halFILE Users Group (HUG) News Blog

Countyrecords.com saves the day!

2011-12-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

This week a long-time halFILE user learned the advantage of putting their land records on Countyrecords.com. This is a single server site and, unfortunately, that single server crashed. They thought they had a backup but there was none to be found. So they completely lost their core business database, their Title Plant, data and images.

But that's where Countyrecords.com saved the day.

As our partner on Countyrecords.com, they were automatically uploading their Title Plant data and images once a week to our server. Essentially, Countyrecords.com became their backup. So today, hal Technical Support reinstalled halFILE and reloaded their data. Tonite, we are overnighting about 500,000 images to them. Once those are copied to their system, this company will be back in business.

Oh, but wait! I guess they really were ALREADY back in business since during their down time, we provided them with a user login to Countyrecords.com so they could search their Title Plant records.

Can't put your records up on Countyrecords.com? You can still subscribe to the halFILE Backup Service. All the same backup features as above at a reasonable fee. Don't let your business go up in smoke! Take advantage of these great off-site backup services from hal Systems Corporation.

HUG 2011 Rocks!

2011-10-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

HUG 2011 in Austin is over but the spirit lives on! Thank you to all users who attended and shared their ideas. We also appreciate the vendors who helped make the event informative and helpful. We will post photos, presentations, ideas on the HUG website and on Facebook soon.

Final HUG Preparations are being made

2011-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Down here in Austin, we are making our final HUG 2011 Conference preparations. I ate at our Thursday night restaurant last week and its a very cool place. Now we are working on setting up the servers and software that we will use for our presentations. It's challenging to get it all done in time, but we want to make HUG special for you.

It's not too late to join us! Contact Karen Duncan in our Dallas office and tell her you want to come to Austin to join in the fun.

For you other Hugites - see you soon!

HUG - Early Bird Registration Extended to 9/28!!

2011-09-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

It isn’t too late to register for HUG – we are extending the HUG Early Bird Registration of $348pp one last time through September 28, which is also the room reservation deadline at the Omni Hotel at the special rate of $164/night. So get your HUG registration and hotel reservation in by 9/28 and save money!

We have a lot of interesting and informative sessions on halFILE and other topics on the HUG Agenda. There will also be a Computer Lab open on Thursday and Friday where you can get answers to your specific halFILE application questions. Along with the sessions, your registration includes the Welcome Reception Wednesday evening, continental breakfast on Thursday and Friday mornings, lunch on Thursday, and the group dinner Thursday night.

If you have registered for HUG but have not received an email or invoice confirming your registration, please contact Karen at kduncan@halfile.com or 214.466.6532.

We are looking forward to an exciting HUG Conference in October, so if you haven’t registered but plan to attend, please submit your registration before September 28 to take advantage of the Early Bird Registration and special Omni Hotel room rate. You can still register for HUG after 9/28, but the conference fee will be $398pp.

We hope to see in October!

HUG 2011 Agenda and more.......

2011-08-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

We have posted a tentative Agenda for the HUG Conferece on our website, so check it out. We are working on detailed session descriptions that should be available next week. If we've missed a topic you REALLY want a session on, please let us know. We can't promise that we will turn it into a session, but we can make sure we discuss the subject during the conference.

Also, we have had a few requests for a halFILE Training Class. If you are interested in a two day training class in the Dallas office sometime after the conference and before the end of the year, let me know (kduncan@halfile.com/214.466.6532).

And finally, does anyone read our blogs?? If you are a reader, then let us hear from you. We appreciate your input, comments and suggestions! Look for us on Facebook, join us at LinkedIn, and follow us on twitter. We're out there, just waiting to hear from you!

We hope to see everyone in Austin at HUG 2011!

HUG Conference -- October 19-21, 2011

2011-07-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

The economy is slowly getting better. Business is starting to pick up. Change is in the air. After a three year hiatus, it is time for a HUG – halFILE Users Group Conference. This year we are going back to our roots in Austin, Texas, and we are rolling back prices to 2004!

