Introduction
This application note guides the administrator through the process of setting up CATSWeb to meet the needs of the organization. The Manage page (CATSWeb Manager) is used by administrators to configure the CATSWeb system. Configuration includes adding employees (users), defining form definitions, and a variety of other tasks. Access to the Manage page is limited to users who:
- Have been granted the Administrate permission.
- Can provide the management password.
Configuration is essentially a 4-step process:
Step 1 - Database Properties
The first step is to establish the Database Properties. These are global system settings such as password rules, session durations, etc. To view and manage these properties click the Database Properties button in the Administration section of the Manage Page.
Step 2 - Set Up Users
The next step is to set up the users (Employees), and the Groups, Departments, and Personalities used to collect them for easy administration. All of these entities are managed from the User Management section of the Manage page. Use this process for the best efficiency in setting up your system:
- Groups
From the Manage page, click Groups. Groups are the highest-level entity in the CATSWeb system, and each Group may have many Departments. Start by entering one Group for the Department(s) that you create during this initial setup process.
- Departments
From the Manage page, click Departments. Set up at least one Department. The most important setting is the Department field itself, the other fields can be set somewhat arbitrarily and changed later, once you gain more experience with the system.
- Personalities
From the Manage page, click Personalities. Personalities serve as templates or profiles for Employees, especially with regard to permissions and system access restrictions. At this stage, your main task is to think through how many different types of Employees you will have (i.e. Employees with differing levels of system access) and establish a Personality for each type. Most if not all of the Personalities that you add at this time will have a User Type setting of Full.
Specify values in the Initial Preferences section of the page. As you add new employees in the step below, they will inherit the Initial Preferences from the Personality as their starting Preferences. Don't worry about the various Permissions settings at this time, you will finalize those in a step below.
- Employees
From the Manage page, click Employees. Select a Personality to use as a template for each new Employee, then click Add. This assures that the Initial Preferences from the Personality will be copied to the new Employee's Preferences. Select a Personality, Home Department, and enter an E-mail address. Don't worry about the various Permissions for now, they will be automatically updated when you finalize the Personalities below.
- Finalize Personalities
Now that the initial users (Employees) are entered and have been assigned Personalities, go back and finalize each of your Personalities by setting the appropriate Permissions. Each time you submit a Personality, all of the Employees with that Personality will have their permissions updated automatically. If in doubt about a permission setting, grant it rather than revoke it, as you may find that the Functional Restrictions described below are a better way of limiting many types of system access.
Step 3 - Form Design
An unlimited number of forms may be created and customized to support any number of applications. There are three main form types: Issue/Disposition, Action/Effectiveness and Subtask. A fourth type of configurable form (Subforms) provides a means of tracking multiple line items on parent Issue, Action or Subtask forms.
Designing forms is done using this process:
- Create the Form (Category)
- Define the form fields
- Optional:
- Create the Form (Category)
To begin, click the appropriate button in the Form and Workflow Design section on the Manage page. Click Add to add a new form. Enter the Category (name) for your new form, and select a Template Category to base your new form on (your new form will be a copy of the template form until you modify it). Don't worry about the remaining settings on the page, you can come back to those later.
- Define the Form Fields
Click the Field Definitions button for your form to see what it looks like. Scroll down to find the Available Fields list, which are sorted by field caption. The list will include fields that you see on the form now, and a variety of unused fields that you may add to the form. Click the caption in the Available Fields list to view and change each field's settings. Fields are added and removed from a form by changing the Order setting. You will typically bind a variety of fields to Lists (accessed from the Administration section of the Manage page) or to Data Links, which allow data from external information systems to be integrated. For tips on form layout refer to the click Form Design Tips help topic.
- Define Functional, Field and Record Access Restrictions
By default, all users will have access to your new form, subject to the permissions defined on their Personality and Employee records. Functional Restrictions allow you to add restrictions on what actions users (or groups of users) may perform on your form. Field Restrictions may be used to limit access to particular fields on the form. Record Access Restrictions may be used to block users from viewing records that utilize your form, and other forms, and you may define a variety of criteria to fine-tune which records are actually restricted (e.g. based on data that is in the record).
- Define Signature Controlled Operations
Signature Controlled Operations allow flexible but secure signature controls to be added to the workflow process (e.g. require approval signatures prior to closure). Implementing signature controls effectively and efficiently requires a good understanding of the basic workflow process without signature controls. So, you may wish to defer this task until after experimenting a bit with the form you have designed.
- Define Rules
Each major form type (Issue, Action, Subtask) has associated due dates. Rules may be defined that can automatically send E-mail notifications, and/or automatically reassign or escalate tasks, when configurable conditions are met (e.g. a task that is 5 days overdue is to be reassigned to the Department Supervisor). Rules are accessed from the Connectivity and Escalation section of Manage page.
- Add Advanced Business Rules, Integrate with Other Systems, etc.
A variety of advanced features may be utilized to customize the behavior of your forms. Intelligent Lists allow dynamic selection lists to be built which change their contents based on other data a user may have entered in the form. Custom validations and business rules may be implemented via the Event Hook feature. Drill Down Links and Data Links enable you to enhance the user experience by integrating with external systems, or developing one-click links to custom functionality.
Step 4 - Miscellaneous Configuration Tasks
CATSWeb allows you to configure a variety of other system characteristics, such as Interface Preferences, E-mail Configuration, Link Graphics, Managerial Restrictions, etc. Refer to the appropriate help file for more information.
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