Introducing the Text Guide Editor

Since the very first versions of SmartAss™ we have noticed that clients tend to need a swift solution to manage text-based information in the same way that guides are managed by the system.

Therefore we have now released the Text Guide Editor - a web-based component to be added to the system which enables producers to create, maintain and import text based content alongside the multimedia guides. See sample text guide - "Identification Scripts", and following guides showing how the system works:


Text Guides are basically rich text documents in HTML capable of holding for example references to guides, curriculums, screenshots and similar. It can be activated for any recent SmartAss™ server after installing a certain license key in accordance with arranging licensing to cover the component.

How Big are SmartAss™ Guides?

There are quite a few factors impacting the data size of the guides. Which in turn affect load times and bandwidth usage.

We created a guide with nine steps in it – all to be played back in 800x600 pixels. All except the last one is about 15 seconds long and show how to open the control panel, devices and printers and then change the default printer.

1. A reference step – screen resolution 1024x768, shrinked to 800x600, no audio
2. Recorded in 800x600 (no stretch). No audio.
3. Recorded in 800x600 (no stretch). Mid-quality audio
4. Recorded in 1024x768. Low quality audio.
5. Recorded in 1024x768. Mid-quality audio
6. Recorded in 1024x768. High quality audio
7. Recorded in 1024x768. No audio. Windows Aero Transparent Glass.
8. Recorded in 1024x768. No audio. Windows Aero without Transparent Glass.
9. A longer step - recorded in 1024x768. No audio.

The guide was published both to Rich Media and Flash:

Sizes

The following table shows the data size of the steps in the two test guides:

Step	RichMedia	Flash	Length	Comment
1	265 450	453 929	15	1024x768, shrinked to 800x600, no audio
2	291 318	367 993	15	Recorded in 800x600. No audio.
3	367 894	422 945	15	Recorded in 800x600. Mid-quality audio
4	302 936	501 857	15	Recorded in 1024x768. Low quality audio.
5	341 487	520 291	15	Recorded in 1024x768. Mid-quality audio
6	359 837	542 829	15	Recorded in 1024x768. High quality audio
7	848 959	1 168 815	15	Recorded in 1024x768. No audio. Windows Aero Transparent Glass.
8	836 771	1 186 451	15	Recorded in 1024x768. No audio. Windows Aero without Transparent Glass.
9	429 697	775 640	28	A longer step - recorded in 1024x768. No audio.

Observations

Total data size. The Rich Media guide is 31% smaller than the Flash one. Using Rich Media is a quick way to save bandwidth. Conclusion: Rich Media guides are smaller.

Audio (medium quality) adds 26 % of size to Rich Media Guides and 15 % to Flash guides. Conclusion: Audio adds 15-25%.

Audio quality does not affect data size too much. Starting from medium - using low quality audio decreases the size with 11 % for Rich Media guides and 3.5% for flash. Using high-quality audio adds 2 % for both Rich Media and Flash guides. Conclusion: Audio quality has no great effect.

Recording vs. playback size ratio affects the size of the movies very differently for Rich Media and Flash guides. In the case of Rich Media Guides, using1024x768 recording size instead of 800x600 for a 800x600 playback step the step increases 1 % in size. Doing the same for flash increases the size with 19 %. Conclusion: Stretching adds approx. 20% to flash guides.

Windows Transparent Glass and Windows Aero implicates less compression on the recorded media as it does not contain the same repetition of screen elements. For Rich Media guides the size increases with 220 % when Transparent Glass / Windows Aero is activated. For Flash guides the ratio is 150%. Conclusion: Do not create guides using the Transparent Glass / Aero effect as this increases guide size tremendously.

In general - guides are about 15 to 30 kBytes per second.

SmartAss™ for iPhone

The SmartAss™ for iPhone application is a proof of concept implementation for using SmartAss™ on mobile devices.

Overview
The SmartAss™ iPhone app makes it possible to search, view and create guides using an iPhone. It consists of the Video Add-ons to the SmartAss™ and a piece of client software to be installed on the phone. The client software is currently in testing, so you need to get it from InfoCaption rather than from the AppStore.

All guides on the SmartAss™ server connected with the iPhone app is available to the user, however in text format if not published from the iPhone. The position of the user can be used to suggest guides of relevance as guides may be geo-tagged when created on the device. Guides can also be downloaded onto the phone for access without network coverage.

Components

Search
The search is performed on the SmartAss™ server and locally in downloaded guides. Searches can be refined based on text, topic and location.

Playback
Guides are shown in different ways depending on guide type and how the guide was originally produced. Standard guides are shown in an iPhone-adjusted condensed text mode with still images, suitable to the device. Guides produced on the iPhone are shown in an integrated player.

