System Registry Maintenance

QAD CSS has been designed with built-in flexibility, making it possible to easily accommodate varying business requirements. This flexibility is achieved through the system registry, which is a virtual control table consisting of key value pairs. You use these keys to establish how QAD CSS dynamically interprets and processes business rules.

More than 200 settings affect every aspect of system processing from how users log in to what displays in the catalog and how an order is submitted.

Customizing Settings

The system registry in QAD CSS is more than just a set of simple on-and-off switches that affect system processing. Unlike other control tables, the system registry lets you tailor QAD CSS functionality for specific users or groups of users. Every registry setting is fully qualified by a key (the setting name), the value, and an ID. You can use the ID field to customize the Web site behavior at a very detailed level.

Each user always has at least three IDs:

•	An individual user ID that identifies information unique to the user, such as e-mail address and phone number.

•

A customer ID, identifying the organization that will receive the items being ordered. A user can be associated with more than one customer; for example, distributors may enter orders for multiple customers. During login, a user with multiple customer associations selects the customer to use for the current session.

•	A security group, assigned when the user was defined. Security groups are defined in Security Group Maintenance and can be associated with menus, menu buttons, and users. The security group determines what menu choices users have when they log in.

Note: In a B2C environment, users do not identify themselves initially. The user ID, customer ID, and security group are defined globally based on a special B2C user account.

Each user can also be associated with two other optional ID values:

•	Customer groups are assigned to customers in Customer Maintenance. If settings are defined by customer group, the user inherits the group from the customer value.

•

Marketing groups can be assigned to users in User Maintenance. Users can be associated with more than one marketing group. Marketing groups are used to implement special promotions, which can be targeted to one or more marketing groups. Welcome messages can also be tailored for one or more marketing groups.

All of the system registry values can vary based on any one of these five ID values. When the system needs to obtain the value for a specific key, it first collects all ID values associated with the current user. It then recursively evaluates all the matching ID values to determine the final value of the lowest key. IDs are evaluated in the following order:

1	Customer group

2	Marketing group

3	Security group

4	Customer number

5

User ID

For convenience and organization, registry keys include a module and version descriptor. This lets you organize keys into logical or functional areas.

For optimization purposes, you can indicate whether to limit the recursive search for a match by specifying an override value. When override is not allowed, the system uses the value it has found without continuing its search.

The override setting is critical in implementing a waterfall system of settings where you might want all members of the OEM customer group except for customer 1003 to see a certain catalog layout. In this case you must ensure that Override is set to Yes for all of the custom settings that you create for customer group Retail so that the system continues to look for the record set up for customer 1003.

Important: The system always looks at the record for a blank ID first. If Override is set to No on this record, no other values are found. You must ensure that the default registry setting for Override is set correctly to accommodate your implementation planning; otherwise, you may have unexpected results.

Example: You want to tailor the setting of indexOrderHome for members of the B2C security group. You already have a value tailored for customer group Retail. You must set the Override field to Yes on the registry setting for Retail so that the system continues searching until it finds the setting for security group B2C. Set the Override field to No on the security group setting to ensure that this value is used even when values are also set for customer number or user ID. Also set the Override field to Yes for the records with no ID to ensure that the system looks for your custom settings.

Note: Through the registry you can add and change registry keys. Contact QAD Global Services for implementation of new keys.

Important: Avoid deleting global registry keys.

System Registry Screen Details

The System Registry Maintenance function location is Home Menu|Administration Menu|System Registry Maintenance.

Clicking the System Registry Maintenance menu option displays the screen in System Registry Maintenance.

System Registry Maintenance

System Registry Maintenance Navigation summarizes the contents of the System Registry Maintenance navigation screen.

System Registry Maintenance Navigation

 

Column	Search	Search Type	Sort	Description	Link
Key	Y	Begins	Y	A system registry key name.	Y
ID	Y	Begins	Y	This is the link between the registry key value and the QAD CSS business rule. • Blank: Specifies a global registry key. • Nonblank: Represents a custom override of registry value.	N
Module	Y	Begins	Y	Defines a group of registry keys related to QAD CSS product modules: • B2C – Business-to-Customer • OP – Order Processing • CC – Credit Card • SYS – Core QAD CSS	N
Override	N	n/a	N	Determines if the system should continue to look for a matching value for this key (Override Yes) or stop with this value (Override No).	N
Copy	N	n/a	N	Duplicates the existing key to easily create new registry keys.	Y

Note: The module, key, and ID fields comprise a unique index in the System Registry table wpro_registry.

Related QAD CSS functions:

•	System Registry Report

Adding a New Registry Key

The Add function of System Registry Maintenance lets an administrator add registry keys to QAD CSS.

To create a new registry key:

1	Click Add in the navigation window to display the Detail Edit Registry screen in Add mode.

2	Enter data into the appropriate fields.

3	Click Add to commit this function.

Detail Edit Registry

Module

Defines a group of registry keys related to QAD CSS product modules or custom enhancements.

•	B2C – Business-to-Customer

•	OP – Order Processing

•	CC – Credit Card

•	SYS – Core QAD CSS

ID

This is the link between the registry key value and the QAD CSS business rule.

Leave blank for this registry key value to apply regardless of a user’s set of associated IDs.

Specify an ID value if you want to implement a specific key value for a particular user group. You can specify:

•	Customer group

•	Marketing group

•	Security group

•	Customer number

•

User ID

Override

This setting determines if this registry key entry can be overridden by another registry key with the same key name.

No: Use this value and do not look for a more specific value.

Yes: Continue to look for a more specific value and only use this value if a more specific value is not found.

Key

The system registry key name.

Key Value

Value of the registry key.

Usage

A help text description of registry usage.

Clicking a command button executes one of the following actions:

•	Add saves the new record to the database in the wpro_registry table. All required fields—indicated by alternate field color—must be populated prior to saving a record. Before saving, the system verifies that the record is unique and displays an error if it is not.

•	Cancel closes the window without adding the record.

Modifying a System Registry Key

The Modify function of System Registry Maintenance lets an administrator modify existing registry keys.

To modify a registry key:

1	Display the registry key to modify.

2	Click the Key link in the row of the function you want to modify.

3	Enter data into the appropriate fields. Fields that do not allow change are indicated by a second alternate color.

4	Click Save to commit your changes.

Copying a System Registry Key

Use the Copy function to quickly copy, modify, and save new registry keys. You typically do this if you want to change a global key value for a specific customer group, marketing group, or security group.

To copy a system registry key:

1	Display the registry key to copy.

2	Click the Copy link in the row of the function you want to copy.

3	Enter data into the appropriate fields.

4	Click Save to commit your changes. The new registry key can now be seen in the System Registry Maintenance screen.