Leveraging Your Web Browser

Post date: Jun 27, 2011 5:59:5 PM

The SMCP system is designed very deliberately to be used in web browsers - this is what makes it so uniquely versatile, running in phones, computers, even game consoles.  Additionally, the design is very 'Spartan' - function triumphs over form in EVERY design decision at AIRO Tech.  We don't care if the program is called 'ugly', but we work very hard to keep it from being called 'slow' or 'complicated'.  For the most part, we feel that information is text, and our system typically presents itself as 'unadorned' text.  The advantages of this approach, in terms of maintenance, portability, scalability, and speed are overwhelming.  And we believe it's the inevitable future in software in any case.  But if you are used to the older types of program architecture, where you install and run a stand-alone program locally on a desktop (typically Windows) computer, it might seem a bit foreign at first glance.  Here are a few things to consider as you begin working in a wholly browser-based system:

1) Screen size and formatting: to be workable in lots of devices of different types and sizes, web pages have to be designed to 're-size' themselves automatically.  As designers, we don't know exactly the shape or size of the screen, or the font sizes our program might be used on, so you'll often see the layout change as you shrink or expand the screen.  This is by design.  On a cell phone, typically, the screens appear like long lists, whereas on a computer screen, with high resolution, things are displayed in wider, horizontal formats.  (A few screens have a different design for 'mobile' viewing.)  Don't expect an 'absolute position' for each component on the screen - 'Go with the flow' of the browser.  You can expand or shrink the screen, or zoom, or change some font settings to get different layouts you might prefer.

2) Printing: there is no native printing built into the SMCP system at all (the exception to this is printing to Zebra label printers, discussed elsewhere.)  So the assumption is that every 'form': invoices, purchase orders, installation or service work orders, etc. is all printed to the screen.  From there, you use your browser's tools for printing.  Some browsers will print headers and footers by default - for most of your printing, you won't need these and you'll have to turn those off.  Normally (in Internet Explorer and Firefox, for example) you can go to the 'File' menu, and choose something like 'Page setup', or 'Print setup' to turn off the headers and footers.  Some browsers also have a 'Print preview' function, so you can see what the image will look like on paper.  But keep in mind that the SMCP only prints to the screen - and, depending on the width of your screen, default font sizes, and a host of other factors, the way it appears on the screen may NOT be the way it prints.  Print a test page the first time you use a function, so you can see how it fits.  You may want to adjust margins, scaling, etc. - but that is a function of your browser; the SMCP system purposely leaves that to the particular device and your discretion to determine.

Also - some forms include 'page breaks' at a set interval: invoices, for example, will send a 'page break' code after a certain number of lines, so that when you print to a printer, they break into separate pages.  These aren't visible on the screen - it will appear to be one long web page, but it will break into separate pages on your printer.

Finally, most browsers allow you to select part of the page and print only that - this is discussed below in the 'Browser 'edit' tools' section.

3) Search text functions: one of the BIG advantages of leveraging the browser is that SMCP automatically gets the benefit of the 'Search' feature provided by Chrome, or Internet Explorer, or Firefox, etc.  Whenever you print a long report and need to find a particular number, or name, try to 'Search' for it (typically the 'Control-F' shortcut key sequence will invoke this), and you can quickly get to the specifics you are looking for.  And keep in mind this works on ANY page, not just lists and reports.  So if you are entering information about an item, and can't find a particular field you need to enter, just 'Search' for it.

This is also very useful with the integrated 'Finder' functions in SMCP.  To find an order number, use one of the 'Find order' links, and enter your search criteria.  Let's say you are looking for the Smith Construction job for the Jones Building.  Enter 'Smith' in your search criteria - when you get the list of results, then use the browser's 'Search' function to find 'Jones' on the page.

4) Browser 'edit' tools - one more bonus to working in the browser.  On ANY screen, you can select text and 'copy' it to be 'pasted' elsewhere.  Windows and Linux systems use the 'Control-C' key combination and the 'Control-P' combination for 'copy' and 'paste' respectively.  This makes it easy to move information from SMCP to emails or spreadsheets to review later or by others.  Most browsers also allow you to 'select' a section of the page and 'Print the selection'.  For example, you may want to email someone only the totals on an AR Aging - select those totals and either 'paste' them into an email, or choose 'Print selection' (from the browser's menu) to print just those totals.

5) Tabbing and multiple windows - the browser automatically makes SMCP a 'multiple document interface'.  When you click a link, try 'Control-Click' instead, or a right-click.  Depending on the browser, there are several different commands for opening a page in a new tab or a whole new window.  For example, if you are reviewing your Critical Dates, you can try to 'Control-Click' on a Critical Date link: your browser will leave the list intact, but open the details for the selected Critical Date in a new Tab (the specifics vary by browser.)

SMCP depends on this collaboration with your browser; make it work for you.