We will be teaching two Manufacturer Training Sessions at the CEDIA expo this year.  These free sessions are open to all CEDIA attendees and are eligible for CEDIA CEUs.  Each class is 90 minutes long …

It is fairly easy to create customized Visio shapes based on the SI5 library of shapes that will represent products whose width is half-rack, or 9.5 inches, that snap-to the rack shapes. By default, …

This question often arises:  What is the best way to handle off-page references when dealing with multiple Schematic pages. Occasionally you may run out of space on a schematic page and need to continue …

Issue: You attempt to open an SI5.5 project in the Text interface and the interface does not open.  No error, just nothing happens…crickets.
Cause: This can occur on machines that are running both SI 4 and …

The reality of using software is that you may encounter errors from time to time.  The proper reporting of an error can significantly increase the turnaround time for a resolution.  The intent of this article …

Although ideal, procuring AutoCAD floor plans is not always possible.  Architects are protective of their intellectual property, rightfully so, and it often takes some convincing that you really only need them to lay out the …

This posting is to inform you of a slight variation in which the update to SP1 must be run on a Vista machine.  Most of the instructions in this post apply but there is one …

I will be teaching two classes at CEDIA this year.  The first one will focus on how project are created in SI5.5 and the second class will cover the project management functions of SI5.5.  Both …

A Component ID is the unique identifier that is assigned to every product that you add to an SI5.5 project.  Component IDs display on most of the Visio shapes and AutoCAD blocks and are used …

Issue: You receive the following error when you attempt to transfer items to QuickBooks via an SI5.5 Service Order.
Desription: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Email:
User Message:
Details: Error: NullReferenceException (DTools.SystemIntegrator.QuickBooks.QBListsFactoryBase.convertOtherChargeItem)

It is often handy to remove the Grouping settings within a project so that you can sort data.  The default Groupings in SI5.5 are first to group by Location then by Zone in addition to …

Issue: The “D-Tools” menu is missing from the menu bar within the SI5.5 Visio interface.  You will very likely see a menu option named “Plan”.  This will be addressed in an upcoming Service Pack.