Calculating the Number of Days Between Dates

Suppose you want to know how long it took to ship an item. That is, you need to calculate the number of days between the date an item was ordered and when it was shipped. Calculating the number of days between dates is easy in Stonefield Query: just create a formula that subtracts the two date fields, such as:

ShippedDate – OrderDate

However, there may be a few complications with this.

Handling null dates

What should the number of days be if the item hasn’t shipped yet? If ShippedDate is null (that is, an unknown value), ShippedDate – OrderDate is also null, which displays as blank in Stonefield Query. If that’s what you want, great. If not, adjust the formula to display a special value in that case, such as:

IIF(ISNULL(ShippedDate), DATE(), ShippedDate) – OrderDate

which displays the number of days between the order date and today if the item hasn’t shipped, or:

IIF(ISNULL(ShippedDate), -1000, ShippedDate – OrderDate)

which displays –1000.

Note that you can’t use something like:

IIF(ISNULL(ShippedDate), "Not shipped", ShippedDate – OrderDate)

because the formula is supposed to be numeric but “Not shipped” isn’t numeric.

Handling weekends

Do you ship on weekends? If not, the number of days it took to ship an item may be overstated because the formula counts days even when you’re not open. For example, if something was ordered on Friday and shipped on Monday, the difference is three days when it should really be one.

In that case, you need a more complicated formula, one that subtracts weekend days. To do that, use an expression of:

WeekendSpan(OrderDate, ShippedDate)

After you tab out of the Expression textbox in the Formula Editor, Stonefield Query tells you that a function named WeekendSpan can’t be found and asks if you’d like to create it. Choose Yes and paste the following code into the code editor window that appears:

function WeekendSpan(tdStart, tdEnd)
local lnWeekendDays, lnI, ldDate, lnDay, lnSpan
lnWeekendDays = 0
for lnI = 1 to tdEnd - tdStart
      ldDate = tdStart + lnI
      lnDay  = dow(ldDate)
      if lnDay = 1 or lnDay = 7
            lnWeekendDays = lnWeekendDays + 1
      endif
next
lnSpan = tdEnd - tdStart - lnWeekendDays
return lnSpan

This code assumes you’re closed on Saturday and Sunday; the DOW function gives the day of the week for the specified date, which is 7 for Saturday and 1 for Sunday. Adjust the code as necessary if, say, you’re closed on Friday and Saturday and open on Sunday.

Handling holidays

This code doesn’t account for holidays, such as December 25 or January 1. To check for dates like that, change the code to:

function WeekendSpan(tdStart, tdEnd)
local lnWeekendDays, lnI, ldDate, lnDay, lnSpan
lnWeekendDays = 0
for lnI = 1 to tdEnd - tdStart
    ldDate = tdStart + lnI
    lnDay  = dow(ldDate)
    if lnDay = 1 or lnDay = 7 or IsHoliday(ldDate)
        lnWeekendDays = lnWeekendDays + 1
    endif
next
lnSpan = tdEnd - tdStart - lnWeekendDays
return lnSpan

function IsHoliday(tdDate)
local laHolidays[2], llHoliday, lnI
laHolidays[1] = date(2015, 12, 25)
laHolidays[2] = date(2016, 1, 1)
llHoliday     = .F.
for lnI = 1 to alen(laHolidays)
    if month(laHolidays[lnI]) = month(tdDate) and ;
        day(laHolidays[lnI]) = day(tdDate)
        llHoliday = .T.
        exit
    endif
next
return llHoliday

(New code is shown in bold.)

Note that you have to dimension the laHolidays array to the number of holidays and set each element in the array to the appropriate date (don’t worry about the year part of the date; the code only checks month and day) as this example code does.

If you need to handle holidays that aren’t on fixed days, such as Thanksgiving in the U.S., you need to code for that specifically, such as:

if lnDay = 1 or lnDay = 7 or IsHoliday(ldDate) or ;
    ldDate = DATE(2015, 11, 26)

Conclusion

As you can see, date math can be very simple or it can be more complicated, depending on your needs. However, it’s good to know that Stonefield Query can handle even the most complex date calculations you need.

