How To Set Operator Messages

Operator Messaging enables you to display a custom message in either the Title Bar or the bottom Status Bar of every operator's Collect! screen.

Use Instant Operator Messaging to:

• Send perks to your operator teams
• Display staff reminders
• Instantly alert hundreds of users to a strategic policy change
• Stream news headlines or stock quotes
• And much, much more!

Message in Collect!'s Title Bar

Message in Collect!'s Status Bar

Setting Operator Messages

Messages are easily set or changed in one of two ways:

1. System Menu, Network and Environment, Set Operator Messages: This method updates the bars immediately for all instances of Collect!. Administrators may set the messages to to display to all their operators. These messages may be updated as often as necessary.
2. Operator Messages System File: This method edits the op_msg.txt message file directly. Messages may be typed into the file, on the server, and the next server refresh (usually around 5 minutes) will refresh the messages displayed to all operators. You may even use this method to automatically change messages on a continuous basis.

• Modify the file regularly with other applications to provide streaming messages
• Write a script to parse XML data from an RSS feed into the file, providing five minute updates on currency exchange rates or news headlines.
• Use this feature for your own unique needs.

Technical Details

Messages are coordinated on a server by reading the first two lines of the file op_msg.txt stored in the same folder as the server executable, (e.g. C:\Collect\bin). The first line of this file represents the title message, the second represents the status bar message.

Examples:

Custom Text Message

This is a line for the Title Bar.
This is a line for the Status Bar.

Message Displaying the Current Default Text

This is the default Title Bar message: @
This is the default Status Bar message: @

The @ character in the message specifies that Collect! should use the default title or status bar text at that location. For example, if you are logged into the Demodb database as user 99, the title bar line,

This is the default Title Bar message: @

Will display as:

This is the default Title Bar message: Collect! - Demodb - 99

The server refreshes messages from the file every five minutes, allowing you to modify the file regularly with other applications to provide streaming messages.

The messages can also be set at any time through Collect! by an administrator ( user level 99), through the System menu, Network and Environment, Set Operator Messages. Selecting this option presents you with a prompt for each message bar, so that you can enter the messages to display. This function automatically writes the two messages you enter into the op_msg.txt file.

Each copy of Collect! will automatically update messages from the server every two minutes. This means that any changes made to the server through the file will update to each Collect! in a maximum of seven minutes (five minutes for the server refresh, two minutes for the client side), although typically it will be much less than this. Any changes made to the operator messages through the Collect! menu option will update to each copy of Collect! in a maximum of two minutes, because it updates the server side immediately.

Messages can be up to 100 characters long. Depending on your screen size, a long message may appear truncated.