This years’ HUG will be held October 19-21 at the beautiful Omni Austin Hotel Downtown. We will be hosting a welcome mixer Wednesday evening at the hotel where you can reacquaint yourself with old friends from previous HUG meetings, and meet new halFILE users before the conference begins.

We will be kicking off HUG on Thursday morning with two full days of information and training on halFILE, tricks and tips on how to get the most productive use of halFILE, along with highlights and enhancements in halFILE 4.0, which is scheduled for release at the end of this year.

The HUG Conference is a great way to learn about software enhancements, compatible software modules, and to share ideas with other halFILE Users. If you are a halFILE user, this is a great time to refresh your knowledge on halFILE applications and even learn new things about halFILE. If you have new employees, it is a great way to train them on halFILE.

Austin is the Live Music Capital of the world, where day or night, weekday or weekend, you can always find live music somewhere. And live music is just the beginning. You will also find fabulous food, great shopping and fun things to do – so come to HUG and find out what really makes Austin weird in this big city college town.

The Omni Austin Hotel Downtown is located in the heart of the thriving downtown business center, just steps away from the Texas State Capitol. The 6th Street Entertainment District is within walking distance from the hotel, and the Omni is only 11 miles from the Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

We have negotiated a very special conference room rate of $164 per night. The special rate is only available until Wednesday, September 28, although we are encouraging early reservations to ensure the special room rate. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-THE-OMNI and asking for the halFILE Users Group/HUG rate. You can also make hotel reservations on our website at http://www.halfile.com/ and clicking on the HUG icon.

The cost for this conference is $398 per person and includes the welcome mixer Wednesday evening, continental breakfast Thursday and Friday mornings, lunch on Thursday, and a group dinner Thursday evening. Conference reservations can be made on-line at http://www.halfile.com/ by clicking on the HUG logo or by mail. If you need a registration form, please contact the Dallas office at 214.691.4700. Seating is limited, so get your reservation in early! As an incentive to increase conference attendance, we are offering a $50 Early Bird Discount to anyone who registers by August 28, reducing the cost to $348 for the full conference.

We are working on an agenda for the conference which should be ready soon. Check our web site at http://www.halfile.com/ for updates to the conference and final agenda.

The HUG Conference is for the benefit of our halFILE Users. We want your input and need your attendance in order to make it a success. Our halFILE users’ participation and sharing ideas make the conference great!

We are looking forward to an exciting and information packed conference. If you have any questions, please feel free to call your halFILE Imaging Consultant, Kathy Taylor 303.791.5688 or Dave Persful 214.691.4700, or contact Karen Duncan via email at kduncan@halfile.com.

We look forward to seeing you in Austin at HUG 2011!

2011 HUG - halFILE Users Group Conference

2011-06-07T15:20:00.001-07:00

Mark your calendars for the 2011 HUG - halFILE Users Group Conference on October 19-21, 2011 in Austin, TX. The meeting will be held at the beautiful Omni Downtown Hotel. We'll have lots of halFILE information to share with our users, including details on HF 4.0, scheduled to be released after the meeting. Be the first to find out about the new features and enhancements in this new release. We will also be offering some training classes during the 2 day conference.Stay tuned to our website as we firm up the details. And as always, if there is a subject or topic you'd like to have covered during the meeting, please send your suggestions and ideas to Karen at kduncan@halfile.com or call 214.466.6532.

We look forward to seeing everyone in October!

HUG-halFILE Users Group Conference 2011

2011-02-23T09:40:00.000-08:00

Are you interested in learning more about halFILE version 4.0? You can be among the first to hear about new features and see them for yourself by attending the HUG-halFILE Users Group Conference 2011. Conference planning is in the works right now. We are looking at dates in October or November in beautiful Austin, TX.

Just a few of the new halFILE 4.0 features include:

Search speed dramatically improved. How fast? Come to HUG to find out!
Large popup lists (like Subdivisions) display instantly. Come to HUG and see for yourself!
Swap columns in the hit list and put them in any order you wish. Check it out at HUG!
Enhanced associated document support. PDF's and Office documents appear in a built-in viewer. Want to see more? Come to HUG!
Add some color to your halFILE. How? You'll find out at HUG!
Sort the hit list with one click? Be the first to know at HUG!
halFILE 4.0 and .NET 4 managed code-what does it mean? Find out at HUG 2011!

