Stonefield Query SDK Version 4.3

We are pleased to announce the release of version 4.3 of the Stonefield Query SDK. Here are the new features in this version.

Report Designer

• You can now create batch reports. A batch report automatically runs several reports, outputting each to the desired destination. This is handy if, for example, you normally run the same three reports at the end of every week. Rather than choosing them one at a time, you can create a batch report that combines those three reports and just run it. You can even schedule batch reports.
• You can now append the output of a report to an existing Microsoft Excel output file. In that case, the report appears in a new worksheet (tab) within the spreadsheet. This even works if the file is already open in Excel. You can also now choose XLSX or XLS as the extension for a Microsoft Excel output file.
• Turning on the new Start each group on a new page option for the first row field in a cross-tab report causes each group of records to appear on its own page. You can also now turn on the Output each group as a separate file and Output each group as a separate email settings so each group is output to its own file or email.
• The new Delimited - Microsoft Excel Format output type outputs to a comma-separated values (CSV) file but uses Excel formatting so things like leading zeros are preserved when the file is opened in Excel.
• Formulas are now stored in the same folder as reports (in a file named CalcFields.DBF) so if the program runs on a workstation but reports are shared on a server, so are the formulas. For backward compatibility, the program will still look for CalcFields in the Data subdirectory of the program folder so you won't lose your formulas, so this works better for new installations rather than existing ones.
• You can now enter a formatted SQL statement in the SQL Statement step of the Customize Report dialog. For example, carriage returns and tabs are now permitted. This makes it easier to take a SQL statement from another application and paste it into a report's SQL statement. Note that this change now requires you to prefix procedural code with "*-" if you want to use code rather than a SQL statement (a rare occurrence).
• Microsoft Excel full-format output works better now: the output has a single page header at the top of the document and a single page footer at the bottom rather than header/footer sections where the pages would normally break, and the use of empty columns and rows for positioning is minimized.
• Stonefield Query now handles font scripts other than Western, such as Cyrillic or Greek. You can select the desired script in the Font dialog that appears when you click the font button in the Field Properties dialog of a report wizard or in the Advanced Report Designer.
• Clicking the Add All or Remove All buttons in Step 2 of the report wizards now display a prompt asking you to confirm if you want to do that to prevent inadvertently adding all fields in a table to a report or removing all fields from a report.
• The application no longer erases the diagnostic log (Diagnostic.txt in the Data subdirectory of the program folder) if KeepLog=Y is in Data.INI. This is useful for checking diagnostics over multiple runs, such as for scheduled reports.
• You can now resize dashboard windows to a much smaller size than before.
• You can now edit a chart that's included in a quick report with an advanced layout. The Size page in Step 4 of the Chart Wizard is now disabled in that case, since you cannot change the chart size.
• You can now click the serial number in the About dialog (available from the Help menu) to copy your serial number to the clipboard. This makes it easier to enter the serial number when creating a ticket in our online support ticket system.

Studio

• Each database can now have its own specific name delimiters (used to delimit table and field names containing spaces, dashes, or other illegal characters) and you can edit the delimiters in the Database properties page.
• The Subtable properties page now has a link to jump to the original table for the subtable.
• The new Update Virtual/Subtable to Match Main Table function updates the selected virtual or subtable to have the same fields as the main table the virtual or subtable was created from.
• You can now specify that certain tables should be handled differently when reading the structure of a database to Stonefield Query Studio by adding a "NoNative" section to SFQuery.INI. This prevents untrappable errors in the MySQL 5.1 driver on specific tables.
• Stonefield Query now automatically ignores Oracle system tables when reading the structure of a database.
• A new file, FoxTools.FLL, must be distributed with Stonefield Query.