SSA. To use this feature your center must be operating with an SSA Benefits Plus grant. The information required for this grant is listed on the Intake History Form under Grant Requirements when SSA Grant is selected. You should also contact your local grant administrator and notify them if you intend to use CFAL Client for SSA data collection.


When you initiate the SSA export function, information in the CFAL database that is associated with the SSA grant is converted into the proper format that is required by SSA. The data is then moved into the SSA Beneficiary Recipients Table on you CFAL file server. The file server also contains two additional tables called SSA Benefits Specialists and SSA Site. Both of these tables must be configured with information about your site and its specialists using data that is supplied by the SSA. The Database Users table must contain the SSA identification numbers of your specialists. To enter this information, click the Database button in the bottom right hand corner of the Main form. Open the table called Database Users and locate the records of your SSA specialists. In the SSAID field, enter the number your specialists’ SSA identification numbers. Note that you must have the full version of Microsoft Access installed on your computer in order to perform this function.

When the SSA Export function runs, you will be prompted for the location of a filename where your exported data will be stored. Enter any valid filename and path. During the export operation, the CFAL application will perform a quality check of the data as it is exported. When the operation is complete, a report will be generated detailing any errors that were encountered. In such cases, you should correct the erroneous information in your CFAL database and perform the export operation again. Once a “clean” export has been achieved, send the exported file to your SSA coordinator. The file is a Microsoft Access database that contains three tables in the proper format.

5.10 – File Server Backup and Maintenance

All of the data that users enter via the CFAL application is stored in a Microsoft Access file server. The file will normally be named “CFAL File Server.mdb” and it will be stored in a folder called “CFAL Database” on a shared directory on your network.

The name and location of your file server is displayed near the bottom left corner of the Main CFAL screen, as shown in the following graphic. Great care should be taken to ensure that your network has only one file server, and that all users are connected to the same file server.

It is strongly recommended that you back up your file server on a daily basis, using a “father/grandfather” scheme so that multiple backup copies are preserved. By doing so, you minimize the risk that a corrupted file server will overwrite a good backup copy.


CFAL users who purchase annual support are given an ftp account on the ed2c web server. Once properly configured, you can backup your file server offsite simply by pressing F2 or clicking “[F2] Send” from the CFAL Main screen. A privilege level of 10 is required to perform this operation, and your workstation must have an add-on program called “ncftp” installed. This program is also required in order to receive a file server or software updates from the ed2c website. If you attempt to send your file server and CFAL detects that ncftp has not been installed, you will be given the option of installing the program.

When a send or receive operation is initiated, ncftp will run in background mode and thus will not be visible on a user’s workstation. If you initiate a send operation, allow sufficient time for the operation to complete (normally 10-15 minutes) before shutting down your workstation.

In order to recover lost space, improve performance, and guard against errors, the CFAL file server should be compacted and repaired on a regular basis. It’s recommended that you perform this operation at least once per month. If you have many users and a large database, you may want to perform this operation more often. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the folder where the file server resides.

2. Make sure that all users have exited the CFAL application. You can verify that all connections are closed by checking for the existence of an ".ldb" file in the directory where the file server resides. The “.ldb” file will have the same name as your “.mdb” file server. If the “.ldb” file exists and you are sure that all users have exited the application, try deleting the “.ldb” file. If you are unable to delete the file, then someone is still using the application.

3. Make a backup copy of your file server.

4. Open the file server. You must log on as "Admin" to access this file directly.

5. Close the logo form.

6. From the Access menu, select Tools... Database Utilities... Compact and Repair Database. If any problems occur, make another copy of the backup that you created in step 3 and try again. Once the operation completes successfully, the database is once again ready for use.

5.11 – Trouble-Shooting – General Errors

If an unexpected error occurs, the CFAL application will issue an error message similar to the one shown below:


The most likely causes of an unexpected failure are network or hardware problems, or corruption of critical data. The error number and description may yield clues as to the nature of the failure. If such an error message is generated, follow these steps:

1. Respond "Yes" to the prompt. CFAL Client will automatically open its Bug Report form, where you can record any pertinent information regarding the error that just occurred. You can select the form or report that you were using from the dropdown lists of the Bug Report form. If your workstation is properly configured, you can e-mail the report directly to ed2c for analysis. CFAL Client also writes a small error log file called "Bugz.txt" in the directory where your server file is located.

2. To verify that connectivity to the server file can be established, perform the steps described in the “File Server Backup and Maintenance" section of this guide. Be sure to verify the integrity of the file server by running the compact and repair utility.

3. Run CFAL Client from a different workstation than the one where the error occurred. Ensure that the linked table information is correct, and that all links point to the CFAL Server Tables file. If it is necessary to move the file server file to another location due to a hardware failure, the link information will have to be updated for each client workstation. Press “Connect”, and then navigate to the folder where the file server has been moved. After “Open” is pressed, CFAL Client will re-direct its links to the new location.

