SYSPRO Avanti

SYSPRO Avanti is SYSPRO's web-based software offering. Avanti (an Italian word meaning forward or ahead) is designed to run SYSPRO's applications in the private or public cloud, but can also be deployed on-premise.

SYSPRO Avanti can be used in parallel with the SYSPRO Windows Client version, allowing a user to use either version to complete the same task - they both use the same user credentials and concurrency licensing models.

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Exploring

SYSPRO Avanti is accessible on any device, on any platform, from anywhere.

You can choose to deploy either the Windows or the web-based solution. A dual user interface provides customers with the ability to select the best one for the specific task at hand.

Benefits

  • Familiarity

    SYSPRO Avanti will be quite familiar to customers who are used to the SYSPRO Windows Client version, as the behavior of the application is designed to be similar.

  • Ease of deployment

    SYSPRO Avanti does not require any installation on the Windows desktop or device. All you need is a web browser.

  • Consistent design across all applications

    SYSPRO Avanti is designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate. It has consistent layouts that make it easier for users to complete tasks with minimum clicks.

  • Tailoring

    SYSPRO Avanti has a Visual Designer that allows administrators to change the layout of any application, and to add or remove functionality. This allows customers to streamline any operation.

    Additionally, some of the customization implemented in the same SYSPRO Windows client application, is automatically applied in SYSPRO Avanti. Users can also create completely new functionality and have this available in SYSPRO Avanti.

SYSPRO Avanti is built using modern web technologies and technically has the following characteristics:

  • SYSPRO Avanti is a single-page application (SPA)

    This allows SYSPRO Avanti to provide an experience akin to a native application on either a mobile device or a desktop browser. SYSPRO Avanti improves performance because only data is transmitted to the browser, which takes less time and bandwidth than constantly sending fully constructed HTML pages.

  • SYSPRO Avanti is a responsive web application

    The design of the user interface is fluid, meaning the web page content automatically fits into the available screen size, whether you are using a desktop browser or a smart phone. In short, SYSPRO Avanti ensures that it is effective and easy to use on any device.

The following provides a high-level technical overview of the SYSPRO Avanti architecture. It details the different deployment tiers as well as the technologies used by SYSPRO Avanti along with the key benefits.

The technologies discussed are both from an on-premise and cloud deployment perspective.

The following process describes how SYSPRO Avanti authenticates and how information is passed from one tier of the architecture to the other:

  1. A user accesses SYSPRO Avanti through a web browser using an address specifically setup by the SYSPRO administrator for the installation of SYSPRO.
  2. Once the address of the SYSPRO Avanti website is entered into the browser, a login screen is displayed, allowing the user to capture their user name, password and company details.

  3. When the user selects the Sign in button a request is sent to the SYSPRO Avanti website, which in turn sends a request to the SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service for the credentials to be validated.

    The SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service does not have any authentication built into it as it relies on the standard authentication model of core SYSPRO.

  4. Once authenticated there are no further workloads for the SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service until another user logs on. From there on in the SYSPRO executable responds to any requests made by the web browser.
  5. All requests and responses made from web browser are routed to the SYSPRO Avanti website then relayed to the SYSPRO App server, then back to the SYSPRO Avanti website and finally back to the browser.

Tier 3 - Client (The Browser)

The client tier is the initial touch point for any users wanting to make use of SYSPRO Avanti.

  • Using a web browser that supports HTML 5, a user can browse to the website where SYSPRO Avanti has been installed.

  • All user interface elements in SYSPRO Avanti have been built using modern web based technologies such as HTML 5, JavaScript and CSS3.

  • SYSPRO Avanti has been developed from the ground up to adhere to responsive web designs, which enables it to run on any device and any platform, regardless of form or size factor. As the size of the device or web browser increases or decreases, SYSPRO Avanti automatically adjusts itself to best suit its environment.