Learn more about these new features, plus many more by attending HUG 2011! Keep checking our website for details coming soon. We hope to see you there!

HUG 2011 - Help Plan the Users Group Conference!

2011-02-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

halFILE 4.0 is almost ready for release. In conjunction with the new release, we are planning our next HUG-halFILE Users Group Conference in Austin this fall.
Let us know your thoughts about the conference -
.what topics would you like to discuss
.are you interested in user or administrator halFILE training
.is there anything special you'd like to do as a group while we are in Austin
Be part of the conference planning. Let us know your suggestions for the conference and we'll see what we can do to make them happen!
Join our group at LinkedIn.com/HUG-halFILE Users Group, or contact Karen at 214.466.6532 / kduncan@halfile.com.
We are looking forward to an informative and fun HUG Conference!

For Title Plants: Section Land Speed Entry

2009-11-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

New to halFILE 3.0 is a feature called “Quick S-T-R” that is designed to allow users to quickly enter section land in a single box as it reads on the document. This will dramatically reduce the amount of time required to key section land.

When this feature is enabled, a special box labeled Quick S-T-R is provided for the entry. Then, if the document reads:

"The NW quarter of the SW quarter of Section 36, Township 104N, Range 31E"

The user can key the following into the Quick S-T-R box:

NW SW 36 104N 31E

Furthermore, if all the Townships in the county have a direction of North and all the Ranges in the county have a direction of East, then the above description can be entered as:

NW SW 36 104 31

And the system will add the N and E for North and East, respectively.

This speed entry feature is set up as follows:

Go into the halFILE Administrator and select the File_Base Edit menu.
Select the database for which the option should be set up, then select the Tools-Options menu.
Go to the Quick S-T-R tab and check the “Enable Quick S-T-R” checkbox.
Select the appropriate Township and Range direction options.

Once this is saved, the Search and Index forms will include the Quick S-T-R box. The operation works as follows:

On the main form when you reach the Township-Range field you can press F2 or click the question mark to pop up the Township-Range Base Edit form.
The Quick S-T-R field will be highlighted in yellow and the cursor will be positioned in the box, ready for data entry.
Enter the quarters, section, township and range with a space between each element. Example: NW SW NE SE 15 104N 31E
For Index, click or tab to the ADD button to validate the entry and add it to the Index Information box.
For Search, click or tab to the ADD ALL LEVELS button to validate the entry and add it to the Index Information box.

If you do a lot of Section Land data entry, you should give the Quick S-T-R feature a try!

HUG 2009

2009-07-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Please express your interest in having a halFILE Users Group Conference by taking the HUG 2009 Survey.

Send Documents to halFILE for Explorer

2009-05-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

You can quickly import a set of PDF documents from Windows Explorer into halFILE with just a few clicks of the mouse. To set this feature up, perform the following steps:

Click the Start menu and select Run.
Type in "Sendto" in the box and hit enter, which takes you to the Windows SendTo folder.
Right click in the folder and select New-Shortcut.
In the box provided type in the path to your halFILE folder plus "hfpimp32.exe". So if your halFILE folder is \\server\halfile then you would type in \\server\halfile\hfpimp32.exe.
Click Next and name the shortcut "halFILE for Windows".
Click Finish

Once that is done, you can go to Windows Explorer, highlight a set of PDF documents, press the right click button and select the Send To-halFILE for Windows menu. The halFILE Send To Wizard appears to let you select a database and basket and even index the document. If you select more than one file, then after saving the first document, the next document will appear so you can add it to halFILE.

This feature actually works for any document type including Word and Excel documents. Try it out!

Powerful Name Searching

2008-10-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

This article describes some techniques for more powerful name searching in halFILE and e.halFILE. I hope you find these handy.

TECHNIQUE #1:
* Search for a name when you are not sure if you have the first name or middle name
* Search for a name when you may have inconsistent punctuation

For the most part, your posting rules should ensure that names are consistently entered into halFILE. You should decide up front, for example, whether or not to use punctuation.

