SiteManager Update Tonight Friday Oct 26th

We are proceeding with this weekend’s distribution of SiteManager 3.8 tx2.010. Tonight Friday, October 26, 2012 SiteManager version 3.8a tx 2.010 will be made available for install through LANDesk. The upgrade process will begin at 6 PM tonight and will proceed through Saturday and Sunday (all times central). SiteManager (Citrix, MTS and client) and SiteManager reporting will be unavailable for this duration. SiteManager is scheduled to be available again Monday, October 29th at 6 AM or sooner. A pdf copy of this notice is available here.

 

We were unable to resolve the technical issues with the automated update process that was original scheduled with this release.  So, we are scheduling it for a later release and continuing without it. SiteManager 3.8a tx 2.010 will only contain the change order modifications listed below.

Please make every attempt to keep all SiteManager PC's powered on during this period.

It is mandatory that standalone users check in all work in prior to 6:00 PM Friday, October 26, 2012.  Laptop and tablet devices using SiteManager standalone must be powered on and on the TxDOT network. Devices using Citrix and/or Terminal Server SiteManager require no updating and can remain offline.

Remember – When users open SiteManager for the first time (presumably on Monday) the user id field on the logon screen will be blank. SiteManager user ids are case sensitive and 99% of these ids are all upper case characters.

 

The primary purpose of this 3.8a tx2.010 upgrade is to:

Conform to the May 30, 2012 Phil Wilson memo, “Franchise Model – Contract Change Orders” Link.

This release contains two significant changes.

·         Change order approval levels will be determined manually. No longer will SiteManager assign the appropriate approval levels. Under the franchise model, District discretion will be used to manually select approval levels. Approval levels will be assigned in a process that is identical to the formally available override option*. See link for new change order approval process. 

Minimum requirements :

1. A minimum of one Area Engineer or District Engineer must be included with each change order approval.

2. A minimum of two different users must approve each change order.

ü  The change order header window override option has been removed (see figure 1a & b).

ü  Federal Funding and Oversite indicators have been added to the change order header window (see figure 1a). The Federal funding indicator is only representative of the controlling CSJ.

 

 

*The override option has been removed as there are no longer any calculated approval levels to override.

 

 

Canceled - Pending SiteManager Update Friday Oct 19th

Due to technical issues, this weekend’s distribution of the latest SiteManager release has been canceled.

SiteManager will be available this weekend except during the scheduled database maintenance period between 11:00 pm tonight and 1:00 am Saturday, October 20^th.

We have tentatively rescheduled the release for next Friday, October 26^th.

 

Stewart DeWitt          

512.416.2462

 

 

~Friday, October 12, 2012~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday, October 19, 2012 the SiteManager technical team is schedule to release the next version of SiteManager. The new version (3.8a tx 2.010) will be made available for install through LANDesk. The upgrade process will begin at 6 PM on Friday and will proceed through Saturday and Sunday (all times central). SiteManager (Citrix, MTS and client) and SiteManager reporting will be unavailable for this duration. SiteManager is scheduled to be available again Monday, October 22th at 6 AM or sooner. A pdf copy of this notice is available here.

Please make every attempt to keep all SiteManager PC's powered on during this period.

It is mandatory that standalone users check in all work in prior to 6:00 PM Friday, October 19, 2012.

Remember – When users open SiteManager for the first time the user id field on the logon screen will be blank. SiteManager user ids are case sensitive and 99% of these ids are all upper case characters.

The primary purpose of this 3.8a tx2.010 upgrade is to:

Conform to the May 30, 2012 Phil Wilson memo, “Franchise Model – Contract Change Orders” Link.

This release contains two significant changes.

• Change order approval levels will be determined manually. No longer will SiteManager assign the appropriate approval levels. Under the franchise model, District discretion will be used to manually select approval levels. Approval levels will be assigned in a process that is identical to the formally available override option*. See link for new change order approval process. 

Minimum requirements :

1. A minimum of one Area Engineer or District Engineer must be included with each change order approval.

2. A minimum of two different users must approve each change order.

ü  The change order header window override option has been removed (see figure 1a & b).

ü  Federal Funding and Oversite indicators have been added to the change order header window (see figure 1a). The Federal funding indicator is only representative of the controlling CSJ.

 

• Automatic updates! SiteManager can now determine if the SiteManager client is current and update the installation if it is not**. A new application (SM Loader) is now included with each SiteManager installation. When a user starts SiteManager the app will read the local installation and compare it to the latest available version (see figure 2a). If the install is not current the app will install the latest version (see figure 2c). It is our hope that this new feature will allow us to bring you SiteManager enhancements quicker and with greater frequency.

 

*The override option has been removed as there are no longer any calculated approval levels to override.

**This option is not available when in Standalone mode.

 

 

Recall: Pending SiteManager Update Friday Oct 19th

Stewart DeWitt would like to recall the message, "Pending SiteManager Update Friday Oct 19th".

Pending SiteManager Update Friday Oct 19th

On Friday, October 19, 2012 the SiteManager technical team is schedule to release the next version of SiteManager. The new version (3.8a tx 2.010) will be made available for install through LANDesk. The upgrade process will begin at 6 PM on Friday and will proceed through Saturday and Sunday (all times central). SiteManager (Citrix, MTS and client) and SiteManager reporting will be unavailable for this duration. SiteManager is scheduled to be available again Monday, October 22th at 6 AM or sooner. A pdf copy of this notice is available here.

Please make every attempt to keep all SiteManager PC's powered on during this period.

It is mandatory that standalone users check in all work in prior to 6:00 PM Friday, October 19, 2012.

