User Help
Windows User Help
- Accessing eDDS
- Supported Browsers
- Install and Configure a Report Viewer
- Getting Your Reports
- Configure Options
Accessing eDDS
In order to obtain access to eDDS, you must contact your Access and Security Representative (ASR) and follow the steps listed on the Requesting Access page.
If you already have access to eDDS, you may launch a supported Web browser and navigate to the eDDS site. From there, please enter your user ID and password and click "Logon".
Supported Browsers
The vendor providing the software used for eDDS supports only certain browsers. For more information on the supported browsers, please visit the eDDS home page.
Install and Configure a Report Viewer
On Windows TextPad, Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat Reader can be used to view reports.
TextPad
Installation instructions for TextPad and the TextPad download can be found on the TextPad Download and Installation page.
Windows 2000 users will need to set TextPad to open their reports:
- Go to "Tools" in Windows Explorer
- Choose "Folder Options" -> "File Types" and find ".txt" in the box
- Click "Change", highlight TextPad and click "OK" -> "Close"
Microsoft Word
If you do not already have Microsoft Word installed on your computer, please ask your local technical support person to help you install it. If you already have Word installed, you can configure the program to open your eDDS reports. This can be done by following the above instructions for TextPad, but instead of choosing TextPad for .txt files, choose Microsoft Word instead.
Once logged in to eDDS, select the open in "other" option. Select to either save the report to your desktop or open the report. If you choose to simply open the report, you should see the report that was selected from the eDDS server. At this point, you can view, edit, print, or search within the report.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
To install Adobe Acrobat Reader, please visit the Adobe site. For departmental use, Adobe Acrobat full version licenses are available from the Penn State Computer Store for a nominal fee. This will give your users much more versatility for viewing and annotating reports.
Getting Your Reports
You will receive an Optical Image Technology screen which displays function icons on the left. Single click the Cascade Search icon and drill down through the cascade levels by clicking on the icons:
Company
Department
Account
Folder
Documents
After drilling down to a particular document within a folder, the second frame will become active next to the cascade search window.
To view the selected report, click on the View button in the second window.
Click the icons in reverse order to go up a level in the cascade, or use the back button on your browser to return to previous screens.
Printing Your Report
For printing while viewing in the browser, please remember that you are within a browser application and must click on the report to activate the frame prior to using your browser print features.
Please note that if you are viewing in Acrobat Reader, you must then use its print button to print the report.
Saving Your Report
You may save the report on your workstation and later view or print it without reconnecting to the eDDS server. This is easiest to do through the open in Other option.
Navigating in the Viewer
Here are the functions of the browser viewing buttons.
By using the vertical scrollbar in the browser viewing window, you can view previous and next page.
Here are the functions of some of the Adobe Acrobat Reader buttons:
Remember, if you are viewing a report in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader, you must use its function buttons instead of the ones associated with your browser.
Placing Reports on Your Intraviewer Desktop
Note: This feature is available at any level of the cascade, but will work best at the 'folder' level.
- First, you will need to log on to eDDS with your userID and password.
- From the list of navigation buttons, choose the Cascade Search button.
- Drill down to the folder or report that you want by clicking on the icons.
- Once you locate the report, left click on the down arrow icon to select from the dropdown menu--Select Add to Desktop.
- Now, if you click on the desktop button, you can see that your report is on your Intraviewer Desktop; it will automatically be there the next time you login.
- In addition, you can place a shortcut on any dropdown menu in the Cascade. You may prefer to do this at the folder level.
- To remove a report from this view, simply left click on the down arrow icon—Select Remove from Desktop from the desktop menu.
To see a short tutorial on how to add report folders to your Intraviewer desktop, click here.
Configure Options
After logging on, click the Configure Options icon to select your settings. Click "Change Company" in the Configure Options box.
Select the report area you wish to go to from the drop down menu and click 'ok'. You will automatically be taken to that cascade.
Cascade Options will permit you to:
- Have documents returned in DESCENDING date order.
- To have documents returned in descending date order (i.e. most recent dates appear first), click "DESC" in the 'Sort Order' box for "Document"
- Control the number of items returned to your workstation.
- To change the number of items returned, increase or decrease the quantity in the 'Max Items' box under "Document"
After selecting your settings, you will need to click the Exit icon for the settings to take effect. A message saying you've logged off the system will be returned to you. Click "Re-enter Here" to log back into the system.
The sort order will determine which items are returned if "Max Items" is set to a number smaller than the actual number of items. For example, if there are 300 documents, but "Max Items" is set to 30, and the sort order is descending, the most recent 30 documents will be returned. If the sort order is ascending, the oldest 30 documents will be returned. These options also apply at the company, department, account, and folder levels. These settings will be retained until different settings are selected.