I was recently asked how I can search for a name, whether the name being used is the first name or the last name. I also recently discovered a client database where the rule was to include punctuation in the name fields; but this rule had been broken for a series of documents. The documents were imported with no punctuation. We have a program to fix that by removing all punctuation (thus changing their rule to NOT use punctuation). In the meantime, however, we needed a search that would ensure that all names were properly found. The solution was the % wildcard character.

Instead of searching for "Smith, John" or "Smith John", search for "SMITH%JOHN" to find documents posted as:

Smith, John
Smith John
Smith Robert John
Smith, Robert John

TECHNIQUE #2:
* Search for a name when you are not sure what letter is in a certain position

Some names can be spelled more than one way. The 2nd technique uses the underscore wildcard as a placeholder, telling the system that ANY character can appear in this position to obtain a match.

For example, if you search Grantor = GONZALE_ MARY

You will find:
GONZALES MARY
GONZALEZ MARY

These are two of many powerful search techniques in halFILE and e.halFILE. I hope they prove to be useful.

halFILE Manager Status Bar

2008-07-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

In halFILE 3.0, you may have noticed a new status bar at the bottom of the halFILE Manager screen. It has two frames labelled Backup Status and Archive Status. The halFILE Manager checks sets the status for each of these and sets them to "normal" or "failed," depending on what it learns from checking as follows.

Backup Status
When halFILE Technical Support installs halFILE or upgrades you to version 3.0, they will set up a halFILE database backup process which serves as a secondary backup of your halFILE database information. This process stores text backups of your databases in a designated halFILE "backup" folder. So, the Backup Status indicator on the halFILE Manager tells you that this backup is running as it should or, for some reason, that it has failed.

Important Hint: If you click on the Backup Status frame, you will be taken to this halFILE "backup" folder so you can see the files that are being created.

If the Backup Status shows "failed" you should check the scheduled task or job that performs this process to see why it has failed. The most common issues are (1) the password under which the process runs has been changed or (2) the SQL Server Agent under which the job runs has been stopped. The halFILE Backup is usually run as a SQL Server job or a task in Windows Task Scheduler on the database server.

Archive Status
Archive is the process of moving images out of the halFILE basket and to a controlled archive area for permanent storage. This process is necessary for smooth operation of your halFILE system. Therefore, the Archive Status indicator on the halFILE Manager will show the status of the archive job(s) which perform the archive process. If the halFILE Manager determines that the archive process has failed, it sets this status to "failed."

Important Hint: If you click on the Archive Status frame, each of the archive job logs will be loaded into Notepad for your review.

If a failure occurs, the Archive Log may show you why. Common issues are similar to the Backup Process above: (1) the password under which the process runs has been changed or (2) the SQL Server Agent under which the job runs has been stopped.

Check the status bar to make sure your halFILE processes are operating properly. There are also configuration options that can be set to define how many days can elapse before a failure is reported. Contact the halFILE Technical Support staff for more information. This is just another great new feature of halFILE 3.0!

Validating your halFILE Database

2008-06-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

halFILE 3.0 includes two tools for validating database and image information. This post explores these tools to help you understand how they can be useful to you.

The first tool, HFValidate.exe, has been around since halFILE 2.2. You can find it behind the Tools - Database Validator menu of the halFILE Administrator. For the records selected by a SQL statement you provide, HFValidate logs any document that has no images to a missing image logfile. It also validates the coded fields to be sure that the code still exists in the referenced table. Records having invalid codes are logged to the missing code logfile. Documentation can be found at http://www.halfile.com/pdfdocs/hfw0031_22.pdf.

The second tool, HFValidateBKPG.exe, is new to halFILE 3.0 and is primarily used by Title Companies and County Recorders. For the records selected by a SQL Statement you provide, this program uses the instrument Number, Book and Page fields to determine if the document has the correct number of images.

