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Installing PPageExtractor.ASPX
We need to install a small ASP.NET application onto the same server that CCC is located on or onto another Windows 2000 or Windows XP based machine that has network access rights to the folder that the CCC file customer.mdb is locations.. This application is browser based and uses an OleDb connection to extract the information in read only mode from CCC's Access (.mdb) database for all cars that have active work orders. The program then uses a SQL connection to send that data to the web-based SQL database that us used in conjunction with COLLISIONshopPRO.
If you are installing the extractor application onto a machine other than the physical server that the CCC program is installed in, you can probably create a System [machine] DSN [Data Source Name] using the DSN creation tool (located from the Control Panel, then Administrative Tools then Data Sources ODBC). to enter a network username and password with appropriate access rights. Be sure to create a System DSN as opposed to a more limited User or File DSN unless you have extraordinary security concerns.
The goal is that the user IUSR_[machine name] be able to map to the network drive and folder containing the CCC customer.mdb program in such a way that the ASP.NET application can refer to that folder as a mapped drive or the System DSN name provides that access.
Your server will need to have IIS (Internet Information Server) and Microsoft .NET Framework installed if they are not already installed. Once IIS and Microsoft .NET Framework are installed, the attached program (PPageExtractor.aspx) is placed in the default directory for IIS (often ?:\InetPub\WWWRoot\).
If you are installing IIS on a machine that already has the .NET framework installed on it, you will either need to reinstall the proper .Net Framework (or upgrade to version 2.0) or you will need to register the .NET framework with the IIS. To register the .Net Framework enter the following command from a Command window (using the appropriate version number for your machine and Windows root folder):
- C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\aspnet_regiis.exe -i
- C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -i
You will then create a MSIE browser window on the server and run the program PPageExtractor.aspx - then minimize the window and leave it running. You should also drop a shortcut to a browser running this program into the Startup folder so that the program runs when the server is rebooted.
The program has a java self-timer that tells it to run every 30 minutes and extract the latest CCC data and ship it off to the SQL server.
There is a section of user variables located between two lines of asterisks bars near the top of the program. The variables are:
- thisPPageProgram = "CCC" '-------indicates the Estimating system used - we currently support only CCC
- CurShopGroup - "[your Store Group]" -------' this identifies your company group for the database records and must not change - this name will be assigned to you by ATS
- CurShopID - "[your Store Name]" ' -------this identifies the actual store for multi-store chains and - this name will be assigned to you by ATS
- CurPPageSourceFile = "I:\InetPub\WWWRoot\customer.mdb" ' ------- this is the physical path or DSN that points to the Access database for the CCC installation - the database is named customer.mdb and is often located in the original install path for Pathways - often \Pathways\Data\Cdb\customer.mdb - if you are using DSN then you will have chosen a name when you created the DSN
- runEvery_minutes = 30 '-------this tells the program how often to extract data and may need to be modified
- DelayTime=0 'The process of sending the SQL data out can be quite processor intensive. If you notice a slowdown in performance of CCC programs while the extractor is running then you may try placing a one second delay between the export of each record to free up processor and bandwidth usage. Placing a 1 second delay can make the export take a significant amount of time and may indicate that the program be run less often
Generally nothing else in the extractor should need to be changed.
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