4. Try to duplicate the error by following the same steps as those that caused the error.

5. If necessary, reinstall CFAL Client on the affected workstation. For further assistance, contact ed2c Customer Support.

If you continue to experience problems with CFAL, please have your system administrator perform the following corrective actions:

1. Install all possible Windows updates on every workstation that runs CFAL: Start...All Programs...Windows Update...Scan for Updates (in browser window)

NOTE: It's more important to install WINDOWS updates (left side of screen) than it is to install the CRITICAL updates - Critical updates affect security; Windows updates affect performance of systems like databases.


2. After all possible Windows updates have been run, download and install the following data access component on all computers that run CFAL: These updates are not necessary if you have installed Windows XP Service Pack 2.

http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/mdac_typ.exe

3. Finally, install the appropriate Jet Database Engine Update for the OPERATING SYSTEM (NOT the version of Microsoft Office!) that you are using on each workstation:

http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jet98.exe

http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jetMe.exe


http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jetXP.exe

http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jetServer2003.exe

All of these updates are from Microsoft, not from ed2c. For the convenience of CFAL users, these updates have been collected for download from the ed2c web server. When running the latest versions of CFAL, these component updates will also be downloaded automatically into the "Setup" folder on your network share where your CFAL File Server is located.

Workstations with outdated configurations can in some cases cause improper data recording, which may result in “lost” case notes. If any of your users are experiencing this problem, ensure that the update steps outlined above have been performed. After you have finished these steps, you can attempt to recover "lost" case notes by examining the "Notes" and "UserID" fields in the "Consumer History" table. To do so, follow this procedure:

1. From the CFAL Main form, go to the Database Window (Green button, lower right corner, Level 10 privilege required).

2. Open the table "Consumer History"

3. Ensure that your cursor is placed in the "PersonID" field.

4. Click the "AZ" sort button (or Records...Sort... Sort Ascending)

5. Records with missing PersonID fields will be displayed first. Examine the notes field and attempt to determine the identity of the individual for whom the note was written. If a "UserID" value exists, you can determine who entered the record by finding that UserID in the "Database Users" table.

6. If you are able to determine the identity of the person for whom the note was written, retrieve their record from the CFAL "People" form (or table) and enter their CFALID into the PersonID field of the "Consumer History" table - the record will then be re-associated with that person's data. If you are unable to determine this information, it is recommended that you delete the record.


http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jetServer2003.exe

http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jetXP.exe


http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/jetMe.exe


http://www.ed2c.com/downloads/mdac_typ.exe

5.12 – Trouble-Shooting – Read/Write and Permission Errors

If a user runs CFAL or NetCIL and receives any sort of “database is read only” message, their user permissions are probably not set correctly.

5.13 – Trouble-Shooting – Display Issues

800x600, turn off large fonts, toolbars

For further assistance, please contact ed2c customer support.

5.14 – Database Tables and Lists

By design, many of the tables that are contained in the CFAL database are not accessible via input forms. Most of these tables contain configuration information, and their inadvertent alteration may cause erroneous statistics to be generated.

If your workstation is equipped with the full version of Microsoft Access and you have a privilege level of 10, CFAL will display a green Database button in the lower right corner of the Main screen. Pressing this button allows you direct access to CFAL tables via the standard Access interface.


Note that tables are only accessible as links through the client application. With linked tables you cannot modify the design structure of any table, but you can edit its records.

If you wish to edit any of the tables that CFAL uses you may do so, but care should be taken when editing the contents of configuration lists, as erroneous data can result. Certain configuration tables have warnings regarding edits in their description fields. Several tables are also configured as hidden objects in order to provide an additional safeguard against inadvertent modification.


The following table lists all CFAL input forms, list controls, and their corresponding table sources. The “Staff” control on all forms uses the Database Users table as its row source.

Form Control Table

704 Requirements Ethnic Codes Ethnic Codes Disability Disability Codes

Assistance Equipment Assistance Assistance Codes Inventory Inventory

Attendant Attendant Attendant Codes

Case Notes Group Entry Grant Grant CodesServices Services

Community Goals GoalType Community Goal Codes

Consumer Goals GoalType Achievement CodesOutcome Score Outcome Scores

Consumer History HistoryCode History CodesReason for Inactivity Inactive CodesAchievement Achievement CodesGrant Grant CodesServices ServicesOrgName Organizations

Disabilities Disability Disability Codes

Disabilities Configuration DOL DOL Disability CodesSSA SSA Disability CodesState State Disability Codes

Domestic Status History Status Domestic Status Codes

Education History Education Education Levels

Employment History Employment Employment CodesState StatesGrant Grant CodesDislocated Dislocation Criteria Ant Employment Status Ant Codes


