Motorcycle Safety Course Tracking Database (MSB_APP) (PLEASE READ!)

PART I

Introduction: The MSB_APP program is a Microsoft Access database that will allow Motorcycle Safety Course sponsors to keep a computerized record of classes taught. Some of the features include printable student rosters, multi-level search capability, statistical queries, rider coach contact information, and electronic submission of class information to DPS. Acquisition: Any qualified sponsor may contact TXDPS Motorcycle Safety Bureau personnel and request a copy of the program. Within 10-14 days (typically 2-4) you should receive an installation CD containing a customized database specific to your location. *** PLEASE – if you request the program and intend to use it to submit data to DPS, do NOT submit class/student information in whatever manner you are used to. When you get the program, it will contain DPS’s historical data for your site (all the class information that DPS has related to your particular sponsor ID). If you continue to submit paper copies of your class data AFTER your database has been created, the records in your database will no longer match those at DPS. This will create synchronization problems and general bad karma. Basic Requirements: You may use one(1) copy of the program for your own class/student tracking with just the following equipment: A Pentium class or higher computer Video card/monitor capable of 800x600 resolution Windows 98 or above operating system Familiarity with Windows program operational basics and file navigation. Electronic class submission requirements: The purpose for the creation of this program is to ease the burden of data entry placed on DPS personnel. Although you could use the program as a personal database, it would be greatly appreciated if it were used to submit class and student information electronically. To do so you will also need: Internet connection E-mail account For Best results: Although the program should run on any Windows 98 or above system, with or without MS Office Suite, certain features work best with Windows 2000 and Office 2000 professional. Electronic submission of files should be very simple with any MAPI compliant e-mail software – However… the program was developed using Microsoft tools. Not surprisingly, it works best when MS Outlook (the full version, not just Express) is your mail client

PART II Installation: ***Important – for all Windows versions above 98, you MUST have administrator privileges to install the program.

The CD you will receive should auto-start when placed in your CD drive (assuming your computer is running and Windows has started). If it fails to do so, open Windows Explorer (right-click the “My Computer” icon on your desktop and choose “Explore”). Locate the setup.exe (or the autorun.inf) file on your CD and double-click on it. The first setup screen you should see will look like this

Followed by:

And this dialog box in the same blue background shown above.

It is highly recommended that you choose all defaults during setup. The default location for the program is “C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\MSB_APP.mdb”. These directories will be built: C:\Program Files\MSB_Client ……………….(default location of the program file) C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\Archive …….. (default location of old exported/submitted class files) C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\Data ………….(default location of data file)

C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\Import ………...(default location of data for import) C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\Export …………(default location of data for export) For those who are more visually oriented, using Windows Explorer, the directory tree should look like this:

Although you can install to any directory, the above hierarchy must remain intact for the program to function properly, and any trouble-shooting will be simplified by accepting the defaults. The program can be installed to run on a multi-user network (see “Networking the App” later in this document) but is intended for use on one computer only. ** It is very important that a sponsor only use one location (computer) for data entry.

The installation program should create a shortcut in your “Programs” submenu (accessed from the

“Start” button) AND a shortcut on your desktop. If the desktop shortcut does not get created – Right click a blank area of desktop and choose “New -> Shortcut”. You will be prompted to type in or browse for the location of the program. If you accepted the defaults, you can cut and paste the following italicized text into the location box: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Access Runtime\Office10\MSACCESS.EXE" /Runtime /Excl "C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\MSB_App.mdb"

This will direct Windows to use the MSAccess 10 runtime that is installed with the program. Attempting to open the program directly from Windows Explorer or through any other version of MSAccess could result in the program becoming corrupt and unusable.

During installation it is not uncommon to see several warning dialogs telling you that a file that is being installed is older than a file that you currently have. You will be asked if you want to keep your current version of the file or install the new one. Always answer “Yes” to keep your current version! If you overwrite your newer file, it is highly likely that some other program on your computer will stop working correctly.

Now that you know where everything is, you may be tempted to “fix” or “enhance” something

yourself. PLEASE don’t. If there are features that you would like to see added to the program, or “features” that you believe are bugs, send an e-mail to motorcycle.safety@txdps.state.tx.us. Bugs get fixed pretty quickly and the latest version of the program file can always be downloaded from http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/msb/ under the “Course Sponsor Material” header.

** ATTENTION WINDOWS VISTA USERS** In Microsoft’s ever increasing attempt to save us from ourselves, they have made sure that extra steps will need to be taken to run anything on Vista. After installation on a Widows Vista machine, you will need to click on the “Start” button and locate the shortcut to the MSB_App program. Right-click on the shortcut and select “Properties”. Check the “Target” box and make sure it reads: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Access Runtime\Office10\MSACCESS.EXE" /Runtime /Excl "C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\MSB_App.mdb" as in the picture to the left. Next, click on the “Compatibility” tab and set these values as in the picture to the right.

