Administrator console

Connecting to a server

1. The first thing you must do is connect to the server, in a similar manner to a client.

   A dialog appears which contains all the available servers with their current status. A green tick indicates that a connection can successfully be made to a server: a red cross indicates that a connection cannot be made to a server, for example if the server is down.

2. Select a server from the list

3. Click Connect (If you click Cancel, the Administrator Console will open, but will not connect to a server.)

The name of the server machine and port, as configured when you installed Pro API, is displayed in the status bar of the Administrator Console.

No server connection

If the server you are connected to fails while you are running the Administrator Console, a warning message is displayed in the status line.

In the event of a server failure, the Console will try to reconnect to that server. the Console will not try to connect to any other servers that are available unless you specifically change your connection.

The Administrator Console dialog is split into two panes. The left-hand pane displays a tree structure of the views available to you (like Windows Explorer). The right-hand pane shows the options available on the view that is currently selected.

To move the control focus between the outline and the right pane, click where you want to go, or press Ctrl+Tab and then use the Tab key to move around within the pane.

To change the split of the screen to make the left pane wider and the right pane narrower, or vice versa, either:

• Hold the cursor over the line between the panes until it changes into a double-headed horizontal arrow, then hold down the main mouse button and drag the line left or right as required;

OR:

• Click View > Split. The cursor is positioned automatically; move the mouse left or right to set the widths and click the main mouse button when you are satisfied.

All views in the Administrator Console have an information box, marked with the information icon. As you move the mouse over a control on the views, information about the control appears in the box.

Information pane

The default view is the Information pane. This shows the number of clients currently connected to the server, and the number of addresses returned.

This view also displays the description assigned to the server, which identifies it to users. You can change this by selecting the contents of the Server description text box and typing a new description.

Status bar

The status bar, at the bottom of the console, contains the name and port number of the server that you are currently connected to. When the server in available, this information is shown in green: when the server is down, the status bar flashes red and yellow. If you are not connected to a server, the message <<No Server>> is displayed.

When new data is available, the status bar displays a green square containing a CD:

Click View > Status bar to toggle between showing and hiding the Status bar.

Setting the update speed

The Administrator Console allows you to specify the frequency that the information you see is updated. By default, the update speed is Normal. Setting it to High means, for example, that you will see greater resolution in the graphs that the Console produces, while the Low setting means that less detail will be seen.

The update speed also affects the list of clients connected to the server: the slower the updates, the longer it will take for the list to show a new connection or a disconnection. To change the update speed, either:

• Click on one of the speed buttons on the toolbar (One arrow represents Low, two arrows represents Normal, and three arrows represents High.)

OR:

• Select View > Update Speed. The sub-menu that appears contains the available options, with a dot indicating the current selection.

Connecting to a different server

If you wish to change the server that you are connected to (perhaps because a server has been stopped), either:

• Click the Connect button on the toolbar

OR:

• Select File > Connect…. A dialog will appear displaying a list of available servers.

Specifying a language

If you are using a multi-lingual version of Pro API, you can change the language of the Administrator Console user interface. This changes all menus, button descriptions and status bar messages to the chosen language.

To change the language:

1. Select the Language option from the View menu. A menu appears listing the languages available. There will be a dot indicating the currently selected language
2. Either click on the desired language, or use the cursor keys to highlight it
3. Click Enter
4. You will be prompted to restart the Administrator Console for the changes to take effect. Click Yes to exit immediately. Click No to return to the main Administrator Console dialog, in which case the changes will take effect the next time the console is launched. Click Cancel to abort the language change.

Setting graph timescales

The timescales of the network traffic and client graphs can be adjusted to show data for the time period you require. To set the time period for any graph, follow the steps:

1. Position the cursor over the graph and click the right mouse button.
2. Click Properties on the menu that appears.
3. On the dialog that appears, select the time period you want in the Set timescale list and click OK.

The changes that you have made are immediately reflected in the graph.

The timescales that you choose are remembered by the Console.

The Network Traffic view displays the number of bytes being sent and received by the server as a total and as a graph for a period of time that you specify. To display this view, click on the + sign next to Information to expand the tree, and then select Network Traffic.

You can choose the time period covered on each graph by "Setting Graph Timescales". Any changes that you make will be immediately reflected in the graph.

