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Installing and Configuring BMC Service Core FootPrints Sync

BMC FootPrints Sync is included with BMC FootPrints Mobile (an add-on module purchased separately) and supports the following:

• Operating Systems: Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home, Windows 2000, Windows 2003 Server
  
• Personal Information Manager (PIM) software: Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Lotus Notes, Palm Desktop, Palm HotSync
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs): PocketPC (through Outlook), BlackBerry (through Outlook or Lotus Notes), Palm (through Palm Hotsync or Palm Desktop)

Installing the Desktop Client

To install the BMC FootPrints Sync client:

1. Select Preferences on the BMC FootPrints Service Core homepage, then select FootPrints Sync (2-way) from the Miscellaneous tab. Select Configure BMC FootPrints Sync Settings. The BMC FootPrints Sync page displays.
2. Click the Download the BMC FootPrints Sync client link on this page to access the client.  You can choose to open and run the client installation or download it and run it.
3. Double-click the BMC FootPrints Sync file (FPSync.exe) that you just downloaded to start the BMC FootPrints Sync InstallShield Wizard.  The Welcome screen displays.
4. Click the Next button to continue. The Program Maintenance window displays.
5. Click the Install button to install the client. When installation is completed, the Completed window displays.
6.  Click the Finish button to finish the installation.

Once installation is complete, there should be two icons on your desktop, one called BMC FootPrints Sync Setup and one called simply BMC FootPrints Sync.  In addition, the BMC FootPrints Sync client displays. If it does not, double-click either icon to display it.  See Configuring BMC FootPrints Sync Settings within BMC FootPrints Service Core for details on configuring and using BMC FootPrints Sync desktop client.

Uninstalling the BMC FootPrints Sync Desktop Client

There are three ways you can uninstall the BMC FootPrints Sync Client:

• Run the FPSync.exe file:
  • Once the Welcome window displays, click the Next button.
  • In the Program Maintenance window, click the Remove radio button, then click the Next button.  The client is removed.
• On Windows, use the Add/Remove Software program:
  • Select Start-->Control Panel.
  • Select the Add/Remove Programs option. This can vary depending on your version of Windows.
  • Select FPSync in the list and click the uninstall button.
• Open the BMC FootPrints Sync client and select File, then select the Uninstall option.

Configuring BMC FootPrints Sync Settings in FootPrints Service Core

These settings configure how BMC FootPrints Sync:

• Handles appointments made in BMC FootPrints Service Core or made in the PIM
• Synchronizes BMC FootPrints Service Core Issues with PIM tasks and vice versa
• Maps contact fields between BMC FootPrints Service Core and the PIM

Some PIMs have a concept of “private” and “public” calendars, similar to the BMC FootPrints Service Core personal calendar and workspace calendar. A private calendar is viewable only by the PIM owner, but the public calendar can be seen by others, with the owner’s permission.

IMPORTANT

When BMC FootPrints Sync initially synchronizes BMC FootPrints Service Core assignments with the tasks list, it takes role permissions into consideration.  Only the Agent's own assignments or team assignments are synchronized. However, if the Agent's role only permits him or her to edit his or her own assignments through the BMC FootPrints Service Core interface, the Agent will be able to close and add to the Description field of the team's assignments through the PIM.  Administrators must be aware of this if they are to restrict Agents from editing team assignments and, in that circumstance, may wish to restrict use of BMC FootPrints Sync.

Enabling synchronization and defining the PIM are done in the client. The following options only apply when synchronization is enabled in the client.

To enable and configure BMC FootPrints Sync in BMC FootPrints Service Core:

1. Select Preferences from the BMC FootPrints Sync homepage.
2. On the Miscellaneous tab, select FootPrints Sync (2-way).  If you want to continue to use the 1-way BMC FootPrints Sync, which only synchronizes calendar appointments with your Outlook Calendar and does so only from BMC FootPrints Service Core to Outlook, select Manual Calendar Sync (1-way).  If you choose 1-way synchronization, continue no further with this procedure.
3. Select Configure FootPrints Sync Settings from the BMC FootPrints Sync section. The BMC FootPrints Sync page displays.
4. Select options as follows:

• Appointments
  • BMC FootPrints Service Core -> PIM—Tell BMC FootPrints Sync how to handle appointments created in BMC FootPrints Service Core when writing them to the PIM.
    • Personal Appointments—Only write personal calendar appointments to the PIM.
    • Personal & Workspace Appointments— Write appointments from both personal calendar and workspace calendar to the PIM.
• PIM -> BMC FootPrints Service Core—Tell BMC FootPrints Sync how to handle appointments created in the PIM when writing them to the BMC FootPrints Service Core calendar. BMC FootPrints Sync does not synchronize invitees in an appointment from a PIM to an appointment in BMC FootPrints Service Core. 
  • Private Appointments—Tell BMC FootPrints Sync how to handle private appointments created in the PIM when writing them to BMC FootPrints Service Core.
  • Personal Calendar Only—Write private appointments from the PIM to the personal calendar only.
  • Personal and Workspace Calendars—Write private appointments from the PIM to the personal and workspace calendars.

  Note

  Because BMC FootPrints Sync has no way of knowing when a user is one of many invitees to an appointment, if multiple invitees to a single appointment synchronize their Outlook calendars to the BMC FootPrints Service Core workspace calendar, the same appointment will appear multiple times. To avoid this problem, invitees (but not the originator) to such an appointment should temporarily turn off synchronization to the Personal & Workspace Calendars and, instead, synchronize only with the personal calendar.

  • Public Appointments— Tell BMC FootPrints Sync how to handle public appointments created in the PIM when writing them to BMC FootPrints Service Core.
    • Personal Calendar Only—Write public appointments from the PIM to the personal calendar only.
    • Personal and Workspace Calendars—Write public appointments from the PIM to the personal and workspace calendars.
  • Tasks—BMC FootPrints Sync can write Issues to your PIM’s Tasks list.
• BMC FootPrints Service Core-> PIM—Tell BMC FootPrints Sync how to handle Issues when writing them to your PIM’s Tasks list.
  • My Assignments—Writes all Issues that are assigned to you to the PIM’s Tasks list when BMC FootPrints Service Core is synchronized with the PIM.
  • Post address book and workspace fields into the description of the tasks—All of the field data elsewhere in the Issue is written to the Description portion of the Task.
• PIM -> BMC FootPrints Service Core
  • Completed/Deleted Tasks—If you mark a task as completed or deleted in your PIM, when you synchronize your PIM and BMC FootPrints Service Core, the status of the corresponding Issue in BMC FootPrints Service Core is changed to the status you select from the drop-down fields:
    • Open—Status is changed to Open.
    • Closed—Status is changed to Closed.
    • [Other Statuses]—Other BMC FootPrints Service Core statuses are displayed in the drop-down.  Select one of those to determine what to do when the status is marked as completed in the PIM.
    • Don’t change Status—Status is left unchanged ].
  • Deleted Tasks—If you delete a task from your PIM, when you synchronize your PIM and BMC FootPrints Service Core, the status to the status you choose from the drop-down fields:
    • Open—Status is changed to Open.
    • Closed—Status is changed to Closed.
    • [Other Statuses]—Other BMC FootPrints Service Core statuses are displayed in the drop-down.  Select one of those to determine what to do when the status is marked as completed in the PIM.
    • Don’t change Status—Status is left unchanged.

NOTE

Lotus Notes only supports three levels of priority. When mapping priorities from BMC FootPrints Service Core to Lotus Notes, any priorities numbered higher than 3 are mapped to 3.

• Contacts—BMC FootPrints Service Core can write the contacts in your BMC FootPrints Service Core Address Book to your PIM’s Address Book. Contact synchronization requires that you have a personal Address Book search defined.
  • BMC FootPrints Service Core-> PIM—Tell BMC FootPrints Service Core whether to write the contacts from your BMC FootPrints Service Core Address Book to the Address Book in the PIM and maps the fields in BMC FootPrints Service Core to the fields in the PIM.
    • Search drop-down—Select the Address Book search.  The results are what will be written to your PIM.
    • Field Mapper—If you are going to synchronize contacts, you must configure the mapping between BMC FootPrints Service Core Address Book fields and PIM Address Book fields.
      • BMC FootPrints Service Core Field to PIM Field—Using the drop-down boxes, select the PIM fields that correspond to the BMC FootPrints Service Core fields.

