Pharos Omega 1.5.5 Revision 6399 (Queens Cliff U5)

What's New in this Release

1. Switching between copying and printing during a session

   Where both printing and copying services are available, logged on users can now switch between the two in a single session without having to log off and log back on. The new Do Copies button on the printing screen and Release Prints button on the copying screen allow users to switch between the printing and copying screens.

   Switching between services is enabled by selecting "Yes" for the Allow User to Change Station Function property on the Session tab of the Network Terminals context in Pharos Administrator.

2. Offline copying

   If the connection to the Pharos EDI is lost, users can perform copying through the SmartPAD as normal. While in offline mode, the SmartPAD will accept any logon details, and the user balance field on the copying screen displays "Balance $0.00 (offline)" to indicate that they are in offline mode. Once communications resume, details of all offline copy transactions are forwarded to the Pharos Database.

   Three new properties on the Copier tab of the Network Terminals context control offline copying:

   • Allow Offline Copying - enables or disable the offline copying feature

   • Disable Third Party Charging when Offline - determines whether or not users can charge to Cost Centers while offline

   • Default Offline User - specifies a generic User account to record copying against in cases where an offline user supplies unknown logon details

3. Support for USB card readers

   An external card reader can be plugged into one of the USB ports on the SmartHub and used instead of the SmartPAD's built-in card swipe. Omega supports Human Interface Device (HID) keyboard emulation USB card readers.

4. Masking logon IDs

   The new Mask Logon Entry property (available in Pharos Administrator at Pharos Stations > Network Terminals > Logon tab) allows the entry of users' logon IDs to be masked with asterisks in the same way that passwords are. This may be useful if passwords are not used, and logon IDs are sensitive.

5. Per user copy costing

   The new Get Costings Per User property (available in Pharos Administrator at Pharos Stations > Network Terminals > Copier tab) allows copy costs to be loaded from the EDI every time a user starts a copy session. This allows for discount costing on a per user basis.

6. Changing passwords in Omega Administrator

   It is now pos

Install Notes

1. Apply ini_schemas.sql script

   Run the ini_schemas.sql script supplied in the Database directory of this firmware release against the Pharos Database before upgrading firmware. This ensures that all new properties featured in this firmware release will be available in Pharos Administrator. If you are using SQL Server, run this script against the 'pharos' database using SQL Query Analyzer. If your site uses MSDE, run the script by entering the following from a command prompt, where [password] is your SQL administrator password:

   osql -U sa -P [password] -d pharos -i ini_schemas.sql

   It is always a good idea to back up the Pharos Database before applying changes.

2. Omega requires SQL Server 2000

   While Pharos can be installed on SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 7, Omega installs must use SQL Server 2000 (or MSDE 2000). If SQL Server 7 is used, Omega terminals may be unable to obtain their configuration information from the Pharos Database, and the error "'getutcdate' is not a recognized function name" appears at Omega terminals.

3. Custom themes no longer supplied by Pharos

   With the addition of user theme customization in the 1.4.4 release (Pencarrow), it is no longer necessary to obtain custom themes from Pharos Systems. All theme modifications are now performed from the Omega Administrator application.

   Note: The new theme format is no longer version specific - it is no longer necessary to ensure that theme versions always match the current firmware version. Omega will ignore any invalid information it encounters in a theme file. Omega Administrator no longer displays the Theme Version property, as this is no longer relevant. Themes in the old .th format (pre-Pencarrow) will not work with Pencarrow and above firmware, however.