The Administrator Console allows you to:

• View the current client load on the server
• Configure the maximum number of connections
• View the impact of individual clients on the server
• Disconnect clients

Clients pane

Click on Clients in the left pane to see an overview of client activity. The graph shows the number of clients connecting to the server in the last 30 minutes. Additionally, you can see how many clients are currently connected, as well as the average number of connections in the past hour.

Pro API initially makes one connection for each installed dataset plus a spare, but this will increase with the concurrent workload. You can choose the time period covered on each graph by "Setting Graph Timescales". Any changes that you make will be immediately reflected in the graph.

Listing clients

Click on the + sign next to Clients to see a list of client machines in the left pane.

The list shows the IP address or machine name of each client machine (including your current Administrator Console connection) followed by the client socket number being used to connect to the server. This allows an administrator to tell apart multiple connections from one server. The list updates dynamically: if a client connects to or disconnects from the server, it is reflected in the list. The speed of the update depends on the Update Speed option you have selected.

Viewing a single client

Click on an entry in the list to see more details of that client in the right pane. The Individual Client view shows the bytes transmitted and received by the client, as a total and as a graph for a period of time that you specify.

If there is new data available and the client has not yet switched over, an indicator will appear in the top corner of the view.

Removing a client

If a client is causing problems, you can disconnect it from the Individual Client view:

1. Click the Disconnect button at the top of the view
2. Select Yes on the confirmation dialog that appears

If you do not have multiple servers, note that the client will attempt to reconnect to this server. However, if multiple servers are available, the client will try all other servers in the order listed before re-trying the original server.

Control/Setup pane

You can use the Control/Setup pane to set the maximum number of clients which can connect to the server, and to specify the number of threads available to service these clients. You can also shut down the server if required Select Control/Setup on the left pane to see the options available.

Maximum allowed clients

The maximum number of clients appears in the Maximum Allowed Clients text box. This is the number of Pro API clients and server tools (i.e. the Administrator Console and Configuration Editor) that can connect to the server at any one time, and is dependent on the capacity of the server machine.

A single server, using default settings, can support a maximum of 999 clients. Experian recommend that the absolute maximum number you set should be determined by the number of client licenses you have purchased, plus an allowance for running the Administrator Console and Configuration Editor.

If you need to change the maximum number of allowed clients, delete the current value and type in the new one. If the number is reduced while clients are connected, no existing clients will be disconnected from the server.

Maximum transaction threads

The maximum number of transaction threads is the number of transactions between client and server that can be performed simultaneously; for example a connection, an address search, or a save with the Configuration Editor. when a client sends a request to the server, it is allocated a transaction thread; once that request has been fulfilled, the thread ends that transaction and becomes available for the next allocated request from any client.

When you first run the Administrator Console after installation, the number in the Maximum Transaction Threads text box will be set to a default value. This value should be sufficient for a single or dual processor server machine. If you are running the server on a quad processor machine, you might want to increase the number of threads to improve processing efficiency.

If the number of simultaneous transactions exceeds the set value the rest are queued.

To change the specified value, delete the number in the Maximum Transaction Threads text box and type in a new one.

Resetting to default server values

The maximum and minimum numbers allowed are preset by the server program. You can set either number to its maximum or minimum, or to its default value by following these steps:

1. Position the cursor over one of the text boxes and click the right mouse button.
2. Click on one of the three Set to options at the bottom of this menu. When you click on an option, the menu disappears and the value in the text box changes accordingly.

If the value in the text box does not change straight away, reconnect to the Administrator Console by clicking the Connect button.

Current data pane

The Administrator Console enables you to view the current location of the dataset(s) available to Pro API clients, and to update the data without loss of service to client. Select Current Data on the left pane to see the location of the data currently in use.

The Current Data pane lists the current data being used by the server, and divides the information into four columns. Each line contains the name of the dataset, followed by the data release date, the number of days left until data expiry and the location of the data, including the base filename of the files that comprise the dataset.

The pane shows that each dataset has been installed in its own directory in the Pro API "Data" directory, and each dataset-specific directory has the same name as the base filename, followed by an update number: for example, the Australia dataset is in the "Aus.001" directory.

Each new data update will be installed by the data installer in its own directory with a unique update number, and will be made available to be updated in the Data Updates screen.

