General FacTS

How can I change the FacTS Labels on the data entry screens?

The V9 FacTS application allows the Administrative User to modify data entry screens on a limited basis. These modifications may include hiding individual fields, changing the text of a label and/or changing a field to appear to look mandatory (by highlighting the Data Entry Field). Your System Administrator can assist you in completing these modifications.

Do label changes automatically carry through to the FacTS Standard Reports?

Unfortunately, label changes do not carry through to the reports. For instance, if you modified all of the "Facility ID" labels to read "Property ID", when you run the standard FacTS reports, the labels on the reports would be Facility ID. Likewise, if you hid a field on the data entry screen, that field would appear on the standard report with a blank value.

Can I move and/or hide menu items within the FacTS application?

Yes. Using System Security and Menu Maintenance, you can both hide and add menu items to the various topic buttons and/or groups as you desire.

I selected the Help Icon and nothing happened. Is there any special configuration that is necessary to view the help files?

It is possible that your default browser is not recognized by FacTS. This could possibly be a browser pathing error. Another possibility is that you have changed your HTML Help Default File Location. To correct the browser pathing error, go to the System Administration Topic Button, Document Management Group and view your Document Command settings for your browser. Ensure the executable path is correct.

Can the help files be specific to my company's needs?

Quantum edits the Help files to meet specific customer requirements as requested. In that case the Online Help is custom. Quantum will send the custom help files and store them in a specific directory structure.

In certain areas of the software, when I filter on employees I get a prefiltered list of employees for only one Facility. The Facility ID has been defaulted in the Employee Filter and I cannot delete it. Is there a way for me to clear the filter so I can see all of the employees in the database?

FacTS prefilters the available employees as a time-saving step. If the case should arise that you need to associate an employee outside of a particular facility, you can clear the filter using the Control-Z keys. This will clear the default Facility ID and allow you to broaden your search. Please note: If your user has been designated to be facility-filtered, then the Control-Z key feature will not work. The Facility Filtering Security Option supercedes the Clear Filter option.

What is the difference between a Patch Closing and Release and a Patch Fragment?

Patch Closings and Releases occur every two to three months depending on the maturity of the product. A Patch Closing will consist of many changes to the software that will be installed using the install shield. Typically, Patch Closings affect multiple modules and/or functions of the software. A Patch Fragment is a subset of a Patch Closing. A Patch Fragment can have multiple programs, but can be delivered as an emergency fix to a critical issue.

What are RDEs and why are there so many of them sometimes?

RDE stands for Related Data Entry. These are merely additional data entry screens for additional information that is related to the original information. The base data entry screen is where information that is basic to the issue is input, and the RDE is where additional or supporting information is stored. An example is the Incident data entry, with RDEs including Incident Causes, Injury-Illness, Spill, Vehicle Accident, Corrective Actions, Employee Involvement, and others. The basic information about the incident is entered in the Incident data entry, such as where the incident occurred, when the incident occurred, the type of incident, and a brief description of the incident. RDEs include specifics, such as who was involved, what caused the incident, whether or not a spill or an accident (or both) occurred during the incident, whether or not there were injuries, etc.
You can think of the initial data entry screen (record) as the body of an octopus, and the RDEs as the arms. All of the arms are joined to the body, just as all of the information in the RDEs is joined to the base record. It may seem confusing at first, but if you keep in mind that information in the RDEs all connect to the base data, then with use the RDE concept will be clearer.

Sometimes when I am entering data and move between RDEs, FacTS doesn't remember the record I'm working on. How can I fix this?

This can be fixed by using the "Retain Current Record During Sort/Filter" feature. It is located in the "Special" pull-down menu. When you start FacTS, go to the "Special" menu item and click on "Retain Current Record During Sort/Filter" to activate this feature. This will ensure that the record you are working on is kept at the top of the browse screen and is highlighted when you switch between RDEs or when you use the sort or filter functions.

Waste Management

Why don't I see all of my manifests in the Browse or Detail mode?

Manifest records are prefiltered to initially display only those manifests for the past 90 days, i.e., those with Ship Dates that range from Today's Date, to Today's Date minus 90 days. In addition, the prefiltering mechanism works so that initially, all manifests that have a value in the Return Date field are excluded as well, regardless of Ship Date.
In order to see all manifests, simply clear the filter by selecting the "View" menu item and then "Clear Filter." Alternatively, if you are looking for a particular manifest or set of manifests, access the Manifest Filter, then key-in or select any applicable filter criteria. Change the default Ship Dates values if necessary. If the Manifest(s) of concern have Return Date values, it is necessary to include their necessary date values in the Return Date fields.

What is the difference between a Facility, a Generator, and a Customer?

For most users, these three entities are identical; therefore when these records are created, their data should mirror each other, including the data noted in their respective Site and/or Mail Organization records. Keeping these records in sync is especially important when using the manifest functionality within FacTS.
For other users, i.e., TSDRFs, a Facility may also be a Generator, but the Customer might be another entity, - a Company, for example - where invoices are sent.