***** WARNING!!! **** You MUST have administrator rights to access and set these properties. You MUST set compatibility mode to “Windows 2000”, and you MUST set “Run as an administrator”, or Windows Vista will NOT allow the program to put the files in the proper place and YOUR DATA MAY NOT GET SAVED TO THE DATABASE. Without making the above changes, you will also not be able to export your class files.

In addition to the settings in the property boxes shown above, it may also be necessary to change permissions on the “C:\Program files\MSB_Client” directory. To do this, you MUST be logged on as a person with administrative rights on your computer. Use Windows Explorer and open the “C:\Program Files” directory. Right-click on the “MSB_Client” folder and choose “Properties”. Select the “Security” tab. Select the Group named “Users” in the top list box and click the “Edit” button. Make sure the “Users” group has “Modify” permission to the MSB_Client folder and all folders within it.

***** ATTENTION: USERS OF OFFICE 2007 ********* OK, now that we’ve seen how complicated Windows Vista makes things, let’s see what else Microsoft can do to us with Office 2007. If Office 2007 is installed BEFORE installing the MSB_Client program, you will get several messages telling you that a file you’re installing is older that what is already on your computer. ALWAYS keep the newest version of any file during installation. There have been occasions (but it is not consistent) that the MSB_Client folder will have to be added to a “trusted site” list for Access 2007. *** Additional note: If Access 2007 is installed AFTER the MSB_CLIENT program, the shortcut that the MSB_Client program installs seems to break and there doesn’t seem to be any way around it. You can create a new shortcut directly to the file “C:\Program files\MSB_Client\MSB_App.mdb” by right-clicking on the MSB_App.mdb file, dragging it to your desktop, then choosing “create shortcut here”. Alternatively, you can modify the existing shortcut to use Access 2007 instead of the Access 200I runtime that was provided. On MY system, the modified shortcut target reads "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\Program Files\MSB_Client\MSB_App.mdb".

From Access 2007, click on the down arrow on the main, top “ribbon” and choose “More Commands”

In the next dialog, choose “Trust Center”:

Then choose “Trust Center Settings (button on middle right of form):

Choose “Trusted Locations” in the left pane, then click the “Add New Location” button. You will get a dialog that allows you to Browse to the “C:\Program files\Msb_client” folder:

Find the “C:\Program Files\Msb_client”, click OK, then check the box that says “Subfolders of this location are also trusted.” Click OK until you get back to the main screen.

Network Installation: Network installation is a little trickier and should only be attempted by persons whose familiarity with Windows is well beyond the “basic” level. This can work… really…. But may introduce problems that will be unique to your network and DPS personnel will NOT be responsible for trouble-shooting. The first step you need to take is to determine which computer is generally available at all times (the “Server” computer). Once you have determined this, you should select a directory for the program (the default will be OK, but is not necessary). Make sure that directory is shared - on Windows 2000, right-click on the folder, choose “Properties” and the “Sharing” tab. Make sure “Share this folder” is checked and give it a share name – again, the default (MSB_CLIENT) is fine. Use the “Security” or “Permissions” tab to make sure that everyone who needs access to the program has Read/Write./Modify privileges to the “\MSB_Client” folder and all the files/folders under it.

In order to insure all supporting files are installed, it is recommended that the installation program be run on each computer that is to use the program. After installation, you should delete the directories (folders) that were created on all computers except the one that is to be your “server”.

EVERY computer that will be used to run the program MUST have a drive mapped so that the path to the MSB_APP folders are the same from each location. This INCLUDES the computer where the folder actually resides. Use the “Tools->Map Network Drive” wizard in Windows Explorer. Make sure the “Reconnect at Login” option is checked.

example: The network name of my computer is “Clunky01” I have a default installation of the MSB_CLIENT at “C:\Program Files\MSB_Client” I shared the folder to “everyone” with full permissions. I accepted the default share name of “MSB_Client.” I mapped drive “P” on all my computers (including Clunky01) to “\\Clunky01\ MSB_Client” Lastly, I create shortcuts on all computers to point to the program. **The shortcut “target” text for a network install will need to be modified to allow multiple users. In this example the correct target path is: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Access Runtime\Office10\MSACCESS.EXE" /Runtime "P:\MSB_App.mdb" **NOTE the absence of the “/Excl” switch!

Important Installation notes: The installation package that is provided installs a vast number of supporting files. Depending on your current computer configuration, many of them may already be installed. During installation, you may see one or more messages like “A file being copied is older than one currently installed. Do you want to keep your current file?” ALWAYS keep the newest copy of these files. Overwriting one of these system files with an older version could cause instability of other applications on your system. This is NOT a bug or limitation of our software. It is a problem common to any program installation on a Windows system. When using a non-default installation, the first screen you will see when you try to open the program is this: Don’t panic – You’re the one who decided not to accept the defaults. Now the program can’t find it’s data files. Choose “Yes” and you will get a screen similar to this:

You should know where you installed the files. Find the “MSB_CLIENT\Data” directory and double-click the MSB_DAT.mdb file. The program will then re-link to the data and everything should run normally again. If you did a network installation, and did not map the drives exactly the same on every computer, you will probably get these messages every time you open the program on any machine.