Stonefield Query for GoldMine Version 5.2

We are pleased to announce the release of version 5.2 of Stonefield Query for GoldMine. There are lots of new features in this release.

Report Designer

• Stonefield Query is compatible with GoldMine 2015.
• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• Four new sample reports have been added: Chart Sorted Descending by Category, Dashboard Including Quick Report, Field Background Color, and Most Recent Three Opportunities by Customer.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, shows sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.

Stonefield Query for Act! Version 5.2

We are pleased to announce the release of version 5.2 of Stonefield Query for Act!. There are lots of new features in this release.

Report Designer

• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• Four new Act! 2010+ sample reports have been added: Chart Sorted Descending by Category, Dashboard Including Quick Report, Field Background Color, and Most Recent Three Opportunities by Customer.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, show sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.

Customer Portal is Now Live

We have a new customer portal! This portal allows you to manage your Stonefield Query licenses and will later provide other features including links for downloading current and older versions and managing your software maintenance.

To access the portal, go to https://sqportal.stonefieldquery.com. You can also choose “Customer Portal” from the Support menu of StonefieldSoftware.com or StonefieldQuery.com. The login page appears:

The first time you access the portal, you’ll need to register so click the Register link.

In the Create a New Account page, enter your email address, a password (entered twice to confirm), and one of your Stonefield Query serial numbers. To get your serial number, run Stonefield Query, choose About from the help menu, and click the blue “Serial Number” text to copy your serial number to the clipboard; you can then paste it into the Serial # box in the Create a New Account page.

Whether you’ve just registered or not, you’ll see the Customer Portal next. It shows a list of your Stonefield Query licenses, including serial number, number of seats, product name, type of license, whether it’s activated or not, when the software maintenance expires, and when it was last activated. The Filter box allows you to enter a serial number or any other text to search on. You can sort on any column in the list by clicking the column header. Click it again to reverse the sort order.

There are a couple of blue buttons in the list. The button beside the serial number copies that serial number to the clipboard. The button beside Last Activated On displays the Manage Serial Number dialog.

This dialog allows you to activate or deactivate a license. Use the blue “lock” button to activate an unactivated license (it’s more convenient to do this using the License Manager in Stonefield Query but it’s here in case you need it). Use the “unlock” button to deactivate a license, such as if you want to move it to a different computer. The list below the buttons shows previous activations of the license, which may be helpful if you’re trying to track down a license problem due to the same serial number being used on more than one system.

We’re sure you’ll like the new portal. Please send any feedback to websupport@stonefieldquery.com.

Stonefield Query for HEAT Version 5.2

We are please to announce the release of version 5.2 of Stonefield Query for HEAT. There are lots of new features in this release.
Report Designer

• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, show sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.

Stonefield Query for AccountMate Version 5.2

We are please to announce the release of version 5.2 of Stonefield Query for AccountMate. There are lots of new features in this release.
Report Designer

• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, show sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.

Stonefield Query for Sage Pro ERP Version 5.2

We are please to announce the release of version 5.2 of Stonefield Query for Sage Pro ERP. There are lots of new features in this release.

Report Designer

• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, show sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.

Stonefield Query for Sage 300 Version 5.2

We are please to announce the release of version 5.2 of Stonefield Query for Sage 300. There are lots of new features in this release.

Report Designer

• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, show sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.
• The new sample report Inventory Valuation in the Sample Report\IC Reports folder shows the inventory valuation by item as of a specific date without regard to location.
• You can now report on the Certified Payroll Report Jobs (CPCPRJ) table in the Canadian Payroll module.

Stonefield Query SDK Version 5.2

We are please to announce the release of version 5.2 of the Stonefield Query SDK. There are lots of new features in this release.

