Panopea Consulting - iMIS Blog

Why you should use SQL 2000 sp4 just like they say

In my dev environments sometimes I don't exactly bother with getting all of the requirements in place and lots of times I get away with that and other times it just bites me in the butt. Case in point: I'm upgrading a db that's 15.1.2.4962 to 15.1.2.5184 just in my dev environment.

The client still uses SQL 2000 so that's what I use in this vm and I had it only at service pack 3 despite the fact it's documented by ASI that you should be at sp 4.

So does it matter? Yes! Without sp 4 in place you will see this error when the db upgrade utility runs:

*** ERROR creating stored procedures ***

Could not find database ID 102. Database may not be activated yet or may be in transition.
Msg 913, Level 16, State 8, Server VM01, Line 71

Luckily for me, there's always Google.

Here's the Microsoft KB article that explains the problem you run into: "You may receive a 913 error message if your query includes user-defined functions, derived tables, and JOINs." And of course the answer is to put service pack 4 on like I should have in the first place.

Configuring the SMTP server

The web.config file contains the settings for the SMTP server used to send emails from iMIS. The iMIS documentation says:

In the <network> element declaration, you can also specify port and authentication information for your SMTP server to ensure that iMIS can find and log onto to the SMTP server in your environment. For details, refer to your Microsoft ASP.NET documentation.

(emphasis added)

But Microsoft's documentation on MSDN for the <mailSettings> element is weak, with no details provided on the possible options. In particular, you may need to set Enable SSL to true.

Further googling reveals that you can't set Enable SSL to true via <mailSettings>. It's not possible until .NET 4.0. But that same page, under the Workarounds tab reveals the method for setting it:

Set the EnableSsl property "programmatically" and store the value for example in AppSettings. Not handy, but what ever.

So here's an example of the attributes needed for email to an SMTP server requiring SSL:

<network host="smtp.mydomain.com" defaultCredentials="false" userName="myuser@mydomain.com" password="xxxx" port="587">

Then down near the bottom of the web.config file in the appSettings, add this line:

<add key="SmtpClient.EnableSsl" value = "true"/>

Attributes are case sensitive.

And here's an alternative to sending out to an SMTP server when you're testing or demoing. 

Slow Disk Performance in VM Server

This has been driving me NUTS for weeks. I've been using VMWare Server 2.x and having horrible disk performance. I couldn't find an answer until today and it's so simple:

Edit the .vmx file to have this line: mainMem.useNamedFile = FALSE

I came across the answer in this blog post, which references the thread here on the VMWare Communities to learn more about it. Truly life changing. I don't know what I'll do now with all the extra time in my life.

Installation Error: Readbytes failed

You can run into this error when installing iMIS 15.0.3.xxxx and 15.1.1.xxxx on a client computer using the installer URL if the computer has already had a previous install of iMIS 15.x installed on it and either the DB Server name or iMIS Application name are now different. This can occur even if you have uninstalled that first install of iMIS.

Per ASI Tech Support (what would I do without them?), the workaround is that you can perform the install successfully by using the installation CD. Run a Custom Install and only select the client desktop installation. 

If still problematic, Tech Support advised that the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility that is available from Microsoft here can be used to clean up the machine.

Multi-instance tool updated for 15.1

The multi-instance tool has been updated for 15.1 and posted to the iMIS website on Friday, 9/4/09. You can use the 15.0 version tool but then you have to do some steps manually.

To get the new tool, log into ASI's site and go to Tech Support > Tech Support Community > View complete Document Archive > Downloads > .Net

or go here.

I'm working with it for the first time this afternoon.

Accrual Dues + List Bills + Payments = Ugly

I have a client who needs to combine accrual dues billing with list bills. That is, a single invoice created for the dues of many individual members linked to the paying entity using the Bill To ID field on the Financial tab.

What I've found is that the billing process itself works pretty nicely but the payment application processes have some truly ugly bugs.

If you meet all three of the items listed below, you can just skip reading this post because you won't have a problem (at least as far as I know) with accrual dues + list bills:

1. The number of members per list bill is low. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how low it needs to be, but if you get into the hundreds, you may be in trouble.
2. You always receive a single check that pays the invoice in full.
3. You never make a payment application error such as applying a payment to the wrong invoice.

Yeah, not a very likely set of conditions and my client doesn't fit any of them.

Here are the specific issues that I've seen so far:

Problem #1 - Can't apply a payment to large list bill
Using either Service Central or the Cash Receipts module, you may find that large list bills cannot be paid successfully. iMIS will hang and the transaction will fail to complete. My client ran into this for when trying to apply payments for about 2,000 members and also for several hundred.