PART III Running the app: This is your Main Form. It is your friend. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

In the top section, above the Ranges Site(s) divider, is the information DPS has on file about the

sponsor. If any of this information is incorrect, especially the e-mail address, please contact DPS Motorcycle Safety dept and ask them to update your records. You may edit any of this information except the MSFNum, yourself but it will NOT update the DPS master record.

The lower section lists the Range Sites that you operate or have operated in the past. The RERP

number is a combination of your MSF issued Sponsor number and MSF sanctioned range ID number. When your database is built, all information that DPS has on file is included. For this reason, you may see ranges that have not been in use for many years and they may or may not be marked as inactive. To hide a range that is inactive, click on the “Active” label above the check boxes. Click it again to unhide them.

You can edit the Location description and Active status of your Range sites, but your edits will not

be saved to the DPS master If there are range sites that you use that are not listed, you must contact DPS to get an update to

your data file (see the section on Main menu bar functions for instructions). **Important: The column to the far left of the range site list box is the Range selector. Notice the

arrow beside the first range listed in the picture. This indicates that the first range (01) is selected and any class operations (adding, editing, or viewing) will be filtered to that range site only. Before you add a class, be sure that the correct range site is selected.

Viewing or editing an existing class: The Edit Class button (located in the lower left corner of the main form) will allow you to view, edit, or print class rosters that are already in the database. To view a previous class, first be sure that the

correct range site is selected in the Range Sites list, then click the Edit Class button. A list of classes from that site will pop up like the following form:

In this picture, the range site name is “site location”. The start and end dates of each class held there as well as the course level are also shown. In the lower left panel, there are filtering options. If, like in this example, there have been many classes held at this site, you can filter it down to help you locate the correct one. Choose the check box next to the type of filter you want to use and a text or combo box will appear that is appropriate to that filter. Make a selection or fill in a date range and click on the “Apply Filter” button to narrow it down. The Change Spn/Rng button (red lettering) is provided for those who were not paying attention in step one. If you inadvertently added a class to the wrong range site, you can correct it here… but since I see the raw data, I’ll know. When you have found the class you want to edit or view, select it from the list and click the OK button (double-clicking the list will also work). After selecting the class, a screen with the basic class information will appear:

The upper section is fixed and cannot be edited. The lower section containing Rider coach names, start and end dates, and class level is editable. If you have NOT already exported this class, the Delete Class button is active and you can delete this record and all student information that goes with it. However, if you have already exported this class you’re stuck with it. If any of the information is incorrect, just edit it and it will get marked for re-export and will overwrite the record at DPS.

The Rider Coach boxes are drop down lists (f4 will expand them). The list will move to the first matching name as you type, or you can expand it and choose directly. If a Rider Coach is missing from the list, you must contact DPS for a data update. Yes, it is a long list of names, and you’ve never heard of most of them. Most sites will never use more than 3-4 instructors, but a certified instructor is qualified to teach at any site and therefore his/her name must be available to anyone who might use him/her. If you get tired of seeing all those names, mark the instructor as inactive in on the instructor information page (instructions for that are found later in this document). Click the Add/Edit Students button of the class info form to view, edit, or add students to this class. This is the student form:

Student information can be viewed or edited from this form. Here again we see that Change

Spn/Rng button. It functions the same as the one on the class selector form. Until the record has been exported, you can also delete students one at a time. The Print button on this page will print a Student roster for this class. The OK button will save any changes you made, close this form and return you to the main screen. The Cancel button will drop any unsaved changes and return you to the main screen. Also notice the record selector a t the bottom left of this page. If you decide this class is not the one you thought it was, use the arrows to scroll through all the records from that range one at a time – but notice that there are 372 classes for this sponsor on this range site. They are generally ordered chronologically, but there is no guarantee how MS Access might decide to sort on any given day.

Adding a new class: Much of this will be familiar from the section on viewing. Essentially, all the same forms are used, but just opened to new records. From your main form, make sure you have the correct range site selected, then click the New Class button. A session form will open with the top section (showing you sponsor name, range RERP and location) already filled in. If this is not the correct range, cancel now and select the correct one on the main form. Otherwise, select your primary and secondary rider coaches – up to 5 rider coaches per class. Fill in the start and end dates, and the class level, then select Add/Edit Students. Yes, tabbing through the form

will take you to the end date before the start date. It is NOT a bug, it was requested that it be set up this way. The class level is defaulted to ‘B’ because it is the most popular course. You can choose ‘B’, ‘E’, or ‘R’ from the list. You may press the Cancel button any time before saving the record to return to the main form. The class record is not created or saved until you either close the form or click the Add/Edit Students button. At least one rider coach is required to save the class. The class end date is required before saving the class (if you fail to enter the start date, it will default to the same as the end date). Classes are not allowed end dates that are earlier than the start date.