Report Designer

• There are two new settings on the Grouping page of the Properties dialog for fields in step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard: Retrieve all records and Number of records per group. Turn off Retrieve all records and enter a value for Number of records per group to limit the number of records per group. You can combine this with sorting on one of the fields in the detail for the group to see the oldest or newest record. For example, suppose you want to see only the most recent activity for a customer. To do that, group on customer name, set Number of records per group to 1, and sort on the activity date in descending order.
• There's a new setting for formulas: Calculate value at group level. This setting allows certain formulas to be re-calculated at the group level rather than just being summed, such as profit margin or other types of ratio calculations for which summing and averaging don't work. To indicate that the formula should show group values in a report, set the Summary option for the formula in the report to a new choice: Group Calculation.
• A new type of filter operator is available for date fields: Is. When you choose this operator, you can select a date type to compare the field to, such as This Week, Last Year, or This Month to Date, from a drop-down list.
• Dashboards can now include all types of reports, not just charts and gauges. Note, however, that the dashboard window doesn't scroll so it's really only appropriate for short, informative reports.
• Step 2 of the report wizards now shows information about the field under the mouse pointer in a "balloon" tip. For the Available fields list, the balloon shows any comments about the field. For the Selected fields list in a quick report or label, the balloon shows how the field is formatted in the report: whether it's grouped or summed, what numeric or date format is used, and so on. This allows you to see at a glance information about the field without having to click the Properties button.
• You can now select more than one grouping field for a grouping formula. This is necessary for a formula that, for example, show sales for a certain date range by customer and product.
• A new type of output is available: Microsoft Excel - Data Only (Fast). This is similar to Microsoft Excel - Data Only but is faster and doesn't require that Excel is installed on the system. This format works better that Microsoft Excel - Data Only with scheduled reports because Excel doesn't always work correctly when run from a scheduled task.
• You can now specify whether category and series fields are sorted in ascending or descending order in a chart.
• You can now specify a background color for fields in a report in the Properties dialog. Sample text shows what the colors of the field will look like in the report. You can also revert to the default color for the field by turning on the new Use default color setting.
• You can now export and email a report layout to someone in one step: right-click the report in the Reports Explorer and choose Email Report File, enter their email address, and click Send.
• The Filter page in the Reports Explorer and report wizards has a new setting: Warning if no filter when report is run. This used to be a global option in the Options dialog but is now available on a report-by-report basis. The setting in the Options dialog was changed to Default warning if no filter when a report is run and it now determines what the default is for that setting for new reports.
• You can now specify the font for X-axis, Y-axis, and point labels in charts.
• When you output a cross-tab to a Microsoft Excel PivotTable, the PivotTable now supports the Show percentage of total, Show difference from previous column, Show percentage change, Column totals, Row totals, Display date as, and numeric format settings for the cross-tab report.
• The Options dialog no longer has a Date Format setting; the application now always uses the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel.
• If no output settings are specified when a report is run from the command line, the saved output settings for the report are used if there are any.
• If an advanced layout report has any images, such as a company logo, those images are included in the SFX file for the report. If you export the report and send the SFX file to someone but forget to send them the image files used by the report, the Import process they use to add the report to their reports list creates a new folder called Images and puts the images imbedded in the SFX file there. The benefit of this is that you no longer get an error about a missing image in this case.
• Some settings in the Options dialog now affect all users on a network: Create and display report snapshots, Send summary queries to database engine, Week starts on, and Year starts in. These settings are saved in Data.ini in the Data subdirectory of the program folder rather than in the Windows Registry where other settings are saved.
• The Show totals in group headers setting for quick reports is now available for advanced layout reports.
• The positions of the Advanced Layout, Chart, and Edit buttons in step 5 of the Quick Report and Cross-Tab Wizards was changed a little to accommodate other controls.
• The Alignment setting in the Properties dialogs for fields now displays icons for left, right, and center alignment.

Stonefield Query Studio

• The Tag for News Feed configuration setting can now contain multiple tags if they are separated with commas.
• A new step 2 of the New Project Wizard allows you to specify that core Stonefield Query files should be named differently when installed on a user's system, such as naming SFQuery.exe as MyApp.exe. This is easier than the manual steps you previously had to use to create a branded version of Stonefield Query.
• The Application object has a new Log method.
• A new set of files, IsFunctions.DBF and IsFunctions.FPT, must be distributed with Stonefield Query so be sure to regenerate your setup script or update your existing one accordingly.
• Editing the West Wind HTML Help Builder project created with the Create Help Files function now requires West Wind HTML Help Builder version 5.0.
• If the user was editing a report and an error occurred, the SFX file attached to the email sent with the error report includes the user's changes.

