RETS Connector FAQ
Installation
Usage
Beta version
Installation
Q: Do I have to uninstall my current version
of RETS Connector to download and install the new version?
A: No, a new version of RETS Connector should begin installing over
an existing version without removing any user configuration.
Just be sure that you install it using the Setup.exe program, rather than running the msi file directly. You should extract both files from the zip and then run the Setup.
Q: Will I lose the scripts I have already
created when I upgrade to the latest version?
A: No, scripts are saved on your disk and are not removed when
installing a new version.
Q: I cannot install, because "The event log file is full". What should I do?
A: You have a problem with the Windows Event log. Fortunately, it is easy to fix.
Right-click on My Computer and select Manage.
Drill down to (Local)
Q: My system disk got corrupted and not able to boot up anymore. I have a new computer now and have loaded RetsConnector.
Instead of recreating all the tasks that I already created, I would like to locate them and import them into the new systems.
A: If you can still access files on your old disk, you may be able to find all data the RetsConnector used.
The tasks are stored in the %allusersprofile%\Application Data\Marketlinx\ConnectorTasks folder.
Your email settings are in the %allusersprofile%\Application Data \Marketlinx\ConnectorSettings folder.
BTW, the %allusersprofile%\Application Data\Marketlinx\RetsClient stores cache files, that will be recreated if missing;
you don't want to copy them to your new machine.
User specific configuration, including server list, is in
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Marketlinx\RetsConnector.exe_*\*\user.config.
You'll have to find the latest folder which has RetsConnector in its name.
From that folder, copy the user.config to the appropriate location on the new machine.
Note that the passwords are encoded and visible only for the user who registered the servers;
if you are copying for a user with a different name, you will need to reset all the passwords.
Usage
Q: I would like to see the option to put in a
custom user-agent in the server setup. Some RETS servers
authenticate with a user/pass and the User-Agent. Right now your
software has a default User-Agent of RETSConnector/1.0 and it
doesn’t allow you to customize it.
A: For security reasons we do not want our tool to be used to mimic
other RETS clients. Therefore, for authenticity purposes the
UserAgent credentials of RETS Connector could not be customized.
However, since some servers require a unique UserAgent, a partial change of the value is now enabled in the Beta version.
This version allows for changing the User Agent name; the name must contain the text "RETSConnector",
otherwise the RetsConnector's default name will be appended to the name you provided.
This is in accordance with the definition of the User-Agent header in RFC 2616.
Note that this arrangement allows for each installation of the RetsConnector to have a unique User-Agent and password,
while still identifying itself as a RetsConnector application.
Some users reported that their server vendor requires them to use a specific User-Agent name, provided by the server.
We consider this practice incorrect: it must be the user-agent's (client's) responsibility to set its own name,
and the server has to decide whether it will support this agent or not.
If the server decides to support only Mozilla and MSIE agents, it would be unfair if the RetsConnector presented itself as one of them.
Q: Why is the incremental download option
disabled?
A: For the incremental download to work, each search must specify the
"Incremental modification field" in DataFormat tab.
If the server does not expose any date field that could be used for this purpose,
the incremental download is not enabled.
Q: How can we get the incremental download to
work?
A: Make sure every search defines the "Incremental modification field"
in DataFormat tab, and that it is really the field in which the RETS server
communicates time when a record has been changed.
Also make sure the "Maximum Records Returned" is not too low.
If this limit prevents you to get all the records that changed since last time,
you may never get some records.
Note that the first time a task runs in the incremental mode, it tries to
download all matching records. Make sure your "Maximum Records Returned"
is high enough. If you do not need all the records, you may try to run an incremental
download since some specified date, eliminating older records. Do not forget to switch
back to the "Incremental download since last loaded modification" after the initial pull.
Q: I am using the Metadata Browser to examine a particular part of the metadata.
Is there a way to print, cut and paste, or export the part I am viewing?
A: Yes.
Click anywhere in the table, then hit Ctrl-A to select the whole table.
Or click the top left item (left of column headers and above row headers) to select the whole table.
Then use Ctrl-C to copy the selected table. Now you are ready to paste to other progam.
If you paste to a plain text (Notepad), the items in each line (row) will be tab-delimited.
If you paste to an MSWord, the data will be formatted as a table.
You can paste into spreadsheet (MS Excel) as well.
Beta version
Q: I am using the Beta version and something does not work the way I'd like it. What now?
A: Thank you for using the Beta version, your experience is very important for us. Please email
lviktorin@corelogic.com and explain what are you trying to do,
what you expected and what happened. Include as many details as possible. A good idea would be to attach a copy of your task.
Keeping the UserName and Password while exporting the task will allow us to follow your steps more closely - we will
not use your credentials for anything but debugging your problem. If you have or can produce a Fiddler's
log of the client-server communication, please attach it as well.
While we cannot promise to address all your problems, we will look into your comments and make our deal of effort to use them to make the RetsConnector better.
Q: I have installed the Beta version. Can I revert back to the stable version?
A: You will need to use your Windows' Control Panel to unistall (remove) the beta version. Once you've done it, you can download and install the stable version.
Note that this process will not delete your existing tasks and server definitions.
However, once you update your task in the older version, its settings for the beta features will be lost.
Q: When I try to setup a new RETS service and put in the custom UA, it always appends RETSConnector/1.0 to the end of it. Is it a bug?
A: No. The RetsConnector is implemented to behave that way. See Usage FAQ for discussion on this topic.