Friday, July 31, 2009

Stonefield Query for Sage Pro ERP 3.3 Build 3497

We released an update to Stonefield Query for Sage Pro ERP version 3.3 today. It has the same new features and bug fixes as the general release.

Stonefield Query for Sage Accpac ERP 3.3 Build 3497

We released an update to Stonefield Query for Sage Accpac ERP version 3.3 today. In addition to the general changes made to Stonefield Query, it has the following new features and bug fixes.

  • Stonefield Query now supports the Return Material Authorization module and Norming Fixed Assets.
  • New fields in Account Fiscal Sets (General Ledger) allow you to report on the balance for each period.
  • You can now report on the Fiscal Calendars table (General Ledger).
  • The new built-in AccpacDateToRealDate function converts Accpac-formatted dates (which are stored as numeric values, such as 20090625 for 06/25/2009) into real date values. This function is useful when you create your own formulas that perform date math.
  • Relationships between for Location Item Details (Inventory Control) and Purchase History Detail (Purchase Orders), Contract Resource (Project and Job Costing), and Contract Resource Category (Project and Job Costing) were improved.
  • The relationship between Posting Journal Details and Posting Journal Entries (Accounts Payable) was corrected.
  • Optional fields now work for tables in the Project and Job Costing Module.
  • Formulas using fields from the Order Entry Combined Invoice & Credit Note Details table now work correctly, as do formulas using fields with the name "DESC."
  • A problem with the Extended Amount Less Discount field in the Order Entry Combined Invoice & Credit Note Details table was fixed.
  • The descriptions for the APOBLJ and AROBLJ tables were changed to "Document Details" to be more consistent with other table descriptions.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Stonefield Query SDK Version 3.3 Build 3497

We released an update to Stonefield Query SDK version 3.3 today. It has the following new features and bug fixes.

