APPENDIX 1 -
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
On the opening screen of SLIPSHEET MANAGER the user is invited to select whether metric or imperial measurements are to be used. Based on the user response to this the default values found in either the file ssdefault.met or file ssdefault.imp will be used as the default entries displayed on the main data entry screen. It should be emphasized that the container size used on each run will be that in the container database selected on the previous occasion. Thus the container size described in the description below will not be relevant to default values, though the other screen values will take their respective values.
The content of file ssdefault.met (metric) is shown below:
300.0, 100.0, 200.0, 0.25
12035.0, 2350.0, 2393.0, 28800.0
1000.0,1400.0
900.0,1100.0
1,200
50.0
Line 1 - Case Length, Width, Height and Weight (all decimal)
Line 2 - Container Length, Width, Height and Weight Limit (all decimal)
Line 3 - Case Stack Longer Side Minimum and Maximum (all decimal)
Line 4 - Case Stack Shorter Side Minimum and Maximum (all decimal)
Line 5 - Number of cases / layer in stack (Minimum / Maximum) - INTEGER
Line 6 - Slip Sheet lip allowance on Length and width (decimal)
METRIC SLIPSHEET MANAGER DEFAULT FILE.
The first six lines contain the default values, and the following six lines describe their meaning.
After taking a backup copy of the relevant file (ssdefault.met or ssdefault.imp), the supplied file can be be edited by the user using a tool such as Wordpad / Notepad so that the contents reflect the required default as required by the user.
One pair of values which is NOT held in this file is the Custom Stack Size. This is initially set on entry to hard-coded default values depending on whether metric or imperial mode is set, but this can be edited to other values as required, with those values being retained until the SLIPSHEET MANAGER session is complete.
It is essential that decimal or integer values be entered as indicated above.
When re-installing the software or installing a new release the values in the default files will NOT be updated. In the event that problems are experienced with an edited update file then either the backup file created before edit should be used, or the software should be re-installed after firstly deleting the existing (faulty) default files.
A1.2 Installation.
SLIPSHEET MANAGER uses a standard Windows InstallShield installation procedure that will be familiar to most PC users.
The software requires a Pentium PC running Windows 95 / 98 / 2000 / XP Vista or NT. A screen display mode of 800*600 or (ideally) better should be used. The software requires less that 10Mb of disk space.
SLIPSHEET MANAGER can be installed on a local or networked drive but is a single user product. Miralis Data (and our website) can provide suitable advice for multi-copy licensing. The default installation folder suggested during the installation process is on your C drive in folder SSMANAGER. Users can select an alternate folder during installation. The installation registers the application in the Windows registry (so it can be de-installed) but all application files are copied to the specified installation folder. Any SLIPSHEET MANAGER user datafiles (e.g. default values - see Appendix 1) found in the installation folder will be retained.
A1.3 Changing the Logo Displayed on Reports.
The reports of SLIPSHEET MANAGER have for many years used, in the top left hand corner of the display / printer, a SLIPSHEET MGR logo. In response to requests from users we have now provided a facility whereby this may be customised so that your company logo may be displayed in the top left hand corner of the reports. The procedure to achieve this is described below.
The Logo will be displayed on all newly produced reports. It will NOT change the images held in the Webbase database (if used).
A company logo in either .BMP or .JPG format is required. This may be in 8 bit or 24 bit BMP format or 24 bit JPG format. The area available for display on reports is rectangular, and somewhat wider than it is high. The image provided should ideally have a width of around 300 (for a 'landscape' orientation logo) or a height around 200 (for a 'portrait' orientation logo). A much larger image file will not work and may cause program failure.
Whatever size is provided the aspect ratio (width : height) WILL be retained and the size adjusted (up or down) to fit the area available. A very small file will be 'blown up' in size and thus may appear rather blurred. It is suggested that you / your IT function experiment with various sizes of image. Given the differences that will always exist between on-screen and printer resolution the effect of size changes on both screen and printer operation should be tested.
The file MUST be named PMLOGO.BMP or PMLOGO.JPG. If files of both names exist then the .BMP file will take priority (i.e. be used). If a suitable file is not found then the display / printing will utilise the previous standard SLIPSHEET MANAGER logo. You should note that a file named PMMiralis Data.BMP / .JPG may be produced by our software as part of the display/printing process. This name should NOT be used by users.
Further technical notes:
1. For technical reasons SLIPSHEET MANAGER 'constructs' the image which will be displayed / printed (based on the information in the PMLOGO file) at the point where the menu to select printouts is first displayed - that is on first display of Screen 7 or Screen 9p. If experimenting with different PMLOGO files you therefore need to go 'Back One screen' from the Printing / Display Menu (e.g. back to Screen 6) and then forward again to the Menu screen in order to see the effect of a logo file change.
2. The image sizes suggested above will on most devices produce a reasonably good image on both printer and on screen. Printers will normally have a higher resolution and thus a logo of (say) 500 pixels wide might be used, but this would display on screen as a rather poorer image. Those using the Webbase database should also test the output quality of images on the Webbase .JPG files.
3. Note that if both PMLOGO.BMP and .JPG exist then the .BMP image will be used.
A1.4 Wide Screen Displays.
Wide screen displays are becoming increasingly popular and, depending upon the operating system in use, users may well wish to use the right hand side of the display to display, at all times, useful tools (such as a clock!).
To ensure that the software display does not take over the full screen when it is being used on wide screen displays the window generated on such screens is automatically reduced so that it initially occupies around 70% of the screen (depending upon screen ratio), with the window being positioned to the left top of the screen. The window can be moved (using the mouse), or expanded to full screen (by clicking on the top title bar of the window). However the automatic re-size will ONLY apply when the graphics resolution used by the graphics adaptor differs from the standard width / height ratio of 'normal' screens - that is 1.33 or 1.25. Thus re-sizing would apply, for example, when using a graphics resolution of 1680*1050 - a 1.6 ratio.
If however a user would like to software to utilise the full area of the screen at all times then it is possible to configure this to happen as described below.
To set the software so that it always uses the full screen on wide screen displays:
Either use the utility program CONFIGSCREEN which will be found in the software installation folder on most recent systems (navigate to the software install folder using Windows Explorer and double click on the CONFIGSCREEN program) OR use the manual procedure below:
Create in the application installation folder a file named USEFULLS - this could be done using an application such as notepad / wordpad / word etc. The content of the file does NOT matter, the fact that the file exists is the only requirement to give a full screen display on a wide screen monitor.
Files created with most such applications will NOT immediately have the correct name as the application will add a file extension to the filename (e.g. USEFULLS.TXT, USEFULLS.DOC etc). However an additional complication is that depending upon the machine configuration this extension may not be displayed in the file list. To ensure the file created has NO file extension at all it is suggested that having created the file using the procedure above you highlight the file name in Windows Explorer, then right click the mouse and select Rename and then replace the whole of the displayed name by (just) USEFULLS