/   Site Map  /   About Us  /  General Products  /  MV Products  /  Outsourcing   / Home page   /

PixieExcel™

 

PixieExcel

PixieExcel provides an MS Excel front end for PICK (MV) data.  The PICK Dictionary formatting and processing codes control the width and other formatting of Excel columns.

Installation Notes:

PixieExcel is a normal Windows Installation package involving running a standard "Setup.exe".
IN ADDITION, a program "PX.BACKSRV" needs to be present in your PICK Server.
On some sites, this will already have been arranged.
If you need to set this up yourself, it is provided in this package, either:

• (Downloads) in PixieExcel.zip
• (CD/floppies) included with files on the disk(s)
• After installation, in folder C:\Program Files\PixieExcel

Load into PICK by your usual text upload methods, then compile and catalog.
If you need help with this, contact PixieWare: sales@pixieware.com / Tel: +64-9-820-9331

UNIVERSE note: You can global-catalog as "*PX.BACKSRV" or local-catalog as "PX.BACKSRV".
PixieExcel looks for "*PX.BACKSRV" first, then if not found, it tries "PX.BACKSRV"

How do I know if this "backserver" is present?
Just try using PixieExcel, if no "backserver", PixieExcel will give you that message.

After installation, it is quite OK to copy or move "PixieExcel.xls" anywhere else on your
system or even network.  eg you may like to copy it to folder "My Documents" or
to your other usual folder for organising Excel work.  You can then also copy it and
"paste as shortcut" to your desktop for easy frequent use.
A second copy "PixieExcelBAK.xls" has also been installed.  If you accidently bend or
break "PixieExcel.xls", you can make a new "PixieExcel.xls" by copy/rename from "PixieExcelBAK.xls".
DO NOT move or alter file "PixieGC2.dll", as this is the processing substance behind
"PixieExcel".  The visible front end file "PixieExcel.xls" is a relatively informal, flexible 
and forgiving entity that you can copy and move about.

Step 1 - Connect to MV

1. Open "PixieExcel.xls"
   > Howto:
   *  Start Button:Programs --> PixieExcel --> PixieExcel
   *  OR WIndows Explorer --> C:\Program Files\PixieExcel\PixieExcel.xls
   *  OR MS Excel --> C:\Program Files\PixieExcel\PixieExcel.xls
   
2. Click on "PICKetc_QUERY" button from within spreadsheet as this starts the MV system connection process.

Step 2 - Login to MV system

1. The following screen is displayed after clicking "PICKetc_QUERY" button.
2. Enter UserName - PICK user-name.
3. Enter Password - PICK password.
4. Server, Port and Timeout are remembered from previous session. Changes required to these settings when you need to point Excel at different server or port. Timeout can be increased if system login response is slow.
5. The "First Setup/Adv Config" button will be used by the Installer or Systems Administrator if unusual Login configurations need to be set-up prior to the first connection attempt. This procedure will usually only need to done once. 
   The image below shows what you see when "First Setup/Adv Config" is clicked.  The table sets out the steps needed to automate Login to PICKetc. 
   The Left-hand-column show login steps, as you would enter them in a traditional terminal session (User Input). 
   The right-hand-column contain text to identify successful expected responses from the system. This is usually a colon prompt or other text from near the end of the usual PICKetc response message. 
   {USERID} and {PASSWORD} are placeholders ie variables.
6. The Login Optional Extras fields are provided when the login script requires additional information related to the situation where there is a two stage login process in operation.
7. Click Login to proceed. Click Cancel to exit back to .xls spreadsheet.

Detailed information on use of scripts is found here - CLICK.

Step 3 - Select Target Data

1. The following screen is displayed after a successful login.
2. Accounts that the User are permitted to access are displayed in column 2a.
   Select (highlight) appropriate account and click "Next" (between columns 2a and 2b).
3. Select appropriate file from displayed list. Click "Next" between columns 2b and 2c.
4. Select appropriate query from displayed list. Only queries relating to the selected file will appear in column 2c. Options exist to: RUN a selected query, EDIT a selected query, create a NEW query, or exit back to spreadsheet.
5. Navigating from left to right between the columns 2A, 2B and 2C can be achieved by double-clicking on a selected item in the preceeding column. 

Step 4 - Display Target Data

1. Results of the selected query are displayed on the spreadsheet similar to the screen following. The data can now be used in any manner that is available to MS Excel. Please note that data from the spreadsheet cannot be written back to the source MV file with PixieExcel. Other PixieWare software products may be employed for this purpose.
2. The query can be modified and run again.
3. When running large queries, a line counter runs in the top-right-hand corner of the form.  If your query is taking too long (eg "Oops, I didn't mean to download that file with a million items!") then the "Run Query" button has turned into a "STOP" button for you to click.  We recommend you use SELECT ... WITH against large files to download a subset of interest.
4. Click the Exit button on the "MV Query" window to return to the spreadsheet containing the selected data.

Step 5 - Edit a Query

1. Parameters for a selected query are displayed in the following example template screen.
2. The query can be modified, run again and saved.  Variations on a theme can be saved under different names.
3. Four parameters are available: Query Name, SELECT statement, LIST statement, ITEMLIST selection (via check boxes). The ITEMLIST is a graphical way of building and editing the LIST statement.
4. The SELECT and LIST statements can be used as if being executed from TCL. .
   Note that sorting, selection and ordering using BY and WITH need to be handled in SELECT or SSELECT.
   The LIST statement is a plain list of required fields.
   This means for example that there is no SORT offered here.  Use SSELECT and LIST instead.
   eg SSELECT CUST BY Contacts / LIST CUST Name Contacts Fax Tel
5. A new query starts with a blank template. The query is associated with the selected file and will be subsequently displayed when that file is again selected.
   The query is stored as an "X" item in the dictionary of the selected file.

Email: sales@pixieware.com