Tag Archives: Action

Reflecting on the Meta world

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One aspect of the API that is really well thought out is the whole Meta data structure. Back when RE7 was written, there was no reflection built into VB6. Java had it and there was some libraries that could do it but nothing was built in. Reflection (in coding terminology) is the ability to be aware of the classes and methods that are available to the code during run time.

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Membership – Retrieving information

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One very useful way of loading a collection of records is using the custom where clause. For example if you want to find a list of constituents who are born in a certain year you could write the following

Dim oRecords As New CRecords
oRecords.INIT SessionContext, tvf_record_CustomWhereClause, "BIRTH_DATE LIKE '1950%'"

This is the only really effective way of doing this without returning a list of all constituents filtering them in the code (much less efficient).

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Adjust that tax claim at your peril

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This is perhaps more of a rant than anything else but after being so pleased with the way Blackbaud introduced Batch into the RE:API I now found myself stuck with another piece of Raiser’s Edge functionality that I am less than pleased with.In the UK Gift Aid is big business. In the States (and possibly elsewhere) the donor can claim tax back from charitable donations. In the UK it is the charity that can claim the money back from the government for UK tax payers so this can amount to a very large sum of money if it is handled properly. There have been several changes to Gift Aid over the past four or five versions of Raiser’s Edge. One problem that was not addressed until recently was when Gift Aid had been taken in error and then claimed back from the Inland Revenue. If a gift was given in error then the Gift must be adjusted or written off and the Gift Aid must be reversed. If the Gift Aid was claimed in error (for example the donor was not a tax payer) then the Gift Aid alone must be reversed.
Continue reading Adjust that tax claim at your peril →

Additions to the Plugin Directory

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Since we started the plugin directory new plugins have been added. Here are the most recent additions to the plugin directory. If we have missed any then feel free to add them. Thank you to all those who have added over the past months.

  • Repair Receipt Type
  • Unmark DNC
  • Regenerate Import IDs
  • Fix Key Position Data for IndRecords2
  • Clean Static Queries
  • Fix Trailing Spaces
  • Expire benefit fix
  • Update Pending Transactions
  • Define Patronymic Prefix Excludes
  • Match Applications and Enrollment
  • De-Duplicate Phones

    • Cannot find the plugin that you are looking for? Get in contact with us and find out how we can make your Raiser’s Edge processes more efficient and make savings in both time and money.

    Top Plugins in November

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    Here are the most popular plugins for the month of November from the plugin directory. This is based on the click through for more information link.

    1. Audit Trail
    2. Action Reminder Updater
    3. Convio DataSync Connector RE
    4. Blackbaud NetCommunity Integration
    5. Constituent Document Linker
    6. Bank Checker Solution
    7. Create Preferred Address
    8. Alternate Address Deleter
    9. AFP
    10. Custom Reports

    Cannot find the plugin that you are looking for? Get in contact with us and find out how we can make your Raiser’s Edge processes more efficient and make savings in both time and money.

    Custom user defined business rules

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    The idea of creating user defined business rules has been discussed in various threads at Blackbus and on the Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge forums (see User Defined Business Rules for example). The whole functionality  is really useful but there are clearly limitations.

    One really good use of VBA is to perform this very task. For those not familiar with the build in version it allows you to select a query (constituent, gift or action) and for a all or a limited number of security groups it allows you to display a message on opening the record. This same functionality can be repeated using VBA. Of course you are able to query on a lot more, or perform more than simply display a message. Continue reading Custom user defined business rules →

    Six ways to name a record

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    One thing that can make the API confusing is its inconsistencies. Take for example the task of referencing the constituent object’s system id from another data object. The constituent system ID is used uniformally throughout to connect a constituent to its child objects such as, gifts, actions, aliases, solicit codes, etc. The naming convention however is not uniform. The objects have fields which are referenced in the following format:

    OBJECTNAME_fld_FIELDNAME

    so that an action references the constituent that is tied to it by the following:

    oAction.Fields(ACTION_fld_RECORDS_ID)

    Continue reading Six ways to name a record →

    VBA: Inside or Out?

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    If you are using VBA to perform actions on opening, saving or deleting record you have the option of putting the code in two different places.

    Perhaps the most obvious is when you log in to RE as supervisor you can go into the Visual Basic for Applications environment (found under the Tools menu) and capture your events in the System project. This is the “inside” solution as it resides inside the database and can be programed from inside the RE application.

    The other option is to use the RE7VBA tool. This executable is found in the Raiser’s Edge directory along side RE7.exe. Running this program opens up a similar environment except that you can save your work in a file and compile it to a DLL. This is the “outside” solution for opposite reasons

    What are the pros and cons of each? Continue reading VBA: Inside or Out? →