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Open RETS Client HOWTO |
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This section will attempt to cover the features of the ORC considered to be essential in understanding how to use the interfaces – graphical and console (command-line). The first topic of discussion will be that of the GUI followed by explanations of how to use the console version of the ORC.
The ORC's Main Window is displayed after the application is initialized. It's within this window that access to other ORC features can be achieved. The Main Window contains ORC's menu, an MLS Service drop down list, and a Service Tab view listing the top 5 MLS services selected by the user – by default the Service Tab view will be empty until a service is added.
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The menu is separated into the following categories:
File – provides access to the filesystem, opens a new service, provides the ability to create a new service, and may be used to exit the application.
Open... - Selecting this from the File menu opens a separate window whereby the user may browse and/or open text files. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
New Service Profile... - Selecting this from the File menu opens the Service Profile Wizard Window. This window allows users to create a new service profile, thereby defining a given MLS' login parameters (e.g., login URL, user name, password, RETS version), as well as providing access to download METADATA for the newly created MLS profile.
Open Service – Selecting this from the File menu provides access to a separate drop down control, which lists the various MLS service profiles. This list will be empty until a new service has been created. Choosing from one of the listed services will open a new tab within the Services Tab view. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Refresh Summary - NOTE: This feature is still under development. Selecting this from the File menu has no affect.
Close Service – Selecting this from the File menu allows the user to close an already opened service. Opened services are accessed by clicking a tab within the Services Tab view. The Close Service menu item is disabled upon entry into the Main Window. It's activated once a service is opened. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Exit - Selecting this from the File menu exits the application.
Edit – allows the user to edit service profiles, transactions and preferences. NOTE: A portion of this feature is still under development.
Transactions... - NOTE: This feature is still under development. Selecting this from the Edit menu has no affect.
Services... - Selecting this from the Edit menu opens the Service Profiles Window. The Service Profiles Window provides the user with access to the various MLS service profiles and allows the user to easily update, delete and/or add profiles (reference Section 4.2 for further details regarding this functionality).
Preferences - NOTE: This feature is still under development. Selecting this from the Edit menu has no affect.
Transaction – NOTE: This feature is still under development. Selecting this from the menu has no affect.
Help – provides access to the ORC's documentation and donation system. With the exception of the About Open RETS Client.. menu item, the remaining items within the Help menu are displayed within a web browser application.
Documentation – Selecting this from the Help menu opens the ORC's How To documentation.
Console Based Options – Selecting this from the Help menu opens documentation describing the options used within the console.
Make a donation ($10, $20, ...) - Selecting this from the Help menu displays the web site where one can donate money in support of further development of the ORC. All donations are most welcome. Thanks !!
About Open RETS Client... - NOTE: This feature is still under development. Selecting this from the Help menu has no affect.
The drop down list that resides just under ORC's menu provides for quick access to the available service profiles. Profiles are listed alphabetically. Once a user has selected the desired profile, clicking the Connect button will open the profile in the Service Tab view. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Located just under the MLS Service drop down control, the Service Tab view provides the user with access to one or more opened profiles, as well as a Summary tab of the top 5 profiles.
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Summary Tab – This tab displays a maximum of 5 profiles currently available to the user for quick reference. The profiles listed within this tab may vary depending upon which profile the user selects to show. The list of profiles displayed is maintained from within the Service Profiles Window (reference Section 4.2 for more details). Each record is shown with the following four attributes: Service, Rets Version, Server Status and Metadata. The Service column represents the name of the profile as assigned during the creation of a new profile. The Rets Version column is the version number returned from the server (values may vary depending on which version of RETS the server supports). The Server Status column represents the availability of the RETS server (values may be one of the following: OK, and UNAVAILABLE). The Metadata column displays the current state of the METADATA on the RETS server. If updates are made to the Metadata by the RETS vendor, then the ORC will display an Updates Available link, otherwise, either OK or UNAVAILABLE will be displayed.
