The new messaging system allows users to send and receive messages from other users logged into the same database. It is also used to Log Off a user on another PC that is logged into Info-Organiser and has left for the day but is required to be logged off.

For IT Staff, messages are sent using Client/Server sockets starting at port 18500 to 18500 + highest user ID, so if you had the highest user Id to be 100 the ports to be open would be 18500 to 18600.

Messages are also stored in the database encrypted so no DBA can get access to them.

1.    We will explain the Log Off User system first.

2.    Via the Admin menu we can see an Icon for Log Off User:


3.    Clicking this icon now displays the Log Off User dialog box:

4.    Users that CAN be logged off are shown highlighted in Green. It is just a simple case of selecting the user and pressing the ‘LogOff’ button.

5.    For messaging we go back to the Amin menu and select the Messaging Icon:


6.    This opens a split screen view:

7.    The view is made up of 4 distinct sections, highlighted above we have:

  1. (In Red) USER SELECTION - Current users for this database and highlighted in Green if currently logged in.
  2. (In Light Blue) MESSAGE DISPLAY - The message section where we will be able to see messages to and from users we select in the ‘USER SELECTION’.
  3. (In Orange) FILTER MESSAGES – Here we can choose how much of our messages we wish to see from the ‘Last 7 Days’ , ‘Last Hour’,’Last 30 Days’, ‘Last 365 Days’, up to ‘All Messages’
  4. (In Purple) MESSAGE BOX – Here we type messages, or, as explained later Document Links can be inserted into this box.

8.    Selecting a user in the ‘USER SELECTION’ box will display all messages, depending on the filter, from that user to the current person logged in and vice-versa, similar to:


9.    In this picture we can see messages from “Harry” on the left-hand side and messages we have sent him on the right-hand side. If they have already been read, they will be marked as ‘Read’ and have a light brown colour. If we have sent a message that has not been read yet it will look like:

A light blue colour – marked as Unread.

10.    Messages are entered into the ‘MESSAGE BOX’ and ‘Send’ is pressed to send a message. If the user is logged in who we are sending the message to then they will have a message pop up saying that a message has been received from you.

11.    The clever part to the messaging system is the ability the send document links to other users to view certain documents.

12.    In the following picture we have selected a single document, right-clicked the mouse and chosen To Clipboard – Create I-Link For Messaging:


13.    What happens next is the Document Id is copied across to the messaging system ready for a User to be selected and additional information to be added if required, the format of the link SHOULD NOT be edited as this affects the ability of the system to find the Document Link later on. The actual passed in link looks like:

14.    Once Send is press it looks like

15.    The user at the other end will now receive this message and to open the document it is just a case of right-clicking on the message where the document is and selecting ‘Search Doc ID’.

16.    Search is then automatically opened with the selected document.

17.    This can also be done on multiple selected documents in the Smart View screen. The search is passed all multiple documents on the right-click as in:


18.    Lastly- Unread messages can be deleted by selecting the unread message and right-clicking as per the search and choosing ‘Delete Message’. The message is then removed from both the sender and receiver side.