The Patron Edge - Ticketing Software Blog

Remote Ticketing and Printing ~~~ tips and tricks

2011-10-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

I recently had to look into options for doing off-site ticketing, with printers this time. There are many to do this. I tested quite a few of them, and here are the results: There are many ways to connect and use PE: VPN, RDP, open the application ports on the firewall and do a public NAT for your PE app server (I didn't test this, since it could be a security risk). The option I settled on

Jumpy seat map scrolling in IE9

2011-03-24T21:23:00.005-05:00

I just got the IE9 download, and noticed that the seat selection screen on PEO is jumpy when you are trying to scroll through an area. (not as jumpy as Amy here...) It seems that it is limited to IE9 and also limited to this one screen, and also limited to seating areas that have more than, say, 400 seats.The reason for the jumpyness - the seats are actually little gif images, which are put

Series House List

2010-11-23T08:55:00.004-06:00

You want to see the seats that have been sold in a series, with a few details. Maybe even see the seats that have been sold on a linked series (sharing a required event). Well, now you can see the series nest all at once in a list format. You will still no be able to see the universe in its entirety unless you look into the tardis, though.create procedure moa_series_houselist (@s int, @

Think Inside The Box

2010-07-16T12:02:00.008-05:00

If you are using Packages and coupons, you probably have found that it can be difficult to see what is inside the package at a glance. This bit of sql will compress a package to a 2D dataset for easy viewing. Note - this will expand a show list to a list of events attached, but it will not do calculations on time-limitations. It only lists time limitations. **updated 9/14/11 - old code had

Profiles at a glance!

2010-07-15T14:03:00.005-05:00

So, you have probably had to dig around in the profile editing program in PE to find who has access to what. If you have more than a couple profiles this can be time consuming.I put together a bit of sql which helps greatly when testing new versions (and troubleshooting why someone does not have access to something when you do...)This will sort all profile data by profile-setting-group,

Tips for building a CIM module in asp.net

2010-03-25T22:52:00.008-05:00

**** NOTE: These functions re-written on 4/10/11. the upedated functions return more authorization data, and have a consistent naming scheme. I was going to use the sdk compiled code, but there was no method to create a profile and payment profile at the same time, resulting in twice the number of calls. This code will accomplish the same tasks that I need, and with fewer api calls. ******

PE version 3.3.4 and PCI compliance

2009-01-30T15:10:00.003-06:00

I downloaded the latest PE release recently. After a bit of testing, It seems that blackbaud really has made this pci compliant. What this means is that:--Any transfer of credit-card data is encrypted--The credit card data is deleted from the database once the charge completes (except for the last four digits).We have some business processes that depend on stored credit-card numbers, so we are

Soundscan

2008-09-19T13:51:00.003-05:00

If any of you send files to nielsen for reporting cd sales, here is the format for the file that is sent. I may be the first to post this anywhere on the internet. how very exciting.EAN DOWNLOAD DATA FORMATThis is the format used by vendors who download data to the SoundScan system.RECORDS/FIELDS CHARACTERS POSITIONSTORE RETAIL SALES HEADER RECORDRecord Number (92) 2 1 - 2Chain Number 5 3 -

List series locks in seat ranges

2008-08-01T22:33:00.003-05:00

Aha!I have rigged this one up using a sonic screwdriver, and it just might work.This is like the single-event-lock-list rpt in a prev post, except for series locks:CREATE procedure moa_series_lock_count_list (@series int, @season int, @scheme int)asdeclare @l table (event int, chair int, area int, row int, col int, vertical bit, rowname varchar(5), seatname varchar(5), sec varchar(5), ticktype

Yet More useful lock-reporting.

2008-08-01T22:27:00.003-05:00

Ah yes. Now what if you have a lock on one series, that shares events with another series, and there is a lock on the other series? How are you to be master of your locks, let alone the universe, if you have a messy lock situation?Not sure how that happened, but it's as easy as pi to find them:create procedure moa_series_locks_overlappingasSELECT Serieses.srDescr AS series1, Colors.clrDescr

More lock-reporting tidbits

2008-08-01T22:13:00.004-05:00

Now its time for some real fun. a report that does something useful for somone i'm sure. This will allow you to find groups of 2 adjacent locks, singles, n adjacent locks, or just list them all.It takes parameters for event date range and lock type, and lists out the seat locations of these groups of locks. If you are like us, you have some areas in which the rows run vertical. the section of

Get a handle on your series Locks!

