SpendMap User Guide (v14.5)

Field/Setting

Description/Options

Item Catalog

•This setting will determine the categories that are displayed in the Category Field drop-box on the Product Sourcing Page.

•The drop list options can be based on the Item Category specified for each item in the Item Master File or based on Item Catalogs.

Only create catalogs for category  codes?

•If above you selected to use Category A and/or Category B Fields in the Item Master File, check this box to include only item categories for entries that are defined in the Item Category Master File, that is, to NOT include categories that may have been specified for items in the Item Master File but that don’t exist in the Item Category Master File.

•This setting would only apply if you have permitted the use of category codes that do not exist in the Item Category Master File in User Defined Field Settings using the “Fuzzy” Lookup Mode Option.

•If this box is unchecked, any categories that are specified for items but that are not also defined in the Item Category Master File will be placed in a "Misc. category".

Include item images when display item catalog?

•To display item images next to items on the Product Sourcing Page, check this box.

Include extended item descriptions?

•These settings determine if extended item description will be displayed when searching for items on the Product Sourcing Page and, if so, how much of the extended description to include for each item. Regardless of how much (if any) extended description you include, users can also click on the "Full description" link next to each item to view the entire extended description. That is, this setting can be used to eliminate the need to click on the link to see the full description.

•Max description lines: The maximum number of lines of extended description to include, between 1 and 99 lines. You would typically enter the number of lines you feel is enough to clarify the details of the item. The more text you include, the more scrolling will be needed when reviewing the item search results as the extended description sits between items on the results page.

•Max width (in characters): This is the maximum number of characters allowed on a line before the text will wrap to the next line/row. This can be used to reduce the amount of scrolling when an item’s extended description included a large amount of text without line returns.

Enable JavaScript?

•JavaScript is used in the to improve the usability of the e-Series.  However, some companies have security policies around the use of JavaScript, so please consult with your IT Department or System Administrator.

•Some of the features that require JavaScript include...

oPop-up calendar for entering dates.

oSelecting/highlighting the contents of fields when they are initially clicked on (e.g. so you can just type to replace the text, without having to manually select or delete the original text.

oRepositioning of the web page and cursor when returning to “parent” pages from subsequent "child" pages, such as when using the [BACK] button or link. Without the use of JavaScript, when returning to the previous page, you will be positioned at the top of the page and may need to scroll down to the area that you were working in previously.  

Go to next page when Lookup on field and only one field exists?

•Check this box to automatically advance to the next page when selecting codes from Lookup lists in cases where only one field exists on the page.

•If there is only one field on a page and the user selects a code from a Lookup list, the system will immediately process the entry and advance to the next page (as opposed to filling in the field with the selection from the Lookup list and requiring the user to click the [GO] button as a separate step).

Use extended Lookup option?

•Check this box to use Extended Lookup for all searches. If this is enabled, whenever the button is selected on any page in the e-Series, you will be brought to the Extended Lookup Page where you will have various additional/advanced search options. If this option is turned off, when you perform a Lookup, you will simply be brought to the search results with codes displayed in alphanumeric order and, to perform an Extended Lookup, you must select the “extended lookup” link. By enabling this setting, you can reduce mouse clicks if you commonly perform extended searches.

Refresh Catalogs

•Select how often you would like to refresh the e-Series item catalog (i.e. the item details that are displayed on the Product Sourcing Page) based on the latest information in the Item Master File.

•Regardless of the time interval set here, SpendMap will attempt to minimize delays for the users by waiting for a period of 20 minutes of inactivity before initiating the refresh procedure. That is, once the time interval selected here has elapsed, the refresh procedure will not take place if the system is under heavy use.

•Your choice will depend on how long is takes for your item catalogs to be rebuilt. If you have a small item master file (perhaps only a few thousand items) and/or a fast server, you may elect to rebuild the catalogs frequently to reduce the amount of "stale" data. However, if you have a large item master file, you may elect to rebuild the catalog once per day when the system is not being used. The available settings are:

Available options

Item catalog price option

•This setting determines the price that is displayed next to each item on the Product Sourcing Page.