Stonefield Query for GoldMine 5.1

We are please to announce the release of version 5.1 of Stonefield Query for GoldMine. There are lots of new features in this release.

• Several changes were made to gauges. First, the gauge has a new, more attractive appearance, including an option to show the current value using "digital" digits like a speedometer. Second, the performance of gauges on some systems was dramatically improved. Third, there are several new settings: you can specify that the goal comes from a specific value rather than a field, saving you having to create a formula for this purpose; you can specify the font and color of the gauge labels; you can specify band end values as amounts instead of percentages; and you can specify at what percentage the goal value appears. Also, the "distinct" setting in the Customize Wizard is now available.
• You can now edit labels using the Advanced Report Designer, allowing you to move fields around or tweak the layout.
• The new Grid Bars option for charts draws alternating horizontal bars in a chart, making a more attractive chart.
• The new Scheduled Tasks function in the Tools menu allows you to display the status of your scheduled reports, including last run date and result, and edit or delete schedules.
• The new Find Reports Using a Field and Find Reports by Name functions allow you to see which reports include a particular field, either in the report itself or in the filter conditions for the report, or to find reports containing text you specify in the name.
• A new Summary option for grouping formulas, Combine, allows you to combine the values of a field from several records. This is useful, for example, to create a formula that lists all of the products purchased by a customers in a single record rather than one record per purchase.
• The Formula Editor has a new code editor button. This button allows you to create and edit custom functions without having to put code in RepProcs.prg and without having to exit Stonefield Query every time you make a change to the code.
• The Formula Editor also has a new security button. This button allows you to indicate which user groups can see the formula and which can modify or delete the formula. The Formulas dialog now only displays formulas the user has access to and only enabled the Edit and Remove buttons if the user is in a group that has those permissions.
• The Formula Editor also has a Default Summary setting. This allows you to determine if numeric fields are automatically summed, averaged, or summarized in some other way by default.
• The Formulas dialog can now filter the list of formulas to only those in a certain table or Module. It also has a new Reports button showing you which reports use the selected formula.
• The report wizards have a new Save As button that allows you to save the report as a new report rather than having to first choose Copy and then edit the copy.
• You can now turn on the Ask at runtime setting for a filter condition using an expression as the value to compare to. In that case, the evaluated value of the expression is displayed as the default value for the condition in the ask-at-runtime dialog.
• The Filter Condition dialog no longer has a More button; the dialog is always expanded so the options in it are more discoverable. Also, there are new Ends With and Does Not End With operators and a new Custom Description setting.
• You can now select the direction (ascending or descending) of the sort of a group in the Advanced Report Designer.
• You can now indicate whether a header row of field names is included when outputting a report to Microsoft Excel data-only, comma-delimited, or text files.
• You can now specify the starting month of a fiscal year in the Options dialog so dates displayed as quarter use the correct quarter number for your fiscal year.
• The Maintain Users and Groups dialog now has a spot for the email address for each user. This address is used to send emails to technical support if the user hasn't filled in the settings in the Email tab of the Options dialog.
• You now get a warning when running a dashboard if any of the reports are missing.
• Temporary files more than a week old are now deleted when you close Stonefield Query to keep your temporary files folder from getting too full.
• You can no longer enter an email address formatted as "Some Name <somename@somecompany.com>" because that causes a scheduled report to fail.
• The Automatically sum numeric fields setting in the Options dialog was removed, as it's now controlled on a field-by-field basis.
• You now get a warning if you schedule a report to output to or email a file on a mapped drive, since drive mappings don't work well in scheduled tasks.
• Step 2 of the report wizards no longer has Add All and Remove All buttons, since those were were rarely used and accidentally using them causes changes you likely didn't expect.
• Turn on the new No message if no records setting for dashboards to not display a warning if there are no records for a particular chart in the dashboard.
• Importing a report containing an updated formula is now easier. In previous versions, if a formula was edited (for example, the expression was changed) at another site and a report containing that formula was exported and sent to you, importing the report didn't update the formula at your site. Instead, you had to delete the formula before importing the report. Now, when you import a report containing an existing formula that's different than your copy of the formula, you're prompted if you want to replace your formula with the one in the report.
• Importing an update to an existing report is also now easier: you are prompted if you want to replace the existing report with the one being imported. If you choose No, the imported report is given a new name (the same behavior as in previous versions).
• You now get a printer dialog when clicking the Print dialog in the Preview window for a chart.
• The dialog displayed when you click the Email button in the Preview window now has the same options as the Output page of the Reports Explorer.
• If another user is logged in with the same name, the application doesn't terminate but instead redisplays the Login dialog.
• You can now specify a width greater than 1000 for a chart, which is helpful if it's output in landscape.
• The Schedule Wizard now remembers the user name and password in the last step so you don't have to enter them every time you create a schedule.
• The size and position of the Select Email Addresses dialog is now remembered.
• If you use an ask-at-runtime filter condition for a grouping formula, the ask-at-runtime dialog now displays the name of the grouping formula so you can tell which formula the dialog is asking for values.
• You can now choose "Expression" for the Compare to setting for a filter condition using a formula.

