Getting Started

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Installing and Using the Lettus Application

The Lettus Application can now be run through an Internet Browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. To get started using Lettus through a Browser, click on any of the links below.

What is Lettus?
What is Jinitiator and why do I need it?
What to expect when downloading and installing JInitiator
Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0
How to create a desktop shortcut to launch Lettus
Allowing Pop-ups from your Lettus Server
Running Lettus for the first time
What is my Username and Password?
Operational differences between Lettus through a Browser with JInitiator (GUI) and the older Character Mode Lettus (using Smarterm)
How to avoid losing your Lettus session if you click on another web link inside of email
What about Macintosh computers?
Can I use my Mouse?
Optimal desktop display settings for Lettus
Known technical issues
How to ensure optimal performance of Lettus
Troubleshooting

1. What is Lettus?
Lettus is the name of the Fresh System Application. Previously this application was run through a terminal emulation software called “Smarterm”. Lettus can now be run through an Internet browser such as Internet Explorer. This is sometimes referred to as “Lettus – GUI” (Graphical User Interface).

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2. What is JInitiator and why do I need it?
On Windows PC’s, Lettus uses Oracle JInitiator to access forms through a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. Lettus screens will not run on the client machine unless JInitiator has been successfully installed. JInitiator is not required for Macintosh Computers.

Jinitiator is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that plugs into either Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer to replace the native Java Virtual Machines that those browsers provide. Jinitiator provides a newer JVM version than the one shipped with these Browsers and a JVM designed specification for the running this type of application.

For the first-time user of Lettus (or the first time running Lettus on a PC or laptop), this *one time only* step is required. This is what to expect:

Click the download link on this page for JInitiator (or click here)
You will see an "Oracle JInitiator" download page. Click Yes to start the download.

Please note: You may need to minimize the blank Developer Server and Oracle JInitiator window in order to see the screen and click Yes.
The InstallShield Self-extracting.exe box will appear next. Click Yes to start the install process.
The Setup box will appear, then the Welcome window. Click Next.
The Choose Destination Location will appear. Select the default install location. Click Next.
The system will go through a series of setup dialog boxes. The Installation Complete box will appear when installation is complete.
Oracle JInitiator window will appear and start loading the java applet which will log you into Banner.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter the message : “unInstaller setup failed to initialize. You may not be able to uninstall this product.“ then you may not have permissions to install software on you PC or laptop. Please login as an Administrator user or contact you IT support.

4. Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0

To view reports on the screen, you will need to install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. By default, reports are displayed to the screen in PDF format. These can only be displayed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 can be downloaded from the home page (or click here) of your server or at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. When downloading from the Adobe site, you can de-select the “Adobe Yahoo! Toolbar” and the “Adobe Photoshop® Album 2.0 Starter Edition” check boxes. This will reduce the size of the download.

Only version 7.0 and above of Adobe Acrobat is supported by Fresh Computer System. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free.

5. How to create a desktop shortcut to launch Lettus RECOMMENDED

Right-click anywhere on your computer desktop, and select New, then Shortcut from the pop-up menu.
If you have IE installed in the default location on your computer (if you don't know, you can assume you do), type the following one-line statement into the command line box, including all quote marks. You may need to replace asp.freshcomp.com.au with your server IP Address.

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" "http://asp.freshcomp.com.au:7780/"

NOTE: Both parts of the statement must be on the same line, with one blank space between the quote marks after IEXPLORE.EXE and the quote mark before http:
If you do not have IE installed in the default location, you will need to browse for the IEXPLORE.EXE file.
Select a name for your shortcut (e.g., Lettus) and press the FINISH button.

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6. Allowing Pop-ups from your Lettus Server?
You will need to allow popup windows to appear from you Lettus Server. To enable Popups, go to Internet Explorer and select the “Tools” -> “Internet Options” from the menu. Select the “Privacy” Tab and Click “Settings” in the Popup-Blocker Section.

Enter the address of your Lettus server here and Click “Add”.

Alternatively, you can disable the pop-up block by de-selecting the “Block Pop-ups” Checkbox.

