Just in time for the holidays, we have released the next ITScriptNet Solution Pack.  This one is for Check In / Check Out.  The system is intended for use in any scenario where individual items are inventoried, issued and returned.  These can include Tool Rooms, Security offices, Hospitality, Rental agencies, Maintenance departments, and many, many more.

All Solution Packs are built with ITScriptNet for portable data collection, and include the back end Database, Reports, PC Software for database maintenance and reporting, and the Data Collection programs.  Contact us for more information on this exciting new product!

Honeywell (Hand Held Products) has announced an update to the Dolphin 7850, adding a laser scan engine.  This is available in 3 range options: High Performance, Long Range, and Advanced Long Range.  This makes the 7850 an excellent choice for warehousing applications where scanning linear barcodes at a distance is required, and an Imager is not practical.  ITScriptNet supports the Dolphin 7850 with a native client.

We've added some now visual styles to help you make your data collection programs look even better.  Here is an overview of some of the changes:

Rectangular Shape objects now have a Gradient option, which allows you to fade a color from left to right, or top to bottom.  This example shows several shape objects combined with some text:

There are also Gradient options available for Buttons elements.  You can select a single Gradient, or a two-gradient Chisled look.

Text and Images can now be rotated to any of the 4 cardinal rotations.

We've added a Signature Line to the Digital Ink element, and also added the ability to rotate it.  When the signature image is saved, it is automatically rotated back to horizontal.

We hope these new visual enhancements will help you to make your data collection programs better than ever!

Z-Space Technologies, Inc. is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) partner for the Westlake City Schools.  As part of the STEM initiative, Z-Space sponsored the Middle Schools First Lego League Robotics Team.  This year’s project theme is “Climate Connections”.  The team has to present research on the topic and also program a Lego Robot to earn points on a playing field that fits the climate connections theme.  The team used ITScriptNet in their research to create a survey about battery usage.  The team collected information from most of the students and all of the faculty about how many battery-operated devices used in 8th grade.  The collected data verified that battery use has increased and helped support the foundation of the project which used wind-energy to power batteries.   We proud to report that our team won the Research Quality Award at the regional competition and has been selected to move on to the STATE LEVEL COMPETITION! 

We've added several new Element Types to ITScriptNet V3.0, and improved some old ones.  Here is a brief overview of some of the changes:

Calendar and Date/Time Picker Elements

We've added support for the Calendar and Date/Time Picker controls, as shown.  These calendars allow you to select dates and time, while limiting the valid ranges that can be selected.

Status Elements

We've added a whole list of Status elements that help you keep track of Battery Life, Keyboard state, Free Space, WiFi Association State, and more!

GPS Location

There is a new element that saves GPS Location information into your collected data automatically.  This allows you to Geo-Stamp each data collection record for applications that need it, such as Route Accounting, Delivery, and more!

Keypad Element

We've added a Keypad element to simplify data entery for fields which have a limited set of valid characters on devices without a keyboard.  For example, if you are collecting a Quantity or a numeric Password field.

The keypad is fully configurable, and there is even a Custom keypad where you can define your own keys!

Have you ever been working on an ITScriptNet program and couldn't remember what you'd changed in this version from a previous version?  Has a customer sent you a program and you are not sure if it is the current version, and if not, what changes had been made?

ITScriptNet V3.0 adds a new feature that can compare two ITB files and list the differences.

You can then select an individual difference and see a color-coded listing of both the old and new values, so it is easy to see what was added, deleted, or changed.

You can also view this listing as an HTML document in your default Internet browser so you can save or print it.  This preserves the color coding and the side-by-side comparison.

Now it is easy to tell the differences between two versions of a program!

Previous versions of ITScriptNet only supported Fixed-Width Files for validation files and collected data.  With the upcoming release of ITScriptNet V3.0, we are adding support for CSV formatted files, as well as SQL Compact Edition support.

Using CSV files for validation files has the benefit of reducing the size of the files.  Often there is quite a bit of unused space in a fixed-width file, and this is eliminated in a CSV.  We support both standard, comma or tab delimited files, as well as fully customizable delimiters and text qualifiers.

If your data collection needs are more complex than can be easily managed with flat files, you can now use SQL Compact Edition 3.5 on the data collection device.  We support using SQL CE for both collected data and validation files.  In addition, we have added some SQL Query support.  You can fill a listbox, combobox or grid from a SQL Query, or you can execute a query directly with the new ExecuteSQLCE function.

One of the major updates in ITScriptNet V3.0 is a simplification of the editions.  We are retiring Batch in favor of Batch Plus and Omni.  Since Batch supported single-prompt only, and we are also retiring support for DOS and character mode devices, there is really no need for this edition.  It is much simpler to know that Batch Plus supports batch data collection, and Omni adds realtime (wireless) support.

At the same time, we have combined the Program Designer and Clients into a single version.  The same Program Designer will now be used to design programs for Batch Plus or Omni.  You can select whether the Realtime features are enabled through a new option on the Program Settings screen.  The rest is handled by the licensing – if you have an Omni Runtime or Omni Device License, then the Omni features will work.  Otherwise, if you have a Batch Plus Runtime or Device License, you will be limited to the Batch Plus features.

