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| "Total Visual Agent is a real find, a rare combination of ease of use, and bang for the buck. In the end, no other competitor even comes close." - Thomas Wagner, Product Review in MS Office and VBA Developer | |
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Total Visual Agent Product Guide
Thank you for your interest in Total Visual Agent. FMS is pleased to provide you with this Product Guide to assist in your evaluation of this exciting product that is part of the FMS family of integrated development products. The contents of this document are organized as follows:
Contents
- Introduction
- Key Features and Benefits
- What’s New in Total Visual Agent
- Quick Start
- General Information
- Conclusion
Introduction
People and computers run on different schedules. The best time to perform routine maintenance tasks on your databases—compacting, repairing, and backing them up—is when nobody is actively using the databases. For most organizations, this means the middle of the night or the weekend, but nobody wants to be the one to stay behind to compact and repair the databases.
Total Visual Agent solves this
problem by automating your most tedious maintenance chores. You
schedule the Events for Total Visual Agent to execute, and Total
Visual Agent performs the specified Actions on your behalf while you
are sleeping or at a ball game. Events can be scheduled multiple
times per hour, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or on a one-time
basis.
Total Visual Agent can also perform a variety of other tasks:
- Track statistics on the number of objects in your databases.
- Track statistics on the number of records in your tables.
- Create rolling "archive" versions (copies) of your databases.
- Extract data from selected tables and write them into another database while users are in the database.
- Run macros and command line Actions.
- Create named Task Groups containing the Actions to perform against several different databases.
- Automatically perform Actions on all of the databases or other files found in a specified directory.
The latest version of Total Visual Agent supports Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 95, 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003 as well as Visual Basic 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and Jet. It manages databases in MDB and ADP formats for all versions of Access including Access 2007.
Visit Microsoft for the suggestions in keeping Jet databases working in top condition http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?KBID=300216
Total Visual Agent: a system administrator's dream!
Key Features and Benefits
System Administrator Features and Benefits
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Feature |
Benefit |
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Manage multiple databases (including secured and password protected databases) |
An unlimited number of databases can be managed by one installation of Total Visual Agent (provided the machine can see across the network and has sufficient rights). |
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Perform multiple tasks on each database |
Several tasks can be performed on each database in the order you specify. |
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Automated, "hands-off" execution |
Once setup, the tasks are executed on schedule without the need for user intervention. Even use the Total Visual Agent Service to run on a server, without having a user logged on! |
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Complete audit trail |
Every task on every database is documented with start and end times. |
|
Email notification of problems |
An email is automatically sent to the system administrator if a problem is encountered. |
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Create named Task Groups to contain a list of actions to perform against a group of databases |
An advanced enterprise feature to simplify the execution of the same tasks on multiple databases. |
|
Automatically perform actions on all the databases or files located in a specified directory |
An advanced enterprise feature to simplify the management of all databases or files in a directory (no need to know names in advance). |
Available Actions (Tasks)
|
Action |
Benefit |
|
Compact/Repair the database |
Recover unused disk space, optimize the database, and update query statistics, which can improve query performance. The database is repaired if Jet determines it is necessary. |
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Copy and zip databases or create rolling "archive" versions |
Multiple backups ensure you can easily fall back to a previously saved copy of your database. |
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Perform "live" data extracts |
Databases cannot be copied while users are in it. Data extracts backs up data when you would otherwise not be able to make a copy. Ideal for 24 hour a day operations. |
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Run macros and other command line actions on a database |
Provides the flexibility to schedule any action you can launch from an Access macro such as downloading or uploading data, printing nightly reports, running reconciliation analysis, etc. |
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Track statistics on the number of objects in your database |
Keep tabs on the growth of your important databases. |
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Track statistics on the number of records in your tables |
Track trends in data acquisition. Can be used to monitor usage by hour of day. |
What's New in Total Visual Agent
The latest version of Total Visual Agent includes several significant enhancements from previous versions, including:
Total Visual Agent Service
Total Visual Agent includes the option to run the program as a Windows NT Service. This service runs even without a user logged on to the computer, providing increased security and automated restart if the machine crashes. This feature has been requested over the years, but it required the latest Microsoft technology to enable the management of multiple Access security workgroups.
Support for Access 2003
Total Visual Agent includes support for Microsoft Access 2003. In addition, it continues to support Access 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 95, 97, 2000, and 2002, and Visual Basic 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0.
New User Manual and Help File
Includes a new user manual and online help file to support the new features.
Total Visual Agent Quick Start
Total Visual Agent is made up of four separate components. The Manager sets up the schedules and track previous history and statistics. The Monitor runs in the background, waiting for the time to process the next scheduled Event Group. The Service can be used in place of the Monitor to execute scheduled actions in a more secure manner. The Engine is the part of Total Visual Agent that actually compacts, repairs, archives, and analyzes your databases.
The first step is to create the schedule for the activities you wish to perform on your databases. Launch Total Visual Agent Manager:
Total Visual Agent ships with four sample schedules to get you started. You can use these schedules, or create your own.
To begin working with Total Visual Agent, select the schedule you wish to modify in the treeview control, or create a new schedule. Specify the schedule type (Daily, Weekly, etc.), and the parameters for that schedule type. In the example above, a schedule named “Nightly Chores” is set to run on every weekday starting at 1 AM, but ending no later than 6 AM.
For each schedule created, you can add one or more databases, ADPs, Task Groups, or Directories. More information on these options is available in the online help file and manual.
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In this example, a database named Acme.mdb is specified. For each database, you can assign one or more Actions to perform. |
| Each individual Action has options. For example, you may specify the location for archived databases, or specify the particular tables to work with for the Table Data Extract action: |
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Once you create the schedule and specify the databases and actions to perform, launch the Monitor or the Service to perform the work.
Over time, as statistics are collected, or to check on the history of performed actions, you can use the Manager to view various informative on-line inquiries:
Use this feature to keep tabs on the activity in your databases.
General Information
System Requirements
Total Visual Agent has the following system requirements:- A machine that supports the Access/Jet version required
- 10 MB free disk
space for Total Visual Agent program files;
150 MB free disk space for Microsoft .NET Framework if it's not already installed
Product Packaging
Total Visual Agent ships on CD, and includes a printed User’s Guide, extensive online help, and an automated installation program.Technical Support
Support is available via phone, fax, email or through our product newsgroups.
Licensing and Pricing
Total Visual Agent is licensed on a per installation basis. One installation can manage databases across an entire network. A single license is $299, and a 5-license package is available for $899.
Existing Total Access Agent and Total Visual Agent customers can upgrade for $179. Site licenses are available by contacting FMS, Inc. Total Visual Agent can be purchased directly from FMS, through most corporate resellers, and international distributors. All FMS products offer a 30-day money back guarantee.
Conclusion
Your Microsoft Access and Visual Basic databases represent a major investment of time and resources. There is a tendency to forget that system administrative tasks are required after an application is deployed. To maintain optimal performance and minimize corruption, you must be sure that database backups, compacts, and other critical operations are carried out on a regular basis. With the new Total Visual Agent, you can manage these tasks with ease and complete confidence!
Microsoft, Microsoft Access, SQL Server, Visual Basic, and Microsoft Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Total Visual Agent is a trademark of FMS Inc. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Total Visual Agent is copyright © 1996-2007 by FMS Inc.Copyright © 2002-2007 FMS Inc. Reprints and use of extracts from this document are permitted.
