Stonefield Query Version 3.2 Release Candidate 2

Stonefield Query Version 3.2 Release Candidate 2 is now available. It has the following changes over Release Candidate 1:

• The report wizards now open more quickly when there are a lot of folders. Part of the change involves adding a new index to the reports table.
• The Template Editor now uses the first template as the template's template rather than giving an error when creating a new template in the rare case of the default template missing.
• In Step 2 of the report wizards, selecting a table that isn't a favorite and then turning on the Show Only Favorites option no longer shows blank in the Tables dropdown list.
• You no longer get an error when creating an exclusion filter on the only table in a query. In fact, you now get a warning if you create an exclusion condition on any table that's already in the query, since that generally doesn't make sense (you can use a normal filter instead).
• The Analyze Database function now properly handles the SOURCEDATABASE field.
• You no longer get an error when running Stonefield Query with an encrypted project.
• You no longer get an error when querying on a table with a field named LCALL.
• The preview window now displays properly when the "Use old engine" option is turned on in Step 5 of the Quick Report Wizard.
• Closing the Quick Report Wizard and answering No to the "do you want to lose your changes" prompt no longer closes the dialog anyway.
• An error in the Schedule Report Wizard that occurs when trying to report another error to you was fixed.
• The Create Help Files function in the Configuration Utility now uses the Logo Image property for the image in the first help topic.
• Clicking the builder button for the "Use dynamic expression for color" option in the Field Properties dialog now brings up the correct dialog instead of doing nothing.
• Changing the name of a new report now properly updates the heading for that report.
• Closing the report wizards when you started to but didn't complete entering a report name no longer displays "<Insert1>" in the warning dialog.
• A bug that caused an error when dragging a folder to another folder in the Reports Explorer was fixed.
• The Field Properties dialog for a field in a report created in version 3.1 that links to another report now displays the correct link parameter settings. Also, the reports list now shows reports inside folders that have subfolders.
• The Count button is no longer available in the Exclude dialog.
• Temporary files created when an error dialog is displayed are now deleted once you close the dialog.

Stonefield Query Wins Another Award

At the 2008 AccountMate Synergy conference earlier this month, Stonefield Query won the Vertical Solution Partner Award for Innovative Integration. We are honored to receive this award and thank AccountMate Corp. for being an outstanding business partner.

A Few More Changes

Last week, we blogged about the "last changes" in version 3.2. We actually did a few more in the past week: one new feature and the rest fixes for bugs found in beta testing.

• A new workstation installer, WSSETUP.EXE, is included in the application folder. This allows the user to install Stonefield Query on their system, then run WSSETUP.EXE from the server on each workstation to install just the runtime files required. This makes it easier for users to do workstation installs; some users found running the same SETUP.EXE for both server and workstation to be confusing, plus there are very few prompts in the workstation installer. It also installs the help file on the local drive to eliminate the security issue with CHM files on network drives.
• Stonefield Query now handles the TOP N clause in MySQL by changing it to a LIMIT N clause.
• If you have multiple action scripts, they're now shown in alphabetical order in the Link page of the Field Properties dialog. Also, a bug that prevented link actions from being saved when the link action script returns only a single field name was fixed.
• A bug that causes an error when you click the Values button in the Exclusion Condition dialog was fixed.
• A bug that caused an error when returning a cursor with no records from a Table.Select script was fixed.
• The OK button in the Locate dialog, which only appears if the TargetApp entry in DATA.INI points to an invalid folder, is now enabled after selecting a valid folder.

Improvements in Stonefield Query for GoldMine

In addition to all the new features and bug fixes in Stonefield Query (and if you've been following this blog, you know there are a lot of them), we made the following improvements in Stonefield Query for GoldMine:

• There are new Read, In History, and Attachments fields in the Mailbox table.
• The Key1 through 5 fields in the upper quadrant in GoldMine are now available in the Combined Main and Other Contacts table.
• You can now report on both the History and Mailbox tables at the same time. Also, if you filter on the History Date but don't filter on the Mailbox Date, the History Date is automatically used for Mailbox to prevent a lot of records from being retrieved and slowing down performance.
• The Create Group in GoldMine function now displays a progress bar, which is handy if there are lots of members.
• It better handles the GoldMine DBALIAS.INI file in different locations.
• An issue with filtering on the various Opportunity and Project tables using OR conditions with dBase tables was resolved.
• A bug that gave an error when converting from Stonefield Query version 2.4 or earlier was fixed.
• A bug that prevented custom fields in GoldMine from showing up in Stonefield Query if you upgraded GoldMine from version 4 at some point was fixed.
• The proper captions for fields in the Combined Main and Other Contacts table are now displayed.
• A bug that caused only the first 35 characters of the Web site to be displayed was fixed.

These improvements will be in version 3.2, due for release later this month.

Improvements in Stonefield Query for HEAT

In addition to all the new features and bug fixes in Stonefield Query (and if you've been following this blog, you know there are a lot of them), we made the following improvements in Stonefield Query for HEAT:

• The performance of queries involving a filter on a date field is now dramatically faster than before.
• New Elapsed Hours (Based on Help Desk Hours) and Elapsed Days/Hours (Based on Help Desk Hours) fields in the Calling Logging and Assignments tables show the elapsed hours for a call taking the hour of operation (rather than total elapsed time) into account.
• We eliminated the cause of duplicate fields in the Profile table.

