FTMS
The Fire Training Management System was supplied to representatives of volunteer brigades at the 2001 conference. Since the software was released some minor updates have been made. These can be downloaded from the FTMS download page. The latest update was made on 1 March 2003
If you have any questions about using the software the answers may be available on the FTMS Frequently Asked Questions page. If your question is not answered on that page, please contact Silverstream Software by email.
To Order
A printed Help manual is now available for FTMS (Fire Training Management System). The manual costs $25 including GST and postage.
Please contact us with your details.
Cheques can be made out and posted to:
Discus Systems Ltd.
PO Box 5569,
Wellington
For any enquiries please ring Carolyn on (027) 2414024.
To load the update:
- Go to the directory that has FTMS installed (the default will be C:\Program Files\FTMS)
- Delete the file ftms20.exe
- Click on the link and save the file to your hard drive
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Double click on the ftms204.exe file that was saved in step 3.
This will create a new ftms20.exe file in the C:\Program Files\FTMS directory.
If this is not where you originally installed the software you will need to copy the new ftms20.exe file to the required directory.
Once this has been done you will be able to use the new version.
The picture displayed when you start up the program should now display 2.0.4 in the bottom right hand corner.
Problems fixed since initial release of FTMS:
- Emailing attendance records to UFBA : problem was encountered when trying to email attendance records from FTMS to the UFBA. The error message "Unable to e-mail file to UFBA - Error number 2 has been reported" was displayed. This was due to a missing file.
- Radio and Pager Listings : problem was encountered when printing the Radio or Pager Listings. Printing either listing resulted in the listing printing twice.
- Individual Honours : problem was encountered trying to add individual honours prior to the date the member joined the current brigade. If you have loaded previous service history for a member, you should be able to add honours attained prior to the joining date of the current brigade.
- Print button on Member Listing Report : problem was encountered when trying to send the Member Listing Report to the printer. The Print button did not work.
- Member Listing Report : deleted training details were still displayed for a member.
- Deletion of members : problem was encountered when members who had trained other brigade members were deleted. This error resulted in incomplete data in the training tables.
- Change Appliance Locker Name : an error occurred when an existing appliance locker had its name changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
This error message is displayed when a problem with your original install has happened. A hidden file (called mail.txt) that is required by the program for emailing your attendance statistics to the UFBA is missing. This file can be found on your original FTMS CD. If you are unable to locate your FTMS CD please contact us and we will email the file to you.
Follow the instructions below to enable successful emailing of your attendance statistics:
- Insert the FTMS CD (in this example we will assume it is the D: drive). If the FTMS installation automatically starts when the CD is inserted, cancel out of the install.
- Open a copy of Windows Explorer
- Go to the directory D:\FTMS20
-
If the file mail.txt is listed, then copy it to the directory you installed FTMS into
(C:\PROGRAM FILES\FTMS is the default directory) - If the file mail.txt is not displayed, select View from the Windows Explorer menu, then Folder Options.
- Select the View tab
- Under Hidden Files, select "Show all files"
- Click OK
The mail.txt file will now be displayed and can be copied as above
Restart FTMS and the attendance statistics file will now be able to be sent.
- Download the latest version of the help file,
- Copy the downloaded file (called ftmsfaq.hlp) to the FTMS directory on your hard drive,
- The new help file will be displayed when you use the help function within FTMS.
- The updated information can be viewed in the Additional Help topic which is listed in the Contents within the help file.
Your brigade number is the number assigned to your brigade by the UFBA. If you are not sure what your brigade's number is you can:
- Check with your Secretary,
- Check the March 2003 UFBA Newsletter,
- Contact the UFBA.
A problem has been found with printing the Member Listing Report. Until this has been fixed you can print this report by entering in the parameters you require, clicking on the Print Preview button then printing the report from the Preview window.
The simplest way of backing up FTMS is to copy the Data directory found in the Ftms directory on your hard drive. You should copy this to a diskette, CD, zip disk, tape or super-disk depending on what backup devices you have on your PC. We suggest you backup data on a regular basis to more than one diskette, CD, zip disk, tape or super-disk and store your backup offsite.
Before you can select the Email option in the Attendance Statistics report you must have entered your ISP's (Internet Service Provider's) SMTP server name in the System Settings screen.
You can contact your ISP if you are unsure of the SMTP server name to enter. You need to enter this information into the System Settings screen of FTMS if you wish to automatically Email your annual Attendance Statistics to the UFBA. The SMTP server name for your ISP can usually be found on your ISP's home page on the Internet.
Some common New Zealand ISP SMTP server names are :
- Actrix : mail.actrix.co.nz
- XTRA : smtp.xtra.co.nz
- IHUG : smtp.ihug.co.nz
- Paradise : smtp.paradise.net.nz
- Clear Net : smtp.clear.net.nz
If you or your brigade do not have an ISP, there are two options available for sending your attendance records to the UFBA.
By Diskette
- Insert a blank diskette in you computers floppy drive
- Go to the reports menu and select the Attendance Statistics report
- Select YES for the create "UFBA File" option
- Select DISKETTE for the "Send File By" option
- Check the dates show the correct year that you wish to send, and click the Print Report button
- When the "Save As" dialog appears, select your computer floppy drive from the "Save In" drop down list
- Click Save
- Once the file has been saved correctly, post the diskette to the UFBA office
By Fire Service email
If you or your brigade have access to the Fire Service email network (normally via IPNet dialup) you can use the following steps to email your attendance file to the UFBA office:
- Go to the reports menu and select the Attendance Statistics report
- Select YES for the create "UFBA File" option
- Select DISKETTE for the "Send File By" option
- Check the dates show the correct year that you wish to send, and click the Print Report button
- When the "Save As" dialog appears, select a directory on your computer hard drive (normally the C: drive) from the "Save In" drop down list
- Click Save
- Once the file has been saved correctly, connect to the Fire Service network
- Enter the email system (Outlook) and create a new email. Enter rolls@ufba.org.nz as the "To" address and an appropriate message subject (e.g. Silverstream Attendance 1/7/2000 - 30/6/2001).
- From the Insert menu, select File
- When the "Insert File" dialog appears, find the file that was saved in steps e and f
- Click Insert
- Click Send