EMC Basics

This section describes the basic functions in EMC. For information about accessing the EMC after a fresh installation or upgrade, see the Oracle Hospitality Simphony Post-Installation or Upgrade Guide, specifically the EMC Access Security chapter.

EMC Configuration Hierarchy

The Simphony EMC has three areas that allow you to choose where to define certain definitions and records in the EMC’s hierarchy tree. In EMC, modules are configured (in order from highest to lowest) on the enterprise, property, or revenue center levels. See Enterprise for more information on EMC levels.

An employee’s assigned role determines whether users have full or partial access to specific modules on certain levels. See Employees and Privileges for more information on employee roles

EMC Home Page

When you log in, EMC defaults to the Home Page. The Home Page shows a navigation tree in the Locations pane based on the EMC levels. Modules appear to the right of the Locations pane and filters based on the location you select from the navigation tree.

You can use the filters below the Locations pane to easily search for properties, revenue centers, and zones within a large enterprise.

Figure 1-1 EMC Home Page Filters

This figure shows the filters available on the Home Page.

Filter: Enter the name of a property, revenue center or zone to filter the navigation tree.
Coll: Click to collapse the navigation tree. If the navigation tree is collapsed when filtering, the search returns the top most level. For example, when you search for a revenue center, the navigation tree shows the property to which it belongs.
Exp: Click to expand the navigation tree.
Show all zones: Select to shows zones in the navigation tree and to include zones in your search.
#: Select to show the object number in front of properties, revenue centers, and zones in the navigation tree.

EMC remembers each users state at the time of exit. Therefore, the next time you log in, the EMC Home Page defaults to the location that was last viewed by you when EMC was closed.

Table View and Form View

Table view and form view are two views used to show information within modules.

Most modules open to table view, which is a grid view showing all records sorted by object number. Typically, the first two columns are the object number and name of the record. Table view is generally used when making bulk changes. When a record is changed, table view highlights the record in yellow.

Form view shows the same content that is available in table view, but for a single record. Depending on the data, sometimes form view shows more information than table view. For example, the Employee Roles module, which contains only object number and name in table view, contains several configurable tabs in form view. Form view includes a navigation bar that shows the object number and name of each record available, making record-to-record navigation easier. To navigate to a specific record, simply select the record within the navigation bar and the corresponding form view tabs populate with the selected record’s information.

Three methods are available for switching between table view and form view:

Click the Toggle Table/Form View icon on the EMC toolbar.
While in table view, double-click the Object Number column to open form view.
While in form view, double-click the object number/name in the navigation bar to open table view.

While configuring Simphony (in either table or form view), certain files have Go To Previous navigational buttons. This icon , links you to the location in this current file (or a different file) where the selected information is stored. You may want to use this option to change an entry, add an entry, or just view its programmed characteristics.

Example: You are adding a group of menu items and you do not see the Screen Look Up (SLU) group you want to assign them to.

Click the icon next to the SLU field. This opens the Menu Item file, which can be found under the SLU Names section from the Descriptors tab.
From here you can view the existing groups or add new a SLU group name. Click Save if you make any changes.
Navigate back to the MI Definition file and select the new (or differing) SLU group to the menu item from the SLU field’s drop-down list.

Figure 1-2 EMC Go To Previous Navigational Links

This figure shows examples of Go To Previous icons which are EMC navigational buttons.

Module Record Filters

By default, most modules in EMC show all of the available records when opened. You can remove unwanted records from view using the filters available in table view. The filters appear above the table and is set to Show All Records.

Figure 1-3 EMC Filter Section in Table View

When records are filtered,

Form view shows only the records that appear in table view. While in form view, the navigation buttons (next, previous, first, and last) change to only the records that appear in table view.
The Option Bit Comparison Dialog shows only the records that appear in table view.

The Menu Item Maintenance module provides additional filters for streamlining the records. See Searching and Filtering Menu Items for more information.

Sorting Records

In EMC, you can sort records presented in tables by one of the columns. By default, records are sorted by object number. To sort by another column, click the column header.

EMC Toolbar

EMC uses common controls that are familiar to most users. For example, the top of the screen includes a menu bar with the standard File, Edit, and View options. Additionally, a number of navigational icons are available on the toolbar.

The following table describes the icons on the EMC toolbar. You can also access the functions performed by these icons within the menu bar.

Table 1-1 EMC Toolbar Icons

Name	Function	Available in Table View?	Available in Form View?
Refresh	Performs a refresh of the data in the current module.	Yes	Yes
Close	Closes the currently active module.	Yes	Yes
Close All	Closes all open modules.	Yes	Yes
Location Selector	Opens the current module in another property or revenue center. This icon is enabled only if you open a module from the property or revenue center level.	Yes	Yes
Language Translation	Opens the EMC Record Translation dialog. This icon is enabled only when the current GUI control is a translatable text field.	Yes	Yes
Print	Opens a dialog that allows you to print records from table view.	Yes	No
Save	Saves changes to records in the currently active module. This icon is enabled only when changes have are made to the current module. When you insert a new record to a module, Simphony automatically saves that record. To invoke this icon, you must make initial entries or modify an existing record entry.	Yes	Yes
Save All	Saves changes to records in all open modules. This icon is enabled only when any open module has its records change.	Yes	Yes
Insert	Adds a new record to the module. This icon is enabled only when the current module supports the Insert functionality and only when the logged-in user has Employee Role permissions to add new records to the module.	Yes	Yes
Delete	Deletes records. This icon is enabled only when the current module supports the Delete functionality, and only when the logged-in user has Employee Role permissions to delete records from the module.	Yes	Yes
Distribute	Distributes records. This icon is enabled only when the EMC user is associated with an Enterprise Role with the option Distribute enabled, and only when the current module supports distribution.	Yes	Yes
Copy Record(s)	Copies records while in table view.	Yes	No
Undo/Redo	Performs the undo/reload function. You cannot undo the addition or deletion of a record. EMC uses a record-level undo, where all changes to a single record are undone. You cannot undo a previous change because the flow and layout of EMC make this an impractical option. The standard Ctrl+Z functionality does exist to undo changes to a text field. In Employee Maintenance and Menu Item Maintenance, undo is available through the right-click menu only.	Yes	Yes
Paste Record(s)	Pastes records while in table view.	Yes	No
Toggle Table/Form View	Switches the current module between table view and form view.	Yes	Yes
First Record	Navigates to the first record in the module.	No	Yes
Previous Record	Navigates to the previous visible record in the module.	No	Yes
Next Record	Navigate to the next record.	No	Yes
Last Record	Navigates to the last record in the module.	No	Yes
Go To	Opens a dialog that allows you to type an object number and navigate to the specified record.	Yes	Yes
Find	Opens a dialog that allow you to find a record based on text comparison in any column.	Yes	No
Go To Previous	In some modules, go to links are provided to quickly open other modules. For example, the Job Codes module includes a go to link to open the Employee Classes module. After clicking a go to link, this icon is enabled. When clicked, it closes the module that you were navigated to (for example, Employee Classes) and returns you to the module from which the link was pressed (for example, Job Code).	N/A	N/A
Navigation Bar	Switches the visibility of the navigation bar in form view.	No	Yes

Parent topic: Introduction to Simphony