Form Control Table

Events Key Search KeywordsName Search EventsEventType Event TypesAssociated Goals Community Goal HistoryAssociated Projects ProjectsAssociated Events Events

Housing History Housing Housing CodesState StatesCounty CountiesInactivity Reason Inactive Codes

Income History Income Benefits Source Codes Info Type Letters

Insurance History Insurance Insurance Codes

Intake Grant Grant Codes

Inventory Grant Grant Codes

Letters Send (software-generated list)Letters LettersQueries (system table) MailingList Mailing List Codes

Letters Queue Person People Letter Letters CommFormat Comm Format Codes

Main GrantName Grant CodesReports (software-generated list)Service Services

Organizations Key Search KeywordsType Org TypesState States

Outreach OrgName OrganizationsOutreach Name OutreachProjects Projects

People Ethnic Ethnic CodesCommFormat Comm Format CodesOrg OrganizationsDisability Disability CodesContact Type Contact Codes


State States

Form Control Table

People County CountiesPos PositionsSpecialLang Special Language CodesAcronym OrganizationsPrefix Title Codes

People Search NameSearch PeopleKeyword KeywordsQuery (system table)

People-Phone Staff Search Database UsersEthnic Ethnic Codes CommFormat Comm Format Codes Org OrganizationsDisability Disability CodesContact Type Contact Codes State StatesCounty CountiesPos PositionsSpecial Language Special Language CodesSecond Disability Disability CodesAssist Assistance CodesDomestic Domestic Status CodesPrefix Title CodesAcronym OrganizationsHowDid Referral Source CodesRef from Org OrganizationsRef to Org Organizations

People-Phone Ref Person Database UsersService ServicesPride Status Pride Status CodesOrganization Organizations

Pride Requirements Ethnic Ethnic Codes Disability Disability CodesLanguage Special Language Codes

Project Tasks CommunityGoal Community Goal CodesEvent Events

Volunteers (People who have been designated as volunteers)

Transportation Transport Transport Codes


VR/DFB History VRStatus VR Status Codes Work Log Entry Search WorkLogCodes

Org Name Search OrganizationsProject Search ProjectsType WorkLogCodesOrg Name OrganizationsSites Work SitesGrant Grant CodesService CommunityServicesProjects ProjectsEvents EventsProjectGoalTask Project GTEAcronym Organizations

5.15 – FTP Configuration

In order to provide better support, ed2c provides licensed CFAL users with an ftp (file transfer protocol) account on the company’s web server. Users can move a copy of their CFAL file server to and from the site for backup, analysis, or modification purposes.

There is an FTP configuration form that can be accessed from the Site Profile menu, as illustrated by the following graphic.

Enter data as provided by ed2c technical support. Once the configuration has been set, users with level 10 (administrator) privilege can transmit or receive file server data by selecting the blue [F2] Send or [F3] Receive labels in the Database Administration section of the Main form. These functions will initiate a command-line function called ncftp, which must have been installed on the user’s workstation. Once the ftp function has been initiated, users can exit CFAL without interrupting the transfer. When a transfer is complete, the minimized ftp window should close automatically.

When CFAL data is received from the ed2c ftp site, your current file server will be renamed with a “.old” extension in place of “.mdb”, and a new file server with an “.mdb” extension it will be


placed in the folder on the network share where your current CFAL file server resides. The ftp receive function will never overwrite your existing CFAL data.


CFAL Client DatabaseInstallation Instructions

Please read the following product disclaimer statement before attempting installation.

The software that is contained on this CD is distributed royalty-free for evaluation purposes only. If you decide to adopt this software for operational use, you agree to pay a license fee to Engineering Data Corp. You also agree not to redistribute this or any derivative works based on CFAL designs to any outside entity. It is strongly recommend that you also purchase a support contract in order to ensure the provision of quality service. Engineering Data does not guarantee the suitability of this software for any particular purpose, and we cannot be held responsible for any loss of revenue or profit, loss of hair, lost or damaged data, or other commercial or economic loss or for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages whatsoever that occur as a result of its use. The good folks at Engineering Data will do their level best to help you with any trouble that you might run into, but by using this software you acknowledge that Murphy is out there, lurking, and that if you're not careful, he'll get you. Lawyers make us say these things; we thank you for your understanding.

System Requirements:

Operating System: Any Windows version that is currently supported by Microsoft. Windows 2000 users must also have installed at least Service Pack 1. A copy of the latest service pack is provided on the CFAL-NetCIL installation CD.

Database Application: Microsoft Access 2000, XP or 2003. If your workstation is not equipped with the full version of Microsoft Access, you will be given the option of installing the run-time version, which is provided on this CD royalty-free.

Network Environment: Any Windows version that is supported by Microsoft, or Novell 4.x or higher.