Offline Support
Guides can be selected for download using the search interface and stored locally for later offline use.

Geo-tagging
The position of the user (using the built-in GPS of the Device) may help suggest guides relevant to current context. As an example installation or configuration procedures of a specific piece of equipment or information related to a specific site.

Creating Guides
A new guide type is introduced to support quick and efficient creation of guides using the iPhone – Quick Guides. This type of guide consists one or more steps each made up by a text, a still image with potential illustrations on and an optional audio track. This makes it possible to create guides on site, describing processes not necessarily linked to application usage. The position of creation is automatically saved.

LiveCam
LiveCam is the iPhone equivalent of DeskCam making it possible for the user to send images to the recipient in real time. The viewer follows displays the image from the remote phone camera using a simple web interface. This may be used to save time when for example supporting users of various types of equipment in much the same way as DeskCam helps supporting users of applications.

SmartAss™ File Types

Here is a summary of SmartAss™ file types

.OMC

Original Media Container. A compressed archive containing original media files for a step when stored on a SmartAss™ server.

.RPC

Rich Media Player Compiled. This is a complied version of a step if you have published it to the Rich Media format, rather than Flash. It is the Rich-Media equivalent of the SWF file. The RPC file contains the RPX for the step and all resources needed to display it in a compressed format.

.RPX

Rich Media Player Xml. This XML contains a description of how the media is used in a step. It basically tells when to do what to a specific image, arrow, movie or sound. You find the RPX files for every step of the guide if you show data files for the current guide and look in the StepXX.res folders.

.SAM

SmartAss Movie. The actual movie file recorded from the screen including screendumps, mouse cursor and clicks. The SAM does not include highlighting elements or audio, only the screen. In GE go to “show data files” on the tools menu and then open one of the StepXX.res folders to find the sam file for each and every step.

.SAG

SmartAss Guide. Contains all the steps and related information for a guide. You can import/export SAG files using the import/export items on the File menu of the Guide Editor or you can find SAG file sfor currently open projects under %user%\My SmartAss Guides\...

SCORM.ZIP

This file is created by the Guide Mover for import into a SCORM 1.2-compliant LMS system.

.SQR

SmartAss Quick Recording. This file contains a step of a guide, or a standalone recording of the screen made using e.g. Incident Recorder or QuickRecorder. It contains all media used by the step including audio. If you hold down SHIFT and CTRL and drag a step from GE onto the desktop you get a SQR file with only that step in it. You may copy steps across between guides this way. SQR files can be imported as steps into the GE and played back using Quick Recorder.

SmartAss™ Search Connector

Windows 7 has an interface for something called Search Connectors. It basically opens up for different sources of searching from within the search fields available throughout the Windows 7 Explorer interface.


Search from here - get SmartAss™ results.

Guides definitely be included in users searches so we created a connector for SmartAss™.

To install a search connector you need a osdx file. Here is one for smartass.se. For your own server the address is <smartass server>/search/OpenSearchDescriptionXML.jsp?format=osdx. You need a reasonably updated server.

Here is how it works:

Using the SmartAss™ Incident Recorder

SmartAss™ Incident Recorder is a small application with one sole purpose: letting users record problems and send the "evidence" to help desk or system providers.

The benefit is that the receivers of the information has a much easier job at understanding what happens when looking at an exact movie rather than reading text or looking at static screeenshots.

The Incident Recorder is an add-on to the SmartAss™ system and creates SQR files that can me imported into the Guide Editor or played back using the Quick Recorder. People looking at the recorders will thus need any of those applications.

Try the Incident recorder - download from http://smartass.se/ir.

We are also developing a ClickOnce component to facilitate easier install and use in case simple .exe downloading is prohibited. Try here (only IE and .net 2.0):

http://smartass.se/editors/incidentrecorder/IncidentRecorderClickOnce.application

It is possible to add parameters to the link as follows:

left: Left
top: Top
src: Use current screen resolution
sr1024x768: Force 1024x768 resolution
ra: Recommend using audio
ssb: Show stop button

E.g:
http://smartass.se/editors/incidentrecorder/IncidentRecorderClickOnce.application?left=100&top=100&ra=1

Using the SmartAss™ Analyzer to track individual usage of guides

Introduction
The SmartAss™ Analyzer has been equipped with a connector to a LDAP directory. An LDAP directory is a database of all users in an organisation, generally including group definitions and a bit of organisational structure. One of the most common LDAP implementations is Microsoft’s Active Directory – AD.

Having this ability in the analyser means that reports can be generated based on the usage of SmartAss™ guides combined with more detailed user and organizational structure elements of the directory. Here are a few examples:

• See how users for a specific organisational unit or cost code is doing an taking a guide.

