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Process Manager User Guide

Process Manager User Guide

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Process Manager

The Process Manager in IFS IDEAS is used to schedule automatic processes that will be run at a set time. This is determined by business practices and needs.

About Process Manager

Process Manager allows for the set-up of automatic processes such as journalization and posting to be run at specific times on a daily or weekly basis. This will be determined by business needs.

The Auto-Posting process and the Auto-Journalization process are dependent on the IFS IDEAS .ini files and the same base components that are required for other IFS IDEAS modules. The system administrator will set up these processes as necessary.

Setting up Database Mail

Setup only needs to be performed once, typically at initial installation. These steps are typically performed by a database administrator or someone with similar access.

1. Log in to SQL Server. Open the desired profile.

2. Locate Database Mail in the Object Explorer pane. Right-click Database Mail and select Configure Database Mail.

3. The Database Mail Configuration Wizard will open. Click Next.



4. Choose Set up Database Mail. Click Next.

5. Click the Add button to add a new profile. The New Database Mail Account window will open.



6. Complete the fields on this screen.

a. Account Name – Enter a meaningful name.

b. Description – Enter a description.

c. Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)

                     i. E-mail address – Enter the e-mail address from which mail should be sent.

                    ii.  Display c. name – Enter the name that should be displayed on the e-mail.

                   iii.   Reply e-mail – Enter an e-mail address to which replies should be routed.

                  iv.    Server name – Enter the e-mail server name.

                   v.    Port Number – Enter the port number for the e-mail server (usually 25).

                  vi.     This server requires a secure connection (SSL) – Check this only if it applies to the mail server entered.

d. SMTP Authentication – Select an option for authentication. IFS recommends Basic Authentication.

                     i. Windows Authentication using Database Engine service credentials

                    ii.   Basic Authentication (recommended)

1. User name – Enter the user name for the e-mail address entered above. Format should be domain\userid (for example, US1\user1).

2. Password – Enter the password for the e-mail address entered above.

3. Confirm password

                   iii. Anonymous authentication (not recommended)

7. When finished, click OK.

8. Click Next in the Database Mail Configuration Wizard.

9. Check the Choose Public Profiles checkbox. Select the newly-created profile and click Next.

10. Click Finish. The Database Mail Configuration Wizard will close.

11. The next steps are optional but strongly recommended. In SQL Server, right-click on Database Mail and select Send Test Email.

 

12. The Send Test E-Mail dialog box will open. Enter an e-mail address to receive the test and click the Send Test E-Mail button. If all is configured correctly, the recipient should shortly receive the test e-mail.

The profile must have a log path (.ini) that is a shared .unc path that SQL can access. If it does not, SQL will not be able to access it and send the log files in the email notification. The path should be something like \\dqaideas1\ideas\log . This directory needs to be shared.

If the process is installed on the SQL server, it does not need to be shared as SQL can access its own directory.

 

Setting up the Process Manager

Once the above Database Mail setup steps have been performed by a database administrator, Process Manager can be set up and scheduled. The types of available processes include Auto-Posting and Auto-Journalization.

1. Run the IFS IDEAS Installer to deploy IFS IDEAS Process Manager.

2. From under the installed IFS IDEAS program, select ‘Process Manager Configuration’ and run as administrator to setup the process. Enter the User ID and password. This is available if you are setting up the process for the first time. ‘Data Base’ is where all the tables for Process Manager will be created. If IFS IDEAS Process Manager is already set up, please read step 3.

 

Fill in all the Information for the IDEAS Process Manager Connection screen, then click OK. Entries should match the SQL Server information. Consult with the database administrator, as needed.

  • Server: Enter the server name for connecting to the IFS IDEAS process manager.

  • Database:  Enter the database where the IFS IDEAS process manager is installed.

  • User Id:  Enter the SQL Server User ID, for example:  ideas_sa.

  • Password:  Enter the SQL Server password, for example:  ideas.



Enter the User ID and Password and select the user privileges.

3. Once IFS IDEAS Process Manager is set up, you will be prompted to enter the login credentials. Enter the login credentials and click OK.



4. After logging in, various options to set up the Process Manager will be available.



5. Click DB Profile Manager button on IDEAS Process Manager Connection to open up Profile Administration.  This information should match the information entered in the IDEAS Process Manager Connection screen. Click Save and then close the DB Profile Manager form.



  • DB Profile:  Use the spyglass button to search for a database profile. This is the profile created during the setup process.

  • Server:  Enter the same server name.

  • Database:  Enter the database.

  • User ID:  Enter the SQL Server user ID.

  • Password:  Enter the SQL Server password.