So, for example, if Instrument Number 20080012 is posted as Book 234 and Page 123 and the next Instrument Number in sequence (20080013) is posted as Book 234 and Page 127, then this utility determines that Instrument Number 20080012 should have 4 image pages. It reports any document that appears to have the incorrect number of pages. It also reports any document where it cannot determine the number of pages because the sequence is out of order or the next document in sequence is missing. So, because of the way it performs the validation, it will also reveal miskeyed Instrument Numbers. Documentation can be found at http://www.halfile.com/pdfdocs/hfw0035_30.pdf.

These utilities will help you keep your halFILE database is ship-shape.

Logging Transactions in halFILE

2008-05-08T06:39:00.001-07:00

You can turn halFILE transaction logging on from the Tools-Options menu of the halFILE Administrator. Select the Transactions tab and check the "Use halFILE Transaction Logging" option.

Once the option is selected, halFILE will begin logging transactions to the HFTransactions table in the HFWParams database. On the set up screen is a Generate Transaction Report that lists transactions. This runs the Crystal Report HFTransactions.rpt. Note that you may need to update this report to point to qualify your database before it will run properly.

Also on the screen is a Purge Transactions button which purges transactions based on the options selected to the left of the button.

The transaction table includes the following fields:
Application = halFILE Application ID
DocType = halFILE Document Type ID
UserId = halFILE User ID
Station_ID = halFILE Station ID (doc prefix letter)
Module = halFILE Module ID (HFSearch32, HFIndex32, HFBasket32, etc.)
Basket = halFILE Basket name (if applicable)
Doc_Number = halFILE Document Number (if applciatble)
Transaction_Type = code for transaction type being performed

The Transaction Type Codes include the following:
1 = add record to halFILE database
2 = update existing halFILE database record
3 = view record (search)
4 = delete record from halFILE database
5 = search for documents
6 = delete record from basket
7 = move document to another basket
8 = Execute tools-move images
9 = Execute tools-image utility
10 = Execute tools-process images
11 = Execute tools-Associated Import
12 = Save in halFILE Administrator
13 = Execute File-Import
14 = Scan document
15 = Execute Archive (non-Auto archive)
16 = Change Basket Status
17 = Index verify a record in halFILE database
18 = Index verify mismatch (when verify logging feature is enabled)

Transaction logging can be very useful in identifying when changes are made to your system and analyzing throughput.

Iowa halFILE Regional Training Event Announced!

2008-04-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

A halFILE Regional Training event will be held at the Des Moines Area Community College in Alkeny, Iowa on May 21-22, 2008.

For more information, contact Karen Duncan at 800-442-9273.

New halFILE 3.0 Duplication Hot Keys!

2008-03-10T13:50:00.001-07:00

With halFILE 3.0, the index duplication feature has been greatly expanded. First of all there are two new hot keys to duplicate a single field from the new "halFILE Document Clipboard." The Document Clipboard contains the posted information from the most recently indexed document during the current index session. There is also a procedure to load ANY document from the database into the Document Clipboard. More on that below.

CTRL-D duplicates the current field from the Document Clipboard
CTRL-A duplicates the entire posting from the Document Clipboard

Even greater flexibility is offered with "user-defined hot keys." Behind the Tools-Options menu of the Index module you will find a Duplication Hot Keys tab. Here, you can assign a hot key to a particular field. Then, when you press that hot key, that field's value will be duplicated into the current field.

Now the Document Clipboard can be loaded with any document as follows:

Click on the halFILE Document Manager in the task bar.
Click the Search icon.
Perform a search for the document or documents.
Right click on the row for the document that you wish to load into the Document Clipboard then select the Copy to Document Clipboard menu.
Once again, click on the halFILE Manager in the task bar.
Click the Index icon which will return you to the posting screen.
Select the Edit-Paste Document Clipboard menu.

Learning these new hot keys and setting up some new ones can save a lot of time during the Index process.

Staple Preview Comes in handy!

2008-01-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

I was installing a new halFILE 3.0 site last week and discovered the value of "staple preview" - a new halFILE 3.0 feature.

I was teaching the users to import and staple batches of images and they were handling about 1000 images each. At the end of the import, there were several stapling errors primarily due to the confusing way in which the county recorder stamped their documents. We had to use the Move Utility to correct the errors.