Service Tab(s) – In addition to the Summary tab, if a user chooses to open a service, then a separate tab will be displayed. ORC supports one or more additional service tabs. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Configuration of a Service Profile can be achieved by accessing the Service Profiles Window. This is accomplished by accessing the Main Window and selecting Edit->Services from the menu. This should bring up the Service Profiles Window.
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The first screen presented upon entry to this window, is that of the Summary Of Services. Essentially, this screen allows the end-users to take an available profile, located in the Available Profiles list box, and activate the profile for display on the Main Window by clicking the > button. The end result is that the profile is “moved” from the left list box window to the right list box window (Active Profiles). Active profiles may be re-prioritized by clicking either the Up or Down buttons.
NOTE: Only the top 5 Active Profiles will be displayed in the Main Window.
Access to the various RETS Transactions is available by expanding one of the listed profiles. If no profiles exist, then the user must create a profile (reference Section 4.3 for further information).
Login - Selecting the Login Transaction displays a screen on the right pane that lists the various login properties. Properties such as the Login URL, User Name, Password, User Agent, and RETS Version are available for editing by accessing either a text box or drop down control.
GetMetadata - NOTE: This feature is still under development.
GetObject - Selecting the GetObject Transaction displays a screen on the right pane that contains three (3) tabs. The tabs displayed are as follows:
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Description Tab: This tab allows the user to choose a description.
Description drop down – Selecting an existing description from the drop down gives access to the various description properties.
Add button – Clicking this button displays a pop-up window where the user can add a new description.
Rename button – Clicking this button prompts the user to rename a description.
Delete button – Clicking this button prompts the user to delete a description from the drop down list. Choosing to delete a description results in all properties associated with that description also being removed.
Enabled check box – Selecting this check box will enable/disable the selected description. Disabled descriptions are not available for processing through the GetObject Transaction.
Resouce / Type Tab: This tab allows the user to choose the Resource and Type associated with the GetObject Transaction.
Resource drop down – Selecting from this drop down defines the source of image data to extract from the RETS Server.
Type drop down – Selecting from this drop down defines the type of images to be downloaded (i.e., Photo, Thumbnail, etc.)
Multimedia Objects: This tab allows the user to retrieve or update the Resource Entities (images) from the RETS Server.
Retrieve Media button – Clicking this button retrieves all of the Resource Entities associated with the Resource selected within the Resource / Type tab.
Preview button – Clicking this button allows the user to preview selected Resource Entities. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Update Media button – Clicking this button updates all of the Resource Entities previously retrieved. NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Search - Selecting the Search Transaction displays a screen on the right pane that contains four (4) tabs. The tabs displayed are as follows:
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Description: This tab allows the user to choose a description.
Description drop down – Selecting an existing description from the drop down gives access to the various description properties.
Add button – Clicking this button displays a pop-up window where the user can add a new description.
Rename button – Clicking this button prompts the user to rename a description.
Delete button – Clicking this button prompts the user to delete a description from the drop down list. Choosing to delete a description results in all properties associated with that description also being removed.
Enabled check box – Selecting this check box will enable/disable the selected description. Disabled descriptions are not available for processing through the Search Transaction.
Search Type / Class: This tab allows the user to choose the Search Type and Class associated with the Search Transaction.
Search Type drop down – Selecting from this drop down defines the resource or type of listings to search for during a Search Transaction.
Class drop down – Selecting from this drop down defines the class of data within a selected Search Type to search for during a Search Transaction.
Query / Select: NOTE: This feature is still under development.
Optional: This tab allows the user to pick and choose from a number of optional search criteria.
Limit drop down
Offset field
Count drop down
Format drop down
Restricted field
Change Password - Selecting the Change Password Transaction displays a screen on the right pane, and allows the user to alter his/her RETS password. The screen contains the following attributes:
Old Password field – This field should be auto-populated with the old RETS password. For security purposes, all password fields display their information using asterisks (*).
New Password field – The user enters their new password in this field.
Confirm Password field – The user re-enters their new password in this field for confirmation purposes.