  • SYSPRO Avanti has also followed the SPA (Single Page Application) design philosophy. This allows data to be dynamically bound to a page instead of the page being regenerated all the time, thus saving time, bandwidth and increasing the overall performance. This modern design also avoids disruption in the users experience within the application.

  • SYSPRO Avanti is delivered via a web browser and requires no prerequisites or software to be installed on the user’s machine, making SYSPRO Avanti have a zero footprint on the client.

Tier 2 - Avanti Website / Server

Tier 2 handles the requests and responses from the SYSPRO Avanti web browser to the SYSPRO Application Server.

  • This tier can be installed on a traditional Windows Server running Internet Information Services (IIS), or it can be installed to an Azure App Service. It is purposefully designed to run in the cloud, but can run on premise just as effectively.

  • When running SYSPRO Avanti on-premise, it has been optimized to have an auto update setting. This allows any new SYSPRO Avanti features released to be updated on the SYSPRO Avanti website automatically, without the need of the administrator.

  • When running SYSPRO Avanti in the cloud and making use of the Azure App Service infrastructure, we also make use of a technology call ARM (Azure Resource Manager) templates that allows the SYSPRO Avanti website to be updated automatically.

  • The SYSPRO Avanti website can be secured by the administrator using SSL. The data in transit from the website to the web browser and vice versa is compressed by the SYSPRO Avanti infrastructure and provides compression levels of up to 95%, thus adding to the overall performance.

  • A web technology called WebSockets in conjunction with Signal R allows for robust communication between the SYSPRO Avanti website and the web browser.

    With this technology, SYSPRO Avanti can reconnect to the SYSPRO App Server and web browsers when there is a drop-in network connectivity, once again adding to the reliability of SYSPRO Avanti.

Along with this, there are several out of the box benefits that customers inherit with running in the cloud:

  • Cost

    It is much cheaper to run in an Azure App Service as they make use of server less compute, so you only pay for the compute.

  • Scaling

    You can scale the infrastructure up or down depending or your requirements. There is also an auto scale feature that will detect the workloads on the website and will automatically scale the infrastructure accordingly.

  • Phishing/DSA

    The Azure App Service infrastructure has intelligent machine learning algorithms that can detect Phishing attacks as well as Denial of Service attacks and can notify administrators before any major harm is done.

Tier 1 - SYSPRO App Server

The sole responsibility of the SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service is to perform a handshake between the SYSPRO executable and the website for each user that has logged on.

A few new tables are included in the SYSPRO SQL Server company wide database which are used to maintain state for the users using SYSPRO Avanti.

Cards are pre-built discrete functional components. A card is a self-contained HTML5 page whose data is derived typically (but not exclusively) from a business object.

  • A card may run as a separate entity in its own window or can be embedded in a view.
  • A card may require a key value such as a customer or stock code key to execute.
  • A card that doesn't require a key value, is known as an Insight card and display information such as bank balances or sales order commitments.
  • SYSPRO Avanti ships with a set of pre-built cards, but it is relatively easy to construct new cards for any additional required functionality.
  • Use the Visual Designer program to add a card to any view.

Workspaces are customizable dashboards in SYSPRO Avanti that supply user roles with everything they need to perform their tasks efficiently and effectively.

They are essentially web views for roles and can contain anything that can be designed in the Visual Designer (e.g. Business Insights, Program Tiles, Charts, Flow Graphs, Cards, Grids, Forms, and any customized panes associated with the role itself).

A workspace is a way of grouping tasks or processes together in a way that is meaningful or relevant for an individuals role (i.e. similar to a Favorites menu, except that it is defined at a role level).

Multiple workspaces can be created for each role (e.g. daily, weekly and monthly tasks).

There are two types of workspaces in SYSPRO Avanti:

  • Standard template workspaces

    These are shipped with the core SYSPRO product and located in the \Base\Samples folder:

    • Inventory Manager
    • Debtor Controller
    • Inventory Controller
    • Operations Manager

    • Sales Manager

      The role designer can use these templates as a base when designing workspaces for various roles.

