See Also
Forecast Interface
The forecast interface is an external application
which calculates the revenue for the business on the books (BOB), ie.
all future reservations. When the interface runs, it checks if any changes
have been made in PMPRO. If changes are found it recalculates forecast
figures for affected reservations.
How to get here?
The file name of the forecast interface is
forecast.exe, it is located in
the '\PMS'
folder.
Starting the interface
The interface can be started in various ways:
With a shortcut
To create a shortcut, right click on the forecast.exe file and choose
'create shortcut'. You can move this shortcut to your desktop or start
menu. This shortcut start the interface in default mode without command
line parameter, hence it keeps on running in the background. Optionally,
change the properties of the shortcut to add a command
line parameter.
Run once immediately after the night audit
If you use Amadeus - PMPRO version 10.1 or higher, you can also have
the forecast interface started automatically after the night audit.
The interface will 'runonce' to update the forecasted revenue figures
and then automatically exists. This can be done by activating the AfterNightAudit.bhs script.
Schedule a Task with Windows Task Scheduler
You can schedule a task in case you do not want to keep the interface
running at all times, but would like the forecasted revenue figures
being updated at a regular basis. Schedule a task by using the 'runonce'
command line parameter to ensure the interface automatically exists
after the forecasted revenue has been updated. The result is basically
the same as using the command line parameter to check every xx minutes,
except that the interface now exists after each update in stead of
counting down to the next check.
This interface should not be started on multiple computers at the same
time. It's recommended to only use method 1 and 2 on the file server.
Database Maintenance & Night Audit
PMPRO pauses the forecast interface in case
it is running while you start the database
maintenance procedure or the night audit.
The interface automatically starts again when the database maintenance
procedure or the night audit is finished.
The forecast interface can be started with
and without command line parameters.
forecast.exe
This starts the forecast interface in default mode without command
line parameter. The interface continues to run until you stop it by
using the [Exit] button. The interface checks every one minute to
see if there have been changes that affect the forecasted figures.
After the forecasted revenue has been updated, the interface starts
to count down to the next check.
forecast.exe 15
This starts the forecast interface with the command line parameter
15. The interface continues
to run until you stop it by using the [Exit] button. The interface
will checks every 15 minutes
to see if there have been changes that affect the forecasted figures.
After the forecasted revenue has been updated, the interface starts
to count down to the next check. Of course you can set the command
line parameter value to any minute value you like.
forecast.exe runonce
This starts the forecast interface with the command line parameter
runonce. This means the forecast
interface will start, update the forecasted revenue figures and then
automatically exits. This parameter is often used when the forecast
interface is being started by a report or as a part of the night audit.
To start the interface with command line parameters,
you need to start it from a shortcut (or a scheduled task). To add a command
line parameter:
Right click on the shortcut and choose 'Properties'.
Select the [Shortcut] tab.
Add the command line parameter to the contents
field:
- Example before: "C:\Apps\Brilliant\PMS\forecast.exe"
- Example after: "C:\Apps\Brilliant\PMS\forecast.exe" runonce