When creating software for the desktop, there are a lot of moving parts.  As we develop GiftWorks we are constantly on the lookout for changes that might affect its performance.  These changes may be in the Windows operating system, Internet Explorer, or other 3rd party controls.  Recently we discovered a security change in Windows XP (and other Microsoft operating systems) that can adversely affect GiftWorks.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 introduced a new security feature called Data Execution Prevention (DEP).

This excerpt comes from Microsoft:

Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a set of hardware and software technologies that perform additional checks on memory to help protect against malicious code exploits.

Hardware-enforced DEP marks all memory locations in a process as non-executable unless the location explicitly contains executable code. One kind of malicious code attacks tries to insert and run code from non-executable memory locations. DEP helps prevent these attacks by intercepting them and raising an exception.

This technology increases security but has also been causing problems for users running GiftWorks.  Over the past few weeks, we have had a number of users who have experienced crashes while using Giftworks.

There are two settings for DEP which can be found by:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Double click the System icon
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. In the Performance section, click the Settings button
5. Click on the Data Execution Prevention tab

DEP is always turned on, the difference is whether or not DEP is applied to Windows programs and services only OR whether it applies to all programs and services that are run on your machine.  By default, DEP is only turned on for essential Windows programs and services.

Upon investigation, we have discovered that users who have had problems had the DEP setting "Turn on DEP for all programs...".

Honestly, I do not know what is turning the setting on for all programs.  It is possible that users manually turn on DEP for all programs.  It is also possible that new machines are being shipped with DEP turned on for all programs and services.

The good news is that it is possible to have DEP turned on for all programs and services and still run GiftWorks.  DEP has an "Opt-out" feature that allows you to designate programs that should not be included in the DEP protection.  This can be accomplished by adding GiftWorks to the list of exceptions for DEP.  The GiftWorks program file can typically be found in your \program files\mission research\giftworks\system\ folder.  Add the giftwks.exe file to the list of exceptions.

In a future release, we will look into allowing GiftWorks to run with DEP...for now, the opt-out method will allow GiftWorks to be used without incident.

The Volunteer Center for GiftWorks is taking shape. Here are some more screenshots.

Entering hours for Volunteers

Skills for Volunteers

We are feverishly working on the new volunteer add-on for GiftWorks. It is a great opportunity to see how we can utilize the underlying system that GiftWorks is built on to create additional functionality that can really help our customers with what they need...

Here is a little peek at some of the screens:

Here are the screens to add a new job:

These screens are subject to change...

i'll post more screens soon...

In yesterday's post, I showed a few new features in the upcoming release of GiftWorks. I thought a little more peeking at some of the new features might be welcomed...

Labels and Envelopes by Household

GiftWorks can print labels and envelopes pretty easily...but some of you have noted that our quick-print labels and envelopes are not able to use household information. In the soon-to-be-released update to GiftWorks, you will be able to utilize the household information in the quick print labels and envelopes. Here is how you will be able to do it:

In this example, Steve and Vicki Fafel are part of a household. They each have their own address and the household has its own address.

Start the process to print lables

Notice the labels are printed for each member of the household with their respective addresses

By clicking on the "Group by household" checkbox, the labels are reproduced for the single household and its address

Selective Transaction Posting

Some use GiftWorks to post their donation transactions to accounting software such as QuickBooks, Peachtree, etc. By selecting a date range, a group of transactions can be identified for posting. In the new update, users will still be able to choose a date range to identify transactions but will also be able to selectively include/exclude transactions from the post. The following screen shots show you how:

Start the posting process

Choose the initial options

Choose the transactions you want to include or exclude from your posting process

In future posts, I will focus on some of the latest changes to GiftWorks that will enable you to get the most you can out of GiftWorks.

It's been a while since I last posted an entry...and it's been for good reason (kind of). For some time, I have been working on developing and preparing an update for GiftWorks 2006. If you've been using GiftWorks, and like updates, then keep reading.

The update should be released in the next couple days but I thought I might give you a sneak peek into 2 of the features that you might find helpful as you use GiftWorks to manage your information.

Reports

The first feature that we added was to reports. Initially we developed reports to be a quick review of donor and donation information but recognized that if we added a few more features, it would make report much more useful. So here's what we did for reports...

Report Totals

I think most of you will be excited to have the ability to show report totals. Here is a peek what is will look like:

Group Totals

We have also included the ability to view totals for each group (and the ability to combine that with report totals).

Adding Donations and Pledges to Mailings

We have received a number of requests to be able to add donations and pledges to the Donation and Pledge Thank You Letters mailings. This is helpful when you need to resend a large amount of thank you letters or acknowledge donations that were imported or that were previously entered into GiftWorks. In the Mailing Center, if you manage the Donation or Pledge Thank You mailing, you will be able to add donations and pledges to their respective mailings as shown here:

These are just a few of the improvements that you will see in the upcoming update to GiftWorks. Remember that we always appreciate new suggestions which you can submit anytime by clicking on the Make A Suggestion link at the top of your GiftWorks window.

getting into GiftWorks

In his blog, our CTO, Dave Weaver, provided a great introduction to the power and flexibility of the framework on which GiftWorks is built.  I wanted to demonstrate a practical use of the GiftWorks application framework and perhaps stir some ideas for those who have GiftWorks and want to explore some possibilities.

In this example, I am using a Excel and VBA (Visual Basic For Applications) to send spreadsheet data to GiftWorks.

the scenario

Many GiftWorks users have asked if there is a way to batch-enter many donors without having to go through the dialog process over and over.  Our common response is to encourage them to fill out an Excel spreadsheet and then to use the powerful import feature of GiftWorks.  Another way to accomplish batch entry would be to use the application framework to communicate directly from Excel to GiftWorks without having to go through the import process.

Excel and some code

You can download the sample Excel file here ExceltoGiftWorks.xls (44 KB)

When you open the Excel file, you may be prompted with a macro warning...be sure the Enable Macros so that the code within the Excel file will be enabled.  Your Excel file should look like:

Notice the data in the cells and the "Send To GiftWorks" button.  I have entered 3 rows of simple donor information and want to send this donor information to GiftWorks.  When I am ready, I can click on the "Send To GiftWorks" button and the donors will be created in GiftWorks.  Also, after the donors are added, the Donor Id column is updated with the donor's new id.  This id column is used to prevent duplicate donors in GiftWorks.  Pretty easy...but let's see how it's done.

code notes

With the Excel file open, press Alt-F11 and you should see the VBA editor.  Right-click on frmMain and choose View Code and you will see the code that adds the donors to GiftWorks.  Here are some notes regarding the code:

• If you are not familiar with VBA and Excel, there is some great information at http://www.exceltip.com
• The ActiveCell.CurrentRange is a reference to the active cells (as Excel defines them.   Excel looks where your cursor is and determines where the real data is surrounding your cursor.
• Notice I retrieved the list of states from Giftworks using the App.Modules.Donor.Codes("state") call.  This method returns a collection object which I use to get the appropriate state code.
• After the donor is inserted, I use the DonorId and update the column data.  The next time the "Send To GiftWorks" button is pressed, only the donors without a DonorId will be inserted.

summary

If you want to build a quick data entry add-on for GiftWorks, it can be easily done by using GiftWorks, Excel, and VBA.  There is no limit to what you can do!