•The "Standard Cost" can be specified for each item in the Item Master File or, if absent, will be calculated based on the primary supplier's price and related information for the item.

•The "Supplier's price" will display the supplier's price for the item (in the supplier's currency) along with any freight and/or miscellaneous charges to the right of the price, if applicable.  If a supplier is specified when searching for items on the Product Sourcing Page (i.e. if the user searches for items by supplier), that supplier's price will be used, otherwise if the use searches on some other field other than supplier (e.g. a keyword search, etc.), the the Primary Supplier's price will be used.

Maximum number of display rows for lookups

•This setting affects the number of rows (codes) that will be displayed when using the Lookup feature to list master file codes and documents in the e-Series. If a Lookup search results in more than the number of codes/rows set here, there will be an option at the bottom of the page to list "next X codes" and "previous X codes".
A recommended value for most systems is 15.

Maximum number of items displayed on item catalog

•Enter the number of items to display on the Product Sourcing Page when searching for items to add to your Shopping Cart. If a search results in more than the number of items set here, there will be an option at the bottom of the page to list "next X items" and "previous X items".
A recommended value for most systems is 10.

Reclaim user license if user is inactive for

•If you purchased a concurrent-user license for SpendMap (as opposed to licensing based on total/named users), access the system will be limited to a certain number of concurrent/simultaneous users but you may have more named users in the system (i.e. in the User Master File).

•Enter the amount of time, in minutes, of inactivity for a user's session before the user's license will be recycled (i.e. concurrent license released to be used by another user).

•TIP: Instruct users to log out of the system when they are finished their work to ensure that the maximum number of concurrent user licenses are available for other users.
A recommended value for most systems is 10.

Maximum number of e-Series users allowed to login

•If you purchased a concurrent-user license for SpendMap (as opposed to licensing based on total/named users), you may have either a separate concurrent user license for the e-Series or you may have a single/consolidated block of licenses that are shared between the e-Series and the core system (Desktop Application and Rich Web Client).

•If you have a single/consolidated concurrent user license, you can optionally use this setting to restrict the number of licenses that e-Series users will have access to.  

•This can be used to ensure that e-Series users (who are typically "casual" users) do not consume all licenses so that the "core" users can always get into the Desktop Application or Rich Web Client.

Related setting

Number of failed logins allowed per IP address

•This setting is established in Security Settings and is displayed here for convenience only.

Notify <user> if average response time exceeds X seconds

•To have SpendMap send an automatic e-mail notification to the system administrator should the average response time exceed a certain threshold, enter a user ID code to send the e-mail notification to along with the response time threshold, in seconds. Do not forget to enter the e-mail account for the applicable user ID code in the User Master File.

•This can be used to identify excessive load on the server that hosts the e-Series and may be an indication that server needs to be upgraded.

•A recommended value for most systems is 5 seconds.

•See related setting, below.

Send performance statistics to <user>  every X hours (zero to disable)

•To have SpendMap send periodic performance statistics to the system administrator via automatic e-mail notification, enter a user ID code to send the e-mail statistics to along with the frequency, in hours. Do not forget to enter the e-mail account for the applicable user ID code in the User Master File.

•The statistics include a variety of performance-related information and can be used to identify performance issues on your server(s).

•See related setting, above.

Maximum attachment size

•This setting restricts the size of attachments that users can upload when using the e-Series. Enter zero to prohibit uploading of attachments in the e-Series.

•Other settings that affect attachment uploading can be found in Security Settings.

Background color

•This setting is used to change the background color of the web pages in the e-Series.

•You can specify an HTML color (eg. White) or a Hex value (eg. #FFFFFF).

•The color will be default to #F9F9F9 which is a slight off-white color to allow the white data entry fields to appear more prominent on the page.