Adding Students to your new class: After creating a class (session) record as outlined above, double-check the information in it and click the Add/Edit Students button. The same form that you use to edit student information will now open ready to add students to your new class. The Print button on this page will print a Student roster for this class. The OK button saves any changes you make, closes this form, and returns you to the main screen. The Cancel button will drop any unsaved changes and return you to the main screen. **tip: You can print a student roster for your rider coach(es) before a class. Create the class and add all students that have signed up. Enter all the student information except grades, pass/fail status, and certificate numbers. Click the Print button. Your rider coach can pencil in the scores, and return the form to you after the class. You can then edit the class record to add status information.

Exporting your class information: Depending on your activity level (how many classes you hold in whatever time frame), you will soon need to submit data to DPS.

On your main form, just off-center to the bottom right, there is a button with green text to “Export

Class”. There is also an “Export” menu on the application toolbar. From the Export menu, the “Recent Classes” option will do exactly the same thing as the button on the main form. For people who like to use the keyboard, the key combination Alt+“e”, then “r” will activate the menu function.

You do NOT have to export each class individually. Exports have been done with 30+ classes,

but 3-5 classes at a time is more reasonable. When you click the Export Class button, your database is scanned for all classes and students that

either have not been previously exported or have been edited since the original export. If it finds none, you will be told that there is nothing to export and the routine stops there. If there are records that haven’t been sent, the program will create two files in the export folder of your MSB_CLIENT directory (this is one of the reasons the directory structure must stay as designed). One file will contain all the class information, and the other will have student information. The program creates the file names by concatenating “SES” + date + MSF sponsor ID number + “.txt” and “STU” + date + MSF sponsor ID number + “.txt”. After creating the files and writing the class and student information into them, all those records are marked as having been exported and will not be included in subsequent exports. It is critical that you attach files and send them to DPS every time you use the export! If you export more than once per day, the program will check the export directory for existence of files with the names it has just created. If they are already there, filenames are created appending ‘a’ after your MSF sponsor ID number. If that name is already in use, it advances to ‘b’ and so on through ‘z’. That

allows for 27 exports per day with unique filenames. If you export more than once per day you must attach all the exported files when you submit to DPS. The program will then ask you if you want to send the files by e-mail at this time. If you answer ‘yes’, the program attempts to create a new e-mail message for you. If your e-mail client is MAPI compliant, it will start your e-mail software if it is not already running, create the e-mail, address it to Motorcycle.Safety@txdps.state.tx.us, and attach your files.

To use the automatic mailing, you should make sure you have an open/active Internet connection before attempting an export. If your e-mail client is not MAPI compliant, you get to do all this manually. Manually attaching classes to e-mail: Open your e-mail client and start a new e-mail. Address it to: Motorcycle.Safety@txdps.state.tx.us – note the period between “Motorcycle” and “Safety”. Give it an appropriate subject line (Recent classes from YourSiteName will do). Unfortunately, I cannot give you detailed instructions for attaching files for each and every e-mail client out there. However, each of them have some method of doing so – as far as I know. With the file name information given above, you should be able to decipher the names of the two files to attach. Sorting by last modification date in Windows Explorer will also make this easier. Important note – attachments will always be in pairs. If you do not have, or do not send, both an SES***.txt and an STU***.txt file, the classes cannot be imported to the DPS master database. The files will be in your “C:\Program Files\MSB_CLIENT\export\” directory (if you installed to defaults) and will have the date of export beginning with the 4th character of the filename. Later versions of the program have a menu item “Export->Open Export Folder” that should open windows explorer directly to your export directory. If you have your Windows Explorer set to “Show Details” there will be a column that shows “Modified”. Clicking on the column header will sort by that column and an arrow pointing up or down will appear next to the text. Click the column header again to change the sort direction. ** NEW FEATURE (mid-2005) There seem to be quite a few sites where the automatic e-mail attachment of exports is not working – sorry. It works for me and the systems I’ve tested it on. Anyway, to make the attaching easier, there is now a menu item that will take you directly into the “C:\program files\MSB_CLIENT\Export” directory.

Choosing that menu option should open a Windows File Explorer window allowing you to select, drag and drop the file set directly onto an e-mail message. Things to note about exporting: If you export a class, suddenly remember something and go back to edit any record (student or class) on the same day, ONLY the portion that was edited is marked for export. If you then export again, on the same day, you will have files named STU*** .txt, SES***.txt, and files named STU***a.txt, and SES***a.txt. ALL four of these files will need to be sent as attachments. The “a” files will be updates to

the original information. If you only changed data in the class file (for example, an instructor name), the resultant STU***a.txt will not contain any students, but MUST be included with your attachments.

The Contacts Button: On your main form there is also a button marked “Contacts”. This will be of little use to Sponsors running the client version of the program. When you click this button a screen will appear that lists the Sponsor name, MSF number, and contact information. This is really for DPS use and if the information in it is incorrect, please contact DPS with updated information.

The Instructors Button: Your main form also has a button marked “Instructors”. Click this for a list of instructors that are currently in the DPS database. You can use this form to print or view lists of instructors grouped in several different ways.

