Release History

Visimage3 Release History

Version 3.3.1.5 - Beta Version Released April 16, 2019

Enhancements:

• Execute (GO) button contains dropdown to allow easy switching between different output choices
• The filename for Local File Output can contain (or be) a Global variable. For example:

Name: C:\Path\SH-Summary_#currdate.xls

Name: #filename

Note that a host file can also be a global variable, however, in the case of host files, the syntax does not support embedding a variable in the name.

Name: #filename - This is valid

Name: SH-Summary_#currdate - Not valid.

• Excel output enhancements:

• Columns default to original data type

(This means that text fields containing numbers (ATM-CARD-ACCT) are no longer corrupted by Excel.)

• Better default handling of Visimage formats (especially percents)
• Auto create Excel tables
• Append option supports appending data to existing table or used range
• Append option can also replace/update data in existing table or used range
• Existing pivot tables and charts are refreshed when the data is appended/updated

• Task Scheduler Enhancements:

• General preferences includes a new option to use the UNC file name when scheduling a task for a context saved on a shared drive.

(Resolves a Windows issue when the Task Scheduler does not recognize the shared drive file name.)

• Likewise local file output to a shared drive will use the UNC filename if necessary.
• Enable Batch Key uses a new encryption method:

Batch access will need to be re-enabled once after installing this version, however, it should not be required again by future version updates.

Bug Fixes:

• Testing a connection on an initial install no longer fails with a missing path error
• Tooltips for Selected Topics are working (again).
• Disabling a task when executing an entire context (or when scheduling a task) now works. Previously, all tasks were executed regardless of their enable/disable status.
• When opening a context it was possible for Visimage to attach a secondary topic to the wrong database (eg LOANAP.VEHICLE-INFO instead of MEMBRS.VEHICLE-INFO). This has been fixed. We recommend that you remove LOANAP from your manager file if you no longer report from that database.
• sdtox no longer attempts to format a zero or blank date when creating asd or Excel file output.
• Fix a GPF caused by an invalid call to oSignalEvent

Version 3.3.1.3 - Beta Version Released December 11, 2018

Major Enhancements:

• Allow running multiple copies of Visimage3 concurrently on the same system.
• Ability to execute contexts in the background.
• Improved support of user prompts.
• Integration with Windows Task Scheduler.

Enhancements to User Prompts:

• Watch User Prompt Enhancements video.
• Responses to all prompts are now provided when the task is executed (not individually when the prompt is executed by AskPlus.)
• All prompt values are entered on a single screen.
• Check boxes to "Refresh Global Variables" and "Refresh Selection" appear in a single dialog (and are no longer in pop-up message boxes.)
• Execution requests can be cancelled (unless the dialog box does not appear, for example first execution with no user prompts)
• User prompt values are saved between executions and also saved in the context for future executions
• User prompts with the same name are shared throughout the context (the user only supplies the value once)
• The values used for user prompts are logged to the Server Tracing window, script files and scheduled task logs.
• The values used may also be automatically added to the "No Entries Qualified" message (see List > Options)
• By default, no quotes are added to the prompt value. The only exception, is quotes are automatically added to negative numbers.
• There is a new special syntax to use the prompt value with quotes:

?"PROMPT-NAME"

• Since no quotes are added, prompt values can be a list, for example:

LOAN-FILE.COLLATERAL = ?COLLATERAL-LIST

• User prompt values can be provided when executing an entire context.

Integration with Windows Task Scheduler:

• Watch Windows Scheduled Tasks video.
• Visimage3 contexts can be executed in the background via the Windows Task Scheduler
• Scheduled tasks can be created from Visimage3 (or directly in the Windows Task Scheduler.)
• All tasks created by Visimage3 are stored in the Visimage3 folder which is automatically created.
• Tasks are executed on the local machine (contact Vital Soft if you would like to schedule tasks on another server.)
• Previously scheduled tasks can be edited from Visimage3.
• Results of previously executed tasks can be viewed from Visimage3 (both a summary log and a detailed log for each task)
• A connection name can be specified when scheduling the task (default is the current connection)
• If connections are password protected, "Batch Access" must be enabled in advance for each connection.
• User prompt values and other specific task request values can be saved with the context and reused when the scheduled task executes
• Multiple sets of these values can be saved in the context with different names (requires enabling "Advanced Parameters ...")
• Generally each scheduled task executes a single context (one Start Program action), however, the task can be edited to include multiple actions.
• Program arguments for executing a context in the background are:

-b "filename.ctx" ["connection-name"] ["parameter-set-name"]

Improvements when creating Script Files

• The File menu "Execute Offline" has been renamed "Create UNIX script"
• Script includes user prompt values
• A connection name can be specified (default is the current connection)
• Scripts can access the same parameter-set names that are used by Scheduled Tasks

Other Enhancements:

• PRN Output supports AskPlus FILLPAGE option to fill last page of output with blank lines. (Requires AskPlus E.8.4.2 or higher)
• List Header section can contain expressions rather than text. (Enable in List Options)

"List includes the following collateral codes" join ?"COLLATERAL-LIST"

• Warning message displayed if any undeclared variables are used in expressions (requires AskPlus version E.8.4.8 or higher)
• Other improved error handling
• The "Server Tracing" log has been simplified when "Summary" is checked.

