Stonefield Query SDK Version 6.0

We are pleased to announce the release of version 6.0 of the Stonefield Query SDK. There are lots of new features in this release.

Report Designer

• You can now add subreports to quick reports.

• A new type of formatting is available for date fields: Fiscal Year. For example, if the Year Starts In setting in the Options dialog is set to November, a date of 12/06/2016 displays 2017 (since it's in the 2017 fiscal year) when the date is formatted as Fiscal Year.

• You can now include reports that have ask-at-runtime filter conditions in a batch report. When you run the batch report, it now prompts you for all unique conditions for all reports at the start of the run and uses those values for the conditions in all reports. That way, you aren't asked more than once for the same value.

• You can now determine whether scheduled reports run even if there are no records that match the filter conditions for the report so you don't have to wonder why the schedule appears not to run when there's no output.

• You can now link a gauge report to another report.

• Microsoft Excel data-only (fast) output now outputs to XLSX rather than XLS files. Also, it now supports appending to an existing file.

• The Calculate value at group level setting in the Formula Editor was changed to a Group recalculation button which brings up a dialog allowing you to specify the numerator, denominator, and expression to use when recalculating the formula's value at the group level. This was necessary because the application couldn't always parse complex expressions for the recalculation.

• You can now turn on Append to existing file when outputting to CSV and text files.

• You can now determine whether the group value is added to the file name when outputting each group to a separate email. This can also be controlled with the AddGroupValue command line setting and the lAddGroupToFileName property of report objects.

• The new Format function makes it easy to create expressions combining text and non-character values.

• The Reports Explorer now displays the Favorites folder first in the list.

• The Analyze Database function was renamed to Analyze Reports. Rather than looking for fields containing distinct values in the database, it now marks as "favorite" any table and field used in a report.

• There are several new colorful templates available: Stylish Blue, Stylish Green, Stylish Mixed Colors, and Stylish Red.

• You can now preview a template with sample records by choosing Preview Report when in the Advanced Report Designer for the template.

• The Scheduled Tasks dialog now displays the date and time a task is scheduled to run at next and allows you to sort the list of tasks by next run date.

• The Cross-Tab and Chart wizards now display balloon tips for the field under your mouse pointer in step 3.

• You can now specify a "sync" folder in Data.ini. This allows you to copy reports to a server and have all workstations download them.

• You can specify the location of temporary files when a schedule is run if necessary.

• You can now display a marker at the goal value in a gauge and specify the color of the marker.

• You can now set the timeout value for the email server in the Email page of the Options dialog.

• A scheduled report or command line now returns code -33 if the schedule is supposed to email the report but email settings haven't been set up. It returns code -34 if the folder for the specified output file doesn't exist.

• If you import a report using a folder that has the same name as an existing folder but a different structure (for example, you have a folder named Daily Reports that's inside the Management Reports folder and the imported report belongs in a folder also named Daily Report but that's inside the My Reports folder), you're now prompted if you want the report to go into the folder that's on your system (continuing this example, the Daily Reports that's inside the Management Reports folder).

• Double-clicking an SFX file now imports that file if necessary. This resolves the issue of sending an updated SFX file to someone and they double-click it instead of importing it so they run the old one.

• You are now warned if you run a summary report with fields that won't appear because they aren't grouped or summed.

• Reports now have an AfterPreview script where you can code what happens when the Preview window is closed for the report.

• When you save a report in the wizard, any existing snapshot for the report is removed since the layout may have changed.

• Report objects have a cMergeFrom property you can use to programmatically set the Merge From setting for Microsoft Word merge output.

• You can now specify in the Advanced Report Designer that an image with an absolute position (such as a watermark) should appear on top of rather than behind the text in the report.

Stonefield Query Studio

• The new Export to Microsoft Excel function allows you to easily document your data dictionary.

• The Values Method controls in the Calc page of Stonefield Query Studio were moved to the Comments page (which was renamed to Other) to make room for a new field property: Display Expression. This property is similar to Output Expression except it allows the result set for a report to contain data in a proper sorted order but the values displayed in a report to be different. For example, using an expression like ICASE(Value = 1, 'Low', Value = 2, 'Medium', 'High') means that the result set will contain 1, 2, or 3, possibly sorted in that order, but the values are displayed as Low, Medium, and High, which wouldn't sort properly if the ICASE expression was used for the Output Expression.

• The new ReportEngine.PreviewReport script allows you to do something when the report is previewed, such as add a button to the Preview window's toolbar that performs an action when clicked.

• Report objects have a MergeFrom property you can use to programmatically set the Merge From setting for Microsoft Word merge output.

• The Application object has new CreateObject and OpenForm methods.

• Database objects have a NameDelimiters property.

• The new Go Back button in Studio's status bar is a quick way to jump back to a previous object.

• Stonefield Query Studio can now create relationships for foreign keys in any database engine, not just the ones (Microsoft SQL Server, Access, and Oracle) that were supported before.

• Stonefield Query Studio now requires version 5.0 of West Wind HTML Help Builder if you use HTML Help Builder to edit the generated help.

• You are now prompted for the name of a new virtual or subtable rather than having the name be assigned as VIRTUALtable or SUBtable.

• The new Use TOP 10 When Testing Relations option allows you to determine whether Studio uses a TOP 10 clause in the SQL statement used to test relations or limits the result set to 10 records with an ODBC function call. The latter can cause problems with some ODBC drivers so turn this on if that's the case for you.

• The default setting for the Enable Table/Field Favorites configuration setting was changed from False to True since Stonefield Query now treats any table and field used in a report as a favorite.

• Using a text file for a data source now supports more date formats, handles long text such as memos, and allows you to ignore header and footer lines in the file.

• You can now tell Studio to ignore the schema for tables when refreshing the data dictionary. Otherwise, if the schema for a table changed, it doesn't refresh.

• New error code -33 means the parameters specify the report is supposed to be emailed but email settings haven't been set up. New error code -34 means that the folder for the specified output file doesn't exist.