The main menu bar of the program also has some of the instructor list options. Due to form reuse and trying to keep the program size down, there are options available from this form that cannot be added to the menu bar. This form sets a value in your Windows registry that controls how you view/print instructor lists. Notice the “lead” in parenthesis on the title bar of this example and the count of 59 at the bottom of the form. There are actually over 400 instructors in the database, but only 59 of them have been marked as being “lead” instructors. The instructors can be marked as “Active”, “Approved”, “Lead”, or any combination of those (although some combinations don’t make sense). To see only those where “Lead” has been checked (as on the example picture), click the button next to the “lead” checkbox. The Active and Approved buttons work in the same manner. The printed instructor lists will also be filtered to the selections you have made on this form. Until you have used this form one time and set your viewing options, you will always get the complete list of instructors. You’ve probably never heard of most of them. The Find button only searches the records as they appear to this form. If you have turned off viewing inactive and non-lead instructors, you won’t be able to find someone who does not meet those

criteria. To use find, click in the box you would like to search, then click the Find button. Enter your search phrase in the dialog box that appears and click OK. For example – to Find an instructor in San Antonio, click in the text box below the “city” label, then click find. This standard Windows find/replace dialog pops up: Since the Rider Coach boxes of your class screen only show “Active” instructors, you can also use this form to control those lists. **Tip** Most sponsors will only use a few of these instructors. To hide the others, uncheck the Active box on this form for the ones you don’t want to see. If an instructor that you use is not in this list, you will have to contact DPS for an updated instructor list. The instructor screen can also be reached by pressing “Alt+I” when the main form is open. **NEW FEATURE (2-2007) A new form for viewing the Instructor list has been added that is accessible from the main menu bar (Alt+Q, V shortcut). This is a pretty powerful form and allows viewing in grid-style possibly making finding instructors a little easier.

In the picture above, the button on the far left is actually a toggle to turn on/off display of instructors marked as “inactive”. Also, in the picture the toggle is in the “Active Only (ON)” position, which is the default. Each of the column header labels can act as a “sort” button. Example: Clicking the label above the Last Name column will sort all records alphabetically by last name ascending (A-Z). Clicking the label again will reverse the order (Z-A). The “Find” (Ctr+F) button works the same as other forms with that functionality: Click in the column you want to find a value in, then click “Find” and a dialog box will pop-up for you to input criterion. The “Filter by Selection” (Ctr+S) button works on any field, but is probably only useful for filtering name or city fields. Click on any value in a field - for example “Williams” in the Last name column, then click “Filter by selection” and only instructors with the last name “Williams” will show. Use the same method in the City field for finding all instructors in Austin. Use the “Remove Filter” (Ctr+R) button to undo a Filter by Selection. The “Print” (Ctr+P) button opens a dialog to print the form, or a selection of pages within. The “Close” button Closes the form (WOW!). Due to size restraints, all the instructor data is not available on this form, HOWEVER double-clicking in any field will take you to the instructor form where all data is available.

The Qry Students Button: This button will open a form that allows some flexible and quick counts of various student data.

The checkboxes will activate/deactivate the text or combo box for that field. In the above example, a student count is set up for sponsor #99999 that will count all students that were female and under 18 when they took the course. The result will appear in the results box. The count could be further limited by checking the Date, Course level, Range, Pass/Fail boxes and entering criteria for each of them. The default of the form is for Student counts, but there are also options for Pass/Fail Grid and Pass/Fail Grid sorted by Range. When I ran the above query (on a valid Sponsor ID number), I got a result of 46 students. Running the same query, with the Pass/Fail option selected generates this screen:

This shows how the 46 students break down – 39 passed, 7 failed for various reasons. For the client version of the program the Sponsor combo box will only have one choice, so there is only one row in this result set and checking the Sponsor field is sort of moot. Running the same query yet again, but this time with the Pass/Fail Grid (Range) option, results in this screen:

Above, you can see how the same count breaks down by range site.

The forms for the grid queries are generated dynamically – meaning that they do not exist until the query is run. If you run the query and some of your ranges don’t show up, or some of the columns you expect are not there, it means that there were not any values returned by the query so the row or column was not generated. This form can also be reached from the main menu bar under Queries/Reports->Students Statistics, or the shortcut keys “Alt+q” + s, or “Alt+s” if the main form is open. New Feature the query students form now has a “Print” button that is active if one of the grid options is selected. The Print button will dynamically create a report with the data returned by your query and send it to your default printer.

The Qry Instrs Button: This button will open a form that allows flexible counts of classes taught by individual instructors.

In the example above, Donald S. Duck taught 6 classes in 2003. The limiting criteria check boxes work in the same manner as found on the student query form. After you have run a query, the Show Details button will open a report that breaks down the query results. The report lists class dates and levels the instructor taught at each range. Right-click the report for a print menu and options. The instructor selector box on this form is another example of where you might want to “deactivate” most of the instructors in your database.