Pop-up Windows are typically used by websites for advertising. By default, Internet Explorer will block most pop-up to prevent those annoying adds from displaying. Lettus displays reports by using these pop-up windows so you must ensure Pop-ups are not blocked for the Lettus Server. If so, nothing will happen when you try to run a report to the screen.

If you have followed the steps above and still do not see anything when running reports to the screen, you may have another Pop-up blocker installed on your PC. These can be a part of Internet Explorer Toolbars (like the MSN Toolbar) or part of your Anti-virus / Spyware Software such as Norton Anti-virus or Norton Internet Security. You may need to check these programs for similar Pop-up Blocker options and disable the Pop-up Blocker or permit Pop-ups from your Lettus Server.

You may also wish to read this document to assist you in diagnosing how to disable other common Popup Blockers

7. Running Lettus for the first time
Once you have successfully installed JInitiator, you can run Lettus. The first time Lettus is run, it will automatically download a number of files and store them on your computer. This will happen automatically but it may take quite a long time. Once these have all been downloaded, they will not need to be re-downloaded again. This initial downloading of these files may take up to 10 minutes over a broadband connection and much longer over a dial-up connection. Please be patient.

While these file are downloading, the browser may appear to be not responding. You may notice the status bar at the bottom of the browser indicating that it is downloading …/f90all_jinit.jar (or similar). Please be patient and allow these initialisation files to download.

8. What is my Username and Password?
If your Application has been moved to GUI from the Character based (Smarterm) version, your “Login” will be your first login, probably your name. In the Character mode version, you would have entered this initially at a unix “Login : “ prompt which probably looked something like this:

The new Browser Based environment will require a password on this account. You may not have had a password at this level before. Please check with your System Administrator for your new password. You will probably be forced to change your password the first time you login.

You may also need to enter a Security ID and password. The Security ID determines the access permissions you have within the Lettus Application. Your System Administrator will determine wether you are required to select a Security ID or wether one is assigned to you automatically.

9. Operational differences between Lettus through a Browser with JInitiator (GUI) and the older Character Mode Lettus (using Smarterm)

Reports printed to the screen will display in Adobe Acrobat in a separate window.
The new version of Lettus requires more network bandwidth than the older character mode version. Downloading files or other users browsing the internet while you are using Lettus will affect the performance of Lettus. Running a Large report such as Customer Statements to the screen or a local printer may slow down Lettus. If affected, you may need to wait until this report has finished downloading before attempting to continue to use Lettus.
Print screens may print smaller and darker than in the character mode version.
Local Printing (to your PC default printer) behaves differently.
Some Keys have been re-mapped to different keys. Primarily, the changes are:

Function	Character Mode	Browser Based Version (GUI)
Delete Record	[Del] - Delete Key	[Ctrl]+[Backspace]
“Key Menu” Special Function	[/] Keypad Forward Slash	[Ctrl]+[F11]
Show Function Keys	[Num Lock] – Number Lock	[Ctrl]+[K] (also available from the toolbar)
Display Last Error	[*] Keypad Asterix	[Ctrl]+[E] (also available from the toolbar)
Show Auditing Record Details	[Ctrl]+[Z]	[Ctrl]+[F1]
Show Auditing Field Details	[Ctrl]+[X]	[Ctrl]+[F2]
Next Set Of Records	[F10]	[Ctrl]+[Down Arrow] or [F10]
Previous Set Of Records	Not Available	[Ctrl]+[Up Arrow] or [Ctrl]+[F10]

10. How to avoid losing your Lettus session if you click on another web link inside of email

You will need to set an option in your IE browser configuration so that any new web link will be created in another, new IE browser window. To do this:

Go to the horizontal menu at the top of your IE browser and select Tools, then Internet Options.
Click on the Advanced tab and go to the Browsing section.
Make sure the "Reuse windows for launching shortcuts" statement is unchecked, and click Apply.

11. What about Macintosh computers?

Macintosh computers can be used with Lettus however they may require some additional Configuration on your server. Please contact Fresh Computer Systems if you would like to run Lettus on a Macintosh. The Macintosh must be running Mac OS X version 10 or above. The Internet Explorer or Safari Browser is supported on a Mac.