Report Designer

  • The same preview window is now used in the Advanced Report Designer as the rest of the program.
  • You can now create formulas that don't query the database, such as "This is some text". Also, if the formula isn't valid, you're now shown the reason. Also, changing the expression for the formula no longer changes the width and decimals unless the data type also changes.
  • When you use a formula in the expression for another formula, the expression for the other formula is inserted into the expression (that hasn't changed) surrounded with parentheses (the new feature). That prevents a problem with this scenario: suppose you have a formula named Formula1 with an expression of SomeTable.Field1 + SomeTable.Field2, and you use that formula in the expression of another formula: Formula1 * 0.15. In previous versions, that would be expanded to SomeTable.Field1 + SomeTable.Field2 * 0.15, which isn't correct. Now it's expanded to (SomeTable.Field1 + SomeTable.Field2) * 0.15.
  • The default format for point labels in charts is now Value rather than Category because that's more commonly used.
  • You can now specify whether a field should stretch if its contents take more than one line in the Properties dialog for the Label Wizard.
  • The Commonly Used Functions list in the Expression Builder is now always available, not just when you're working with date fields. Also, it includes several new week-related functions.
  • The Expression Builder no longer adds table names to field names in the Advanced Report Designer. This allows previewing from the Advanced Report Designer to work better.
  • If you rename a report in the Reports Explorer or a report wizard, the new name appears immediately in the title bar of the window.
  • The Select Database dialog now has an "All" option. Turn this on to automatically select all databases or off to deselect all databases.
  • The Options dialog has a new Continue multi-database report if cannot connect to one database setting. If this setting is turned off (the default), when you run a multi-database report and it cannot connect to one or more of the specified databases, the program asks you if you want to continue (the current behavior). If this setting is turned on, the report continues to run without asking you.
  • Stonefield Query now returns -29 if you run a multi-database report from the command line or the report is scheduled and it cannot connect to one or more of the databases specified in the report and the new Continue multi-database report if cannot connect to one database setting is turned off.
  • A bug that caused an error when scheduled reports (or reports called from the command line) try to email the report and a file name is specified was fixed.
  • A bug that caused multi-table reports to fail under some conditions was fixed.
  • The Values button in Step 2 of the report wizards is now properly disabled if you select a memo field in either the available or selected field lists.
  • You can no longer move to Step 2 of the External Report Wizard until you've specified the name of the report file.
  • A bug that caused dates formatted as weeks (such as "Week of 12/31/2009") to be cut off (e.g. "Week of 12/31/200") when you use a date format that has only one digit for day, month, or both (e.g. M/D/YYYY) was fixed.
  • Microsoft Excel data-only and comma-delimited (CSV) output now works properly when a field has a double quote (") in it. Also, leading zeros (such as "0012345") are now preserved for character fields output to Microsoft Excel data-only files, and character values that Excel may consider to be dates (such as "10/5") are no longer converted to dates.
  • A bug that caused an error in a linked report when the value of the filter condition passed to the linked report contains a comma was fixed.
  • Charts using aggregate dates (such as month) in the X-axis are now sorted by date rather than alphabetically.
  • A bug that caused an error after importing a report containing formulas that didn't exist in your copy of the program was fixed.
  • Formulas using double quotes for strings (such as "Contact: " + CUSTOMERS.CONTACT) now work correctly.
  • Setting Summary to "None" in the Field Properties dialog now turns off Show percentage of total to avoid an error that occurs if that's turned on for non-summed fields.
  • The Formula Editor now properly displays formulas with multi-line headings.
  • The SQL statements for some types of complex queries—where the query is on tables A, B, and C and B and C are directly related to each other but A isn't directly related to either—are now created properly.
  • If you have a summary report and one of the grouped fields has the Show count in group footer option turned on, the group count is now shown properly when the Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog is turned on.
  • A bug that caused passwords to be invalid under some conditions was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error if you formatted a date field as something other than Date (for example, as Month) and didn't group on that field in a summary report was fixed.
  • A bug that removed fields that are neither grouped nor summed from summary reports was fixed.
  • A bug that prevented the proper security settings for a report being displayed in Step 6 of the report wizards when you edited the report was fixed.
  • A bug that caused a schedule created for a report using a specified day of the month to use the first day of the month instead in Windows XP was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error for some types of reports (such as charts) when the Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog is turned on was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error in the ask-at-runtime dialog when a field caption has a comma in it was fixed.
  • Outputting to a text file now respects the setting of the width for each field as specified in the Field Properties dialog if you turn off the Auto-fit column setting.
  • A bug that caused an error when adding to a report a field in a table that isn't already in the report and the report has a filter on a calculated field was fixed.
  • If a report fails to run due to an error in the report layout (typically with advanced layout reports), the error message now contains more information about what went wrong.
  • A bug that prevented using the "top" clause for the SQL statement of a report when the Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog is turned on was fixed.
  • You can no longer create an invalid report name by pasting a name with illegal characters.
  • Turning on the Select only top setting in the Customize dialog for a chart now bases the "top" calculation on the value field rather than the category field.
  • A bug that caused an error if you created a group in the Advanced Report Designer on concatenated fields (such as COMPANY + CITY), turned off Advanced layout, and tried to run the report was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error when you ran a report with a date field as the second field in the row of a cross-tab report and turned on the Place subtotals above details setting was fixed.
  • The Template Editor now saves comments and report designer captions for fields in the Advanced Report Designer.
  • A bug that caused a scheduled report to be printed rather than emailed when a field is specified for the Get email address from option was fixed.
  • You no longer get an error starting Stonefield Query if the "Start in" setting of the desktop shortcut contains something other than the correct program directory.
  • A bug that caused an error if you included a date field in a report, didn't group on that field but did on other fields, and turned on the Summary report option was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error if you grouped on several fields and the first grouped field isn't the first field in the Selected Fields list was fixed.
  • Formerly, outputting to a text file caused all fields to be left aligned. The desired alignment of each field is now respected.
  • A bug that caused an error if you imported a Crystal report but don't have the Crystal runtimes installed was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error importing a report that contained calculated fields when reports are stored in a different directory than the default was fixed.
  • Rebuilding the reports table from existing SFX files if the table is deleted or corrupted no longer causes duplicate SFX files to be created in the root of the Reports folder. Also, a bug that caused an error if any of the SFX files contains a formula was fixed.
  • Numbers formatted to display both a currency symbol and blank if zero are now output correctly to Microsoft Excel data-only files.
  • A bug that caused several problems if your system is configured for a language other than English (for example, Simplified Chinese) was fixed.
  • In previous versions, adding a new field to a report that already has a grouped field with the Include all fields in same table in group header setting turned on, then grouping on the new field and moving the group above the former first group caused fields in same table as the former first group to appear in the group header of the new field. This has been fixed.
  • Formulas are now included when you turn on the "show favorites" button in Step 2 of the report wizards.
  • A bug that caused a series of error messages if an error occurred in a function called from a field in an advanced layout report was fixed.
  • A bug that selected the first database in the list rather than the database used the last time in the Login dialog was fixed.
  • A bug that caused the same data to be displayed in a Crystal report if you ran it then opened a different database and ran it again was fixed.
  • The news reader now properly displays "smart quotes" in the content.

SDK

  • If you have more than one database in your data dictionary and those databases use the same database engine on the same server, Stonefield Query will automatically share the connection between the two databases, resulting in fewer connections to the database and significantly faster queries.
  • The Import Data Dictionary function now support all types of Microsoft Excel files (previous versions didn't work with Excel 2007) and allows you to specify the comment, heading, and enumeration values for fields.
  • The new ODBCFilterToLocalFilter method of the DataEngine object can be used in Select scripts to ensure the correct filter format is used for a query.
  • Closing the zoom window for a script now saves it immediately.
  • The Expression Builder now shows tables from all databases rather than just the one the selected object is in.
  • A bug that caused multi-table reports to fail with some types of database engines when the Include joins in the WHERE clause configuration setting is turned on was fixed.
  • The Version property of tables, fields, and relations now supports a comma-delimited list of values. This is useful if the object was added in one version of the application and later removed. For example, "5.3+,5.5-" means it was added in version 5.3 and removed in version 5.6.
  • Stonefield Query now handles fields with periods in their names, such as MyTable.[SomeName.MoreName].
  • If you originally had the User Can Manage Data Sources configuration setting turned on and then later turn it off, Stonefield Query no longer uses the DSNs you defined in the Manage Databases dialog.
  • A bug that caused the wrong table to be shown in the drop down list for the Table to Test configuration setting was fixed.
  • SQOutput.EXE and SQPreview.EXE are no longer needed or distributed.
  • A bug that caused 0 to be entered when you typed a value for the join weight of a relation was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error if you had diagnostic logging turned on and refreshed a database more than once was fixed.
  • A bug that caused an error if you referenced the FilterConditions collection in a DataEngine.FilterChanged script was fixed.
  • Stonefield Query now works better with the Progress database engine.
  • A bug that caused an error after encrypting or decrypting a project was fixed.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Stonefield Query for Sage MAS 90-200 3.3

