Getting Started

Prior to signing on to ExtraView, there are a few simple things you must know, in order to successfully take advantage of the many features.

Screen Resolution

The resolution of your monitor or screen on which you use ExtraView should be a minimum of 1024 x 768 pixels. While ExtraView will work within your browser at lower resolutions than this, you may have to scroll up, down and sideways more than you would like. Note that it is an individual preference to select the size of font you want to view within your browser. If you are using ExtraView's Workspace feature, it is useful to have a minimum screen resolution of 1280 x 1024.

Supported Browsers

ExtraView is certified to support the following browsers.

  • Internet Explorer is supported using versions 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. It is supported on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Under Windows 8, ExtraView can be added as a tile to the start desktop when using Internet Explorer 11. It is not recommended that you run within any of Internet Explorer's compatibility mode; you should always use the browser's native mode. ExtraView version 8.0.4 or higher is needed for full functionality with Internet Explorer 11
  • Mozilla Firefox is supported using versions greater than 5.x. This is supported on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 as well as Linux platforms
  • Apple Safari is supported, using version 5.x. This is supported on Macintosh only
  • Google Chrome is supported, using versions greater than 10.x. This is supported on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8
  • Outputting reports to versions of Microsoft Office products is supported for the Office 2010 version and higher. With Microsoft Excel, you may need to ensure that the character set being sent from ExtraView to Excel is correct. If your data in ExtraView contains double-byte characters (this normally means Asian languages) then you should set your Microsoft Office character set to windows-1250 within your ExtraView personal options.

    Do Not Use the Browser "Back" and "Refresh" Buttons

    Your browser’s "back" and "refresh" buttons do not work within ExtraView. Only navigate by the buttons that are displayed on ExtraView’s menus.

    The reason is that ExtraView must maintain integrity of its information at all times. For example, if you press the button on ExtraView’s Add Issue screen to add a new record to the database, then press the back button and press the add button again, you will have two records inserted. This is obviously a problem! Similarly, your process to update records may involve a workflow that can be disrupted, if you press the browser back button after a step has been taken.

    Turn on Cookies in your Browser

    Most browsers have cookies turned on as a default setting. However, if they are not turned on, you must turn them on in order to use ExtraView. ExtraView will warn you if cookies are not turned on, and will not function. Most browsers will work without problem with ExtraView.

    To Turn on Cookies in Internet Explorer

    • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu on your browser
    • Click the Security tab
    • Click the Custom Level button
    • Set Allow cookies that are stored on your computer to Enabled
    • Set the Allow per-session cookies to Enabled
    • Click the OK button on the two open screens.

    Turn on JavaScript

    Most browsers have JavaScript turned on as a default setting. If they are not turned on, you will need to turn them on in order to use ExtraView. ExtraView will warn you if JavaScript is not turned on.

    Turn on JavaScript in Internet Explorer

    • Select Internet Options from the Tools menu on your browser
    • Click the Security tab
    • Click the Custom Level button
    • Set the all of the Scripting options to Enabled
    • Click the OK button on the two open screens.

    Character Sets within your Browser

    ExtraView must work consistently with a single character set, in order that information entered within different browsers across an organization will be compatible, and can be stored on and retrieved from the ExtraView server in a consistent manner. This is less of a problem with languages based on the Roman alphabetic, but is an essential ingredient of correctly configuring a system where users use double-byte languages such as Japanese and Chinese.

    Your system administrator will have decided on the character set your installation will use. Most likely, this will be a character set named UTF-8, which is universal and supports all languages. You should check that your local browser is set to the value. Your administrator will inform you if this should be changed to a different value.

    Note: It is strongly recommended that HTTP_CHARSET is set to a value of UTF-8, and that all users only set their browser character set to UTF-8, so that characters will be displayed correctly and consistently.

    Java

    If you are intending to use the drag-and-drop file upload feature from within your browser, you need to have Java installed. You will be prompted to install this the first time you use the feature, if Java is not installed already. Alternatively, visit http://www.java.com/en/download to install the software.

    Hardware Considerations

    As long as you have configured your browser and other software as described above, ExtraView should work satisfactorily on you computer. However, if you make extensive use of workspaces, with a combination of multiple workspaces and many open panels within your workspaces, it benefits having faster, and/or multiple CPUs, plus a significant amount of memory. Browsers are more efficient in this environment, and will provide a speedier response.