  • Custom workspaces

    These are created, designed and deployed by the role designer or system administrator.

    When creating custom workspaces, they can either use the templates as base or creating them from scratch.

Topics

SYSPRO Avanti Installation

SYSPRO Installer

AI Machine Learning

Services

SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service

SYSPRO Avanti Service

SYSPRO 8 Machine Learning

PDF and Video Resources

Feature Guides

Video Highlights

Starting

Ensure that you have installed SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service and SYSPRO Avanti using the SYSPRO Installer Application:

Service Prerequisite

SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service

This service must be installed on the same application server as the SYSPRO 8 Server.

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6

  • SYSPRO 8 Service Upgrade Manager

  • SYSPRO 8 e.net Communications Load Balancer

    A valid endpoint must be configured in the System Setup program of SYSPRO 8.

SYSPRO Avanti Service

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6

  • SYSPRO 8 Server

  • SYSPRO 8 Service Upgrade Manager

  • SYSPRO 8 e.net Communications Load Balancer

    A valid endpoint must be configured in the System Setup program of SYSPRO 8.

  • SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service connection

  • Internet Information Services(IIS) 7.0 Core Web Engine Feature

  • Internet Information Services(IIS) 7.0 World Wide Web Publishing Feature

Solving

While SYSPRO Espresso and SYSPRO Avanti have similar characteristics (they are both browser-based applications created with modern web technologies), the two products are designed for different types of users.

SYSPRO Espresso is specifically targeted at mobile workers who require offline capability, but not the full and complex functionality of SYSPRO.

SYSPRO Avanti is aimed at users who require the full-featured functionality of SYSPRO, but want to access it from a browser.

SYSPRO Espresso SYSPRO Avanti

Natively-designed for mobile devices

Natively-designed for the browser

User experience is optimized for mobile devices

User experience is optimized for the browser

Offline capability

No offline capability

Applications are purpose-built and require development effort

Applications are created using the Visual Designer and require no development effort

SYSPRO Espresso is charged by user logon

User access is based on the concurrent SYSPRO user license

SYSPRO Espresso applications may be chargeable, and are licensed by user count

Any application in SYSPRO may be available in SYSPRO Avanti as part of the concurrent licensing

Applications in SYSPRO Avanti are designed to show most information in a single page. Where appropriate, the use of popup windows can surface additional information.

For example: In the Inventory Query you can view Movements and Warehouse history lists. These lists are shown by default in popup windows that can be re-sized and repositioned in the browser. You can easily change this behavior using the Visual Designer program and make the lists appear on a single page.

By default, the applications that ship with SYSPRO Avanti don't and can't include any custom form fields, as it has no prior knowledge of them.

You can use the Visual Designer to add the custom fields (that were previously added to forms in SYSPRO Windows Client ) to SYSPRO Avanti.

The same is true for any customized panes that have been added to an application. These panes will need to be added to the web view using the Visual Designer.

In SYSPRO you can enable the Load Previous Form Values option. With this option enabled, SYSPRO automatically remembers form options and positions you have changed and reload them as per your preference the next time the program is launched. This only applies to forms that are editable and where saving form values is appropriate.

This feature is automatically enabled in Avanti. Any programs that are loading form values that were previously saved, will display the text Form values auto-loaded the status bar.

Although the web views in SYSPRO Avanti can be used in the SYSPRO Windows Client version, this is not recommended.

Technically this would work, but the SYSPRO Avanti web view interface is markedly different to the SYSPRO Windows Client version and it would be confusing to the user to have some programs displaying the web interface and others using the Windows Interface.

If you use web views in the SYSPRO Windows Client version, there are some differences:

  • Predictive search is currently not enabled in toolbars or form fields
  • The search button is not shown next to toolbar 'key' fields

  • The standard SYSPRO toolbar is hidden, as the web view itself contains a toolbar. The exception to this is that the Ribbon Bar in the main menu will always be shown.