We released version 3.3 of Stonefield Query for Sage MAS 90-200 today. The list of new and enhanced features in version 3.3 is extensive; see the online help for complete details. Here are the major new features.

Report Designer

  • The new Formula Editor allows you to create your own formulas without using the Advanced Report Designer or customizing the data dictionary.
  • The new Show percentage of total option in the Format page of the Field Properties dialog automatically adds a new column to the report showing the percentage that the field is of the subtotal in detail lines, of the next level of grouping in subgroup footers, and of the grand total for group footers.
  • Turn on the new Show totals in group headers option in Step 5 of the Quick Report Wizard and the Options page of the Reports Explorer to display group totals in the group header rather than the group footer.
  • Stonefield Query now supports Crystal Reports reports. You can add them to Stonefield Query using the External Report Wizard.
  • The Preview window is no longer modal, meaning you can open multiple instances. Also, the new Preview reports in tabbed pages setting in the Options dialog allows you to determine whether different preview windows are used when you run more than one report or whether the reports appear as different tabs in the same preview window.
  • There are several new output options available. You can specify that a timestamp is added to the file created to prevent overwriting existing files, that the file emailed to someone shouldn't be deleted after the email is sent, and what filename to use for the emailed file.
  • Previous versions of Stonefield Query create a report as a PDF file when emailing the report to someone. You can now specify the type of file used as an attachment.
  • You can now specify that each group in a report should be output to a separate file or email and that the email address should come from a field in the report itself. This can be used, for example, to email invoices to customers; the report is grouped by customer name and includes the customer's email address, so each customer's records are emailed to them.
  • You can now sort fields in database order or alphabetical order in Step 2 of the report wizards.
  • You can now tell Stonefield Query to display in the Tables drop-down list only those tables related to tables already appearing in the selected list.
  • Reports are now stored as export files with an SFX extension in a folder structure that exactly matches the folders in the Reports Explorer.
  • The new Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog allows you to specify whether Stonefield Query or the database engine does data summarization. This may significantly improve the performance of certain types of reports.
  • The new Run report with no records option in Step 5 of the report wizards and the Options page in the Reports Explorer allows you to run a report when there are no records that match your conditions.

Stonefield Query for AccountMate 3.3

We released version 3.3 of Stonefield Query for AccountMate LAN and SQL today. The list of new and enhanced features in version 3.3 is extensive; see the online help for complete details. Here are the major new features.

Report Designer

  • The new Formula Editor allows you to create your own formulas without using the Advanced Report Designer or customizing the data dictionary.
  • The new Show percentage of total option in the Format page of the Field Properties dialog automatically adds a new column to the report showing the percentage that the field is of the subtotal in detail lines, of the next level of grouping in subgroup footers, and of the grand total for group footers.
  • Turn on the new Show totals in group headers option in Step 5 of the Quick Report Wizard and the Options page of the Reports Explorer to display group totals in the group header rather than the group footer.
  • Stonefield Query now supports Crystal Reports reports. You can add them to Stonefield Query using the External Report Wizard.
  • The Preview window is no longer modal, meaning you can open multiple instances. Also, the new Preview reports in tabbed pages setting in the Options dialog allows you to determine whether different preview windows are used when you run more than one report or whether the reports appear as different tabs in the same preview window.
  • There are several new output options available. You can specify that a timestamp is added to the file created to prevent overwriting existing files, that the file emailed to someone shouldn't be deleted after the email is sent, and what filename to use for the emailed file.
  • Previous versions of Stonefield Query create a report as a PDF file when emailing the report to someone. You can now specify the type of file used as an attachment.
  • You can now specify that each group in a report should be output to a separate file or email and that the email address should come from a field in the report itself. This can be used, for example, to email invoices to customers; the report is grouped by customer name and includes the customer's email address, so each customer's records are emailed to them.
  • You can now sort fields in database order or alphabetical order in Step 2 of the report wizards.
  • You can now tell Stonefield Query to display in the Tables drop-down list only those tables related to tables already appearing in the selected list.
  • Reports are now stored as export files with an SFX extension in a folder structure that exactly matches the folders in the Reports Explorer.
  • The new Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog allows you to specify whether Stonefield Query or the database engine does data summarization. This may significantly improve the performance of certain types of reports.
  • The new Run report with no records option in Step 5 of the report wizards and the Options page in the Reports Explorer allows you to run a report when there are no records that match your conditions.