Copyright © 2005 DORSCH Consult
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is available from the Free Software Foundation (http://www.gnu.org).
$Date: 2005/08/10 04:40:08 $
Table of Contents
This document describes how to use the DC Comprehensive Subscriber Survey (DCCSS) application version 0.0.1.
DCCSS is a web-based application that allows to record and analyze detailed subscriber data for water utilities.
DCCSS is available from http://dccss.sourceforge.net.
Changes introduced by different DCCSS versions.
In order to run the DCCSS you need a web browser like Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox and the address (URL) of a DCCSS server. Contact your DCCSS administrator if you need help.
If you are running DCCSS on a standalone system, you should be able to start the DCCSS application from the Start Menu or with a Shortcut on your Desktop.
This section introduces important concepts of the DCCSS user interface.
A consistent navigation structure guides through the application. Through the "DCCSS" link in the navigation bar at the top it is always possible to return back to the main menu.
Logoff, workorder search and help functions are available at the top of each page.
The DCCSS application is fully internationalized. You can switch to the language of your choice using the select box at the top of the page.
DCCSS is currently available in the following languages:
Arabic
English
Additional languages can be easily added. If the language you are looking for is missing, please contact the DCCSS developers.
The find tool in the navigation bar allows to search for delivery points by sequence and GeoCode.
Delivery point sequence or GeoCode have to be entered to the text field. Pressing Enter or clicking on the button next to the data entry field will start the search for the delivery point.
The DCCSS application helps you to fill in the forms correctly by providing an intuitive help: If you leave the mouse cursor without movement over a field, a help message will be displayed.
Where database queries return too many results to display on the screen, DCCSS will offer a pager navigation that allows to browse through all the records. This concept is used for example in the zoom (Section 8, “Zoom Page”) page.
Elements of the pager are links like the following: << Previous, Next >>,1, 2, 3...
Context sensitive help is available on every page by clicking on Help link in the navigation bar.
The user guide will be opened in the language that is currently selected in the DCCSS application.
![[Note]](images/note.png) | Note |
|---|---|
If no documentation is available in the language that is selected in the application, an error message might be displayed by the browser. |
The chapter describing the current page will be opened in the DCCSS user guide.
This section gives you a short introduction into the main features of DCCSS. Nevertheless it is recommended to read the whole user guide.
Open the DCCSS logon page in your browser. This can be done by
Double-clicking on the DCCSS link on your desktop
If you don't have a DCCSS link on your desktop, open your web browser (Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer) and enter the URL provided by your DCCSS administrator. If you are using a stand-alone installation, the URL is most probably http://localhost/DCCSS/
On the logon page you have to enter your username and password in the respective fields.
Username and password should have been provided by your DCCSS administrator.
![[Tip]](images/tip.png) | Tip |
|---|---|
Ask your DCCSS administrator to create a bookmark for the logon page of the DCCSS application. |
This section tries to answer to frequently asked questions regarding the usage of DCCSS.
The main page contains the main menu of the DCCSS application.
This page can be reached from any page in the application by clicking on the DCCSS link in the navigation bar (Section 3.1, “Navigation”).
The following links are displayed:
Zoom You can zoom to landmarks here (Section 8, “Zoom Page”).
Map Allows you to explore the map.
Reports Reports generated from the maintenance data.
About DCCSS DCCSS copyright information.
If you are logged on to the DCCSS application as an administrator, additional administration tools will be available.
The map page allows to edit delivery points.
This page can be reached from the main page (Section 7, “Main Page”) and the zoom page (Section 8, “Zoom Page”) as well as some of the reports.
Legend The legend allows to hide some layers from being displayed on the map. Removing the checkmark next to the layer will remove the layer from the map the next time the map is redrawn.
Quick View A dropdown list that allows to quickly display a certain area or the full extent.
Keymap You can use the keymap to pan the map.
Map Size Use this dropdown list to select the size of the map.
The following map tools are available:
Zoom In Use this tool to zoom in the map
Zoom Out Use this tool to zoom out the map
Pan Use this tool to pan the map
Identify use this tool to see
information about features on the map. Your administrator might use
plug-ins to deliver custom information (e.g. images) for the
identified features.
This is the main page for the reports, all DCCSS reports are accessible through this page.
Miscellaneous DCCSS functions.
This section shows ways to get support for the DCCSS problems.
The most common problems when using DCCSS.
If you encounter an error like in Figure 1, “The Page Cannot be Displayed”, the network connection to the server might be lost. Check that the network cable is connected properly to your computer. If the problem is not related to the network cable, contact your DCCSS administrator.
The DCCSS devel mailing list may provide
help to solve problems, either through the archives which are
available under http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum=dccss-devel
or by sending an email to
<dccss-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>.
How to subscribe to the dccss-devel mailing list.
Browse to http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/dccss-devel.
Locate the section "Subscribing to Dccss-devel"
Enter your email address to the field "Your email address:"
Enter a new password, but not a valuable one to the field "Pick a password:".
Repeat the password in the field "Reenter password to confirm"
Leave the setting "Would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?" as "No".
Wait until you receive the confirmation email.
Answer the confirmation email. Don't change the subject of the confirmation email.
You will receive a mail welcoming you to the list.
You can communicate with the other dccss-devel subscribers now by sending email to dccss-devel@lists.sourceforge.net.
The bug and support trackers are available through the DCCSS website, http://dccss.sourceforge.net .
![[Caution]](images/caution.png) | Caution |
|---|---|
Please make sure that you look at all support requests, not only the open ones. |
When submitting bug reports or support requests, try to be verbose. This will allow the administrators or developers to reproduce the problem quickly and resolve it.
There are a few parameters that should always be included when submitting a bug report or support request:
The DCCSS version. The version number can be found in the top line of the application, along with the main menu link. Example: DCCSS 0.0.1
The user name used to log on to the application. The user name can be found in the top line of the application in the Log off link.
Error messages. If the system is issuing any error messages, please include these messages in your report. Try to insert the error messages as text, not as screenshots because text can be found in search engines.
Give a short description of what you were trying to do and how you expect the application to react. Describe what the application is doing wrong.