The Main Menu Bar: When you open the program, your main form will open automatically. Most of the work you do will require that form to be open or can be done from that form. The program also has a main menu bar:

From the Program menu, you can open the main form (Start), close MS Access (Exit), print a report (Print) or access the tools sub-menu. *** New feature (3/16/05) The Print option is now available when a report (such as Instructor list by area code) is open. The print option is NOT available when a standard form is open. The tools sub-menu (shown above) currently has 4 items:

Compact Data: MS Access is a fully self-corrupting database product. Occasionally, it decides it doesn’t want to play. To keep it happy and functioning well, it is recommended that you use this option to clean-up and repair your data periodically. How often depends on how heavily you use the program. Once per month will be plenty for nearly all sponsors, and once per year will be enough for some. Archive Old Submissions : This option is good for people who are having trouble with the automatic e-mail. It will keep your export folder cleaned out by moving files to the archive folder. This will make it easier to find the files you need to export. Class Record Import: This is a specialized function that was added to help keep client databases in sync with the DPS master. Its major purpose in life is for those sponsors who continued to submit paper records after requesting the program. Some sponsors have let the install disk sit for several weeks after receiving it and then called asking why it didn’t have all their classes on it. If you should find that classes or students are missing from your database, contact DPS Motorcycle Safety unit and have us create an update file for you. You will receive an e-mail with two text file attachments. Save the attachments in your \MSB_Client\Import folder, then use this menu item to import them into your database. View Classes Currently in Import tables: is another specialized function that is used with the Class record import function to display imported records before you actually commit them. These two functions are very similar to what DPS uses to import and validate your submitted classes.

From the Queries/Reports menu you can open the Student Statistics, Find Student, Instructor Queries, and Class Statistics forms, as well as view/print instructor lists in several different manners. All of these have already been covered in earlier sections except the Find Student, and Class Statistics forms. *** NEW FEATURE (2-2007) A new menu item has been added for viewing the instructors in list format:

See the section above that tells about the Instructor button on the main form for further explanation .

*** NEW FEATURE (12-2007) A new menu item has been added for viewing and printing a list of classes.

If your main form is open, Choosing “Class List” from the above menu will open the following screen with the sponsor from the main form already selected (for client programs, there will usually only be one sponsor in the list, but DPS uses the same form).

You can select the range, class level, and/or a range of dates for the listing you want to view. The box labeled “Cnt” will tell you how many classes are in the return set after you click the “View” button. Clicking the View button will also enable the “Print” button which can send the entire list to the printer. If there are a large number (approx 30 pages or more) of returns, the program will ask if you really want to print that much. A better option might be the “Excel” button which will export all the classes that meet your criteria into an MS Excel format file. Some sponsors have Ranges that have been deactivated. The Active Ranges Only checkbox will limit the return to ranges that have not be marked as deactivated. The Most Recent only option obviously returns the most recent classes for the criteria you select. The Date Range option is disabled when “Most Recent” is selected. This is meant as an aid to sponsors who have had trouble submitting data or have otherwise gotten their database out of synchronization with the DPS master Database.

Here is the Find Student form.

In the example, a query is set up to search for all students who took an “R” level class, have first names beginning “Deb”, are female, and failed with code “F/A”. All the checkboxes and criteria boxes work the same as other forms in the database., except all text boxes having to do with names automatically match all names beginning with the letters you enter. In other words, to find all Johnsons, you can enter “Jo”, John” , or “Johnson”. The more characters your type, the fewer returns you get. Clicking on the Find button brings these results:

The counter in the bottom left shows that we found 37 matches. The form is now scrollable to view each of them. If you got more of a return than you can deal with, you can add more limiting criteria and click the find button again. Otherwise, there is enough information displayed about the student that you should be able to take a few notes and navigate to the full class record using your main form. ** New feature (3/16/05) Double-clicking on any of the results text boxes will now bring up the Class form that contains a particular student.

Here is the Class Statistics form:

You will notice that it looks very similar to the Student Statistics form. There are fewer sort fields here, and the two result grid options are slightly different, but everything works the same. For the client version, the Count by Class Level option will return a grid with one row. The row contains counts of all classes with columns for each level and a totals column. The Count by Class Level & Range option returns a row for each range site you have with columns for each class level. New Feature - The class statistics form now has a Print button. Like the one on the student statistics form, it is only active when you have selected one of the grid options.

These are the Import Menu options. Import->Ranges is to be used after you have contacted DPS requesting a Range update file. DPS will send an update file that you are to save to your MSB_CLIENT\Import directory. After you have received the file and put it in the proper place, use this menu option to update your local database. The Import->Instructor Update option has a submenu with 2 items that must be executed in order. First, make sure you have an active internet connection. When you click on Get Instructor update, the program will attempt to make an FTP connection to a server at DPS headquarters. If successful, an instructor update file will be downloaded via FTP and automatically saved in your MSB_CLIENT\import directory. After the file has been saved, execute step 2, Update Instructor table. This command will extract the data from the text file and update your local database. For the Get Application Update item you will also need to have an open and active internet connection. This option attempts to make an FTP connection and download the latest version of the program to your MSB_CLIENT\Import folder. You should then close the program, then move it up one level to your MSB_CLIENT directory. When asked if you want to overwrite your existing program, choose yes – since MS Access writes data to programs every time they are opened, your local program will nearly always have a later “last modified” date than what is on the servers. This item is redundant now that the application is available from the web site, but users who’s firewalls allow it should find that the FTP download is quicker.