6. Click Process Manager Button on IDEAS Process Manager Connection to open up IDEAS Process Manager set up.



a. Process Name:  Select the desired process from the drop-down list. Following are the available options:

                     i. AcctInactivate – Notify by email to IFS IDEAS users before locking them out of the system when their  last login dates passed a certain number of days

                    ii.  ARTAutoInvoice – Loads invoices from ART auto invoice tables into ART invoices.

                   iii.  AutoInvoice – Loads invoices from AP auto invoices tables into AP invoices.

                  iv.  AutoJournalize – Creates GL journals for AP transactions that are approved and ready to journalize.

                   v.  AutoPosting – Automatically post Journals that are designated to be Auto Posted.

                  vi.   APBatchValidation – Automatically validates invoice batches that were not previously validated.  Called from the Process Manager, this process validates manual invoices that were entered in AP.  This process is also called by the AutoInvoice process so that imported invoices are validated at the same time.

                 vii.    ARTBatchValidation – Automatically validates invoice batches that were not previously validated.  Called from the Process Manager, this process validates manual invoices that were entered in ART.  This process is also called by the ARTAutoInvoice process so that imported invoices are validated at the same time.

b. Object Class ID:  The Object Class ID will populate based on the Process Name selected.

c. SQL DBMail Profile:  The SQL DBMail Profile will populate based on the Process Name selected. If no DBMail Profile has been selected, enter the profile name.

d. Last Ran Date\Time:  If the process has been run, the last run date and time will populate in this field. If the process has not been run, nothing will populate.

e. DB Profile:  Use the spyglass button to search for the DB Profile created in previous steps.

f. Email Profile:  Use the Email Profile tab to set up a default e-mail message to be sent when the process is completed.

 

  • Email Recipients:  Enter the desired e-mail recipients for the completion message.

  • Email Subject:  Enter the desired subject for the completion message.

  • Email Body:  Enter the desired text for the body of the e-mail message. This is information included in addition to the default information regarding the completion.

7. Click the Schedule button on IDEAS Process Manager Connection to schedule when to run this process.

 

  • Process Name:  Select the desired from the drop-down.

  • Days:  Select the day(s) this process to run. Select one or more checkbox.

  • Start Time:  Select the Hours and Minutes from the drop-downs. Be sure to also select AM or PM.

  • Stop Time:  Select the Hours and Minutes from the drop-downs. Be sure to also select AM or PM.

  • Run Process Every:  Use these Hours and Minutes drop-down lists to select the frequency with which the process will run.

  • Enabled:  Check the Enabled checkbox to enable the scheduled process to run at the scheduled days and times. Clearing this checkbox will disable the schedule and prevent the process from automatically running at the set time.

  • Run Now:  Once the process has been scheduled as desired, use the Run Now button to run the Process Manager immediately or to test the process.

To automate the Process Manager to run all process you will need to make the IDEASProcessManager a service on the machine. The service will run on that machine and check the Schedule to see when it should run each process that is enabled. To do this, two exe’s namely ‘srvany.exe’ and ‘instsrv.exe’ are required which are part of the ‘Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools’ and can be downloaded from the Microsoft website (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17657). Once the exe’s have been downloaded and placed on the application server, perform the following steps:

i. At a MS-DOS command prompt(running CMD.EXE), type the following command:

<path\INSTSRV.EXE> My Service <path\SRVANY.EXE>

where path is the drive and directory of the Windows NT Resource Kit (i.e., C:\RESKIT) and My Service is the name of the service you are creating.

Ex: “C:\Program Files\Resource Kit\Instsrv.exe” IDEASProcessManager “C:\Program Files\Resource Kit\Srvany.exe”

Note: To verify that the service was created correctly, check the registry to verify that the ImagePath value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\service name is set to point to SRVANY.EXE. If this is not set correctly, the service will stop shortly after it starts and return an Event ID 7000 "The service name failed to start."

ii. Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe)and locate the following subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<IDEASProcessManager>

iii. From the Edit menu, click Add Key. Type the following and click OK:

Key Name: Parameters

Class : <leave blank>

iv. Select the Parameters key.

v. From the Edit menu, click Add Value. Type the following and click OK:

Value Name: Application

Data Type : REG_SZ

String : <path>\<application.exe>

where <path>\<application.exe> is the drive and full path to the application executable including the extension (i.e., C:\Program Files (x86)\P2 Energy Solutions\IDEAS\BIN\IDEASProcessManager.exe)

vi. Close Registry Editor. Start the newly created ‘IDEASProcessManager’ service from Services window.

8. Click on Users button on IDEAS Process Manager Connection to open up user setup.



a. Enter the user to set up and enter the password.

b. Select the user privileges and click Save.

Once these users are set up, they will have access to all the screens of the process manager however cannot run a process unless the user has been defined in SQL server with sufficient privileges to perform the r

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