12. Can I use my Mouse?

Not in the initial version of Lettus. This version of Lettus is a migration from the character mode version and cannot yet support a mouse (expect in the Menu and some screens). We will be gradually enabling the Mouse in some screens as we re-write parts of the system for this graphical environment.

13. Optimal desktop display settings for Lettus

The Lettus Application will run at optimal size when your PC screen is set at 1024x768 screen resolution with your Windows “Taskbar” at the bottom of the screen (default location). We recommend you run Lettus on a 17-inch Monitor or larger. Lettus will NOT display correctly when running in 800x600.

The following notes describes how to set you screen to 1024x768:

Minimise all open Windows, right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
In the Display Properties window, click on the Settings tab.
To change the resolution, drag the slider in the "Screen area" box until it shows 1024 x 768 pixels. Click Apply.
Click Apply, then OK.
When the Display Properties box appears again, click OK.

Note: If you are using a Widescreen laptop and Lettus looks strange and untidy, see the troubleshooting section below.

Print screen problem - fuzzy printouts:

Adjust your printer setting by clicking Start, then Settings, then Printers.
Right-click on your printer's icon and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
Click on the Graphics tab and be sure that Dithering is set to none.

Computer freeze/crash:
Avoid opening too many windows.

Lettus is slow:
Close other applications. Avoid large internet downloads while running Lettus.

Always close all inactive/unused windows.
Do not download large files while using Lettus. This also applies to other people using your Internet / Intranet Connection.
Be aware of your computer's capacity and scale down open applications accordingly.
To determine the amount of RAM on your computer, click Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, then System. Click on the General tab to view the amount of RAM available on your machine.
The Requirements Table below offers guidelines for optimal Lettus use.

Lettus Requirements Table
	MINIMUM Technical Requirements	RECOMMENDED Technical Requirements
CPU for PCs	Pentium 3 processor, 450 MHz or higher	Pentium 4 processor, 2 GHz or higher
RAM	128M	512M or more
Display Monitor	15 inch color CRT	17 inch color CRT or 15 inch LCD (flat panel)
Display Resolution	1024 x 768	1024 x 768
Network	10/100BT Ethernet with PCI bus	10/100BT Ethernet with PCI bus
Operating System	Windows 98, 2nd Edition	Windows XP
Required Software	- Internet Explorer 6.x / 7.x - Oracle JInitiator 1.3.1.18 / 1.3.1.25 - Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.x	- Internet Explorer 6.x / 7.x - Oracle JInitiator 1.3.1.18 / 1.3.1.25 - Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.x
Maximum Concurrent Opened Windows for Best Performance	- No more than 1 Lettus session - No more than 1 additional browser window	- No more than 2 Lettus session - No more than 1 additional browser window
NOTE: Always close all unused and inactive windows to ensure the best overall performance. If you need to run other programs that are not on the list, be sure to close some of your unused applications. The Browser Based version of Lettus (GUI) requires more processing power on your PC than the old Character based version (using Smarterm). An older PC will run slower than a new PC.

16. Troubleshooting

Cannot start GUI: …main.class Not Found or GUI hangs when launching with …main.class in the status bar.

You may be running through a proxy server. You will need to bypass the proxy server to access Lettus.

Go to the horizontal menu at the top of your IE browser and select Tools, then Internet Options.
Click on the Connections tab and click on LAN Settings….
Under Proxy server, click the Advanced… button.
Under Exceptions, add your server IP address or server name (eg. 192.168.0.10)

Lettus looks strange and untidy. Text is larger than normal and fields may be smaller. Some headings do not align with their fields. Click here for an example of this problem.

Check your display settings. Some widescreen laptop will run at a high resolution and use a lager DPI setting so text in webpage’s and documents appears larger. This disrupts the layout settings in GUI. To change the DPI setting back to 96 DPI:

Minimize all windows so your desktop is visible.
Right mouse click on your desktop and select properties
Click on the Settings tab.
Click the Advanced button
In the General tab you should see your DPI setting. Some widescreen laptops will default to “Large Size Fonts – 120 DPI”. Lettus requires a DPI setting of 96 DPI (Dots Per Inch). You will be asked to reboot your computer after changing this setting.