Messages

The Messages form lists (a selection of) the messages present in Isah. Examples of messages are complaints or questions. You can link related data (entities) to a message, such as the reporting customer, a supplier, employees, a sales order, the sales invoice the complaint relates to, etcetera. You can also link an action to the message, for example to resolve a failure. The message can also be linked to a related message.

A pane at the bottom of the form lists all entities linked to the message. This will give the person responsible immediate access to all related data.

Opening the Messages form from outside the Relationship Management module

If you open the Messages form from the entity itself, you will see all messages linked to the entity. You can do so by clicking the Relationship management button or by opening the Go to menu and selecting Relationship management. For example, you can select a customer on the Customers form and then view all messages relating to that customer.

Linking actions to a message

Click in the pane at the bottom of the form to link an action to the message. The linked action will now be displayed in the pane.

Linking entities to a message

1. Select the message to which you want to link an entity.
2. Click in the pane at the bottom of the form, and select the entity you want to link to the message (for example 'Customer') from the list. To use the same entity as last time, just click the icon of the last chosen entity, next to . The list only contains the entities to which you have the appropriate rights.
3. Select the entity of your choice on the entry form, and fill in the fields (where appropriate). When entering a customer, you could, for example, enter an address if the message relates to a specific site (see also 'Link between message and entity form'). The entity has now been added to the linked entities pane.

Link between message and entity form

Note: If you select 'Sales offer' or 'Sales order' from the entities list, the sales order code of the selected sales file determines the linked entity type. If you select the entity 'Sales offer', but then select a sales order with a sales order code to link to the message, the type will automatically change to 'Sales order'. It is also possible that a linked sales offer is converted into a sales order at some point. In that case, the linked entity type automatically changes into 'Sales order'.

Note: A user who needs to be able to link messages to an entity, should at least have View rights to the form of the entity itself, Add rights to the entity's relationship management program code, and View rights to a preset on the form where the link is created. (The relationship management program code is linked to a linking form only for customers, suppliers, employees, objects and customer and supplier contacts. For other entities, the program code is not linked to a form). The application administrator should take care of this. For example, if a user must be able to link a customer or part to a message, the user must have rights to the following program codes:

Related entities automatically linked to a message

For some entities, linking them to a message will also automatically create links to any related entities. If you link a sales order to a message, for instance, then the list of message links will also show the customer, the customer's contact, and the reference object (if any).

Linking underlying entities to a message

Some entities have a hierarchical relationship: a production file, for example, has underlying production calculation lines. To link an underlying entity to a message, you need to link both the parent and the underlying entity:

1. Link the parent entity, for example a production file.
2. Select the entity in the pane and click . In the section above the line in the list box, you can see the underlying entities that belong to the selected entity.
3. Select the underlying entity you want, for example 'Production calculation for operations'.

Tip: You can sort the list of linked entities in various ways. To display related entities together, for instance to show customer contacts below the customer, or sales lines below a sales order, double-click the Line column title.

Changing and deleting a link

Use at the bottom of the form to change the link. If the message relates to a customer, for example, you can choose a different customer. To link the message to another entity, however, delete the link by using at the bottom of the form and then create a new link.

Service messages

Service messages entered on the Service messages form can also be displayed on the Messages form. The relevant employee and any linked objects, customers, actions and related messages are shown in the linked entities pane of the Messages form. You can add any entities that are available on the Messages form. The Service message, Address, Handling and Memo tabs allow you to view service-related information, but you cannot change this information there.

Messages entered on the Messages form are not displayed on the Service messages form.

Settings for enabling and disabling form sections

Use the following settings in the View menu to enable or disable form sections:

• Show Links pane: If you select this option, you will see a pane containing the entities linked to the message.
• Show Memo pane: If you select this option, you will see a pane with the memo text on the List tab.

Presets

Some presets, such as the preset 'Current messages, extended', display additional (extended) data of linked entities. If, for example, a message has multiple customers linked to it, you will see how many customers are linked and who the primary customer is. If the primary customer is not available, the customer with the first name alphabetically is shown.

Fields

Relationship management type

Person responsible

Status

Note: The date and time of the message can only be changed by using the Change date and time process.