    You can implement a web view for most of the SYSPRO programs, either by using a standard template (one already built for use with SYSPRO Avanti) or by designing a new web view from scratch. In both cases you would use the Visual Designer to accomplish this.

No special license is required to use SYSPRO Avanti.

Loading SYSPRO Avanti is equivalent to loading the SYSPRO Windows Client version (i.e. it uses the same user credentials and the same concurrency licensing model). This means that (provided you are allowed concurrent use), you can use SYSPRO Avanti and the SYSPRO Windows Client version at the same time.

Security and other options defined for the user apply equally, regardless of whether you load SYSPRO Avanti or the SYSPRO Windows Client version. Similarly, the security principles and options apply in SYSPRO Avanti for the company you select.

SYSPRO Avanti uses the same security and permissions that are configured in the SYSPRO Windows Client version. This means that all user permissions and security settings must be enabled/disabled within SYSPRO.

The predictive search functionality in SYSPRO Avanti is enabled by default.

As you start typing into a key field (e.g. stock code, customer, etc.) the predictive search displays the items that match the filter criteria.

You can use the Windows Client version to modify the behavior of these filter criteria.

Tiles represent a quick way to launch a program or business insight.

Tiles can be added to any view using the Visual Designer program.

Using

The login page for SYSPRO Avanti is similar to the SYSPRO Windows Client version and it uses the same user credentials.

  1. Navigate to your web browser.

  2. At the Address bar enter the url for SYSPRO Avanti.

    http://192.168.5.16/sysproavanti/

    where 192.168.5.16 indicates the ip address of the machine where SYSPRO Avanti is installed.

  3. Enter your User name and Password (as you would when you login to SYSPRO).
  4. Select the Company and enter the Company password.
  5. Select Sign in.

  1. To exit SYSPRO Avanti, simply close the browser.

    If you are currently within a transactional application, you will be prompted to confirm that you want to leave the site.

  2. Alternatively, you can select the Sign out button.

    You will return to the Logon page where you can log into a different company or as a different user.

  1. Select the Menu icon at the top left of the Home Page.

    A list of available SYSPRO Avanti programs is displayed.

  2. Select a category to display more programs.
  3. Select a program you want to run.

  4. Alternatively, start typing the name of the program into the Search for a program bar.

    A list of programs is displayed according to the text you entered.

  5. You can access recently used programs from the Recent programs category.
Icon/button Description

 

Settings

Select this to switch between workspaces, views and cards.

Because workspaces are designed per role, you will only see ones that apply to you. Similarly, because views are designed per operator, you will only see ones that apply to you.

Cards are available to all users that have the required permissions.

Show Favorites

Select this to load the primary (Favorites) web view.

Refresh

Select this to refresh the view that is currently displayed.

You define the look of the Home Page using the Visual Designer program. The Home Page can contain a mixture of program tiles, business insights, cards and more. There are various views you can switch between to allow for quick and easy access.

  1. In SYSPRO Avanti, select the Settings icon.

  2. Select the Views option.

    A list of pre-configured views is displayed.

  3. Select the view you require.

  1. Start typing into key fields (e.g. stock code, customer, etc).

    The predictive search functionality will display items that match the filter criteria.

    You can use the Windows Client version to modify how these filter criteria behave.

  2. Select Search to display a common Search window from which you can search for an item.

    The Search button is located next to all key fields in SYSPRO Avanti.

    Selecting an item returns the key value to the field.

Cards that are associated with key fields can be embedded in a view or can be shown in popup windows.

They are automatically refreshed whenever the key value in a toolbar or form field is changed.

  1. To view a key card as a popup window, select it from the SmartLink context menu.

    This is the same context menu that is available in the SYSPRO Windows Client version.

    The card is displayed in a popup window:

  2. Drag the card to reposition it on the window.

In SYSPRO Avanti, tiles can represent business insights or programs.