We hope this will simplify downloading and deployment.  Now instead of 6 different downloads to choose from, there are only 2 - Full or Runtime.

The script engine in ITScriptNet V3.0 has been significantly enhanced with the addition of element properties.  This is a new way to control the behavior and appearance of elements on a prompt.  In previous versions, you could set a property using an In-Prompt script.  For example, to set the background color for an element to Red, you could edit the Background Color In-Prompt Script to set a color, like this:

Element Background Color In-Prompt Script:
RGB(255, 0, 0)

If you wanted to change the color at runtime, for example in response to pressing a button, you would instead set the Background Color In-Prompt Script to a user variable.

Element Background Color In-Prompt Script:
@Color@

Then in the button press action, you would set the user variable to the color you want, and refresh the element.

Button Action Script:
@Color@ = RGB(255, 0, 0)
Refresh("Prompt.Element")

This works well, but has the disadvantage that all of the element's Activation scripts run when it is refreshed.

With ITScriptNet V3.0, we have added the ability to set these properties directly.  Now, to change the background color of an element at runtime, you can simlpy set the value:

Button Action Script:
this.element.backgroundcolor = RGB(255, 0, 0)

Almost any element setting can now be set using these properties!

Z-Space Technologies is pleased to announce V3.0 of ITScriptNet.  We have been working on this new version for a long time, and we are very excited to be approaching release.  There are so many new features and updates that it is difficult to list them all, but check the link to the announcement page for an idea.

We are in QC on this version now, and we expect to release in the next few weeks.  If you are a heavy ITScriptNet user and would be interested in a pre-release version to try out, contact Tim James and let him know.  We are setting up a limited number of pre-release sites.

Over the next few weeks we'll talk more about the new features and updates in ITScriptNet V3.0.  We hope you like it as much as we do!

It looks there will be an intermediate release of Windows Mobile between the current 6.1 and the scheduled Windows Mobile 7. Steve Ballmer announced at a conference that there will be a Windows Mobile 6.5 released early next year.  There are not very many details yet so we will see if anything is useful for Data Collection devices.

Honeywell has filed a lawsuit against Datalogic over the 2-D Imagers in their portable devices.  The could affect all Datalogic portable computers and other products as well.

Following up on last weeks note about Motorola adding Windows 6.1 to several devices, here is the official announcement.  As we discussed, Windows Mobile 6.1 will be available on the MC3000, MC9000, MC70 and MC75.

We offer two licensing options for ITScriptNet Solution Packs, plus two demo modes.

Full Licenses
A Single User license installs the Solution Pack using SQL Compact Edition on a single PC.  Only that PC can access the databases, and the ITScriptNet Omni Server runs on that PC as well.  This mode works well for smaller customers who only need access to the data from a single PC.  Device Licenses are registered on each device to allow them to collect unlimited records.

The Multi User license installs the Solution Pack using SQL Server, either by installing SQL Express directly on the PC, or by allowing a connection to an existing SQL Server elsewhere on the network.  In addition, a License Server is installed that allows other PCs on the network to access the data as well.  This allows any number of PCs to use the database maintenance screens, run reports, etc.  However the OMNI Server is only required on the main PC.  Device Licenses are registered on each device to allow them to collect unlimited records.

Demo modes
A Solution Pack with no license runs in demo mode.  The demo can use either SQL Server (Multiuser mode) or SQL Compact Edition (Single User Mode).  However, no database editing can be performed on the PC, and only 10 records can be collected on the device.  This mode allows a user to get a feel for how the Solution Pack works, and will allow uploading and downloading of the Sample Data that ships with the Solution Pack.

We also offer a Reseller License for resellers to demo the Solution Pack.  This is a Single User license only (SQL  Compact Edition), as is intended for installation on a laptop that the reseller can take on the road to customer calls.  This edition does allow database editing, but is limited to 10 records in the Item/Customer/Location tables.  The Device is also limited to collecting 10 records unless a device license is registered on the device.

It's that time of year again!  Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, Nov 2nd in the USA.

We've discussed this topic for the past several years, especially as it relates to Windows Mobile and Windows CE devices.  Be sure to check your device dates next week to make sure they have updated correctly!

Motorola has announced that they will be supporting Windows Mobile 6.1 on several devices, including the MC3000, MC9090, MC70, and MC75.  This marks the first MC3000 available with Windows Mobile, as all previous devices have had Windows CE only.

We were unable to find an official annoucement yet, but checking the Motorola website reveals that the MC300 lists Windows Mobile 6.1 as an option.  However the MC9090, MC70 and MC75 do not list it as of today.  Availability is supposed to be 4th quarter of this 2008 for all but the MC75, which will be 1st quarter 2009.

We expect the ITScriptNet clients for Symbol will work on this new configuration without any difficulty, but as always we will test as soon as possible.

The November 2008 ITScriptNet News has been posted to the website.  You can read it here.  Topics discussed include the release of the Inventory Control Solution Pack, the new website, and news about ITScriptNet V3.0.