These are the Export Menu options. Recent Classes duplicates the Export button of the main form. Two text files will be created containing any data that has changed or been added since your last export. These files should both be attached to an e-mail and sent to Motorcycle.safety@txdps.state.tx.us. If the Planets are properly aligned, the program should open and address an e-mail for you (see the section on Exporting). It is critical that you send an e-mail with both files attached every time you export classes. Mark Previous Classes for Export has been added to help with synchronizing databases with the DPS master. This item will open a dialog box similar to the one you use when editing/viewing a class record.

The list is multi-select, meaning that you can hold down the ”ctrl” key and select more that one item. After selecting classes you want to export, click the “mark” button (lower Right). All selected classes AND the students who were in them will be marked for export and the “Export” button (lower left) will become active. Once again, when the Gods are pleased, the export button should open and address an e-mail and automatically attach your files. Otherwise, you’ll have to manually open an e-mail and attach your files as outlined in the section on Exporting. The Open Export Folder item will open Windows Explorer to the directory where you installed the MSB_CLIENT program and the Export folder will be selected. This is just a convenience feature for those who have to manually attach files to e-mail.

The About item will open this “About” dialog box:

There’s nothing interesting here except the data and program version displays. As the program evolves, version numbers will be updated to help us keep track of the changes that were made. Frequently, a “bug” that you might find has already been reported and fixed. *********** Addendum – 6/14/06 **************** The section on exporting explains that some users experience problems with the automatic e-mail and attachment of the Student/Class files. DPS personnel can NOT help you trouble-shoot MS Windows problems. We also cannot be responsible for system changes that you attempt. With those disclaimers out of the way - If you are an advanced MS Windows user, the Knowledge Base article found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315458/ explains why Outlook Express might have a problem – in somewhat technical terms. The most relevant section is:

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A temporary resolution is to determine whether Outlook Express is the default mail client, and if it is, add a DllPathEx value to the registry as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Outlook Express::DllPathEx = %ProgramFiles%\Outlook Express\msoe.dll WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. Because Outlook Express implements and exports the BMAPIFunctions from Msoe.dll, setting DllPathEx allows the stub library to route calls to them. The danger in doing this is that a client that attempts to use Extended MAPI will receive an error (because Msoe.dll does not export the Extended MAPI functions) when it might instead have used Mapi32x.dll successfully.

Alternatively, find a copy of the Mapi32.dll and copy it to your harddrive, create the registry key value mentioned above using the path to the Mapi32.dll in the “DllPathEx“.

After performing one of these registry edits, your registry tree should similar to the following screen shot:

Some basic Q &A Q1: How do I get to Windows Explorer? A1: Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) is the program used to browse/list the files on your computer. Right-click the “My Computer” Icon on your desktop or the Start button and choose “Explore” from the menu. It can also be accessed through the Start button menu items but Microsoft moves it around from time to time. In Windows 2000, it can be found through “Start->Programs->Accessories->Windows Explorer” Q2: All I see in Windows Explorer are big yellow folders and steno-pad looking thingies with little bits of text under them. None of them have anything like “.txt” or “.mdb” at the end. How do I get more information? A2: Microsoft assumes functional illiteracy, that we can identify any file by the little pictures, and that anything useful to you needs to be hidden. Two non-default settings are helpful to get the most out of Windows Explorer – Open Windows Explorer to your msb_client\export\ directory For the first setting - Click on “View” and select “details” on the Explorer main menu The big pictures should go away and a list of files should appear. Next: Click on “tools->folder options” on the Explorer main menu Click the “View” tab of the dialog box that appears Uncheck the box by “Hide file extensions for known file type” Make sure the box by “Remember each folder’s view settings” is checked. Click “OK” From then on, all the DOS extensions for your files should show up (.txt for text files, .doc for Word documents, .jpg , .gif, .bmp for various picture files, etc, etc). If you find this view helpful to you, you can go back to “tools->folder options->View” and click the button to reset all folders to the same view options. Q3: I sent my class files to DPS and got a message back saying that I don’t have permission to create the files or that the drive is write protected. What the heck? A3: Check the address on your e-mail. For some reason, our e-mail server thinks you’re trying to create a directory when you misspell “Motorcycle.Safety”, particularly when the separating period is left off. If you get a message like the one above, it also means that your email went into an Internet black hole. You will

