Collect! Credit and Collection Software™

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Command Line Startup Options

To use command line arguments, either use the Run command from the Start menu, or create an icon for the program, and change the options in the shortcut.

This is a very useful feature of Collect! if you and your operators work on the same machine all the time.

You can set up these shortcuts for different operators and they will each be able to start Collect! with their own customized variations of logging into a Collect! database.

Collect! command line arguments:

Argument Use Applies To Collect! Applies To Web Host
/a{file} Startup using macro file {file} X  
/b Beep sounds off X  
/c{filename} Enable Flex Screen{Use this INI instead of uidefault.ini} X  
/calclog The calc log is a debugging tool to assist in troubleshooting financial calculations. When enabled, every time you recalc a debtor, the financial calculations are written to Collect\bin\calclog.txt. This file is tab delimited and can be copied into Excel. X X
/claddress This tool will convert legacy addresses from City/State/Zip format to the respective fields. This utility also updates any reports that reference @cl.a3 to the respective fields. This command can only be used with user level 99. X  
/d Enable internal checks X  
/db{database} Path to database. (e.g. /dbmasterdb) X X
/dl Disable locale X  
/e Error beep OFF X  
/encrypt Enable Encryption in Transit for the ODBC Driver. Note that ODBC Driver 18 enabled Encryption in Transit by default and does not need this parameter. X  
/f{nn} Use font size indicated by {nn} for Collect! display. X X
/fbold Use a bold font for Collect! display. X X
/flegacy Use the legacy font for Collect! display. X X
/f_ExtractBlobImages Extracts all images from contact Metafiles and store them in styles/metaref. This is only needed if upgrading from 11.5 or lower. 11.6 and higher store the images in the styles\metaref folder by default X  
/h Turn off the progress graph in the status bar at the bottom of the Collect! window X X
/i{ID} User's ID. If ID and password are set then sign on X X
/ini:{filename.ini} Load a custom collectcfg file when starting Collect! X  
/m Allow multiple instances of the program to run at one time X X
/min Starts Collect! minimized X X
/n Don't remove my ID from netbios name table on exit X  
/p{pwd} Password. If ID and password are set then sign on X X
/q User cannot exit from Collect!, except User levels 1 and 99 X  
/s Skip the splash screen X X
/sch:{filename.sch} Load this Scheduler Tasks file when starting Collect! X  
/s_disablesmartpaging Turn off smart paging, which measures server performance and reduces the records per-page if it is slow. This should only be used for opening Collect! over a Wide Area Network. X  
/T{hh:mm} Causes the Collect! program to terminate at the specified time of day. This useful for backups and scheduled maintenance tasks. This shuts down the Collect! instance but NOT the SQL Server. X X
/v Verbose. Frequent messages ON X  
/x{mm} Causes the Collect! program to terminate after {mm} minutes. This closes only the particular Collect! instance. X X
/z Turns ON DDE. Used with Merge Documents and also with Predictive Dialer X  
/? Show an abbreviated version of this list X  
/W1 Puts Collect! into HTTP web server/host mode, without SSL security enabled. All menus are disabled.   X
/W1s Web Host in HTTPS secure mode with a third party SSL tool.   X
/W1ss Web Host in HTTPS secure mode with Collect!'s internal SSL handling using TLS1.2. See "SSL Encryption For Web Host" below for additional information.   X
/W1ss0 HTTPS web server mode using same encryption as /W1ss.   X
/W1ss1 HTTPS web server mode using SSL2.0.   X
/W1ss2 HTTPS web server mode using SSL2.3.   X
/W1ss3 HTTPS web server mode using TLS1.0.   X
/W1ss4 HTTPS web server mode using DTLS1.0.   X
/W1ss5 HTTPS web server mode using TLS1.1.   X
/W1ss6 HTTPS web server mode using SSL3.0.   X
/Wt1 Starts Web Host in "test mode" with all menus enabled, without SSL security enabled.   X
/Wt1s, /Wt1ss, /Wt1ss{n} Web Host in "test mode" with SSL security enabled.   X
/W2, /W2ss Puts Collect! into HTTP listening mode for receiving requests from your VoIP and IP-PBX dialing systems. Used with Predictive Dialer. Adding ss will enable SSL security, if you have it configured. X  
/W2b Enables Predictive Dialer in background mode so you don't need to select Predictive Dialer from the Tools menu. X  
/W3 Causes Web Host to bypass system password authentication. This is used for real time updates via XML. This may be limited to Trusted Hosts for security.   X
/whl Enables Web Host packet logging. This is for advanced developer troubleshooting. This will generate a text file, "webhostpacketlog.txt," in your Collect\bin folder. It will also prevent the deletion of the temporary CSV files used by XML Data Pump.   X
/wh_ddrg Disables Dynamic Report Generation. By default, when pages are visited, the data is streamed to the browser. With this option enabled, the data is written to an HTML file first, then the file is served to the browser.   X
/S{nn} Used to specify the Web Host Port {nn} for insecure mode (HTTP)   X
/y{nn} Used to specify the Web Host Port {nn} for secure mode (HTTPS)   X

Examples

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /iUser1 /ppassword1 /m /q /dbmasterdb

Sign directly into masterdb database using ID User1 and Password password1. Allow multiple instances of Collect! to be started. Do not allow users to exit from Collect!.

