Return to View button with Automatically Update When Leaving Page option
Web and Web Relay

One type of workflow Visual Intercept users wanted to see made as efficient as possible was cycling between a list of incidents and individual incidents they were updating.

To this end a Return to View button was added to the tool bar which takes users directly back to the explorer or list view they came from. In addition, Visual Intercept Web will now return the users to the particular page they came from when working with result sets that span multiple pages.

These two features greatly reduce the number of mouse clicks necessary to go to a specific incident, or other document, from a list, update the incident, and then return to the list. However, this process can be made even more efficient if you turn on the Automatically Update When Leaving Page option. With this option on you can go to an incident, make a change, and then go back to a list or explorer view without having to click the update button to save your changes.

Auto Logon option with e-mail notification hyperlinks
Web and Web Relay

The auto logon feature allows you to enter your Visual Intercept credentials once, and bypass the logon screen from that point forward. This ability to bypass the logon screen makes using Visual Intercept much more efficient.

If you have not added incident hyperlinks to your e-mail notification template, now is the time. When the auto logon feature is on clicking the hyperlink in a notification takes you directly to the incident with no intermediate screens to deal with. For full instructions on how to add the hyperlink to your notifications, check out

Auto Logon option with Visual Intercept Web through Outlook
Web and Web Relay

If you use Microsoft Outlook as an e-mail client, create a folder in Outlook, right-click on the folder, select the Home Page tab, enter the URL to your Visual Intercept Web site, and select the Show home page by default option. If you create an Outlook folder with these properties and use the auto logon option, Visual Intercept will always be present in the Outlook window and already logged on any time you click the folder. In addition to Visual Intercept Studio, using Outlook folders is an excellent way to access Visual Intercept without leaving the context of your e-mail client.

$PROMPT queries with Visual Intercept Web
Web and Web Relay

$PROMPT is a special macro which allows you to create queries that prompt you for their search values when they are executed. Because it is not an obvious feature of the user interface, you might overlook this important search tool. The $PROMPT is very useful for queries which have search values that may be different each time the query is run - queries by incident ID or keyword are two examples. An even more elaborate example is this $PROMPT query which returns incidents based on how long the incident has been in the system:

Incident.IncidentID IN (SELECT Incident.IncidentID FROM Incident WHERE DATEDIFF(DAY, Incident.StartDate, GetDate()) <$PROMPT("Incidents Registered Since a Particular Day","Please enter the number of days.",""))

Note: This query uses operators that are specific to SQL Server. For complete information on using the $PROMPT, check out

Dates for project versions
All products

Visual Intercept has a new feature that allows you to determine the sort order for versions. If you set dates for your versions they will sort by date so that the version with the most recent date is the default. Setting a default version helps you ensure that new incidents are registered against the correct version of a product. Version dates can be set in the Versions tab of the project document.

Precedence values for document parameters
All products

Visual Intercept now supports a way to determine the sort order for parameter values such as status and priority. To set the sort order for values in select boxes go into the Visual Intercept Administrator for either the web or desktop applications and open the dialog for adding and modifying parameter values. When you create or modify and particular parameter value you will see a new column labeled precedence. Setting values for the precedence will determine how the values will sort. Values with a precedence of 1 will sort at the top of the list with other values greater than 1 sorting in numerical order. Values that lack a precedence value or have the same value will revert to an ASCII sort order.

Filter on Project Security options
All products

Use the Filter AssignID based on Project Security option and the Filter QAID based on Project Security option to limit the number of choices available in the AssignedID and QAID fields. These two options allow you to limit the users available in AssignedID and OAID fields of an incident to only those users who have privileges to modify it. By filtering the user ID lists you can ensure that incidents are not assigned to users who should not be assigned to them, make it easier for users to pick the correct value, and improve performance for Visual Intercept database that contain large numbers of users.

If you have other questions about issues not included in or beyond the scope of this Tech Tip, please contact Elsinore Technical Support Services at