need to re-submit your classes. (See the section on marking previous classes for export for how to export classes more than once.) Q4: Why do I have to send files in sets of 2 with every e-mail? A4. Short answer: . When you click the export button, all students that need to be exported are put into one file and all classes that need to be exported are put into another. Explanation: Each time you create a class, a new record is created in a table of your database. The primary key, or unique identifier for that class is created by the computer and that record is marked ready for export. Each time you add a student to a class, a record is created in a table that holds student information. A unique identifier is created for the student and the unique identifier from the class is copied into that table so that the student can be tied back to the class. The student record is then marked ready for export. After export, all exported records get marked as sent and won’t be included in subsequent exports. However, if you go back and change anything in the student record or the class record, it is again marked as needing to be exported, but only the student record that changed will be exported Q5. We teach a lot of classes - Why can’t I set up more than one copy of the program so that one person isn’t responsible for everything? A5. You can set up more than one copy – you just have to network your computers so that you share ONE COPY of the data. This is for the reasons outlined in question #4 – if there is more than one copy of the data, the keys will not be unique and classes will be overwritten and lost when they are submitted to DPS. Q6. We have our own database program that we use. Our people are used to it and don’t want to learn to use something else. Can we use it to submit to DPS? A6. Absolutely! Just PRINT your class data and send it in however you’ve been doing it in the past. We are very aware that some of you have programs that you have developed yourself, or paid someone to develop for you, that are probably far superior to this free program that DPS provides. Many others have truly brilliant ideas about how to improve the MSB_Client software. We will consider any and all ideas about features that should be added and may implement them in a future version. We cannot make every change that is asked for in each individual copy of the program. We also cannot support any/every custom program that you may have and allow them to submit data electronically. Q7. Holy Cow! I printed an instructor list, and got 57 pages of people I’ve never heard of! Why did you do this to me? A7. Have you ever set your viewing options in the instructor form? All instructor lists are filtered by the options you set on that form. If the form is set to view all, you’ll get the entire list of over 600. If you deactivate the ones you don’t want to see, and filter them out (this was covered in the Instructors button of the main form), you’ll only get a list of the ones you want. Q8. I use instructors that are not in my instructor list. I’ve already tried the Import����Get Instructor update menu and either nothing happens or I get a message about “Can’t find file…”. A8. This routine connects to an FTP server at DPS to download the InstructorMaster.txt file using an Internet connection and FTP protocol. There are issues with some firewalls and some Internet service providers. Contact DPS and we’ll get you an InstructorMaster.txt file via e-mail attachment. Q9. DPS tells me that there’s only one student in my class taught on dd/mm/yyyy and I know there were 12. What happened? A9. There is an “export flag” attached to every student and every class record. Every time you “export” your classes, all students and classes that have not been previously exported are put in text files to submit to DPS. After being copied to the text files, the export “flag” is set to indicate that the student/class have already been submitted. If after exporting, you go back and change anything in a student’s record the flag for that ONE student and the flag for the class attended are re-set to indicate that they need to be exported. The database assumes that you submitted the original files containing the data for all the other students and will NOT export them again. This is why it is critical that you submit every file that is created when you export.

Q10. I’ve been having to attach my files manually to e-mail to submit to DPS and the export directory is so full I’m having a hard time finding the correct files to attach. Can I delete them? A10. Well, yes you could. However, the program does look at existing file names to prevent duplicating names when multiple exports are done on the same day. These files are really very small and are not going to fill up your disk very fast. There is an “Archive old Submissions” option located under the “Program�Tools” menu that will clean out this directory and move the files to the Archive directory. I recommend holding on to previous submissions for a month or two just in case there were problems with a submission. Q11. We requested a copy of the program a few months ago and just now got around to installing it. We’ve held several classes and submitted paper reports to DPS. A11. When you request a copy of the program, we will put together an installation CD that is unique to your RERP number. Usually, we can do this within 1-3 days of your request. This will have all the data that you have submitted as of the time of your request. If, after requesting the program, you submit more classes by whatever method you previously used, this data will NOT magically appear on your CD. Q12. We opened a new range and have been holding classes there. For one reason or another, we have not updated our database with a new Range file. A12. If you added a Range and held classes there without updating your range file you will not be able to enter them into your database (or at least not under the proper location). When you update your ranges, the range information is all that gets updated – again, any class or student information you have submitted on paper will not magically appear in your database. If you add a range, it will be easiest to contact DPS and have a new Range file sent to you ASAP. Entering the class data under another range is NOT a good idea. **Note: There is a method within the program whereby we can e-mail missing class and student information and have you import it into your database. See the section about the Main Menu bar and the Class Record Import function. Q13. My computer crashed and I had to re-install the program. Now I’m missing all the classes I’ve entered since <whenever>. A13. If you have experienced a computer crash, all is not lost. DPS maintains a master database with all the sponsors, ranges, classes, and students. We can build you a new install disk with all the data you have previously submitted. Do NOT use your original installation disk. Q14. When I try to enter a new class, the Session form comes up with my Sponsor information, but there is no place to enter anything about the class or instructors. A14. Usually this happens when someone copies a file from one computer to the next by burning the directory to a CD. The burn software sets the READ ONLY flag on the files. Right-click the parent folder (C:\Program Files\MSB_Client) and choose properties. Make sure the read-only checkbox is clear, if not, un-check it and choose “apply to this folder and all subfolders and files”. ================================ End of Document – Last updated 11/2/07 ================================