One More Time!
OK, this is the last time we'll bug you about. Here for the last time is our new contact information...

Effective Immediately! Our official contact points are:

Please note that the old info is still good for at least the next six months. After that? Who can say! So please update your records now if you would be so kind.

Thanks!
 

SAFE Tutorial: Tag! You're It!
Tagging is a big deal in SAFE. There a zillions of places where one can tag various types of records. Sometimes this is to help you performa repetitive task in a batch. And sometimes it's simply to make a particular thing stand out.

But in a multi-user environment, it becomes clear pretty quickly that there is tagging and then there is tagging.

In SAFE there are five types of tagging. Two of these you may be familiar with and three which are new for SAFE7.

'Woah, man. That's too much stuff to remember.'
Not to worry! First because you only use one type for every function in SAFE, and second because the type used will almost always be fairly obvious.

Well, if it's so 'obvious' then why talk about it?
Because you do have a choice when you set up SAFE.

'And why do I need a choice?'
Because we want you to be able to choose between convenience and control.

'That seems to be a common stress in SAFE'.
It sure is.

I Need Some Examples!
We understand. We'll take two.

Example #1. Printing Checks
If you select Tag Mode #1 (Global), every time you tag a Vendor Bill for check printing it is immediately visible by others viewing the Vendor Bills Browse. And conversely, when they tag a bill, you immediately see it as tagged. Whoever then hits the [Print] button to print checks will automatically generate checks for Vendor Bills tagged by all users.

If you select Tag Mode #2 (User Specific Exclusive), you would also see both your tags and those Vendor Bills tagged by other users. And similarly, whoever then hits the [Print] button to print checks will automatically generate checks for Vendor Bills tagged by all users. The difference is that, you cannot untag other users' Vendor Bills and they cannot untag yours. So in this mode, if you noticed that Betty had mistakenly tagged a Vendor Bill, you would have to ask her to untag it; you could do not do so yourself.

If you select the new Tag Mode #5 (User Specific Multi-Purpose), you would only see the Vendor Bills that you had tagged. If you hit the [Print] button to print checks, you would only be generating checks for Vendor Bills tagged by you.

Example #2. Printing Customer Invoices
If you select Tag Mode #1 (Global), every time you tag a Sales Order for printing it is immediately visible by others viewing the Sales Order Browse. And conversely, when they tag a S/O, you immediately see it as tagged. Whoever then hits the [Print] button to print Invoices will automatically generate invoices any tagged S/O. This can be very dangerous if you have multiple CSRs performing different tasks.

Now, if you select Tag Mode #2 (User Specific Exclusive), you would also see both your tags and those S/O tagged by other users. But again, whoever then hits the [Print] button to print Invoices will automatically generate invoices for all Sales Orders! Still dangerous.

So let's try the brand new Tag Mode #3 (Global Multi-Purpose), you would also see both your tags and those S/O tagged by other users. But this time, if you hit the [Print] button, you would only be generating Invoices for S/O which you had tagged. Much better! But there is still one possible gotcha. If you had accidentally tagged other Sales Orders for another purpose (say for printing a report) and forgot to untag those records before Invoicing, you could accidentally (and incorrectly) generate Invoices for those records.

On the other hand, you may have a busy office with multiple users approving S/O to be Invoiced. So let's try the brand new Tag Mode #4 (Global Single-Purpose). In this case, you would also see both your tags and those S/O tagged by other users. The difference between this and Tag Mode #3 is that this time, when you hit the [Print] button, you would generate Invoices for S/O which were tagged by other users specifically for that purpose (Invoicing Customers).

Finally, if you select the new Tag Mode #5 (User Specific Multi-Purpose), you would only see the Sales Orders that you had tagged. If you hit the [Print] button to generate Invoices, you would only be generating Invoices for Sales Orders tagged by you.

I Didn't Know There Was Going To Be A Quiz!
No, no, no. I know it seems daunting at first, so perhaps another table will help. OK, maybe not, but here it is anyway...

The main thing to realize about each mode  is that you will be choosing:
1. Who can tag records
2. Whether or not their tags will affect other users
3. Whether or not their tags will be seen by other users
4. Whether those tags will apply to one specific task at a time or are sticky (persist across multiple tasks).

