Updating the configuration files and templates

Overview

FlashStats 2005 uses several configuration files to store the definitions of user agent types, search engines and search providers, operating systems, and so on. You do not need to manually edit any of these configuration files.

During the beta process it is possible that new configuration files, XSL templates, or chart templates will be made available on the Maximized Software web site in order to fix some bugs or introduce new features. FlashStats has some built-in features to help you check for new versions of the configuration files.

Technical note: FlashStats uses XSL templates (XSLT) when creating reports. (FlashStats stores its raw analysis results in XML format and then uses the XSL templates to transform those results into HTM, DOC, and CSV formats as needed.) Normally you should not need to do anything with the XSL templates. Advanced users can edit the XSL templates to change the format of the reports generated by FlashStats. Likewise, chart templates are used in creating charts for the reports; but there is no chart editing capability provided in beta 1.

Checking for updated configuration files

To see if there are any new configuration files or templates, and to download and install them, open the Tools menu and choose Update configuration files.... Follow the prompts to see if any new files are available and to download them if desired. (Be sure to place a check mark next to each configuration file that you'd like to download.)

Note: Be aware that if you download updated files you will lose any changes you may have made to your existing configuration files. Probably the only file that FlashStats might have made changes to is Search.xml, which stores your search engine and search provider definitions.

Note: The download procedure will overwrite the selected existing configuration files, even if you have marked them Read-Only with Windows Explorer.

Installing new XSL templates

The XSL templates are stored in the Fs2Res.dll file. If you have downloaded a new version of Fs2Res.dll and want to use the new XSL templates, then you need to extract the new XSL templates from Fs2Res.dll. Follow this procedure for each web site defined in FlashStats:

1. Open the Web site menu and choose Properties....

2. Click on the XSL templates tab.

3. Click the Restore XSL files button.

Remember that you need to do this for each web site defined within FlashStats. (You can open each web site by opening the Web site menu and choosing Open....)

Installing new chart templates

The chart templates are stored in the Fs2Res.dll file. If you have downloaded a new version of Fs2Res.dll and want to use the new chart templates, then you need to extract the new chart templates from Fs2Res.dll. Follow this procedure:

1. Open the Tools menu and choose Options....

2. Click on the Chart templates tab.

3. Click the Install chart templates button.

This procedure only needs to be performed once. (The chart templates are shared by all web sites defined within FlashStats.)

Checking for new versions of FlashStats

By default, FlashStats will automatically check to see if a new version of FlashStats is available every 7 days. You can change this interval by clicking on the Advanced button in the window titled Check for Updates to Maximized Software FlashStats 2005 that appears when it checks for updates. You can even set the interval to a high value such as 999 days to prevent checks from happening for a long time.

At any point you can manually check for a new version of FlashStats by opening the Tools menu, choosing the Web sub-menu, then choosing Check for program updates....

Technical details

The instructions above include everything that most users need to know in order to download updates to their systems. Here is some additional technical information that some users may find useful.

Folders

The configuration files listed below are usually stored in a folder such as C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Maximized Software\FlashStats 2005.

Each individual web site has its own set of XSL templates, which are usually stored in a folder such as C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Maximized Software\FlashStats 2005\Websites\Website#\XSL.

The chart templates are usually stored in a folder such as C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Maximized Software\FlashStats 2005\Charts.

Configuration files

Here is a brief description of each configuration file:

Note: All files and formats (XML format, XSL templates, and chart templates) are likely to change in beta 2.