Stonefield Query for Act! 5.1

We are please to announce the release of version 5.1 of Stonefield Query for Act!. There are lots of new features in this release.

• Several changes were made to gauges. First, the gauge has a new, more attractive appearance, including an option to show the current value using "digital" digits like a speedometer. Second, the performance of gauges on some systems was dramatically improved. Third, there are several new settings: you can specify that the goal comes from a specific value rather than a field, saving you having to create a formula for this purpose; you can specify the font and color of the gauge labels; you can specify band end values as amounts instead of percentages; and you can specify at what percentage the goal value appears. Also, the "distinct" setting in the Customize Wizard is now available.
• You can now edit labels using the Advanced Report Designer, allowing you to move fields around or tweak the layout.
• The new Grid Bars option for charts draws alternating horizontal bars in a chart, making a more attractive chart.
• The new Scheduled Tasks function in the Tools menu allows you to display the status of your scheduled reports, including last run date and result, and edit or delete schedules.
• The new Find Reports Using a Field and Find Reports by Name functions allow you to see which reports include a particular field, either in the report itself or in the filter conditions for the report, or to find reports containing text you specify in the name.
• A new Summary option for grouping formulas, Combine, allows you to combine the values of a field from several records. This is useful, for example, to create a formula that lists all of the products purchased by a customers in a single record rather than one record per purchase.
• The Formula Editor has a new code editor button. This button allows you to create and edit custom functions without having to put code in RepProcs.prg and without having to exit Stonefield Query every time you make a change to the code.
• The Formula Editor also has a new security button. This button allows you to indicate which user groups can see the formula and which can modify or delete the formula. The Formulas dialog now only displays formulas the user has access to and only enabled the Edit and Remove buttons if the user is in a group that has those permissions.
• The Formula Editor also has a Default Summary setting. This allows you to determine if numeric fields are automatically summed, averaged, or summarized in some other way by default.
• The Formulas dialog can now filter the list of formulas to only those in a certain table or Module. It also has a new Reports button showing you which reports use the selected formula.
• The report wizards have a new Save As button that allows you to save the report as a new report rather than having to first choose Copy and then edit the copy.
• You can now turn on the Ask at runtime setting for a filter condition using an expression as the value to compare to. In that case, the evaluated value of the expression is displayed as the default value for the condition in the ask-at-runtime dialog.
• The Filter Condition dialog no longer has a More button; the dialog is always expanded so the options in it are more discoverable. Also, there are new Ends With and Does Not End With operators and a new Custom Description setting.
• You can now select the direction (ascending or descending) of the sort of a group in the Advanced Report Designer.
• You can now indicate whether a header row of field names is included when outputting a report to Microsoft Excel data-only, comma-delimited, or text files.
• You can now specify the starting month of a fiscal year in the Options dialog so dates displayed as quarter use the correct quarter number for your fiscal year.
• The Maintain Users and Groups dialog now has a spot for the email address for each user. This address is used to send emails to technical support if the user hasn't filled in the settings in the Email tab of the Options dialog.
• You now get a warning when running a dashboard if any of the reports are missing.
• Temporary files more than a week old are now deleted when you close Stonefield Query to keep your temporary files folder from getting too full.
• You can no longer enter an email address formatted as "Some Name <somename@somecompany.com>" because that causes a scheduled report to fail.
• The Automatically sum numeric fields setting in the Options dialog was removed, as it's now controlled on a field-by-field basis.
• You now get a warning if you schedule a report to output to or email a file on a mapped drive, since drive mappings don't work well in scheduled tasks.
• Step 2 of the report wizards no longer has Add All and Remove All buttons, since those were were rarely used and accidentally using them causes changes you likely didn't expect.
• Turn on the new No message if no records setting for dashboards to not display a warning if there are no records for a particular chart in the dashboard.
• Importing a report containing an updated formula is now easier. In previous versions, if a formula was edited (for example, the expression was changed) at another site and a report containing that formula was exported and sent to you, importing the report didn't update the formula at your site. Instead, you had to delete the formula before importing the report. Now, when you import a report containing an existing formula that's different than your copy of the formula, you're prompted if you want to replace your formula with the one in the report.
• Importing an update to an existing report is also now easier: you are prompted if you want to replace the existing report with the one being imported. If you choose No, the imported report is given a new name (the same behavior as in previous versions).
• You now get a printer dialog when clicking the Print dialog in the Preview window for a chart.
• The dialog displayed when you click the Email button in the Preview window now has the same options as the Output page of the Reports Explorer.
• If another user is logged in with the same name, the application doesn't terminate but instead redisplays the Login dialog.
• You can now specify a width greater than 1000 for a chart, which is helpful if it's output in landscape.
• The Schedule Wizard now remembers the user name and password in the last step so you don't have to enter them every time you create a schedule.
• The size and position of the Select Email Addresses dialog is now remembered.
• If you use an ask-at-runtime filter condition for a grouping formula, the ask-at-runtime dialog now displays the name of the grouping formula so you can tell which formula the dialog is asking for values.
• You can now choose "Expression" for the Compare to setting for a filter condition using a formula.

