The InterAction system administrator can set up specific actions to take place when any of the following components are started:
- Database Maintenance/Other Script Runner
- Document Repository Server
- Folder Dependency Analyzer
- InterAction Active Directory Sync
- InterAction Administrator
- InterAction Legacy Windows Client API
- InterAction Application Collaboration
- InterAction Data Value Tool Kit
- InterAction Windows Client
- Microsoft® Outlook® to InterAction Sync
- Project Search Optimizer
- User to Firm Contact Sync
These startup rules are version-specific - you define the version of InterAction component that should trigger the action.
Startup rules are useful for displaying informational messages, automatically launching other applications (such as setup programs) and blocking users from running an incompatible version of InterAction. A special “single-user mode” operation gives you an easy way to lock out all users other than the InterAction System Administrator user.
Whenever a user starts InterAction or an InterAction component, the list of startup rules is compared to the version of the component the user started. Any actions defined for that version of the component are run before the component starts.
There are three possible startup actions:
- Display a message. This message can include any text.
Run another program. This can launch anything that can be specified in a Windows command line, including mailto and http:// commands.
Tip: You can use the http:// prefix to automatically open a particular Web page when a user starts InterAction. This can be useful for communicating training or policy information.
- Exit the application.
When to Use Startup Rules
Startup rules are useful in several scenarios. For example:
Your organization has upgraded to a new version of InterAction. You can define a startup operation that automatically runs an installation program from the network. When a user launches the older version of the software, he or she is prompted to install the newer version.
If the newer version of an InterAction database is not compatible with the previous version of the client, the database upgrade automatically adds startup rules to prevent users from running the old client against the new database.
- You want to display a reminder every time a user starts InterAction Windows Client.
- You need to temporarily block access to InterAction Windows Client, for example, for an upgrade or when moving a database to a new server.
Multiple Operations for a Version
Any number of startup rules can be created for a particular version of InterAction. Multiple operations run one after another. You define the order in which the operations run when setting up the operations.
For example, if you have set up an operation to run an installation program to upgrade Windows Client, you might want to display a message explaining that the software is out of date before the installation is run.
Any operations defined to run after an Exit operation are skipped. Always set up the order so that the Exit operation is the last action to run.
System-Owned Startup Rules
Upgrading an InterAction database to a new version may automatically add startup rules. These system-owned items cannot be deleted or edited.
System-owned operations are primarily used to prevent a user from running an older version of an InterAction component against a new database. They are only created if the new database is incompatible with the older application.
System-owned operations always run last. Therefore, you can still define your own operations, such as displaying custom messages and launching setup programs. You can also prevent the system-owned operations from ever running by defining an Exit action that displays in the order before the system rule.