You enter user inventory information in the Software Distribution - Update User Information dialog box shown below. The items that are displayed depend on the list of user inventory items created at the managing server.

Figure 11-18 Software Distribution - Update User Information dialog box

There are three types of entry items:

• Items into which you enter text directly
• Items that you select from a list box
• Items that enable you to select from a list box or enter directly as text

When you choose an item from a list box in which you wish to enter text directly, you should open the Characters That Can Be Entered dialog box before entering any text. To open this dialog box, choose the Valid Characters button.

Figure 11-19 Characters That Can Be Entered dialog box

The types of characters that can be entered in the selected item are marked with a check in the Characters That Can Be Entered dialog box. You can use up to 200 characters in an item in which text can be entered directly (trailing spaces are ignored). You cannot use a tab or the following special characters:

\ / * " : ; , &

Items that you can select from the list boxes in the Update User Information dialog box include inter-linked hierarchical items, so that when you select a value for one item, the value of another item may change. For example, the box shows only the sections belonging to the particular value you selected for Department.

For hierarchical items such as these, you must enter values in order, beginning at the top of the dialog box. If you attempt to enter a value in a lower item without setting the higher item, a guidance appears in the list box. Note also that if you change a higher item, the value you entered for the lower item is cleared and you must re-enter the value.

The items marked with the symbol are required; you must enter information in these items.

Choose Finish to close the dialog box and report the entered information to the managing server.

• Note on entering user inventory information
  When you use the Auto Host Group Maintenance option for Group by user inventory items, the following restrictions apply to the user inventory information to be entered by the client:
  
  • User inventory information consisting of more than 32 characters is not treated as a host group.
  • You cannot use a tab or the following special characters:
    \ / * " ' : ; , & ! | . < > ? @ %
    
  • Spaces at the end of a character string are ignored.
  • Spaces cannot be used in the middle of data.
  • Host grouping is not case sensitive.
  • Do not specify the same user inventory information for user inventory items that are at different policy hierarchies. Because a host group name must be unique, no host group is created if the user inventory information is the same.
  • If a user does not have the update permission for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in the registry of any of the OSs listed below, the logged-on user cannot enter user information by using the user's IME settings in the Update User Information dialog box started from either Package Setup Manager or a job. If this is the case, close the Update User Information dialog box, and then select Update User Information from the Windows Start menu to re-open the Update User Information dialog box. This enables the logged-on user to enter user information into the Update User Information by using the user's IME settings.
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows XP
  • Windows 2000
  • Windows NT 4.0
  • Windows Me
  • Windows 98