Can I delete a Container Transaction?

Yes, but not directly. Deleting Container (Inventory) Transactions requires the use of the Inventory Transaction Backout Utility or the Consolidated Transaction Utility, depending on the type of transaction (i.e., Container Add/Fill, Move, Ship Offsite, Pump Out, etc.) Use the Inventory Backout Utility for Add/Fill Transactions and the Consolidated Backout Utility for other transaction types.
Note that if multiple transactions will be backed out for a single container, do them in the reverse order in which they were created, i.e., back-out (delete) those records that were created last in order to maintain the accuracy of the remaining transactions. FacTS' Facility Container History Report for the container(s) of interest will note all of the transaction dates and times so that you can easily back-out transactions in the proper order.

Can FacTS generate/print Bills of Lading?

Yes. Bills of Lading, typically used for non-hazardous waste shipments or for product shipments, are generated by creating a Manifest record, noting all applicable information (including RDE information). For ease of identifying a (Manifest) Bill of Lading record from a true Manifest record, you could prefix the ID used in the Manifest Document Number field w/ "BOL" (i.e., BOL010203.) This would position all BOLs after true manifest records, and allows you to search/filter for BOLs based on the prefix used.
To print a BOL, access the Manifest Printing Utility and select the appropriate BOL Form Type to print. Note: Contact QCS regarding the development of other BOL Form Types.

Outbound MSDS Generation

How can I associate in MSDS Generation and Delivery System (MGDS) module a different customer logo and address for our MSDSs?

Under Algorithm Rules…Line of Business data entry screen, the location of the Company logo is defined. Currently this is mapped to Quantum's external website. The logo location is in page 1, the customer the Address is in Page 2 and the phone number and disclaimer on page 3. To modify the address or disclaimer in Chinese or Spanish the Java version of the software needs to be accessed.

Where can I associate in MSDS Generation and Delivery System (MGDS) module pictograms for the different sections of our MSDSs?

To change the pictograms location is the user needs to go to Algorithm Administrative… Phrase Link Mappings. Access the screen and filter for from Field Name PIC to Field Name PICz in the Field Name, click OK and double click on the browse. Each pictogram is currently mapped to Quantum's external website. The System Administrator may change the mapping to an internal link.

How can I add prompt fields to allow the user to VOC, Flash Point, Specific Gravity for the MSDS instead of using rules?

Access the topic button MSDS Generation and Delivery System (MGDS). Go to the Algorithm Rules group and access the Characteristic Rule data entry screen. Filter for "zprompt" in Characteristic Rule ID and msds9 in the table Name, next do an "Add copy" (Ctrl-Ins) and change the Field Name to VOC and save the record. Next Run the MSDS Generation Utility, you will at this point see the new fields showing up in the browse. Go to the change mode of the field you wish to change and enter the value and click generate and wait for the utility to finish generating the MSDS with new VOC.

How can I group products marketed in different regions they have the same formulae as the bulk formulae, but have the regional XYZ trade names such as XYZ gear oils, XYZ engine oils, XYZ Food Grade greases in MSDS Generation and Delivery System (MGDS)?

This can be done using the Made Like table in the system.For example pretend that "12345" is Customer X product called "Red Paint", and also marketed as "XYZ Red Paint" and "ABC Red Paint".

Step 1

You can set up 2 Item Master Records.
12345-X for "XYZ Red Paint" with ItemType XYZ
12345-A for "ABC Red Paint" with ItemType ABC

Step 2

Next set up Line of Business records for XYZ and ABC.Under Algorithm Rules...Line of Business data entry screen, change places where the location of the Company logo is defined. The changes that are needed are : Logo location is in page 1, the Address is in Page 2 and the Phone number and disclaimer on page 3. To change these in other languages these would be needed to be done in the Java App (web).

Step 3

Next create made like records (MGDS / MSDS Revision / Made Like) linking these to the actual MSDS. Set up made like records that relate 12345-X to master item id 12345 and 12345-A to master item 12345. Then run the MSDS generation Utility for the item IDs 12345-A or 12345-X to produce the MSDSs.

Use the MSDS Catalog Bulk Activation Utility to create MSDS for the main and made like records.Take note if this needs to be activated in any other language other then English this should done in the web. If only one of the MSDS needs to be generated use MSDS Catalog Utility, if all the Item ID MSDSs need to be generated then MSDS Catalog Bulk Activation Utility can be used.

System Administration

What should I do when I get a message when logging into FacTS: "You have exceeded the number of users specified in your license (Default: XX)?"

The message indicates there are some "hung users" who did not log out correctly. The user can log in as clearusers, that will clear up the hung users. And the user can login as the regular user.

What should I do when I get a message during a session in FacTS: "Lock table overflow, increase -L on server?"

The Lock Table parameter (-L) is a server side parameter, limited only by the amount of memory available on the server. We suggest that you double the current value on your facts*.s.pf parameter file. This change will not take affect until the server is restarted.