Useful Note When specifying a database to sign into, Collect! hides the SELECT DATABASE button in the Welcome To Collect! screen. With a User ID and Password specified, as in the example above, the Welcome To Collect! screen is bypassed altogether.

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /S80 /W1ss /y443

Web Data Entry secure mode

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /T1:30

Shut down Collect! at 1:30 AM (Uses 24 hour clock). This shuts down only the instance of Collect! on the workstation. It does not shut down the SQL server.

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /x30

Shut down Collect! after 30 minutes of inactivity. This shuts down only the instance of Collect! on the workstation. This does not work with Web Host or the Scheduler.

Useful Note This is useful if you want user specific settings. If you want a global setting that applies to all users and all Collect! databases, please use Auto Log Out After, which is set in Database Preferences.

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /dl

Disable Locale

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /sch:demo.sch

Load the Scheduler Tasks file named demo.sch when Collect! starts.

Useful Note You must have already saved a Scheduler Tasks file if you want to use it in this command line argument.

Useful Note The /sch setting takes precedence over any file specified in the Scheduler Settings "Default scheduler task file."

Useful Note You can also display this table of command line options by using the /? option. This will display the list to the screen. You will have to remove this option to enter Collect! normally.

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Collect! Screen Display Size

The Flex Screen feature automatically expands Collect!'s screen to fit the monitor you are viewing. Command line startup option /c enables you to call a different INI file if you want to customize Flex Screen or adjust the default settings for a particular workstation.

Example:

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /c

Use the settings in the uidefault.ini to set the Collect! screen dimensions. This default INI is shipped with Collect! and must be located in your Collect\bin folder.

Useful Note Used by itself, this command is just like Collect!'s default behavior. It just looks for the uidefault.ini in the Collect\bin. But, if you specify a different INI, Collect! will read that for all the Flex Screen settings.

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /cmyui.ini
Use the settings in myui.ini to set the Collect! screen dimensions. The specified INI file must be located in your Collect\bin folder

Please refer to Help topic, How to Use Flex Screen for details.

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Collect! Font Size

With this command, larger numbers display a larger font size and larger Collect! windows. Smaller numbers display a smaller font size and smaller Collect! windows.

Example:

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /f16
Start Collect! with 16 pt font size for display.

Useful Note For resizing Collect!, the /c option should be used instead of /f in most cases. It is more comprehensive, enables more customization and generally gives better results.

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Disable Locale

Upper and lowercase case functions in importing respond to the user's Regional Settings in Windows to be able to work with foreign languages better. Collect! automatically sets the Locale internally, given the language code returned from the operating system. This allows converting language characters to upper case during the import process.

To turn OFF this feature the command line switch /dl must be used.

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Web Host Packet Logging

This option, /whl, is used for troubleshooting transmission of Web Host data. This will also prevent the deletion of the CSV files that Collect! uses for XML Data Pump.

Example:
C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /S80 /W3 /y443 /whl
Web Host Packet Logging Enabled

This will generate a text file in your Collect\bin folder, i.e. "webhostpacketlog.txt." This is for advanced developer troubleshooting. This file can be used to reproduce HTTP headers and payload content, for instance in XML data pump troubleshooting.

Useful Note This will also allow you to log SSL encrypted sessions too, since Collect! writes to these files after the decryption phase.

Warning Note WARNING: The packet log does not delete itself periodically, which means it will continue to grow. As the file gets larger, it may slow down your system or backups. The packet log should be disabled when you no longer need it for troubleshooting.

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Web Predictive Dialer

The /w2 option starts Collect! in Web Dialer Server mode.

/s80 /w2Starts the Web Dialer Server on port 80.

/s80 /w2ssstarts the Secure Web Dialer Server on port 80.

These arguments are used with Predictive Dialer to receive HTTP and HTTPS requests. Please refer to Help topic, How to Use the Predictive Dialer for details.

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SSL Encryption For Web Host

Collect! supports all common encryption methods. To enable a specific encryption method, you can simply use one of the arguments defined above in the Web Host shortcut.

Please refer to the Help topic SSL Keys And Certs for more information.

Example:

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /W1ss2 /S80 /y443 /m

The latest support encryption method will always be set without specification.

Example:

C:\Collect\bin\cv13.exe /W1ss /S80 /y443 /m

Useful Note When you open the Web Host, the read-only "Security" field displays the encryption method Web Host is currently using.


Collect! Web Host using Encryption

Useful Note It is recommended that your Internet browser encryption method setting matches the encryption level you are using for Web Host.

Useful Note You can use Collect! with Apache to offload the encryption to a third party. Apache also allows for load balancing multiple Web Host instances. Please refer to the Help topic How to Setup Apache with Web Host for more information.

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Web Host Test Mode

When Collect! is started in Web Host mode, menus are disabled. They can be re-enabled by signing in as User Level 99. As a command line argument, the letter 't' is also available if you want to start the Web Host in "test mode" based on the current user level rights. For example, /wt1s or /wt1ss will start up Web Host in test mode with all menus enabled.

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