Version 3.2.3.1 - Released November 28, 2018

Enhancements:

• Support individual topic OUTER joins (in addition to the global option.) Requires AskPlus E.8.4.5 or higher.
• Support background execution of contexts using the -x and -b command line switches.
• Enable "Batch Access" from the Edit Connections screen (when connection requires a password.)

Version 3.2.2.3 - Version Released April 6, 2018

Fixes:

• Fix performance issue updating the local dictionary when two (or more) tasks share the same primary topic.

Version 3.2.2.2 - Version Released March 9, 2018

Fixes:

• Fixed unhandled exception which occured after dragging (reordering) a task on the tab row under the toolbar.

Version 3.2.2.1 - Version Released February, 2018

Enhancements:

• Add Outer Join option to Advanced Selection Options (Requires AskPlus E.8.4.3 or higher)

• Watch Outer Join demo.

• New functionality to support Links in the Selection and in Design:

• Add Linked Topics to Selection Topic Panel (replaces Links on the Fly syntax.)
• Add Design Links... to List/Design Task Menus
• Convert Link on the Fly variable definitions to Linked Topics on context open (both ctx and ctw)
• Watch Linked Topics demo.

• Add Selection Criteria Syntax Highlighting.

• Show matching parentheses in red - activated by placing the cursor on a left/right parenthesis
• Show comments in << brackets >> in green
• Show text in "double quotes" in light gray text

• New column/field formats.

• Support the new Date Formats introduced in AskPlus E.8.4.2
• Support the "____9999" format to mask sensitive data, introduced in AskPlus E.8.4.4
• Automatically, add some sample date formats to User Preferences the first time server is started with the correct version.

• Local File Output:

• For ASD files, allow the quote char to be NULL, ASCII columns are not enclosed in quote characters.
• For Excel files, create a default Excel format based on the Visimage3 format.

Fixes:

• Improved local dictionary Item List performance
• Fix unhandled exception when there is no Associated Program to launch when creating a local file.
• Fix a code generation bug when a new page is requested on a sort and output is the a host or local (non PRN) file.
• Fix a code generation error when the report design only has a Header level (at least one other level type is required.)
• Fix a bug when Edit > Manage Databases (followed by Cancel) required a restart even when no changes had been made.
• Fix a bug creating Local Portable SD files.
• Fix a code generation bug when moving a Detail line to another level.

Version 3.1.3.15 - Version Released November 22nd, 2016

Fixes:

• Fix an erroneous error message when creating a host file with a path designation.

(Visimage3 incorrectly checks if the path is a valid local path.)

Version 3.1.3.14 - Version Released October 19th, 2016

Fixes:

• Fix error when unable to create a local file. (Occurred when C:\ was write protected.)
• Fix local dictionary issue when duplicating a task and in some multi-pass reports.
• The "Local Dictionary is Ready" message automatically closes after 3 seconds.
• Fix code gen error in report when a new page is requested for the final total.

Version 3.1.3.13 - Version Released April 8th, 2016

Fixes:

• Report an error when creating a job with an empty task.
• Fix code gen error with report output to file with variable arrays.
• Fix code gen error with list output to Excel with only a TF summary.

Version 3.1.3.12 - Version Released March 30th, 2016

Fixes:

• Fix a code gen issue with a blank expression/line.
• Correct Global Variable initialization when generating job code.

Version 3.1.3.11 - Version Released March 25th, 2016

Fixes:

• Fix some Output panel screen display issues.

Version 3.1.3.10 - Version Released January 18th, 2016

Fixes:

• Modify the default field/column name when "shooting" array fields to be more consistent with Visimage 2.6.
• Fix a bug with Report execution. Global variables were not being initialized.

Version 3.1.3.9 - Version Released December 4th, 2015

Fixes:

• Fix issue for Excel output which failed when a comma was included in a numeric format.

Version 3.1.3.8 - Version Released November 19th, 2015

Fixes:

• Excel Text formatted columns wre not generating correctly for very large numbers like ATM-CARD-ACCT.

Version 3.1.3.7 - Version Released November 18th, 2015

Enhancements to Local Excel File Output:

• When appending to an existing file, if the sheet exists, it is no longer deleted, instead the existing contexts of the sheet are deleted and the new cells are written into the sheet (only when "Overwrite Sheet" is selected). This is an important distinction because it preserves any formulas in other sheets that refer to this sheet. This is the first version to use the SSG library to generate local Excel output.

Fixes:

• The Excel AutoSize column property was not being remembered correctly.
• Choosing cancel in some property dialogs (when no change had been made) could potentially cancel a previous edit.
• Code generation to local/host file did not always generate the correct column name.
• Local printer output font scaling uses a new logic (and creates more log info).

Version 3.1.3.5 - Beta Version Released July 24th, 2015

Enhancements to Local File Output:

• The Mode (Keep / Replace / Append) is always displayed for Local File Output.

Keep is the default, and will prompt the user to confirm that the file can be over-written during execution.

