Frequently Asked Questions

NETWORKING QUERIES

Why am I getting a 'The Remote Server Machine does not exist or is unavailable' message
How do I avoid this 'Permission denied' message which appears everytime I try to logon
What is an 'Automation error'
Why am I getting an 'ActiveX component can't create object' message
Is there an upper limit to the number of clients supported by OffCon

OFFCON LOGIN QUERIES

I've typed in my login id but I'm getting 'Invalid user, try again'
I've typed in my password but I'm getting an 'Invalid password, try again' message

OFFCON DATA QUERIES

Can I transfer my existing data files into OffCon
What should I do to make OffCon as effective as possible

GENERAL QUERIES

I want to add photos to OffCon, how easy is it to do
How do I associate contacts together for report REP001
Can I send emails through any email client
I am using MS Word97 can I still mail merge my documents through OffCon
I've added a new description using the Maintain menu item but I can't see it in the dropdown box

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Why am I getting a 'The Remote Server Machine does not exist or is unavailable' message
The OffCon Client is trying to locate the server machine on your local network. Make sure you have entered the correct computer name of the server machine when the OffCon client was i installed - reinstall the client if necessary. If the computer name is correct, go into your network neighbourhood/places and make sure you can see your server. If you can't see your server, contact your network administrator.

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How do I avoid this 'Permission denied' message which appears everytime I try to logon
Your server does not recognise your windows login id and password. Speak to your Server administrator to set up your login details. Note: The password field must be populated; null or empty passwords are unacceptable for OffCon users.

In most cases this is not a problem when you are logging on to a domain server. However, this may be a problem within a peer-to-peer network configuration. The acting server workstation must hold your current login details, it maybe necessary to change passwords on both the client, and acting server workstation before rebooting the client machine.

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What is an 'Automation error'
This occurs because the Automation Manager (AM) has been stopped or isn't running at all on the Server machine. When OffCon Server is installed a shortcut to the AM is placed within the start-up folder so each time the server is booted it will start automatically. You can run the AM manually by clicking the AM menu item from the Start->Programs->OffCon menu.

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Why am I getting an 'ActiveX component can't create object' message
For some reason the server side installation of OffCon has failed to register an important component called OCConfig.EXE on to the Windows Registry. To remedy this go to the Server machine and run Explorer. Locate the OCConfig.EXE file within the Program Files\OffCon\OleSvr folder. When you have located the file just double click it and that will register the ActiveX component.

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Is there an upper limit to the number of clients supported by OffCon
Technically there isn't providing your server is fast enough with plenty of memory to spare but realistically it depends on the kind of database traffic. If most clients are reading data then having 20+ clients is reasonable but if all clients are furiously updating the Access database it might be an idea to develop some updating controls using OffConAdmin or reduce the overall number of clients to help lessen the effects of update collisions.

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I've typed in my login id but I'm getting 'Invalid user, try again'
The entered user id is not recognised by OffCon. Contact your OffCon administrator to verify your user id details.

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I've typed in my password but I'm getting an 'Invalid password, try again' message
The password is not recognised by OffCon. Ask your OffCon Administrator to reset your password then you will be able to change it locally.

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Can I transfer my existing data files into OffCon
There are no utilities available for transferring your data into OffCon other than those provided through OffCon's interfaces. However, we do offer a data conversion service where we can rationalise your data into a format which can be transferred to your OffCon database.

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What should I do to make OffCon as effective as possible
For OffCon to become an effective tool to your organisation will take some initial effort but the rewards going forward are invaluable. Firstly, take the time to study your own organisation identifying all roles, departments, and activities. This is crucial for effective categorisations for emailing, mail-merging, data exporting, and statistics. Then take a look at OffCon's help with its included demonstrations this will provide you an excellent platform into understanding the virtues of OffCon.

Using OffCon's Maintain Shared Data interfaces set up your various status's, roles, departments, activities, nationalities etc.
Next you will assign your contact to the various roles, departments, and activities you earlier created.
At this point your data should be sufficiently healthy for it to be of real use when generating OffCon or ad hoc reports, mail merging, data exporting, and e-mailing.

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I want to add photos to OffCon, how easy is it to do
Adding photos is a fairly straightforward procedure. All Images ideally should be stored as JPegs dimensioned 109(w) x 142(h) pixels to avoid distortion. These should be placed within the Program Files\OffCon\Photo folder either on the server when using the network edition, or on the local photo folder when using the Single Client Edition. To attach a photograph to a Contact click the Get photo button on the Contacts Manager and select the appropriate photograph. The image will be displayed after selection.

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How do I associate contacts together for report REP001
To associate your contact to another you must decide on who the lead contact is to be The lead contact must have a seniority of zero and be self associated. Each subsequent and dependent contact must in turn have the associate dropdown box changed to point to the lead contact with the seniority changed to reflect the contact's position within the association.

For example, in a typical family set-up the Husband/Father would hold a seniority of 0, the wife/mother would be 1 and the siblings would be from 2 onwards depending on their birth position. The OffCon report REP001 will show these grouped family associations in seniority order.

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Can I send emails through any email client
No. OffCon will only support the sending of Email clients through Microsoft's Mail Application Programming Interface. Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora are typical MAPI compliant email clients. Check with your vendor for MAPI compliance.

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I am using MS Word97 can I still mail merge my documents through OffCon
Technically it is possible but it is fraught with numerous things that can and probably will go wrong. Our position is that you are free to use Word97 but we take no responsibility for any failures that occur. OffCon is designed for Word2000 or later. We have managed to use Word97 in some of our earlier prototypes but decided that the unfortunate behaviour of some of the underlying components would put to much emphasis on user expertise.

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I've added a new description using the Maintain menu item but I can't see it in the dropdown box
If you are using OffCon 2.0 sp1 or above all combo dropdown boxes are populated once when a form is first opened. If new descriptions are added to any of the Maintain menu items, they will not feature within the dropdown box until you do one of the following:-

• Close the current form and the re-open it. For example closing and re-opening the Contacts Manager.
• Press the [F5] key to refresh the shared data within each combo box on every opened form.
• Setting the Auto Refresh menu item by selecting File/Refresh/Auto Refresh. Setting this item will cause OffCon to refresh the combo boxes automatically.

The Refresh features have been added to speed up processing when choosing dropdown combo box items.