Stonefield Query for HEAT 5.1

We are please to announce the release of version 5.1 of Stonefield Query for HEAT. There are lots of new features in this release.

• Several changes were made to gauges. First, the gauge has a new, more attractive appearance, including an option to show the current value using "digital" digits like a speedometer. Second, the performance of gauges on some systems was dramatically improved. Third, there are several new settings: you can specify that the goal comes from a specific value rather than a field, saving you having to create a formula for this purpose; you can specify the font and color of the gauge labels; you can specify band end values as amounts instead of percentages; and you can specify at what percentage the goal value appears. Also, the "distinct" setting in the Customize Wizard is now available.
• You can now edit labels using the Advanced Report Designer, allowing you to move fields around or tweak the layout.
• The new Grid Bars option for charts draws alternating horizontal bars in a chart, making a more attractive chart.
• The new Scheduled Tasks function in the Tools menu allows you to display the status of your scheduled reports, including last run date and result, and edit or delete schedules.
• The new Find Reports Using a Field and Find Reports by Name functions allow you to see which reports include a particular field, either in the report itself or in the filter conditions for the report, or to find reports containing text you specify in the name.
• A new Summary option for grouping formulas, Combine, allows you to combine the values of a field from several records. This is useful, for example, to create a formula that lists all of the products purchased by a customers in a single record rather than one record per purchase.
• The Formula Editor has a new code editor button. This button allows you to create and edit custom functions without having to put code in RepProcs.prg and without having to exit Stonefield Query every time you make a change to the code.
• The Formula Editor also has a new security button. This button allows you to indicate which user groups can see the formula and which can modify or delete the formula. The Formulas dialog now only displays formulas the user has access to and only enabled the Edit and Remove buttons if the user is in a group that has those permissions.
• The Formula Editor also has a Default Summary setting. This allows you to determine if numeric fields are automatically summed, averaged, or summarized in some other way by default.
• The Formulas dialog can now filter the list of formulas to only those in a certain table or Module. It also has a new Reports button showing you which reports use the selected formula.
• The report wizards have a new Save As button that allows you to save the report as a new report rather than having to first choose Copy and then edit the copy.
• You can now turn on the Ask at runtime setting for a filter condition using an expression as the value to compare to. In that case, the evaluated value of the expression is displayed as the default value for the condition in the ask-at-runtime dialog.
• The Filter Condition dialog no longer has a More button; the dialog is always expanded so the options in it are more discoverable. Also, there are new Ends With and Does Not End With operators and a new Custom Description setting.
• You can now select the direction (ascending or descending) of the sort of a group in the Advanced Report Designer.
