Using - Training Documentation -
Table of Contents 1. Overview of Argos..1 2. Getting started.....1 Accessing Argos...1 Login to Argos... 1 Log-off.... 2 Password reset or change... 2 3. Understanding User interface.....3 Menu bar...3 File... 3 Edit... 3 View.....3 Tools....4 Help.....4 Tools bar...4 Logout.....4 Back.....4 Forward....4 Argos Help... 4 Left pane......5 Explorer Tree tab..............5 Quick Lunch tab..........5 Dash board tab...........5 Right pane....6 Properties.........6 Options available.......6 4. Report.....6 Execute a report.......6 Report output and format options....6 Banded report.....6 CSV report......7 Quick View report. 7 5. Importing data into MS Excel 2007....9 6. Common issues.....10 Firefox Add-on Installation.... 10 Reset Argos Password.... 11 Windows 7 / Vista Internet Explorer issues.... 11 7. Contact information.......11
1. Overview of Argos Argos is a reporting software application that generates reports from the Banner student information system. 2. Getting Started Accessing Argos a. Open an Internet browser and go to http://argos.tamucc.edu:8080/argos.html b. Click Start Here Note: Once opened, the Argos launching browser can be closed. Don t Forget: Bookmark or add Argos to browser favorites list. Login to Argos Argos login window requires a valid Username and password combination. a. To login enter Username and Password b. click Login Figure 1: Login window Forget this user - removes this user from the list of saved usernames in the drop list. Remember this user - adds this user to the list of saved usernames in the drop list. Remember the password for this user - saves the password for this username, but for security reasons, this is not recommended. Note: The Argos username and password is identical to the Active Directory username and password. By AITS 1
Log-off Any action below, will log a user out of Argos 1. Close Argos window using 2. Click the Logout icon on tool bar 3. Click File Logout Password Reset or Change To Change or Reset AD password, go to: https://passwords.tamucc.edu Note: It may take five minutes to process a reset password request. 3. Understanding the User Interface Menu bar Tool bar Left pane Right pane Action Description Logged-in user information By AITS 2
Figure 2: Argos User Interface Menu bar: File File Edit Edit report View View View View Logout: To log-off from Argos Exit: To log-off and close Argos Find: To find a specific existing folder, DataBlock or report Find Next: To find the next occurrence of a specific existing folder, DataBlock or Show Toolbar captions: To display captions to a tools in Toolbar Show Dashboards: To display dashboards tab in left pane Show Quick launch: To display Quick launch tab in left pane Refresh: To Refresh user Argos window Tools Options Security Clear: To clear the logon user names and passwords stored on a specific computer Figure 3: Argos Options window Tools Change password: Does not use, instead use the AD interface via https://passwords.tamucc.edu. Refer to Password Reset or Change section on page 2 Help Argos Help: Documentation about Argos Help Support: Connects to Evisions support webpage, INSTEAD contact the TAMUCC Computer Helpline at x2692 or email to itrequests@tamucc.edu for campus support Help About: The current version and build of Argos By AITS 3
Tool bar: Logout: To logout of Argos Back: To go back a step in a user Argos session Forward: To go forward one step in a user Argos session Argos Help: Documentation about Argos Left pane The Left pane s Explorer Tab is similar to the Explorer found in Windows. It displays an intuitive tree view of the folders, DataBlocks, and reports to which the user has permissions. To navigate explorer: a. Click the "+" to view contents of that object b. Click the "-" to hide the contents of that object c. Right click Collapse all: To hide all expanded folder structures The QuickLaunch allows a user to save a shortcut to a report rather than navigating the Explorer Tree each session to find a report. To add a report to the QuickLaunch: a. Right click on any report from the Explorer Tree click Add to QuickLaunch O r b. Select a report click QuickLaunch button on right pane QuickLaunch options: Execute: Execute a report Locate: Locate the report in the explorer tree Rename: To rename the added shortcut Delete: To delete the report from QuickLaunch Note: Delete from QuickLaunch will not delete a report from Explorer tree By AITS 4
The Dashboards Tab displays any reports that programmers have added to this tab, currently this feature is not used in our installation of Argos. Right pane The right pane lists the actions that can be taken on the selected object. Users can also right click an object for a list of available actions. Properties: Properties of the selected objects are displayed Options: Displays all available Report Viewer actions along with their descriptions Figure 5: Right pane 4. Reports Executing a report After selecting a report, It can be executed in any of the following ways: a. Double-click the Report name. By AITS 5
b. Right click Execute c. On the Right pane, click Execute button Report Output options: Report, output and format options differ as shown in following examples. Banded Report A Banded report is identified by the following:. Typically, these reports are needed in a standard 8.5 x 11 print format. Banded reports can be saved in any of the following file formats Portable document Format (PDF) Rich text Format (rtf) HTML (html) MS Excel (xls) Text (txt) By AITS 6
Figure 6: Banded report output options CSV Report A CSV Report is identified by the following: MS Excel. Formats available include:. These reports are easily editable via Comma separated Value (CSV) Text (txt) Figure 7: CSV report output options Quick View Report A Quick View Report is identified by the following:. These reports display results in the same window as the input choices. A Quick View report offers flexibility in which fields are saved from the output. See the following example By AITS 7
Figure 8: Quick view report output options Figure 9: Quick view report output saving options By AITS 8
5. Import data into MS Excel MS Excel can import text files with extensions:.txt,.prn,.csv a. Open Microsoft Office Excel b. Click on Office Button Open c. Set Files of type to Text Files ( *.txt, *.prn, *.csv) d. Browse to a text file (.txt,.prn,.csv) and select e. Click Open Figure 10: Import data to MS Excel a. Based on the type of data in the text file, select either Delimited or Fixed width b. Click Next 1) Delimited Characters such as commas or tabs separate each field. a. Select comma as the delimiter b. Select none as the text qualifier unless quote or apostrophe marks are around text, then choose the correct qualifier c. Click Next d. Based on the data format, highlight each column and select either i. Text ii. Date iii. Do not import column skips the highlighted column iv. General e. Click Finish By AITS 9
2) Fixed width Fields are aligned in columns with spaces between each field. 6. Common Issues a. Click to insert lines to the right of each field for column breaks b. Click Next c. Based on the data format, highlight each column and select either 1. Text 2. Date 3. Do not import column skips the highlighted column 4. General d. d. Click Finish e. Firefox Add-on Installation Argos is based on Microsoft ActiveX technology. Firefox needs additional configuration to run Argos. The installation of Coral I.E. tab extension enables Firefox users to access Argos. To install I.E Tab+ for Firefox a. Open Mozilla Firefox Internet browser b. Go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/ c. Search for IE Tab Plus d. Click Add to Firefox(windows) e. Click Accept and Install f. On the software installation windows click Install g. Restart Firefox and got to Tools IE Tab Plus options [ instructions continued on next page.] By AITS 10
h. Go to Sites Filter and add http://argos.tamucc.edu:8080/ i. Click OK. This installation of I.E Tab Plus is complete. Reset Argos Password To reset Argos password, please refer to Password Reset or Change section on page 2. Windows 7 / Vista Internet Explorer issues To access Argos on a Windows 7 / Vista OS using Internet explorer, below additional steps are needed a. Open Internet Explorer b. Go to Tools Internet Options Security c. Click on Trusted sites and then click on Sites button d. Add http://argos.tamucc.edu:8080/ e. Uncheck Require server verification (https: ) for all sites in the zone f. Click Close button 7. Contact Information For more information regarding campus reports or Argos support issues, contact the Help Desk at x2692 or email: itrequests@tamucc.edu. By AITS 11