When new data is available for updating, or a previous version of data can be reverted to, details will appear on the Data Updating pane.

Each Pro API dataset has an expiry period. The expiry period is displayed with the number of days remaining until the data is no longer valid. You can configure the server so that you will be warned, via a nominated email address, if a license or dataset has expired or is due to expire.

Updating data

The Data Updating pane on the Administrator Console enables you to:

• Switch to new data for client searches without shutting down the server
• Revert to the previous version of data if necessary
• Select Data Updating on the left pane to display this view

When a new dataset is available, the dataset name, release date and data expiry period appear in the top field on this pane, along with the location of the new data. A green square containing a CD also appears on the status bar, and a notice that new data is available appears on the "Current Data Pane". The server does not start using this data for searching until you click on the Update Data button.

Once the data update has been implemented, the name and location of the old data appears in the lower box. If you need to revert to this data for any reason, click on the Rollback button. The server will revert to the previous version of the data, and the more recent version will once again appear in the top field, indicating that it is available to be updated.

Clients yet to update

The Clients Yet To Update pane contains a list of clients which have not yet switched over to the new data. Each client will switch over on the first new search undertaken after the data has been updated.

Unused data pane

Select Unused Data on the left pane to display this view. You can activate new data or delete unused data using this dialog.

Activating data

When you install new data, its details are displayed in the information area of the Unused Data pane, as well as in the Data Updating pane.

When a new dataset is available, the dataset name, release date and data expiry period appear in the top box of the "Unused Data Pane", along with the location of the new data. To activate data, and make it available to clients, select the data you wish to use, and click the Activate Data button.

Deleting unused data

You can remove data that you no longer require, such as data which has expired. To do this, go to the "Unused Data Pane", select the data you wish to remove and click the Delete Data button.

Licences control how address search results are charged. A standard data license is paid for annually. Alternatively, for some Primary Sourced datasets you can purchase a metered data license, where you pay for a number of "clicks" in advance of their use. When you enter a metered license key, the number of clicks available on each meter (and therefore on the whole server), and the valid dates for the clicks are visible from the Administrator Console. If your clicks do not have an expiry date, "All" is displayed.

The valid dates are displayed in DD/MM/YYYY format.

Click Counter Administration on the left pane to display the Counter Administration dialog. This dialog enables you to do the following:

• View the name and value of each meter, and therefore the number of metered clicks remaining on the server;
• View the status of the counter, the Counter ID and audit code;
• View the valid dates for expiring clicks;
• Enter update codes to add more clicks.

When clicks for a meter have expired, the Meter list will continue to display the meter for 28 days after the expiration date, after which they will be removed from the Meter list. To increase the number of clicks available on your server, follow these steps:

1. Email us at clicks@qas.com and provide them with your Counter ID, the name of the dataset you want to update, and the number of clicks you want to add to that dataset. Please note that clicks can only be ordered via email.
2. For any technical queries about Counter Management, use our technical support
3. The Counter ID and Audit Code are displayed in read-only fields at the top of the dialog. The Counter ID uniquely identifies each customer to Experian
4. Experian will use the information you provide to generate an update code, which they will send to you
5. Enter the update code in the relevant field on the Counter Administration dialog and click Apply Code
6. The value of the relevant meter(s) will increase accordingly.

If an error is returned, you should check the following:

• That you have not already applied the update code to the meter(s)
• That the counter ID which you supplied to Experian was for the same server that you are trying to apply the code to

Overdraft facility

If the meter value is less than or equal to zero, the canSearch function will return an error (qaerr_CCNOUNITS). All other functions will return qaerr_CCNOUNITS if the meter value is less than or equal to -50.

Under these circumstances, users will see a negative counter value on the administrator console. When they next add clicks to the meter, this negative amount will be deducted from those added.

Administrator notification

You can configure the server so that you will be warned, via a nominated email address, if a license or dataset has expired or is due to expire, if the number of available clicks on a meter is running low, or if clicks are near to expiry. In order to do this, you need to configure the following settings using the Configuration Editor, or by modifying the qawserver.ini file.

Setting	Purpose
AdminEmail	The destination email address. This should be the email address of the server administrator.
ServerEmail	The email address from which the Pro API server sends emails.
MailServer	The address of the SMTP mail server.