• You can now indicate whether a header row of field names is included when outputting a report to Microsoft Excel data-only, comma-delimited, or text files.
• You can now specify the starting month of a fiscal year in the Options dialog so dates displayed as quarter use the correct quarter number for your fiscal year.
• The Maintain Users and Groups dialog now has a spot for the email address for each user. This address is used to send emails to technical support if the user hasn't filled in the settings in the Email tab of the Options dialog.
• You now get a warning when running a dashboard if any of the reports are missing.
• Temporary files more than a week old are now deleted when you close Stonefield Query to keep your temporary files folder from getting too full.
• You can no longer enter an email address formatted as "Some Name <somename@somecompany.com>" because that causes a scheduled report to fail.
• The Automatically sum numeric fields setting in the Options dialog was removed, as it's now controlled on a field-by-field basis.
• You now get a warning if you schedule a report to output to or email a file on a mapped drive, since drive mappings don't work well in scheduled tasks.
• Step 2 of the report wizards no longer has Add All and Remove All buttons, since those were were rarely used and accidentally using them causes changes you likely didn't expect.
• Turn on the new No message if no records setting for dashboards to not display a warning if there are no records for a particular chart in the dashboard.
• Importing a report containing an updated formula is now easier. In previous versions, if a formula was edited (for example, the expression was changed) at another site and a report containing that formula was exported and sent to you, importing the report didn't update the formula at your site. Instead, you had to delete the formula before importing the report. Now, when you import a report containing an existing formula that's different than your copy of the formula, you're prompted if you want to replace your formula with the one in the report.
• Importing an update to an existing report is also now easier: you are prompted if you want to replace the existing report with the one being imported. If you choose No, the imported report is given a new name (the same behavior as in previous versions).
• You now get a printer dialog when clicking the Print dialog in the Preview window for a chart.
• The dialog displayed when you click the Email button in the Preview window now has the same options as the Output page of the Reports Explorer.
• If another user is logged in with the same name, the application doesn't terminate but instead redisplays the Login dialog.
• You can now specify a width greater than 1000 for a chart, which is helpful if it's output in landscape.
• The Schedule Wizard now remembers the user name and password in the last step so you don't have to enter them every time you create a schedule.
• The size and position of the Select Email Addresses dialog is now remembered.
• If you use an ask-at-runtime filter condition for a grouping formula, the ask-at-runtime dialog now displays the name of the grouping formula so you can tell which formula the dialog is asking for values.
• You can now choose "Expression" for the Compare to setting for a filter condition using a formula.

Stonefield Query for AccountMate 5.1

We are please to announce the release of version 5.1 of Stonefield Query for AccountMate. There are lots of new features in this release.

