Setting up Active Server

There are essentially 6 steps to setting up and running Active Server for E-commerce operations.

Step 1 - Configuring Active Server

Start the LILAC Client and Sign In at level 8 of the company you wish to run Active Server in.

To setup Active Server select the menu Documents - Setup - Active Server

There are 19 fields in this document

Field Name Description
Key The key is the port Active Server is to run on. Historically a web server should run on port 80. Active Server requires the port to be either 2 or 4 digits in length. If a web server is already running on the machine Active Server is to run on, we suggest using port 8080, otherwise use port 80
Client Id Leave this field blank.
Order No Leave this field blank.
Address Key Leave this field blank.
Debtors Interface Ticking this field enables the debtors interface. This then allows a debtor to purchase goods, which are then put on their account, rather than by purchasing them with a credit card.
No Public Ticking this field disables the general public purchasing goods online, and only allow pre-existing debtors to use online purchasing. Ticking this field and un-ticking the Debtors Interface essentially disables online purchasing, and Active Server then acts as a catalogue.
No Prices Ticking this field will hide the prices on the products, and in the shopping basket. This feature should only be used if the No Public and Debtors Interface fields are ticked.
Use Meat Orders Ticking this field will create the order as a meat order, rather than a traditional Lilac3 sales order.
Allow Quotes Allows a registered debtor to request a quote, instead of submitting an order.
Delivery Date Allows a registered debtor is specify a delivery date. This delivery date has no effect on the recorded date that the order is placed.
Cartons Ticking this field means that Active Server will use cartons instead of items. This feature should be used in conjunction with the Use Meat Orders feature.
Hide Order Total Ticking this field means that Active Server will hide the line totals, as well as the order totals. This feature should be used with the Cartons feature. Additionally this feature should be used whenever the total amount is not going to be certain.
Dollar Wild Chars Ticking this field changes the image handling algorithm. Instead of using the exact product name, it instead allows wild cards to be used (the $ symbol), and then matches the products against the images in that fashion.
Admin Email Enter in the Email address that receives a notification when an order placement has occurred.
Logo Enter in the name of the logo to be displayed at the top of each page. This logo should be a gif or a jpg and must be placed in the logo sub directory.
LogoX Enter in the horizontal dimension of the logo in pixels as you want it displayed on the screen. Leaving this field blank will use the actual size of the image. 
LogoY Enter in the vertical dimension of the logo in pixels as you want it displayed on the screen. Leaving this field blank will use the actual size of the image.
CSS URL The absolute URL of  the Cascading Style Sheet to be used for Active Server. If none is specified a default colour scheme is used.
 
Test Mode Ticking this field means that you are setting up the web site for testing. If using the NIPS Secure Payments facility, this must be ticked before you gain approval from the National Australia Bank. After you receive approval, then you can untick this field, and you will be ready to process orders.
Merchant ID Enter in your National Australia Bank merchant ID. This is a required field if you are planning to use the NIPS Secure Payments facility. During the course of development, you will be given 2 Merchant ID's. The first one is for testing, and should only be used when the Test Mode field is ticked. The second one is for live transactions, and this should only be typed in after you have received approval from the National Australia Bank.
Secure Payment URL Enter in the secure payment URL as provided by the National Australia Bank. Else leave this field blank.
Refund URL Enter in the absolute refund and returns URL. This is required by the National Australia Bank.

Information about the National Australia Banks Secure Payments Service can be found at http://www.national.com.au/Business_Solutions/0,,666,00.html

If any of these settings are subsequently modified, Active Server will need to be restarted for the changes to take affect. Lennox Computer strongly advise against changing these settings unless it is absolutely necessary.

Step 2 - Establishing Hosts

  1. To setup Active Server Hosts select the menu Documents - Setup - Active Server Hosts
  2. Type in the host name eg www.lennox.com.au
  3. Type in the company where Active Server has been configured to run eg LCHO

These steps should be repeated for every company you wish to run Active Server for, each one with a different host.

Step 3 - Initialising Active Server

  1. To initialise Active Server select the menu Documents - Utility - Initialise Active Server
  2. In the Operator field, type your name.
  3. In the Port field, type the Active Server key, as entered above.
  4. Click the Initialise button.

This creates, a shortcut in the Startup program group, creates all directories that Active Server needs, and copies any files that Active Server needs. Active Server will automatically be run every time Windows starts.

Active Server will look for images in the "c:\data3\images" subdirectory which has previously been created. Each image should be a GIF, or a JPG image, and should have the same file name as the product it is to appear next to on the web page. If Active Server can not find a image matching a product, then no image is displayed.

There will be some characters that can not be used in a file name such as '/', and '\'. These characters should be replaced with a hyphen '-'.

Images can be added or removed without needing to restart Active Server.

Step 4 - Setting up Product Groups

Select Document - Parameters - Product Groups

The Product Groups document has 11 columns, Active Server uses 5 of these columns.

Column Description
Group The unique product group id
Name The description of the group
Taxable Ticked if the products in the group have a GST component.
Public Ticked if the product group and the products in the product group are to appear on the web site.
Sort Line Controls the order that the product groups appear in.

Product group settings can be changed without the needing to restart Active Server.

Step 5 - Setting up Products

Select Document - Stock - Account

Column Description
Product Code The unique product id
Product Description The description of the product
Product Group The group the product belongs to
Active Server Group If this field is non blank, it will be used to determine which group the product appears in, instead of the Product Group field. If this field is blank, and the Product Group is NOT ticked as being public, then the product will not appear for sale on the web site.
Selling Price 1 The selling price of the product
External Notes Additional notes for displaying on the web site.

Product settings can be changed without the needing to restart Active Server.

Step 6 - Setting up Active Server Text

To set up Active Server Text, please see Parameters - Active Server Text