The "fix" to this is that you can get a modified license key to use "Advanced Pay". You will be adding ADVPAY to your license code string and you will add a new stored proc to your db called sp_asi_ARPayment. I say "fix" in quotes because the use of ADVPAY causes other issues -- keep reading.

Be aware that this solution requires that you enter the payments for these large list bills using the AR module's Cash Receipts window and you must enter the invoice number into the Cash Receipts window. You cannot just enter the ID and apply the payment to the correct invoice line. You cannot use Service Central's payment window.

Problem #2 - Can't delete an existing payment
With or without ADVPAY in place, and whether using Service Central or AR/Cash's Cash Receipts window, a payment for an accrual dues list bill that has been previously entered cannot be deleted. Attempting to do so will hang iMIS. I've not found a fix to this problem. (SMR 196675)

Problem #3 - Can't correctly apply a second payment to an invoice
Haven't identified the reproducible set of circumstances to make this happen, but sometimes if applying a second payment to a invoice that wasn't fully paid by the first payment, the application of the second payment sets the Paid Thru date of all of the members to NULL. Nice, huh? This is due to a problem in the sp_asi_ARPayment proc but I've not figured out where the issue lies (yet). (SMR 183036)

Problem #4 - Can't enter a correct reversing payment if using ADVPAY
Since you can't delete a payment, then the only way to correct a payment entry error is to enter a reversing payment, right? If only life were so easy. If you're not using ADVPAY, entering a reversing payment does work. But if you are using ADVPAY, the sp_asi_ARPayment proc is written so that the reversing payment is 100% applied to Line #1 of the invoice. Fortunately, since the problem is in the proc, you can adjust the proc. I've done so (and I am really hoping I've done so correctly!) so I think I actually can claim a successful workaround for this issue! (SMR 195223)

By the way, this client is using version 10.6.30.17 but so far none of these issues have been identified by ASI Tech Support as having been resolved in later versions.

Another day, another security flaw

Just another day reading the tech news:

A popular laptop theft-recovery service that ships on notebooks made by HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Gateway, Asus and Panasonic is actually a dangerous BIOS rootkit that can be hijacked and controlled by malicious hackers.

The service — called Computrace LoJack for Laptops — contains design vulnerabilities and a lack of strong authentication  that can lead to “a complete and persistent compromise of an affected system,” according to Black Hat conference presentation by researchers Alfredo Ortega and Anibal Sacco from Core Security Technologies.

Computrace LoJack for Laptops, which is is pre-installed on about 60 percent of all new laptops...[snip]

“This is a rootkit.  It might be legitimate rootkit, but it’s a dangerous rootkit,” Sacco declared...[snip] 

That’s because the technology uses a configuration method that contains the IP address, port and URL, all hard-coded in the Option-ROM.

Full article here.

Outlook Auto-complete

Agh, sometimes I hate the Outlook auto-complete feature. You know, where it fills in the name that you've started typing. It's great when it works, but isn't it frustrating if you get someone's email in there and it's WRONG? Then it keeps trying to auto-complete that wrong email address. Today I seemed to someone's email address in there in corrupted format (yet another reason it can be frustrating), so I finally took the time to find out how to clear the darn thing.

First of all, you can delete a single entry that you want out:

when you see it being suggested use the up or down arrow keys to highlight it, and then press delete.

Thank you, Leo for saving my sanity!

And Leo's article also provided a link to a Microsoft KB article that explains how to reset the list entirely.

Phew! I feel so much better.

What's NU?

What's NU in the world of iMIS?

My friends at VanDamme Associates are now:

Check out this launch video:

The Right URLs for PayFlow Pro V4

If you're on version 10.6 and are applying the patch for 10.6.30.17, the release notes are incorrect in one critical way.

On page 4, the release notes say:

After you apply this release, the URL current in use is automatically updated. However, if you need to change modes in the future, you must use one of the following URLS:

• Test mode: pilot-payflowpro.verisign.com
• Live mode: payflowpro.verisign.com

Unfortunately, those URLs are incorrect. So in the May TechLet this was corrected to say:

Once you apply the update, you will need to change your payment URL in iMIS > AR/Cash > Set up module > Credit Card Auth to the following:

• Test server: pilot-payflowpro.paypal.com
• Live server: payflowpro.paypal.com

If you have previously applied the Payflow Pro updates, the payment URL must still be changed to the above URL. The old payment URLs pilot-payflowpro.verisign.com and payflowpro.versign.com will no longer work on September 1, 2009.

(emphasis added)