Mac User Help
- Accessing eDDS
- Supported Browsers
- Install and Configure a Report Viewer
- Getting Your Reports
- Configure Options
Accessing eDDS
In order to obtain access to eDDS, you must contact your Access and Security Representative (ASR) and follow the steps listed on the Requesting Access page.
If you already have access to eDDS, you may launch a supported Web browser and navigate to the eDDS site. From there, please enter your user ID and password and click "Logon".
Supported Browsers
The vendor providing the software used for eDDS supports only certain browsers. For more information on the supported browsers, please visit the eDDS home page.
Install and Configure a Report Viewer
TextPad is not available for the Macintosh platform. Please have your local technical support staff install Microsoft Word on your machine.
Once Microsoft Word is installed:
- Launch Word
- Go to "File" -> "Open"
- Navigate until you see the report that was selected and downloaded from eDDS. Highlight the report and high the "Return" or "Enter" button.
- At this point you can view, edit, print, or search within the report. You may want to adjust the font size or margins as needed.
- When printing, it is suggested that you set the print font to Courier New/Regular/8/landscape. You may later adjust the font size up or down as needed.
Getting Your Reports
You will receive an Optical Image Technology screen, which displays function icons on the left. Single click the Cascade Search icon and drill down through the cascade levels by clicking on the icons:
- Company
- Department
- Account
- Folder
- Documents
After drilling down to a particular document within a folder, the second frame will become active next to the cascade search window.
To view the selected report, click on the 
button in the second window.
Click the icons in reverse order to go up a level in the cascade, or use the back button on your browser to return to previous screens.
Printing Your Report
For printing while viewing in the browser, please remember that you are within a browser application and must click on the report to activate the frame prior to using your browser print features.
Please note that if you are viewing in Acrobat Reader, you must then use its print button to print the report. See below for instructions.
Saving Your Report
You may save the report on your workstation and later view or print it without reconnecting to the eDDS server. This is easiest to do through the open in 'Other' option.
Navigating in the New Viewer
Navigating through your report is a little different in the new viewer. Here are the functions of the browser viewing buttons.
The "previous view" and "next view" buttons will only function if you see more than one button on the
previous page.
By entering a page number in the "start" page box and clicking "go," you can go directly to a particular page. By entering a start and end page and clicking "go," you can view only the selected page range. By clicking on the "end" button, you will see the last page number of the report.
Here are the functions of some of the Adobe Acrobat Reader buttons:
Remember, if you are viewing a report in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader, you must use its function buttons instead of the ones associated with your browser.
Placing Reports on Your Intraviewer Desktop
Note: This feature is available at any level of the cascade but will work best at the 'folder' level.
- First, you will need to log on to eDDS with your userID and password.
- From the list of navigation buttons, choose the Cascade Search button.
- Drill down to the folder or report that you want by clicking on the icons.
- Once you locate the report, left click on the red arrow to select from the drop-down menu--Select ‘Add to Desktop’.
- Now if you click on the desktop button, you can see that your report is on your Intraviewer Desktop; it will automatically be there the next time you log in.
- In addition, you can place a shortcut on any red arrow in the Cascade. You may prefer to do this at the folder level.
- To remove a report from this view, simply left click on the red arrow—Select ‘Remove from Desktop’.
To see a short tutorial on how to add report folders to your Intraviewer desktop, click here.
Configure Options
After logging on, click the Configure Options icon to select your settings. Click "Change Company" in the Configure Options box.
Select the report area you wish to go to from the drop down menu, and click 'ok'. You will automatically be taken to that cascade.
Cascade Options will permit you to:
- Have documents returned in DESCENDING date order.
- To have documents returned in descending date order (i.e. most recent dates appear first), click "DESC" in the 'Sort Order' box for "Document"
- Control the number of items returned to your workstation.
- To change the number of items returned, increase or decrease the quantity in the 'Max Items' box under "Document"
After selecting your settings, you will need to click the Exit icon for the settings to take effect. A message saying you've logged off the system will be returned to you. Click "Logon Now" to log back into the system.
The sort order will determine which items are returned if "Max Items" is set to a number smaller than the actual number of items. For example, if there are 300 documents, but "Max Items" is set to 30, and the sort order is descending, the most recent 30 documents will be returned. If the sort order is ascending, the oldest 30 documents will be returned. These options also apply at the company, department, account, and folder levels. These settings will be retained until different settings are selected.