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  How do I create a shortcut from my Desktop to the eWiSACWIS Website?
• Will there be voice recognition software made available for those people that do not type well?
• What kind of technology does eWiSACWIS employ?
• Can we query the eWiSACWIS database and generate our own reports?
• What are the hardware/software requirements for the Internet (Web) version of eWiSACWIS, eWReports and ePASS?
• How do I know if eWiSACWIS is experiencing a hardware failure?
• How does my county connect to eWiSACWIS?
• Why is there a recommendation of 1 GB (or more) free space on the workstation's hard drive?
• Can my county use "diskless workstations" for eWiSACWIS?
• What are the bandwidth utilization measurements for eWiSACWIS?
• What is .ocx? 
• Will eWiSACWIS work without .ocx?
• How can .ocx installation be verified?
• Why are the .ocx files changed on some eWiSACWIS releases?

Q: How do I create a shortcut from my Desktop to the eWiSACWIS Website? Back to top

A:  IE users: From the site's Home Page, click File > Send > Shortcut to Desktop.

Netscape Users: From the site's Home Page, drag the bookmark icon from your Netscape Browser to your PC desktop.

Q: Will there be voice recognition software made available for those people that do not type well?  Back to top

A: At this time, voice recognition software is not available for eWiSACWIS users.

Q: What kind of technology does eWiSACWIS employ? Back to top

A: eWiSACWIS is a web-based information system using Java J2EE specifications and Apache Struts framework. It is multi-tiered architecture utilizing IBM WebSphere Application Server and Oracle Database Server. Authentication uses Novell iChain and eDirectory (LDAP) servers. Operating systems include Windows 2000 Server and Sun Solaris 8. The architecture has failover, load balancing and redundancy built-in.

Q: Can we query the eWiSACWIS database and generate our own reports? Back to top

A: The eWiSACWIS production database (PSAC) is reserved for data entry, standard reports, and ad hoc reports that require data that is less than 48 hours old.

A replication database (REPL) consisting of County specific data is available for use by counties. The REPL database is designed for use with County interfaces and for locally produced reporting. A user with access to the tables in this database can use any third party tool (i.e.: MS Access, MS Excel, Crystal Reports, etc.) to create and run reports.

Q. What are the hardware/software requirements for eWiSACWIS, eWReports and ePASS? 
Back to top

A:  Several primary factors will have a direct influence upon county eWiSACWIS system performance including;

• The speed by which a county is connected to the Internet through a local ISP (Internet Service Provider),
• The capacity of the local county workstation including speed of the CPU (processor speed), the amount of workstation RAM (memory) and, the available diskspace (Hard drive size).
• The workstation OS (operating system) and,
• The type or version of application software residing on the county workstation.

Workstation Operating System:

• Windows NT, Win2000 Operating System or later
• Windows 95, 98,  XP or later

Workstation Hardware:

• Pentium III class machine (450 MHz or greater) (For best performance)
• 128 MB Ram (For best performance )
• 1 GB+ of free space on hard drive (For best performance)
• SVGA Monitor (800 x 600 Resolution) (Required)
• Mouse (Required)

Workstation Application Software:

• MS Word 97 or newer version (Required)
• Internet Explorer v7.0 or newer version (Required)

Internet Connectivity:

• ISP connectivity with T1 speed or greater (1.5 Mbps) (For best performance)

**Please note: The capacity of county Internet connectivity has a direct connection to eWiSACWIS performance.  Should a county wish to discuss issues relating to internet capacity with the project technical staff please do not hesitate to contact eWiSACWIS technical support staff.

Q. How do I know if eWiSACWIS is experiencing a hardware failure?
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A: eWiSACWIS will display a fatal application error message box.

 Q. How does my county connect to eWiSACWIS? Back to top

A: Each eWiSACWIS end user uses the desktop Internet Explorer browser to connect (via the Internet) directly to the eWiSACWIS web application server. eWiSACWIS reduces to a minimum both the hardware and technical resources needed to support the statewide application and associated infrastructure.

Q. Why is there a recommendation of 1 GB (or more) free space on the workstation's hard drive? Back to top

A: When a user is working with templates in eWiSACWIS, they are temporarily stored on the hard drive.

Q. Can my county use "diskless workstations" for eWiSACWIS? 
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A: eWiSACWIS has been designed for maximum flexibility to function on a variety of possible county workstation configurations including "diskless workstations".

Q. What are the bandwidth utilization measurements for eWiSACWIS?  Back to top

A: There is a Bandwidth Matrix and a Bandwidth Graph that illustrate the percent utilization by line speed and by number of concurrent users.

It is important to note that concurrent users is defined as users hitting the state web server simultaneously (i.e. clicking on search, save, continue, etc). For example, with 10 concurrent users using a T1 line, eWiSACWIS bandwidth utilization is only 2.75%. The vast majority of counties in Wisconsin will have much less than 10 concurrent users at any given time.

Q. What is .ocx? Back to top

A: .Ocx is a small VB (Visual Basic ActiveX control) program used to launch MS Word templates. PCs set to have administrator rights will automatically install .ocx files when the end user logs onto the eWiSACWIS application the first time that a new version of .ocx files have been created. PCs without administrative rights will need to have .ocx files installed on them by County support staff.

Q. Will eWiSACWIS work without .ocx? Back to top

A: End users will be able to launch eWiSACWIS and work on the application. MS Word templates used as part of eWiSACWIS will not be accessible as .ocx is used to launch the templates. 

Q. How can .ocx installation be verified? Back to top

A: There are several ways to check for successful .ocx file installation:

• If no error message is received when logging on to the application it means that the right version of the ocx is installed on the machine. If the right version is not installed, an error message will display stating the version installed and the version that needs to be installed.
• Open up a template and if it opens up fine then ocx is installed.
• Open IE -- Tools -- Internet Options -- Settings (General Tab) -- View Objects, you should see a file called "SacwisDocumentAutomation.ocx"

Q. Why are the .ocx files changed on some eWiSACWIS releases? Back to top

The most common reasons for changes are:

• Improvements to .ocx code in the eWiSACWIS application
• Upgrades needed due to new MS Word versions
• Environmental reasons for changes to OCX (like Operating System, Citrix..)
• Certification Expires.