• Append is support for PRN, ASD, MailMerge and Excel

No validation is performed to verify that the layout matches the file being appended.

• New Excel File Options:

• Sheet Name
• Append supported (Sheet will be inserted in existing file)
• Option to purge (and replace) existing sheet
• Option to Lock (Freeze) the first row of the file (Header row)
• Option to bold all cells in the first row of the file

• New Excel Column Options:

• Available in both List Columns and Report Fields
• Excel Formatting with date conversions and numeric scaling
• Options to set Bold / Italic
• Option to auto-size the column
• Options to justify the header and data cells

New Data Import Task

Version 3.1.3.3 - Released July 9th, 2015

Fixes:

• Fixed the following bug when opening a new context. "AddReportPage: Error=Value '-1' is not a valid value for Interval. Interval must be greater than 0. Parameter name: Interval"

Version 3.1.3.2 - Released June 3rd, 2015

Fixes:

• Clicking twice in the Array Selection window scroll bar no longer selects an array item.
• Local Printer Output: Changes made to number of copies in Advanced is now reflected on the property panel (and vice-versa)
• Only the first parameter is required for Operators (OK can be pressed when optional parameters have not been entered.)
• Adding secondary topics while in Local mode is allowed even when a multi-pass file is not open.
• Scroll List Designer if new column is added to left or right of currently displayed area.
• Disable the right-click (context menu) in the Primary and Secondary topic lists.
• Fix a macro insertion bug in the Report Designer that caused all items on the line to be shifted right (even when they were to the left of the insertion point)
• Correctly report an error when an invalid topic is used in a !RANGE operator during selection
• Several List Code Generation Fixes:

• No longer generate ", MERGE" on Tn or TF levels.
• Correctly generate a new page for the final total when that option is active.
• If an expression typelen can be determined because an operator is used with !name:typelen syntax (like !cvt:I2 or !datext:x8), generate a NEWREG statement when creating a host file to force the correct column datatype to be used instead of a generic datatype.

Enhancements:

• File > Import is now supported to allow tasks to be imported from other context files.

Version 3.1.3.0 - Released March 25th, 2015

Fixes:

• Fix error when saving contents of View Tracing and View AskPlus Code windows to a text file
• Fix error loading a Tab character as the ASD delimiter from Classic Visimage contexts
• Added missing Special Operators to the Operators Tool Tab Window

Enhancements:

• Online help available for all screens & dialogs

Version 3.1.2.8 - Released February 27th, 2015

Fixes:

• Fix "File Transfer Trailer Record Not Found" error

Enhancements:

• Holding the Control key down during program startup activates DebugMode for detailed logging

Version 3.1.2.7 - Released February 6th, 2015

Fixes:

• Code Generation:

• Include Open/Close commands in job file (View > Manage Databases)
• Do not enclose the initial value of a variable in quote chars (unless the initial value of a numeric variable is a negative number)
• Do not generate the IF clause for a compute statements that contains spaces in the IF column

• Compute Panel:

• Fix a bug introduced in 3.1.2.6 that caused Visimage3 to hang when a compute cell was in edit mode and the user attempted to switch to another tab (Selection, Design, Results)

Version 3.1.2.6 - Released January 22nd, 2015

Enhancements:

• Read additional CTW formats (most formats since Version 2.4.7 are supported)

Fixes:

• Host & Local Printer Output:

• When reading a Classic (CTW) context, Lines/Page, Chars/Line and Copies were not loaded correctly (Version 3.1.2.4 fix was not complete)

• Local File Output:

• Fix a bug introduced in 3.1.2.4 a context with output to Local File caused a Null Value Exception when reading the context

Version 3.1.2.4 - Released January 16th, 2015

Enhancements:

• HP3000 Support (Beta Version):

• Add default Host System Type to the General Preferences dialog.

• Host Printer Output

• Add Advanced options, including MPE support.
• Add support for DisableHostPrinter in vsrvtcp.ini

Fixes:

• Local Printer Output:

• When reading a Classic context, Lines/Page, Chars/Line and Copies were not loaded correctly.
• Update the Printer Name when a different printer is selected in the Advanced dialog.

Version 3.1.2.3 - Released December 17th, 2014

Cosmetic Changes:

• Updated button images
• More tool tips

Version 3.1.2.2 - Released December 11th, 2014

Fixes:

• Setup Dialogs

• Automatically select a connection when importing Visimage 2.6 profiles.
• Disable the Test Connection button until a new connection has been created.

• Refresh the secondary topic list after duplicating a task.
• Disable List Designer Select If when a Selection Criteria has been specified.
• Local File Output:

• "File transfer header record was invalid" when host AskPlus configuration uses the ASKTEMP variable.
• Remove unnecessary prompt to purge a non-existent local file.
• Automatically add the extension .xls or .xlsx to local Excel file output.
• Support tab delimited asd files. Use ^t or \t to specify a tab delimiter.

• AskPlus Code Generation

• List Designer: Sort Values were not repeated in Summary Only mode when Repeat sort values on every line was selected.
• Report Designer: A blank designer line was not created when the insertion point was active on the line.

Version 3.1.2.1 - Released December 1st, 2014

• Initial release of Visimage3