by 'Uncle' Frank Ousterhout

 

 

 

Dear Uncle Frank,

 

                I heard that Eclipse has a great new feature called GLOBAL SEARCH.  But I have been searching my screens and cannot find it.  Is it under F1, F2, ... or somewhere else?

 

                Robert from Fontana, CA

 

 

 

Dear Robert,

 

                GLOBAL SEARCH is a very useful feature but is only available in Solar.  You cannot find it under any 'F' key as it is not in Eterm.

 

                But when you do get onto Solar, you will find that you can use the search box in the upper right corner to do a 'google' type search.  Whatever you enter will search the indexed fields of orders, product records, customer records, vendor records and contact records.  It will show you both the customer and vendor information for an entity, if it exists.  Also, you can search to find menu items (useful when you are on Solar and not sure where a menu or sub-menu is.)

 

                If you want to limit your searches, you can use the drop down menu next to the gold star to narrow down the category of your search.

 

                For your customers that use Purchase Order numbers, you can even search for a customer's order by entering the customer PO number in the search box.

 

                TIP: You can get to the Global Search box from anywhere by just typing Ctrl+ALT+S.  You hold down the Control Key and the Alt Key together and then just touch 's' (not case sensitive.)  It even works while in an order!

 

                Advanced TIP: The auto-complete feature used for Global Searching AND in Quick Sales Order Entry can be turned off or left on. There is a setting in File / Preferences / Advanced Tab / "Disable Auto-Completion in Widget Search".  This setting controls all auto-completion in widgets.  If turned off, then you must hit 'Enter' to start a search both in Global Search and in Quick Sales Order Entry.  With auto-completion left on, it starts searching after three characters are entered and you can keep entering more characters even as your search results are appearing.

 

 

                Regards,

                Uncle Frank

 

IDEA's Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) enables you to securely access accurate and timely product and pricing data directly from your suppliers - in one centralized location and in one standardized electronic format.

 

Electrical manufacturers regularly update the IDW with transactional, packaging and marketing content. Using the IDW, you can synchronize with your suppliers and pull up-to-date product data to power your business system, populate your catalogs, or even to build a web storefront or mobile app.

 

More Data. Better Data.

By subscribing to the IDW at IDEA's newest subscription level, Catalog Plus, you can employ additional features and tools that will further strengthen your eCommerce, including: 

• 50+ of the most frequently-used product attributes, which have been normalized for faster, more accurate online searches and for consistency across manufacturers
• More than 600,000 digital content URLs hosted by IDEA to ensure validity and stability
• Web hierarchy sample templates to use as guides while developing web store drill-downs

 

In addition, IDEA continuously works to enhance IDW product content to address distributors' evolving needs in the growing digital economy, enabling more efficient bids, sales transactions and eCommerce capabilities.

 

Standards-Based Validation

IDEA scrubs and validates IDW product data against industry eBusiness standards to ensure its quality, consistency and completeness. The IDW's standards-based foundation enables you to speak one common language with your suppliers, strengthening trading partner relationships and reducing the time and effort spent on translating or reformatting content.

 

Links to Contractor Estimating Systems

In addition to facilitating relationships with your suppliers, the IDW is now better equipped to meet the needs of your contractors. The IDW is integrated with several contractor estimating systems, allowing contractors to utilize high-quality IDW product data in their daily operations. This integration also streamlines the quotation process between you and your contractors, making your business more efficient.

 

Join more than 4,000 electrical distributor locations across the US and Canada that are already using the IDW. With the IDW, you can increase your speed-to-market, differentiate your company from competitors, and prepare your business for future growth. To learn more about how the IDW can help you and your business, contact IDEA to schedule a one-on-one at info@idea4industry.com, or visit our website for more information: www.idea4industry.com. 

Support  Corner

by Camille Alberico, Epicor Support

 

 

 

A hot tip for speeding up Solar and PC usage in general:  When your local IT techs are on a workstation to update Java to the latest version from the WebStart page, ask them to clear out 2 temp directories that are notorious for slowing down a PC.

 

c:\Windows\Temp and more importantly, under the user's profile directory, \Local\Temp (may need to unhide protected system files)

 

All files in these directories are "fair game" and not needed - if any file claims to be "in use" and can't be deleted, skip it and don't worry about leaving a few stragglers behind. Deleting the majority does the trick.

 

Even if your PC is speedy, you may get a little boost or the very least, free up some hard drive space.

 

 

Senior Manager, Eclipse Software Support/Customer Support

Nearly 24 years ago, I drove my motorcycle each morning from a small apartment on Martha's Vineyard to an office where I wrote code all day. It was in that small office that version 1 of Eclipse was born. I'm reminded of the Bob Seger song as I think back to those days: "Seems like yesterday, but it was long ago".

 

The song continues: "Found myself surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends, found myself further and further from my home". The worlds of 1991 and 2014 are very different. There were no cellphones, few personal computers and no internet. Today, Eclipse finds itself "surrounded by strangers" as our devices and e-commerce itself interact with a structure put in place long ago.

 

An ERP is focused on your enterprise, built to be your ONLY technology provider. In today's world, that does not work. Eclipse users (and the entity that owns Eclipse or any ERP system) need to embrace the concept of an "enterprise suite". Meaning your technology ecosystem will be from a number of different providers.

 

But when do you de-couple from the ERP? What should be the responsibility of the different providers? Business intelligence (BI) is a logical de-coupling. I strongly advise you to choose a BI provider that works with other ERP systems as well as Eclipse. Because if they only work with Eclipse, they will eventually have to charge you more. Their consumption capacity is tied to Eclipse users: growth can only come from increased charges to that set of users.

 

I believe you need to de-couple from your omni-channel (ecommerce and native mobile applications). Find one provider to power your websites and native mobile applications (especially those used by your customer). Make sure this provider works with other ERPs. Just like Eclipse became stronger by serving more than one micro-vertical (plumbing, electrical, etc.), your omni-channel technology provider is stronger by working with more than one ERP system, such as Eclipse, P21, Infor SXe, JD Edwards, SAP.

 

In your omni-channel journey you must have:

1.   The Fuel - A strategy for building enriched product data (I recommend off shore)
2.   The Art - A digital marketing strategy
3.   The Platform - A PIM, CMS, search, and commerce (cart) system.

 

Please reach out to me at Unilog Content Solutions and see if I can give you shelter Against the Wind...

 

Company Name	City	State
Vessel Medical	Fountain Inn	SC

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