Change Password button – Clicking this button results in the client making an attempt to change the user's password. All errors are reported back to the user interface.
Creating a Service Profile can be achieved by accessing the Service Profile Wizard Window. This is accomplished by accessing the Main Window and selecting File->New Service Profile... (Ctrl – N) from the menu. This should bring up the Service Profile Wizard Window.
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Then, to begin the process of creating a new service profile, simply click the Next button and follow the on-screen instructions. In order to complete the steps listed within the wizard, the user is required to provide the following information:
Login URL
User name
Password
User Agent
RETS Version
All of this information should be obtainable from either the user's local MLS service or the RETS Vendor. In addition to providing the above information, the user will also be asked to download a copy of the Metadata. The Metadata is stored locally and referenced by the ORC during later operations. Upon completion of this process, a new MLS Service Profile is added to the ORC. However, in order to produce a Service Profile that is capable of performing Search, GetObject, and Change Password Transactions, further configuration is required (reference Section 4.2 for further details).
The console or command-line interface is accessed via Start->Run
(then type cmd in the
text box provided) in Windows or a terminal style application (e.g.,
konsole, xterm, etc.) in Linux. The purpose behind this type of
interface is to provide the user with the type of flexibility needed
to support such things as embedded applications, batch programs,
and/or scheduled tasks. In order to begin using ORC in the console
mode, type the following command: Windows => orc.bat
--console; Linux => orc.sh
--console within the ORC's bin
directory (typically, located at Windows => C:\Program
Files\orc-x.x.x\bin;
Linux => /usr/local/orc-x.x.x/bin).
So, for example, given the Windows prompt
C:\Program
Files\orc-x.x.x\bin> orc.bat
--console
To use ORC within a graphical context, type the following command:
Windows => orc.bat; Linux =>
orc.sh (i.e, just discard the use
of --console). There are numerous
arguments or command-line switches that the console interface is
capable of handling. Some of the more commonly used arguments are
listed below (for a complete list of options, simply provide the
--help argument).
-h | --help : Prints out a message that lists all the available arguments with a brief description.
--console [console options] <mlsid> : Launch the Console version. Where [console options] may be either a transaction option (SEARCH, MULTIMEDIA, and/or METADATA), a post transaction option or a description option.
-q | --query <supplied query> : Supply the SearchType, Class and Query Search Transaction parameters to the ORC client. The SearchType parameter is the type of search to perform (e.g., Property, Agent, or Office). The Class of data within the SearchType. The Query is the search to be performed on the server.
Where <supplied query> takes the
form of:
SearchType|Class1,Class2,...ClassN:Query
Examples:
--query
Property|RES,CON,MUL:(STATUS=A),(ListPrice=109000+)
-q
Property|RES:(STATUS=A),(ListPrice=109000+)&Agent|Member:(STATUS=A)
-m | --multimedia <options> : Supply the multimedia
option to the ORC.
Where <options> can take the following form:
[Resource[|ID[,ID]* &] ]*
xxID = resource-entity[ :
object-id]*
xxresource-entity = a value
(e.g., MLS Number, Agent ID, Office ID) that represents the object to
be retrieved.
xxobject-id = the particular
object to be retrieved.
Examples:
--multimedia Property|84756:1:4:3,234356:1:3,123847:*
-m
Property|84756:1:4:3,234356:1:3,123847:*&Agent|samwise:1,bilbo:*
-a | --class <class value> : Supply the class
parameter to the Search Transaction.
Example:
--class RESI
-f | --format <format value> : Supply the format
parameter to the Search Transaction. The value supplied here determines
which one of three supported data formats will be returned. Available
formats include: COMPACT, COMPACT-DECODED, STANDARD-XML, and
STANDARD-XML:dtd-version
Example:
--format COMPACT
So, for example, given the Windows prompt and supplying a --query
option we might have something like
C:\Program Files\orc-x.x.x\bin> orc.bat --console --query
Property|RES,CON,MUL:(STATUS=A),(ListPrice=109000+) “My MLSID”
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Installation |
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Common Tasks |