2008-08-01T21:59:00.004-05:00

You have serieses to sell, and many of them. you put locks on the series chart to prevent the single events from selling on those seats, so you can sell the subscriptions with all the same seat. You have a bad rep that took the lock on just one of the events in the series, (or you were the victim of the bug (now fixed) in which the series locks did not propogate if seat-info was on the event

Move audience and Access control

2008-07-17T15:51:00.007-05:00

So, this will be the last post on move-audience. I am obsessed.We used move-audience to move tickets between events, and found that the barcodes table is not updated in the move. The barcodes table stores the event code in the brtentity field, which the scanning sp's use to look up the event.An alternative to this query is to use the company table setting 'Reset print status On Move Audience'

Move Audience Audit script

2008-06-25T10:57:00.003-05:00

I came across the instance where ticket sales ws confused after a customer called in claiming they had ordered different seats than what was mailed to them. the reason their seats had changed was due to a stage extension on the event, where the audience was moved using the move-audience feature in PE administration. I figured that a good solution to this problem would be to insert a remark for

Print at Home

2008-06-12T14:09:00.004-05:00

I recently had to design our print at home ticket documents. Read this and save time. You're welcome in advance.Print at home ticket design Basics: Use ctrl+x to remove a field If you put html in a free-text field, be sure to include the / at the end of image, br, or other tags e.g.
instead of
. Always use PDF format! When html is emailed to gmail, alo, etc, the ticket gets completely

PEO: Recommended Events

2008-03-17T10:33:00.004-05:00

This feature can be cumbersome, but here are some ideas to make it easier to read:1:When adding anything to this list, ALL shows display in alphabetical order. this is dumb. to fix:go to System Setup / Column Rules >> find the entry where name = rcshowcode and table = RecommendedOpen the record, and change the "Source" to:SELECT Shows.shCode, CONVERT(varchar(20), MIN(Events.evDateTime), 101

Re: PE is So Slow - CRM Series Tab Improvement

2008-03-13T15:12:00.003-05:00

The Series tab in CRM is really slow, so i took a crack at re-writing the select statement. The idea is to only get aggregate data that is required by the Tablesrules table. (Tables Definitions in administration)It works great on my test environment, but please test yourself. i need lab rats!In my testing, I found that it was able to load the series tab in 1 second, where it used to take 60. most

Lets talk about Scanning

2008-03-12T17:15:00.005-05:00

Our setup:Scanners: Symbol mc50 pocket PC's2 wireless antennae1 web server (an old dell running server 2000, has PE installed on it),some customized asp and sql.An overview of how it works:Scanner reads barcode, sends it via web form to web-server. The web server processes the asp page and sends the info to a Stored proc on the ticket server.The stored proc validates it (using also included

Merging Accounts Automatically after RE Integration

2008-02-11T14:14:00.000-06:00

So, you ran your integration with RE, you have data flying back and forth between systems, you have people ordering tickets online creating duplicate accounts, and you fins that the integration made a couple thousand duplicates as well. now what? You need to merge lots of accounts, but merging is a bit different post integration. There is a "client merge" utility, but if you are like us, you

Printing Setup

2008-01-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

I'm bored. Lets talk about printing. I will explain my printing setup, and maybe it will help yours.When PE prints a ticket, here is what is going on:PE locks the ticket, so that no-one else can print during the processA record is prepared and inserted into a print-spool table in the database.The tix_printserver.exe application queries this table every x seconds to look for pending tickets.When

PEO: Print At Home

2008-01-24T13:56:00.000-06:00

Anybody out there using the print-at-home feature with PEO?Do you have any advice for those (like myself) who are about to start using this feature?

PEO Module List

2008-01-17T12:40:00.000-06:00

Don't ask how I got this. I will only say that teeth pulling was involved. This is a list of PEO Modules, along with prices. The document had a datestamp of DEC 07. Enjoy ;-)Recommended ShowsRecommend shows to online patrons based on shows they are browsing or are in their online basket.$3000Ticket DiscountsPromotion CodesFor single OR series, not bothDefine promotional codes that will discount

PE: Move Audience

2008-01-16T19:54:00.000-06:00

The Move Audience feature is pretty cool. Butt. It has one potentially dangerouse flaw: it keeps NO record of which seats you moved. It does keep an event-level log, listing how many seats were moved per event.Another draw-back - if you do accounting on events using transaction-date-range as a criteria, move audience will move money from one event to another, effecting the report for past

PEO BUG: User Can't order tickets in more than 1 area for the same show

2008-01-16T19:44:00.000-06:00

Lets say that your venue has 2 "areas" : "Main Floor" and "Balcony"A user gets tickets to an event on the main floor, and presses add-to-cart. He remembers that he has to get an extra ticket for his mother in law, so he looks in the Balcony. He clicks on "continue shopping" and goes back to the seating chart, selects the balcony area, and selects the cheapest seat he could find. He presses

PE: Is For Mailing check box on CRM Client editing window checked for more than one address.