• Follow up overall usage on all guides for a specific business unit or subsidiary

• Create reports for managers to view the progress of the co-workers under their command only

Requirements
To get this in place you need:

• A SmartAss™ server based on MySQL (database restriction will cease to apply later in 2010)

• An identification script to identify the user

• Have to configured the SmartAss™ system to log guide usage on individual level

• The SmartAss™ Analyzer installed on a PC with connection to both the SmartAss™ server and the LDAP/AD of the organization.

• An LDAP or AD server and the “binding string” needed to access this

• If you want to automatically batch process data periodically you need a server able to run a Windows 32-bit native service connected both to the directory and the SmartAss™ server.



Installing an Identification Script
The identification script is used by the SmartAss™ system to determine the username of the user currently accessing a guide. This script is normally a simple ASP page sitting on an IIS server. The sample identification script – which can normally be used without adaptation – can be downloaded from http://smartass.se/downloads/smartass/software/server/UserLoginWindowsAutomatic.zip

Place the script on an IIS server in a new virtual directory and turn on Windows Integrated Login. Test-running the script should return the username of the accessing user in a basic web page.


Configuring SmartAss™ to Log Individual Guide Usage
In Config, you have to point the “Windows automatic login URL” under Login to the address of the identification script. Check the box “Let "Windows automatic login" automatically create users”.

For each of the player types (Guide Player, Course Player, Test Player) you also need check the box “Track guide statistics” and select the “Automatic” user login method.

Install the SmartAss™ Analyzer
Download and install the SmartAss™ Analyzer (making sure that you are licensed to use it first) from http://smartass.se/downloads/smartass/software/Analyzer/SmartAssAnalyzerSetup.EXE

Installing instructions:


Checking That Reporting Works

The next step is to make sure that the SmartAss server really collects the individual usage data. To do this, first start a guide and play all through a couple of steps. Make sure to note the ID number of the guide used.

If the guide does not start you need to check that the identification script is available. If it is not, the guide will not be able to start.

Start up the Analyzer and click on the Individual Usage Report called All Progress For Guide, entering the ID number of the guide used for testing upon request. You should then get a report looking something like this:

As you can see the individual steps of the guide are shown as green or grey depending on whether the user has played through them or not. You can also see time spent, and the percentage completed.

If you cannot see any data here, the data collection setup for is not working. You need to go back and check the settings in Config and the identification script.

Connect the Analyzer to the Directory

To do this you need something called a "Bind" or "Binding String" for the directory server. This string oftenstarts with "ldap:" but may look differently in a windows domain. You also need to get a list for fields available in the directory to be used for the reporting. The "LDAP Lab Tool" under Tools in the Analyzer may be useful when testing these parameters.

When you gathered the information needed, go into the report "Process Reports..." under "Directory-Based Reports" and enter the data under "LDAP Options" and "LDAP Fields".

Creating a first report

In theory, things are all in place now. All you have to to is to create a first report and check that it works. How to do that is shown in the following guide:

Once the report is created, generate it as shown here:

If you do not get any useful information or if you get error messages, try the following:

1. Check the LDAP Bind. Try it out using an LDAP browser or the lab tool
2. Check that there is really data in the SmartAss part of the system using the "All progress" reports shown above.
3. Make sure that the Analyzer has sufficient rights on the machine it is used

About Reports and Where They Are Stored

The reports always stored on the server and so are the report definitions. If you use the Analyzer on another machine you will therefore also be able to edit and create reports.

Reports via Web Interface
Once the reports are generated, they can be accessed via a web interface. The reader of the reports typically find the information at the URL <smartass-server>/media/apps/analyzer. Depending on what was entered in the "Viewers of this report" field in the report definition different users may see different lists of reports when accessing the web reports.

Sample Web Report

Configuring Generation of Reports as a Service
Reports are only generated when performed by the Analyzer. This means that someone has to go in and manually generate the reports for them to be updated as web reports. It is however possible to set up a service calling the Analyzer periodically to generate the reports. This service needs to be an a server able of ruing the 32 bit windows native code.

To set this up, first install the SmartAss Analyzer on the server. Start the application and go into the Directory-Based reports dialog. Go into LDAP options and edit (if necessary) the "When running as service - get information every" option.

Then download an install the SmartAssAnalyzerService-helper and place it in the same folder. Get it from here. Unpack the file and place the SmartAssAnalyzerService.EXE alongside the SmartAssAnalyzer.exe.

Finally, install the service by starting a admin-trusted command promt and call the SmartAssAnalyzerService.exe /INSTALL to install the service. The start it from the control panel.

To remove the service, use the /REMOVE command.


This information is provided "as is" to help anyone interested in trying out the features of SmartAss™ or to get an understanding. However for this component we recommend to get help as a service from InfoCaption or it's partners.