Configuring the FootPrints Sync Client

The first step after installation is to define the settings in the BMC FootPrints Sync client.  The following sections of this document explain the buttons on the BMC FootPrints Sync interface and then the items in the menu bar at the top of the interface.

To configure settings in the BMC FootPrints Sync client:

1. Double-click the BMC FootPrints Sync Setup shortcut on your desktop.

2. Click the Settings button.  A page displays where you can enter your BMC FootPrints Service Core User ID, password, and the URL for the location of the BMC FootPrints Service Core link.  The default for this location is http://localhost/MRcgi/webcal/, where localhost is your PC or handheld device.
3. Click the Next button.  The Information Manager Settings window displays.
4. Select your PIM from the Information Manager Name drop-down list, then click the Configuration Options button.  Options are:

• Lotus Notes
• Microsoft Outlook
• Outlook Express
• Palm Desktop
• Palm HotSync
• PocketPC Sync thru Outlook

5. Click the Configuration Options button. A tabbed window is displayed with options for you to configure your PIM.  Not all tabs are displayed for all types of PIM. Select settings on each tab.

The following are the tabs and their options:

• User ID—Select the User ID from the drop-down (this tab displays for Palm and Palm HotSync only).
• Transfer Method—Select whether to transfer data in both directions, from the PIM to BMC FootPrints Service Core only, or from BMC FootPrints Service Core to the PIM only.
  • Synchronize changes both ways—When synchronizing the PIM with BMC FootPrints Service Core, write new data in both directions.
  • Add PIM_type into BMC FootPrints Service Core—Only write data from the PIM to BMC FootPrints Service Core.
  • Add BMC FootPrints Service Core into PIM_type—Only write data from BMC FootPrints Service Core to the PIM.
• Content—Select which data to transfer.
  • Contacts—Write BMC FootPrints Service Core contacts into the PIM.  Regardless of whether you chose to synchronize both ways or in just one direction on the Transfer Methods tab, you can only write contacts from BMC FootPrints Service Core to the PIM.
  • Tasks—Write BMC FootPrints Service Core Issues to the Tasks list.  When synchronizing from the PIM to BMC FootPrints Service Core, tasks synchronization changes the status field of the BMC FootPrints Service Core Issue according to what you specified when you configured this feature in BMC FootPrints Service Core.
  • Calendar—Write calendar appointments between BMC FootPrints Service Core and the PIM.
• Personal Category—Select whether to synchronize Personal Category data (this tab displays for Palm HotSync only).
  • Synchronize Personal Category
  • Do not synchronize Personal Category

6. When you have configured all of your settings on the tabs, click the OK button.  The Information Manager Settings window displays again.
7. Click the Next button.  The Synchronization Settings window displays.
8. Select how you want your PIM synchronized with BMC FootPrints Service Core:
   • Synchronize once each day at time—Use the drop-downs to select the time of day at which the BMC FootPrints Sync client will perform synchronization.  You can still synchronize “on-demand” by clicking the Synchronize button from the BMC FootPrints Sync client interface.
   • Synchronize every x hours—Use the drop-down to schedule synchronization every X hours.  You can still synchronize “on-demand” by clicking the Synchronize button from the BMC FootPrints Sync client interface or by double-clicking the BMC FootPrints Sync icon.  Because synchronization can be demanding on the server, auto-synchronization can be scheduled with a maximum frequency of once per hour per user.  If immediate synchronization is required, double-click the FootPrints Sync icon in your system tray.
   • Synchronize when the computer is started—If you select this option, the BMC FootPrints Sync client will synchronize when the PC or handheld on which the client resides is booted. You can still synchronize “on-demand” by clicking the Synchronize button from the BMC FootPrints Sync client interface.
   • Synchronize Manually—Synchronization only occurs when you select the Synchronize button from the BMC FootPrints Sync client interface.
9. When you have made your choices, click the Next button.  The final window displays.
10. Click the Finish button to complete the configuration tasks.

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