Software - Technical Specification
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Pentium 500 (or better)
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256 Mb of memory (or better)
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OS Windows XP, 2000, NT 4.0, 98
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Microsoft Outlook (not Outlook Express) OR IBM Lotus Notes (Version 4.6.2 or later)
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Microsoft’s ODBC32 (Open Data Base Connect) installed with Excel or Access or as part of the Microsoft Office Suite ( XP or 2000)
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Screen resolution AGP 1024 x 768 pixels (or better)
PQF security through encryption
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The outgoing PQF file is encrypted to prevent question and collator addresses from being viewable. The first 8 characters of the file are unencrypted so that the PQF signature and document version can be freely ascertained through Notepad, WordPad etc.
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The survey response document (SVR) is also encrypted, so that any program other than the Collator module cannot intercept answers to the questions.
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The PQF system uses Microsoft’s Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC) to interface with all common databases and spreadsheets.
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A fall-back comma-separated-variables (CSV) file format is also an option for users whose ODBC is not installed.
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ODBC support is written to be compliant with Version 1.0 or above, and works with Microsoft Office 2000 or above.
PQF Viewer - Impact on its resident operating system
- The PQF Viewer install executable is designed to impact the target operating system to the lowest possible level.
- All its major parameters are stored in its own INI file rather than use the operating system's registry.
- The only entry the PQF Viewer install executable makes in the 'Current User' section of the registry is to register the .PQF file extension to enable the Viewer to be launched when a file with that extension is clicked.
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PQF Viewer - Technologies supported
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| Microsoft MAPI |
Microsoft Mail Application Programming Interface (MAPI): Outlook Professional, Microsoft Mail Post Office, Microsoft Exchange Server, Netscape Messenger V6.0.
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| Lotus C-API |
Lotus Notes R4.6.2 or later
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| SMTP |
Support for all common Internet mail systems: Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape Messenger, etc.
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| HTTP |
Support for all common web-based email systems: HotMail, Yahoo, etc.
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| Manual |
Enables any unsupported respondents to produce the survey response document and provides instructions for manual email return
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| View Glossary of above terms | |
PQF Viewers for Windows - Operating Systems support
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The following Windows 32 bit Operating Systems are supported: Win XP Win2000 Win NT4.0, Win98, Win98SE, WinMe. PQF Viewers for Mac and Linux are contemplated.
PQF Viewers for web based email - WinSock support
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Dolphin Software has ensured that its product complies with Microsoft Foundation Classes at all times, thereby enabling continuing compatibility with Microsoft’s operating systems upgrades.
PQF suite application structure
Software Methods and Quality Assurance
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For speed, reliability and ease of installation |
PQF suite is in C++ , each PQF product has one executable, no dependency on external DLLs |
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APIs and standard interfaces used as a matter of principle |
Vendors’ standard APIs (Application Program Interfaces) for calls to all email systems Windows standard WinSock layers for SMTP and HTTP communication Microsoft’s ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) API layer used for all database and spreadsheet access |
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Complete product delivery control |
Dolphin Software owns the rights to all source code to enable complete control over the delivery of the PQF suite |
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Code checking standards |
PQF code statically checked using PC-Lint, and is not released for Beta testing until all code is free of any Lint Errors or Lint Warning messages Internal coding standards are applied to all code modules Required liberal use of C++ ‘asserts’ for debug code checking in development Dynamically checked with NuMega for all memory leaks and pointer overruns. |
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Consistent testing across multiple platforms |
Testing scripts updated for each release’s feature set enabling the same testing pathways to be exercised by the standard Debug version, NuMega version, and the final release version, ensuring consistent testing Worked with ISO testing labs to refine PQF testing procedures VMware used to enable testing and debugging across multiple operating systems (Server 2003 & XP-Pro down to Win95), email transports (Outlook Lotus Notes, GroupWise, SMTP & HTTP), and versions of MS Office (Office 2003 down to Office 97) VMware server hosts email servers (IBM Lotus Notes and GroupWise) and multiple database servers (several versions of SQL Server, MySQL, etc) to facilitate test 'client' VMware sessions |
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Industry Standard delivery packaging |
PQF suite packaged using industry standard InstallShield Dev Studio, and distributed via standard FTP download |
Please contact us with any questions about technical specifications.