2008-01-16T19:26:00.000-06:00

This problem could effect your reports, if you are depending on the assumption that only one address on an account will have claisformailing = 1. (many of mine do...)The causes of this include:PEO Delivery address (see prev. post)and1st address had a type that is restricted to the user group that checked the box on another address. - (there might be more... but thats all I got)The fix I use to

PEO BUG: Merchandise with different delivery address - address is not visible through PE

2008-01-16T19:13:00.000-06:00

When you sell a merchandise item in PEO, and you have the delivery address enabled in the PEO checkout, PEO will record the delivery address in the orders table. The problem: It is not visible when you are in the PE CRM merchandise tab. Ideally, it would behave like single tickets, where you right-click on the item and boom, show me the address. but no.The address does get recorded in the

PEO: Live Subscription Seating Online

2008-01-16T19:06:00.000-06:00

PEO does not currently have this feature. Let me describe my dream:A user goes to your web-site, and is able to buy a subscription ticket package online. The customer selects the seat just like they would a single ticket (with all the fancy peo stuff - area maps, view from seat... Thou shalt not leave isolated seats pop-up window). The user adds a couple single tickets to the basket along with a

PE: Back Button in Series Payments Screen does not work

2008-01-16T18:52:00.000-06:00

When purchasing a subscription in PE, and you get to the payments screen, you can't go back. If the amount came out to an amount that you did not expect, you have to start all over. This in combination with the commissions resetting during the subscription-selling process makes this bug especially frustrating. (you know, when you add a commission or discount, and then click the events button,

Bug PEO Subscription Renewals do not work if new series has a GA event.

2008-01-16T18:46:00.000-06:00

It turns out that PEO will not renew a series if the renewing-into series has a GA event, and the series is seated. In addition to all the other criteria that the peo renewing function must meet, it has made it unuseable by us..."The Other Criteria" being: The old and new series must have the same number of events. The new series must have that number of events as it's "maximum num of events".

Deposit Balance Details View

2008-01-16T18:44:00.000-06:00

In PE, when you make a payment to a client account, and just post it to that clients account, it makes a deposit. Here is the data structure for deposits:CREATE VIEW dbo.moa_deposit_balanceASSELECT ReceiptDeposit.rcdActionType AS Type, BalanceCategories.bcCategoryName AS CategoryName, ReceiptDeposit.rcdCategory AS Category, ReceiptDeposit.rcdCode, Clients.cltClientName

Invoice Balance Details View

2008-01-16T18:39:00.000-06:00

This view will display Invoices that have a balance due, along with some other info. Merry Xmas PEons.CREATE VIEW dbo.moa_invoice_balance_detailsASSELECT ReceiptDeposit.rcdActionType AS Type, ReceiptDeposit.rcdClientCode, ReceiptDeposit.rcdPayAmount * - 1 + ISNULL(bdCredit.Credits, 0) AS Balance, ReceiptDeposit.rcdTransactNum AS Transact, MAX(ISNULL(

Calculate the actual price of a subscription ticket

2008-01-16T18:34:00.000-06:00

PE does not do a good job at telling you the actual ticket value for subscription tickets... The subscription may have a 20% discount, yet the reports would report full value. Use this function as such: select moa_subtik_actual_price(tiscode) from ticketssubscription .... to get the actual value. Enjoy ;-)CREATE FUNCTION dbo.moa_seriestik_actual_price (@prorecnum int) RETURNS money AS --

Tracing Merged Records in PE from old (merged) account to new account

2008-01-16T18:18:00.000-06:00

--this function takes an int input of the possibly no-longer-existing account, and returns the account number (cltcode) of the current accountCREATE FUNCTION dbo.moa_merge_trace (@old int) RETURNS intas begindeclare @new int, @count intset @count = 0 -- to prevent infinite loops--begin recursive traceif exists (select cltcode from clients with(nolock) where cltcode = @old) return @oldwhile

Welcome to the Patron's Edge Blog.

2008-01-16T18:01:00.000-06:00

I work for an organization that uses Patron's Edge. In an effort to connect with other PE users, and to expand the public knowledge base on this product, I created this blog. Have you discovered a bug? Found a fix or workaround to that bug? Have learned that a bug has been fixed in the latest release? Let us know! Enjoy !