You can add these tiles to any view using the Visual Designer program.
  1. Click on a business insights tile (e.g. Average days to pay or Bank balances) to view a collection of data.
  2. Click on a program tile (e.g. Customer Query) to launch the program.

  1. Select the help icon from the toolbar to view an interactive help tour of the program.

    Help text will appear in a speech bubble, explaining what the program is used for and how to use it.

  2. Select Next to move to the next speech bubble.

    The tour help can be displayed while working in the program, which encourages interactive learning.

  3. Select Back to move to the previous speech bubble.
  4. Select Done on the last speech bubble or the x button on any speech bubble to close the help tour.

  1. From within SYSPRO, select Design Workspaces ( SYSPRO Ribbon bar > Administration).

    The Design Workspaces by Roles program is displayed. The program defaults to displaying all the roles for which workspaces have been designed.

  2. Select New to design a new workspace or Change to maintain an existing workspace.

    The Workspace Maintenance screen is displayed.

  3. For a new workspace, select the role for which you want to define the workspace and enter a description

    The description is used in the naming of the JSON file and is displayed in the status bar when the view is selected in SYSPRO Avanti.

    For an existing workspace, select the workspace you want to maintain.

  4. Enter a description for the workspace.
  5. Select a template to base the workspace on an existing template, or select None to create the workspace from scratch.

  6. Select Start Designing Workspace.

    The Visual Designer is displayed so that you can start designing the workspace.

  7. Save the workspace.

    A JSON file is created and stored in the relevant role folder in \Base\Settings with the naming convention: UX_WSP_Role.JSON.

  8. You can change and delete workspaces using the Design Workspaces by Roles program.

Use the Visual Designer program to modify any view in SYSPRO Avanti.

  1. Select the Settings icon in SYSPRO Avanti.

  2. Select Design Web View to launch the Visual Designer program.

    If maintaining an existing web view, then the option is displayed as Edit Web View.

  3. Select the Add Layout Section to add a tile section.

  4. Select Tile Section and optionally style the section.
  5. Select Add Section and click Add to add a tile.
  6. Select the business insight or program you want to associate with the tile.

You can use the Visual Designer program in either SYSPRO Avanti or the SYSPRO Windows Client version to design applications to use in SYSPRO Avanti.

If you want to design applications at Role level, then you must be in Design Mode in the SYSPRO Windows Client version.
  1. Select the Settings icon in SYSPRO Avanti.

  2. Select Design Web View.

    This launches the Visual Designer and displays the current layout if one exists for the role.

    You can add or remove components, or start from fresh to design your own view.

    Designing applications is simply a matter of selecting the Form field, Grid list, Tile or Card and adding it to the layout.

    You don't need any development coding to design layouts.

  • Select the help icon from the toolbar to view an interactive help tour of the program.

    Help text will appear in a speech bubble, explaining what the program is used for and how to use it.

  • Although lists of data are shown by default in popup windows that can be re-sized and repositioned in the browser, you can embed lists on the page using the Visual Designer program.
  • Cards can be positioned anywhere within the browser, and can be minimized or maximized.
  • By default, two different timeout settings apply in SYSPRO Avanti:

    • A timeout of 10 minutes is imposed on any user who logs in to SYSPRO Avanti.

      After this timeout the system requests the operator's password to continue (even if that password is blank).

    • An additional timeout (in minutes) can be imposed after the password window has appeared.

      If this timeout expires, SYSPRO Avanti exits completely back to the Login screen.

      You can adjust the period of the timeout using the Timeout before password required option (System-wide Personalization).

Referencing

The design of SYSPRO Avanti relies on guidelines to provide a consistent and intuitive user interface.

  • Action buttons are always located on the right of the toolbar of the current application.
  • Entry fields on the toolbar are located on the left.
  • Descriptions for form fields appear beneath the key value.

  • Toast notifications pop up when entries are not correct.