Remember – When users open SiteManager for the first time the user id field on the logon screen will be blank. SiteManager user ids are case sensitive and 99% of these ids are all upper case characters.

The primary purpose of this 3.8a tx2.010 upgrade is to:

Conform to the May 30, 2012 Phil Wilson memo, “Franchise Model – Contract Change Orders” Link.

This release contains two significant changes.

• Change order approval levels will be determined manually. No longer will SiteManager assign the appropriate approval levels. Under the franchise model, District discretion will be used to manually select approval levels. Approval levels will be assigned in a process that is identical to the formally available override option*. See link for new change order approval process. 

Minimum requirements :

1. A minimum of one Area Engineer or District Engineer must be included with each change order approval.

2. A minimum of two different users must approve each change order.

ü  The change order header window override option has been removed (see figure 1a & b).

ü  Federal Funding and Oversite indicators have been added to the change order header window (see figure 1a). The Federal funding indicator is only representative of the controlling CSJ.

 

• Automatic updates! SiteManager can now determine if the SiteManager client is current and update the installation if it is not**. A new application (SM Loader) is now included with each SiteManager installation. When a user starts SiteManager the app will read the local installation and compare it to the latest available version (see figure 2a). If the install is not current the app will install the latest version (see figure 2c). It is our hope that this new feature will allow us to bring you SiteManager enhancements quicker and with greater frequency.

 

*The override option has been removed as there are no longer any calculated approval levels to override.

**This option is not available when in Standalone mode.

 

 

Emailing SiteManager Custom Reports

The option to send SiteManager custom reports directly to your email has returned.

Thank you,

Temporary Instructions for emailing PDF reports from SM Report Server

The attached document illustrates one method of emailing PDF reports from the custom report server. It may be helpful to you and others while the customary email option is temporarily unavailable.

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT: SiteManager Report Server

IMPORTANT: SiteManager Report Server

 

The option to email reports has temporarily been removed. It will return as an option when ISD has resolved an existing issue.

 

For now the all reports will be generated with the default option to view in web.

 

We apologies for the inconvenience. 

 

 

SiteManager Change Order Franchise Process

Please review:

 

It is CST intention in the next month or so to update SiteManager to include a modification to allow for the change order franchise rules.

 

The change will mimic the change order override option (those not familiar with this option see attached).

 

SiteManager will not be charged with the task of determining appropriate approval levels. Approval groups will not be automatically determined or calculated by dollar amount, function or other process. 

 

Under the franchise model, District discretion will be used to manually select approval levels. Approval groups will be assigned in a process that is identical to the override option.

 

Minimum requirements :

1.    A minimum of one Area Engineer or District Engineer must be included with each change order approval.

2.    A minumum of two different users must approve each change order.

More specific information as to the date and time for the update will be sent as it becomes known.

 

Thank you,

 

Stewart

===================  Hurricane Season:  Hurricane season is underway.   Do you have a Personal Plan for your family�s safety?  Visit www.txdot.gov/travel/hurricane.htm

SiteManager offline Sunday Sept 9th 10-12pm

Greeting,

SiteManager, EPRS and all dependant reporting services will be offline for routine maintenance on the morning of Sunday, September the 9th between the hours of 10-12pm. Please forward this information to all parties that may be affected by this outage.

 

Thank you,  

 

 

 

Stewart DeWitt
CST-Construction Division
Senior SiteManager Succor™
Phone: (512) 416-2462
stewart.dewitt@txdot.gov
>>> On 8/29/2012 at 11:10 AM, in message <93A8FAE9FA985A44905D349E74C0C410CE69A2@BLUPRD0611MB401.namprd06.prod.outlook.com>, Jay Edwards <Jay.Edwards@txdot.gov> wrote:

Date:                     Sunday September 9th Start Time:          10:00 AM Duration:             2 hrs   TX-SM-PD and TX-SM-PD2 have been up nearly 700 days without a restart. This reboot is to primarily clear out paging but also to reset everything. Normally we would have had to reboot the servers due to maintenance of some sort by this time.   Streams replication will be shutdown prior the reboot then restarted afterwards. The SMGRPS replication will be delayed till after the reboot is complete.   Oracle instances: SMGRPRD, SMGRADHC, TXDB9 and SMGRPS   Production databases that will be offline during during the reboot: SiteManager, SiteManager Adhoc, EPRS, LIMS, Central Permit System, SiteManager Production Support, DSS, E1391   Please let me know if someone is to be contacted and if so how (email, phone etc…) after the reboot is complete.   If there are questions or comments please let us know.

===================  Hurricane Season:  Hurricane season is underway.   Do you have a Personal Plan for your family�s safety?  Visit www.txdot.gov/travel/hurricane.htm

New SiteManager Website

Greetings,

We have updated the SiteManager website. Please update your bookmarks to http://crossroads/org/cst/cmisd/sitemgr.asp

 

You'll want to check out the dedicated report pages. Each page has a table or grid with filterable fields to allow you to narrow your search and hone in on the right report. Finding the information you're searching for will never be easier.

 

The Statewide Construction Report developed by Mike Lehmann that previously was on the San Antonio website is now available here (http://crossroads/org/cst/cmisd/sitemgr.asp?m=smgr&p=swcreport).

 

The "How to Videos" are still evolving so I ask for your patience as more are created.

 

Enjoy, 

 

 

 

 

 

Stewart DeWitt
CST-Construction Division
Senior SiteManager Succor™
Phone: (512) 416-2462
stewart.dewitt@txdot.gov

===================  Hurricane Season:  Hurricane season is underway.   Do you have a Personal Plan for your family�s safety?  Visit www.txdot.gov/travel/hurricane.htm