Special Note for Access 97 and 2000 users: If you are currently using Microsoft Access 97, this application will not run unless you upgrade to Microsoft Access 2000, XP, or 2003 or install the equivalent run-time versions of Access. If you are currently using Microsoft Access 2000 and you install the XP version of CFAL, this application will not run unless you upgrade to Microsoft Access XP. If you choose to install the run-time versions of Access 2000 or XP, you may no longer be able to open your older Access 97 or 2000 files. If you have important data that is stored in Access 97 or 2000 format, we strongly recommend that you upgrade to the full version of Access XP before installing this software, and then install the XP-compatible version of CFAL.

Special Note for Access 2003 users: Prior to running the CFAL application, you must change the security settings of Access. To do so, open Access directly, click on “Tools” (on the top menu), then “Macros”…“Security”. Select “Low” from the security menu.

Installation Procedure:

1. There are two separate installation procedures that must be run when you first set up the CFAL application. The first setup procedure in step 3 will install the file server, where


all of your data will be stored. This procedure should be run only once. The second setup procedure in step 4 will install the application software. This procedure must be run for each user. When the CD is loaded, the installation program should run automatically. If it doesn’t, open the CD and run the file “CFALMenu.exe”.

2. If your workstation does not use Windows 2000, skip to step 3. If you are using Windows 2000, it’s important to verify that you have installed a Service Pack before proceeding. You can do so by selecting “Start…Settings…Control Panel…System” and examining the System Properties information that Windows will display. If you determine that a Service Pack has not been installed on your computer, click the “Windows 2000 Service Pack” button on the CFAL Installation Menu and follow the on-screen instructions. At the end of this procedure, you will need to reboot your computer. Imagine that.

3. Decide where you want to store your data. CFAL Client is designed for multiple users to connect to a single file server on a local area network. It can also be used by a single user on a stand-alone workstation. In either case, the file server must be installed. To do so, click the “CFAL Server Install” button. By default, the application will attempt to install the file server on a drive called “C:” in a directory called “CFAL Database”. If necessary, select an alternate location at the second menu prompt by clicking “Change Directory”. If you choose this option, you’ll be prompted to enter the alternate location. If you select an alternate drive and wish to create a new folder for the file server, make sure that you type the folder name in the “Path” edit box on this input screen. For example, if you want to install the application on a single computer in a folder called “Test”, you will probably install the file server on your workstation’s “C:” drive. Click “Change Directory” and select drive “C:” from the “Drives” list. If the folder “Test” already exists, select it from the “Directories” list. If it doesn’t and you want to create it, type the folder name into the “Path” edit box. For this example, the “Path” edit box should then read “C:\Test” before you continue. If you install the file server to a location other than “C:\CFAL Database”, make a note of the path. You’ll need this information the first time that you run CFAL Client. Complete the on-screen installation prompts and return to the CFAL Installation Menu before proceeding to step 4.

4. Install the client application by clicking the “CFAL Client Install” button. Each user needs a copy of this file, and the user’s workstation must have the full or runtime version of Access XP installed. If the installation program detects that Access XP has not yet been installed, you’ll be given the option of doing so. If you currently use Access 97 or 2000, please review the “Special Note for Access 97 and 2000 users” above. You can also install Access XP runtime directly from the CFAL Installation menu. By default, the application will be installed into the directory “C:\Program Files\CFAL Client”. Unless there is some compelling reason to do otherwise, select the default location when prompted. Repeat this step on every workstation where you intend to run the application.

To start the application, double-click the desktop icon that was created during installation. If you did not choose to create an icon during installation, press “Start…Programs…CFAL Client…CFAL Client”. If you’re running Windows 98 or higher, you can right-click on the “CFAL Client” icon on the start menu, and paste a shortcut to your desktop.

As described in step 3, the application will attempt to connect to a file server called


“C:\CFAL Database\CFAL File Server.mdb”.

If you chose a different path or name for the file server, you’ll be prompted to locate it when the application starts. After you select the file and click “Open”, the client will re-establish its connections to the server. After this procedure is complete, it need not be repeated unless you must move or rename the file server.

If you experience any difficulties after installation, re-run the procedure and be sure to select DCOM components, Visual Basic Runtime 6.0, and ActiveX controls when prompted (fourth screen). If problems persist, try installing the data access component and Jet database engine upgrade upgrades that are available on the installation CD in the Data Access folder. These components are also available on the ed2c website as described in Section 5.10 of the Database Administrator’s Guide.

If you need additional assistance, you can call Engineering Data toll free at (888) 335-8600, send email to [email protected], or visit the CFAL section of our website: www.ed2c.com/cfal

Good luck.

Engineering Data Design Corporation ed2c Canada105 Daventry Lane Suite 100 4018 Avenue de VendômeLouisville KY 40223-2879 Montreal Québec H4A 3N1


http://www.ed2c.com/cfal

mailto:[email protected]

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