How To Sign On

To sign on to Collect!, you need the ID and Password assigned to you by your System Administrator. If you receive a message from Collect! that the ID is invalid, check your Caps Lock first. Your ID will display in block capitals irrespective of whether you typed it in with or without Caps Lock. The ID is not case sensitive. Your Password IS case sensitive and must be keyed in exactly as it was set up. If you have tried twice and have not met with success getting in, ask your Systems Administrator for assistance. If you attempt too many times, you will disable your login and your Systems Administrator will need to unlock your ID in the Operator Setup screen.

When you click your desktop shortcut or icon to launch Collect!, the first window you encounter is the Splash, or Login, screen. It is necessary to enter your login credentials, a valid ID and Password, to sign on.

Collect!'s Splash Screen and Sign On

Sign On

Collect! ships with a representative sample of user IDs and passwords already set up in the default Operator Levels so that you can experiment with them to see which levels suit your staff job functions. Each of the shipping default sample IDs is set with the ID and password matching for ease of use. Example, a recommended login permissions level for System Administrators and Executives is contained in the Operator ID "OWN", Password "own". All of the preset IDs shipped with Collect! follow this ID/Password convention of the password being the lowercase repeat of the ID. For more details about Operator configurations, user Level permissions and Access Rights, refer to Help topics How To Set Up Operators, and Access Rights - Default Settings.

Steps:

1. Key in your ID where indicated, then press the Tab or Enter key to move to the Password field.

2. Key in your Password where indicated, then press the Tab or Enter key to move to the OK button.

3. Press the Enter key to move to the OK button and to indicate that you are ready to advance to the next screen in the sign on process.

If your login is successful, you will proceed to the " Welcome to Collect!" window.

If you are signing in with an operator ID that has user level 99, you will see a cautionary message.

Signing on with User Level 99

The user level 99 message will only trigger once you log into a database. It will not prompt when you are using the ID 99/level 99 login that ships with Collect!.

It is strongly advised that you do not create a day-to-day login for yourself that has a Level 99. This is considered a special function system administration level that is not intended for day-to-day ordinary usage. This user level does NOT receive standard WARNING messages that all other user levels receive. Whatever you instruct the system to do, it will do. Because your database may be radically and irreplaceably be affected by such an occurrence, we STRONGLY recommend that you do not routinely work with a level 99 ID. Additionally, any fields which have had their field labels alias to be other name are not visible: user level 99 sees only original field labels.

As the system logs you in, it pauses briefly to update certain files. Do not interrupt this process. The screen will advance in a moment.

It is during this reading of your login credentials that Access Rights and field Aliases are being set for your session.

The next window is the "Welcome to Collect!" screen. This is where you need to check a few settings to ensure you are entering the database you wish to access and in the access mode practical for what you plan to do during your login session.

In the lower left of the window, you see an indicator called "Database to open" and the name of the database being pointed to is beside it. If you are experimenting with your new system, "demodb" is where you want to be. This is your test environment. If you want to access your main working database, called "masterdb", you can change the selection of which database you are signing into by clicking the " Select Database" button to the right of the field displaying the current database select name.

The system also ships with a third database, called "prosdb". This is your prospecting database for inside sales personnel. It is a Collect! database where the debtor and client related fields have been largely renamed/Aliased to be job function friendly for your sales team to track their prospect call-backs that have not turned to actual clients yet, as you have entered into your masterdb.

Default Database

Once you've clicked into "Select Database", if your selection is not the current default, you will get a screen prompt asking if you want to make what you just chose your new default database.

If you select Yes, the Database Preferences "Database" field is updated and your choice will become what the system sets automatically for you when you log into Collect!.

Default Database Prompt

This prompt displays only once per login session. If you exit to the Welcome to Collect! screen and select a different database to open, you will not see the prompt a second time. If you exit out of Collect! to the login screen, the prompt will be enabled again.

If you inadvertently set your demodb to be your primary database and you do not wish this to be so, you can either log out/log back in & Select Database as masterdb, this time saying Yes with intent to the preference question, OR, you can update the preference directly by following the menu path to this screen "System\ Preferences\Database Preferences" and entering your database to open first by name into the top field labeled "Database".

Shared Or Exclusive

You also need to check your session mode, or "Database access", which is immediately beneath the "Database to open" indicator.

1. If you are the only person who will be accessing the system at the moment, and you are not about to perform any Server level functions, it does not matter if you sign in "Shared" or "Exclusive".

2. If anyone else is using the system with you, then you must be sure that your login with "Shared" access.

3. If you are preparing to perform any Server level processes (i.e. Maintenance, Upgrades to the software), then you MUST be sure that no one else is in the system, then sign in Exclusive AND at the main Server station to perform these specialized, high level processes.

Once you have confirmed your database to open and access mode are both set correctly for your session, click the START button to enter the Collect! program.

See Also

- Introduction To Sign On
- Exclusive Mode
- Command Line Startup Options