How To: Manage binder sizes on the Pfx Engagement Server(s)

Issue: How do I pull a meaningful list of binders from our Central File Room(s) along with their file sizes?

Background: In a Windows environment, a "binder" is represented by a single directory (or folder) on an employee's workstation and on the server. The directory has a unique ID called a GUID. That directory houses all the workpaper files shown to the user through the Binder View within Pfx Engagement. This setup poses stumbling blocks for system (those maintaining the hardward) and application (those administrating the Pfx Engagement) administrators when trying to manage the binders' size on the server hard disk.

1. 1. GUID: This is an unique identifier used to keep track of the binders in an efficient and effective way which is standard industry practice. While this is great for computers, humans can't easily make heads or tails of it. It will have to translated into something recognizable to humans so that it can be associated with a specific binder in the views within Pfx Engagement.
   
   
2. 2. File Size: This is not as easy as saying, "How big is my Word document?" Since a binder is actually a directory on the hard disk, what is actually being asked is "How much space is being used by this directory?" or "How big is this collection of documents?". Directory size is not displayed by default in Windows Explorer making it difficult to view manually (third party applications are available to add this to Windows Explorer).
   
   
3. 3. Information Accessibility: This is something that may need to be monitored more frequently than annually. As such, creating a list of binders over a certain size should be easier than manually typing the list (basically, running a report).

Resolution: There are two applications that help address these stumbling blocks: ReportBuilder by CCH (go here and login) and Windows XP SP2 Support Tools by Microsoft. Both applications can be installed on the Pfx Engagement administrator(s) computer; there is no need to install them on the server.

Once both applications are installed, peform the following steps to identify binder sizes:

1. 1. Open a Command Prompt (Start Run Type "command" or "cmd")
   
   
2. 2. Type the following:
   
   diruse /* /m /, "\\[Pfx engagement server name]\Admin\workpapers\[Central File Room name]" > "[path]\[desired file name].txt"
   
   For example:
   
   diruse /* /m /, "\\engagement\Admin\workpapers\Main Office" > "C:\Engagement Reports\BinderSizes-20081227.txt"
   
   
3. 3. Start ReportBuilder (found in C:\Pfx Engagement\WM\Utilities\Report Builder)
   
   
4. 4. Enter the name of the server and press OK
   
   
5. 5. Select "Client/Binders List" from Report on the menu bar
   
   
6. 6. Press "Export to Excel"
   
   
7. 7. Move (cut / insert) the "bid" column to Column A and sort in ascending order
   
   
8. 8. Save the Excel file in the appropriate location
   
   
9. 9. Go to the tab named "Sheet 1"
   
   
10. 10. Import the data in the .txt file created in step 2
    
    
11. 11. Add the column headings ClientID, Client Name, and Binder Name
    
    
12. 12. Add a VLOOKUP for each of the added columns, pulling the date from the "Client Binder List" tab (you may want to remove the VLOOKUP formulas based on how you're going to use the data)

Now you're all set. You now have a list of all the binders on the server including all finalized and unfinalized binders and their respective size on the server. This can help the system and application administrators manage the binder sizes to give the most functionality to the users and not overload the network or server.

Error: The finalization process for one or more of the selected binders did not complete successfully.

Issue: While trying to finalize a binder, Pfx Engagement hangs or freezes and has to forced to end. After Pfx Engagement is restarted, the binder in the local file room indicates the binder is finalized but the server shows it in process. The user receives an error stating the following when trying to delete the binder.

CRITICAL ERROR: The finalization process for one or more of the selected binders did not complete successfully. The binder(s) cannot be deleted until this problem is corrected.

Please contact Technical Support for assistance before continuing work on the affected binder(s).

Resolution: Perform a full synchronization by right-clicking on the binder in the local file room and selecting "Synchronize."

How To: Convert workpaper files on the server to their native format

Issue: Workpaper files, not an entire binder, was restored from backup. The contents of the workpapers need to be verified before the restore can continue. The server side workpaper files have the extension .szp. How do I convert the .szp file back into the native document formats (e.g. .doc, .xls, .pdf)?

How To:

1. 1. Change the file extension from .szp to .zip
   
2. 2. Open the .zip using the password obtained from CCH (call the help line; for security reasons, it will not be divulged here)
   
3. 3. At this point, you can open the native file or extract it to another location

NOTE: There is only one native file per zip file.

NOTE 2: If there are lots of restored .szp files, you may want to consider having the netork administrator write a command line script to convert all the .szp files and extract all the native format files to another directory or folder.

How To: Protect (secure) a Word document

This can be done by following the steps below.

1. 1. Create the document
   
2. 2. Go to Tools Protect Document
   
3. 3. Select the appropriate type of protection
   
4. 4. Enter a password and click OK

NOTE: Only "Forms" protection prevents a user from copying text and images in a Word document. Meaning, if "Forms" protection was used, a user would not be able to select any text or graphics in the document preventing the user from copying and pasting the content into another document.

How To: Save a Word document as a template

There are two ways to create document template, one from outside Engagement and the other from inside.

Outside Engagement:

1. 1. Create the document
   
2. 2. Click File Save As...
   
3. 3. Change the document type to "Document Template" or ".dot"
   
4. 4. Navigate to the appropriate folder
   
5. 5. Change the document name if appropriate
   
6. 6. Click Save
   

Inside Engagement:

1. 1. Create the document as you normally would in Engagement
   
2. 2. In the binder view, right-click on the document and select "Save as Template..." *
   
3. 3. Navigate to the appropriate folder
   
4. 4. Change the document name if appropriate
   
5. 5. Click Save

* You must have specific user rights to create workpaper templates. See your ProSystem fx Engagement administrator if this option is grayed out.

NOTE: Templates should be saved to a network location that can be accessed by all the users. Each user's Engagement install will have to be pointed to this location in order to access the templates easily. Please refer to the Users Manual to change the template location within Engagement.

NOTE 2: If some or all users have laptops and frequently work in the field (not connected to the office network), the network administrator may need to setup a script to push the templates to each laptop so the templates are available to laptop users in the field.