I Still Don't Get It
Not to worry. First of all, in many areas of SAFE there is only one type of tagging available and the mode is fairly self-evident. Secondly, in places where there are multiple possibilities, you set them up once based on how your company works and then you don't have to think about it again. So you only have to 'cram' once! 

Til Next Time!

Ciaran's Corner: Why iClose-Up Is SAFE
Last time I promised some info on why iClose-Up is safer than you think. And to do this, I shall deliver a necessarily somewhat over-simplified oration on IP.

As you know, your computer transmits and receives information over the Internet (and in your office) using IP Addresses. These are just like the address of your house: they provide a unique identifier of your computer. Now, there is another element which is not as frequently mentioned to lay people, namely ports. If every computer is a house and IP addresses are like real addresses to find the houses, then I would say that ports are like the doors and windows in each house.

Every house on your street may look different, but they all have windows and doors. Some are open and some are locked. By convention, we all use these the same way. For example, the delivery man generally comes to the front door, the car enters through the garage, sunlight comes in through the window. That's not to say that you -couldn't- drive in a window but it's generally not done!

And your computer works the same way. Your IP address has various ports (openings) where data can get in and out. And in order for services like e-mail and web browsers to work, there is agreement amongst vendors that they will all get in and out of your computer using the same port---just as we all agree that the postman drops mail in the letterbox and not in the window. That's important: there is no intrinsic difference between ports. They are generally used for a particular thing simply because that has become a standard.

Examples:

Now there are various committees which everyone in the computer world belongs to and they all agree that these ports are used for these purposes. And other applications are -not- supposed to use them for any other purpose.

Norton Lambert has registered iClose-Up with various committees to use port 2338. And no other vendor can use that port. So right there is a first line of defense; this is an obscure port that virtually every modem, router and firewall automatically blocks until you open it. Which is why so many of you who are not IP savvy have trouble installing iClose-Up!

OK, so let's say you actually trust us when we say it's OK and you decide to open port #2338. And let's also assume that you can figure out how to do it or that you can convince your well-meaning 'computer guy' to do it for you. Aren't you opening yourself up to INSTANT ATTACK! Not quite. For a couple of reasons:
1. The bad guys know that virtually every machine out there (except for those running iClose-Up) will likely have port 2338 closed. So why bother attacking that port when there are usually so many other ways to break in? The fact that this port is obscure solves about 9x% of the security problem right there; hackers simply do not attack this port because they have no incentive to do so.

2. If you have iClose-Up software installed on a machine with port 2338 open, all IP traffic received on that port is always observed  by iClose-Up. If the messages received do not match the kinds of messages iClose-Up expects to see, the messages simply do not get through to the machine. So hackers trying to randomly attack a machine cannot get past iClose-Up unless they send messages that mimic iClose-Up. And again, because there is such a small market of iClose-Up users (relative, for example, to those using Outlook Express--a program which you probably know is attacked a lot) there is again no incentive for hackers to use port 2338. In order to be successful they would have to take the time to reverse engineer iClose-Up. Why bother to go after a few thousand computers running iClose-Up, when you can go after one hundred million computers running Outlook?

By far the most common way that a computer running iClose-Up could be compromised would be for you to use iClose-Up in an unsafe manner:
1. By allowing employees to install it at home and giving them unfettered access to a company machine. (We have learned of employees who left a company but management forgot to get their copy of iClose-Up from them and so the ex-employee was still able to access the machine!)

2. By not installing proper passwords within iClose-Up

These are human issues. And, as with all computer security, the worst holes are always human issues.

Since we began selling iClose-Up in 1989 we have never seen a verifiable 'hack' of an iClose-Up connection. We have seen iClose-Up misused in the two above ways but that is 100% preventable.

In conclusion, iClose-Up is a very safe product. It requires only the same security diligence you would give to any program which accesses the Internet (web browser, e-mail, etc.). There is very little incentive for hackers to target iClose-Up and the most likely ways that your computer(s) could be compromised as a result of using iClose-Up are easily preventable.

Til Next Time,

Ciarān Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com