• AccountMate 9.3 for SQL is now supported.
• Several changes were made to gauges. First, the gauge has a new, more attractive appearance, including an option to show the current value using "digital" digits like a speedometer. Second, the performance of gauges on some systems was dramatically improved. Third, there are several new settings: you can specify that the goal comes from a specific value rather than a field, saving you having to create a formula for this purpose; you can specify the font and color of the gauge labels; you can specify band end values as amounts instead of percentages; and you can specify at what percentage the goal value appears. Also, the "distinct" setting in the Customize Wizard is now available.
• You can now edit labels using the Advanced Report Designer, allowing you to move fields around or tweak the layout.
• The new Grid Bars option for charts draws alternating horizontal bars in a chart, making a more attractive chart.
• The new Scheduled Tasks function in the Tools menu allows you to display the status of your scheduled reports, including last run date and result, and edit or delete schedules.
• The new Find Reports Using a Field and Find Reports by Name functions allow you to see which reports include a particular field, either in the report itself or in the filter conditions for the report, or to find reports containing text you specify in the name.
• A new Summary option for grouping formulas, Combine, allows you to combine the values of a field from several records. This is useful, for example, to create a formula that lists all of the products purchased by a customers in a single record rather than one record per purchase.
• The Formula Editor has a new code editor button. This button allows you to create and edit custom functions without having to put code in RepProcs.prg and without having to exit Stonefield Query every time you make a change to the code.
• The Formula Editor also has a new security button. This button allows you to indicate which user groups can see the formula and which can modify or delete the formula. The Formulas dialog now only displays formulas the user has access to and only enabled the Edit and Remove buttons if the user is in a group that has those permissions.
• The Formula Editor also has a Default Summary setting. This allows you to determine if numeric fields are automatically summed, averaged, or summarized in some other way by default.
• The Formulas dialog can now filter the list of formulas to only those in a certain table or Module. It also has a new Reports button showing you which reports use the selected formula.
• The report wizards have a new Save As button that allows you to save the report as a new report rather than having to first choose Copy and then edit the copy.
• You can now turn on the Ask at runtime setting for a filter condition using an expression as the value to compare to. In that case, the evaluated value of the expression is displayed as the default value for the condition in the ask-at-runtime dialog.
• The Filter Condition dialog no longer has a More button; the dialog is always expanded so the options in it are more discoverable. Also, there are new Ends With and Does Not End With operators and a new Custom Description setting.
• You can now select the direction (ascending or descending) of the sort of a group in the Advanced Report Designer.
• You can now indicate whether a header row of field names is included when outputting a report to Microsoft Excel data-only, comma-delimited, or text files.
• You can now specify the starting month of a fiscal year in the Options dialog so dates displayed as quarter use the correct quarter number for your fiscal year.
• The Maintain Users and Groups dialog now has a spot for the email address for each user. This address is used to send emails to technical support if the user hasn't filled in the settings in the Email tab of the Options dialog.
• You now get a warning when running a dashboard if any of the reports are missing.
• Temporary files more than a week old are now deleted when you close Stonefield Query to keep your temporary files folder from getting too full.
• You can no longer enter an email address formatted as "Some Name <somename@somecompany.com>" because that causes a scheduled report to fail.
• The Automatically sum numeric fields setting in the Options dialog was removed, as it's now controlled on a field-by-field basis.
• You now get a warning if you schedule a report to output to or email a file on a mapped drive, since drive mappings don't work well in scheduled tasks.
• Step 2 of the report wizards no longer has Add All and Remove All buttons, since those were were rarely used and accidentally using them causes changes you likely didn't expect.
• Turn on the new No message if no records setting for dashboards to not display a warning if there are no records for a particular chart in the dashboard.
• Importing a report containing an updated formula is now easier. In previous versions, if a formula was edited (for example, the expression was changed) at another site and a report containing that formula was exported and sent to you, importing the report didn't update the formula at your site. Instead, you had to delete the formula before importing the report. Now, when you import a report containing an existing formula that's different than your copy of the formula, you're prompted if you want to replace your formula with the one in the report.
• Importing an update to an existing report is also now easier: you are prompted if you want to replace the existing report with the one being imported. If you choose No, the imported report is given a new name (the same behavior as in previous versions).
• You now get a printer dialog when clicking the Print dialog in the Preview window for a chart.
• The dialog displayed when you click the Email button in the Preview window now has the same options as the Output page of the Reports Explorer.
• If another user is logged in with the same name, the application doesn't terminate but instead redisplays the Login dialog.
• You can now specify a width greater than 1000 for a chart, which is helpful if it's output in landscape.
• The Schedule Wizard now remembers the user name and password in the last step so you don't have to enter them every time you create a schedule.
• The size and position of the Select Email Addresses dialog is now remembered.
• If you use an ask-at-runtime filter condition for a grouping formula, the ask-at-runtime dialog now displays the name of the grouping formula so you can tell which formula the dialog is asking for values.
• You can now choose "Expression" for the Compare to setting for a filter condition using a formula.