These improvements will be in version 3.2, due for release later this month.

The Last of the 3.2 Changes

Release Candidate 1 of the Stonefield Query SDK is now available. It has quite a few changes since the previous blog post.

New/Updated Features

• Improvements were made in how link action scripts are handled, making it easier to do things such as link to Google Maps.
• The new Analyze Database function in the Tools menu (also available in the Setup dialog) goes through your database and marks only those tables and fields that contain meaningful data as "favorites". Step 2 of the report wizards will then have a new Show only favorites option. Turn this option on to show only those tables and fields marked as "favorites". Turn it off again to show all tables and fields. This feature is only available if you turn on the new Enable Table/Field Favorites configuration setting, and is particularly useful for large (hundreds of tables) data dictionary in which not all tables and fields may contain meaningful data.
• You can now drag a Stonefield Query import file (an SFX file) from Windows Explorer to the Reports Explorer to import that report. You can also drag an FRX file from Windows Explorer to the Reports Explorer to bring up the External Report Wizard for that report.
• The Field Properties dialog for the Label Wizard has a new Display this field in the report setting. Turn this setting off if you want the field included in query (for example, you want to sort on it) but not display it in the report.
• Step 3 of the Chart Wizard now displays the axis (X or Y) in the caption for the appropriate boxes, making it clear where a field will be graphed.
• The Reports Explorer and Help menu now have a Manual function that displays the content of a PDF with the same name as the executable (SFQUERY.EXE by default). These functions are only visible if that file exists.
• The close box on the Report Wizards is now functional.
• The report wizards and Template Editor now appear in the Windows Task Bar when they're open so they're easy to locate when you have a lot of windows open.
• You can now have multiple code zoom windows (right-click on the code box when a script is selected and choose Zoom) open in the Configuration Utility.
• A new Application.ReportsExplorerReady script is available.
• The new Execute method of the SQApplication object can be used to launch an application.
• The Template Editor now has a shortcut menu.

Bug Fixes

• Improvements were made in all dialogs so keyboard-only users (including disabled users) can move from one control to the next correctly.
• A bug in how the project list in the Configuration Utility (displayed by clicking the arrow beside the Open Project button in the toolbar) is filled when opening projects was fixed.
• The size and position of the Reports Explorer are now saved when you choose Exit from the File menu.
• A bug that prevented a report from being exported properly immediately after renaming it in the Reports Explorer was fixed.
• A grey box that appears when you clicked the Available To list in the Information page of the Reports Explorer no longer appears.
• Closing Stonefield Query while multiple report wizards are open now works correctly, including the case where, when prompted if you want to cancel a report, you choose No. Also, the "cancel this report" dialog that appears now displays the name of the report so you can tell which report is being closed when multiple report wizards are open.
• You no longer get a warning that a report has no filter if it has no filter but does have an exclusion filter or a TOP N clause.
• Stonefield Query no longer stubbornly insists on downloading an update if you choose No in the Download Update dialog.
• The Prompt for Subtable option no longer appears in the Add Database dialog when you choose to create an empty database.
• A difficult-to-reproduce bug that caused an error immediately after adding a calculated field or virtual table in the Configuration Utility was fixed.
• The Test button on the properties page for relations in the Configuration Utility is now disabled if the relationship information isn't complete.
• A bug that caused an error if you try to sort on a calculated field that derives its value from a memo field was fixed.
• A bug that caused an incorrect warning that a filter condition contains fields that aren't in the query when you have a custom SQL statement involving a subtable (got all that?) was fixed.
• Ctrl+O is no longer the hotkey for the New Folder function in the File menu since that hotkey is usually reserved for an Open function in most applications.
• A bug that prevented the code zoom window from being restored to the correct location if you had two monitors and the window was previously open on the second one but you only have one now was fixed. (Ok, that one was really obscure!)
• If it exists, the value of the Desktop Image configuration setting is now moved to the Logo Image setting if that setting is blank.
• Changing the value of the Advanced User setting for yourself in the Maintain Users and Groups dialog now takes effect immediately rather than after restarting Stonefield Query.
• Downloading individual files during a product update now works correctly.
• A bug that cut off the link status display in the preview window was fixed.
• A bug that caused the Show All Fields option in the Filter Condition dialog to disappear after clearing the filter was fixed.
• A bug that allowed you to click the OK button in the Login dialog a second time after the DataEngine.GetCustomMetaData script returned .F. (meaning Stonefield Query should terminate) and continue using the application was fixed.
• A bug that prevented a field containing characters requiring it to be delimited (for example, a field named [Some-Field]) from being displayed correctly when defined as an enumerated field was fixed.
• The Include this field in the group header for option in the Grouping page of the Field Properties dialog is no longer enabled if there are no groups.

Neil Sorensen Joins Stonefield Software

Stonefield Software Inc. is pleased to announce that Neil Sorensen has joined us as Director of Channel Development.

Neil has spent the last 15 years working with accounting solution software companies including Softline Systems, ACCPAC International, and most recently Sage Software. He has extensive experience working with reporting solutions and supporting the dealer channel.

Neil will be available to assist you with all of your Stonefield Query sales, training, and marketing needs effective immediately.

Neil can be reached at:

nsorensen@stonefield.com
(604) 945-4169
(800) 563-1119