After we were done, I told the users I would turn on this new feature called staple preview and we would do another batch. As they stapled the batch and discovered a stapling error, all they needed to do was arrow up to the end of document marker, press F5 to toggle off the marker, then return to the true end of document and press F5. At the end of the batch, they could review all the staple marks for correctness before clicking DONE which performed the stapling routine.

Staple Preview - a great new feature of halFILE 3.0 Import and Scan modules.

Get your halFILE 3.0 Upgrade Now!!

2008-01-11T08:30:00.001-08:00

So, far we have successfully performed 8 halFILE 3.0 upgrades with 6 more scheduled for the near future. Be sure to contact hal Tech Support to get on the upgrade list!

halFILE 3.0 includes many new and powerful features. Click here to review>>

Happy Holidays, HUG-ites!

2007-12-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays to all HUG-ites!

As the New Year approaches we hope that you and your families have a safe and warm holiday time. We appreciate your patronage and will continue to work hard to provide you with quality service. And we hope you make it to next year's HUG Conference!

From the staff at hal Systems Corporation

It's a Wrap!

2007-11-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

HUG 2007, the halFILE Users Group Conference in New Orleans, ended with a flourish on Friday. With three user panel sessions and training classes in several product areas, it was a busy day.

We appreciate all the positive feedback and encouragement from the attendees. Your participation is so important to us. In a couple of weeks, we will hopefully publish some pictures and notes from the conference on the HUG website.

After the conference, the hal team had a nice dinner in the French Quarter before heading over to the House of Blues. Alas, it was more Hip Hop than Blues but a new experience for many of us anyway!

Peace...

Hug 2007 Day 1

2007-11-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

The halFILE Users Group Conference attendees enjoyed an informative day at the Omni Hotel in New Orleans. After the provided breakfast, the morning sessions included:

Award ceremonies recognizing companies building document repositories anywhere from 1 million to 75 million images.
halFILE 3.0 features overview with demonstrations of key features
A review of the new Document Clipboard feature
Data verifications and cleanup tools discussion

The lunch at the hotel was excellent and then we went through afternoon sessions which included:

Crystal Reports training
halFILE System Administration techniques
Search training including a look a the new Proximity Search feature
A look at our powerful Email Collector
The new Workflow included with halFILE 3.0
A great discussion of disaster recovery led by a Client panel

Now its onto dinner at Dickie Brennan's steakhouse. Yum!

Singing off...

HUG 2007 Kicks Off!

2007-11-14T20:03:00.001-08:00

We're in the French Quarter of New Orleans at the Omni Royal. The great weather was nice for the outdoor reception this evening which kicked off the halFILE Users Group Conference. There was a small band playing and some good food to enjoy. All the HUGites seems to be mingling and enjoying themselves and it was good to see old friends and make new ones.

Conference set up went well and I think we are ready for the full conference schedule tomorrow morning.

HUG Conference Begins Tomorrow!

2007-11-13T11:18:00.000-08:00

The 6th annual HUG Conference will begin tomorrow in New Orleans. Putting on the conference involves many, many hours of preparation that we hope will benefit our users who attend.

If you are unable to attend, we will miss you. When we return, we will be publishing news from the conference as well as the handouts that were given to the attendees. Watch for these at the HUG website.

HUG Conference is two weeks away!

2007-11-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

We are finalizing our plans for a great halFILE Users Group Conference in New Orleans on November 14-16. We have a great group of attendees coming but would love to include you!

The special rates at the beautiful Omni Royal Orleans hotel have been extended to November 9th. So register today and join us.

Conference Registration
Hotel Reservations
Conference Information
Conference Agenda

6th Annual HUG Conference is on the horizon!

2007-09-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

REGISTER NOW for the 2007 halFILE Users Group (HUG) Conference in New Orleans, November 14-16, at the Omni Royal Orleans. This is an elegant 4-diamond hotel in the in the French Quarter.

This year's conference is the 6th annual conference for users of halFILE Document Management software from hal Systems Corporation. Past conferences were held in Austin and San Antonio and proved to be a great learning experience for our clients.

Visit the HUG website now for more information!