RS Express Tab

System Options for RS Express

Encrypted User Name

Overview

Below are the new features, updates and bug fixes for version 3.4.4

Scheduler Changes

Added New Copy Feature (3.4.4.1)

Added a new feature to the scheduler page to copy an existing job.

Display the Error message for Failed Jobs (3.4.4.1)

If a scheduled job fails, the Schedule History will display a link so the administrator can see what caused the failure.

Added new fields to display the Created and Modified Information (3.4.4.1)

The Edit Schedule page now displays who created the schedule and when and who last modified the record and when.

The Scheduled Documents Page Remembers the Last Clicked Item (3.4.4.3)

Updated the Schedule Document page to return and highlight the last viewed scheduled job when going to the Edit Schedule page or the Schedule History page. This new feature also remembers the rows per page that was selected.

Added a Date Token to the Unmanaged Output (3.4.4.4)

Added a new Date Token feature to the Unmanaged Output file name. By using the token of in the file name field the system will insert the current date when the document is created.

Changed the Quarterly Interval (3.4.4.4)

Updated the Quarterly option to allow the user to select the last day or day of the week for the current quarter.

Added New Validation that will limit who can Edit and Delete Jobs (3.4.4.3)

Added new validation so that only administrators and the super user can edit and delete all scheduled jobs. For users that have scheduler access then can only edit and delete their own jobs; they cannot edit or delete jobs created by another user.

Added New Field to display the Next Run Date and Time (3.4.4.3)

Added a new field to display the Next Run date and time.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an Issue With the RS Express feature with Multiple Value Parameters (3.4.4.4)

If you are using the RS Express feature and you were passing in parameter values that has multiple values for the same parameter you would get an error. This has been fixed and you can now pass in multiple parameter values.

Overview

Below are the new features, updates and bug fixes for Ripplestone version 3.4.3.

Home Page

Use Parameter Name for Prompt Text (3.4.3.0)

If the report doesn’t have a value for the prompt text then use the parameter name for the prompt text

Scheduler Changes

The Ripplestone Scheduler Server Has Been Re-Written (3.4.3.0)

The scheduler server has been re-written to improve the performance and scalability.

Added New Yearly Option (3.4.3.0)

Added a new schedule interval of Yearly. This will run a job once per year using the Begin date for the month and day and the start time for the time of day to run.

Edit Folders Page

Added New Fields to Track Who Changed the Folder and When (3.4.3.1)

Added two new fields to track who changed the record and when it was changed.

Edit Document Page

New Unique Key for RSExpress (3.4.3.2)

There is a new option for RS Express that allows the Administrator to turn on or off the RS Express feature.

There is also a new option that will require a unique key to be added to the query string. This will make the feature more secure and make it harder for a user to guess at document ID’s

Both of these new options can be set on the System Setup and Configuration page on the first tab. These global options can be overridden for each report on the Edit Document page

Global Options on the System Setup and Configuration Page

Individual Report options on the Edit Document Page

Added New Fields to Track Who Changed the Report and When (3.4.3.2)

Added two new fields to track who changed the record and when it was changed

Remove Duplicate Entries from the Dynamic Parameters (3.4.3.0)

When using the Ripplestone Dynamic Parameter feature if the values for the parameter had any duplicates the list would stop loading at the first duplicate. This version will ignore any duplicates when loading the parameter pick list.

Fixed Bug when Editing a Report and Moving it to a New Folder (3.4.3.1)

When a user would click on a different folder in the Edit Document page the document would not get moved to the new location. This has been fixed and the document is now moved to the folder selected.

Users

New User Options (3.4.3.0)

Users can now override the global settings for the Use Minimal Home Page and Display Favorites.

With the Use Minimal Home Page, the user can use the global setting or turn on or off the feature. With the feature on, the home page will display the least amount of data. This is helpful for very large sites or if there is a slow connection.

With the Display Favorites as Home Page, the user can use the global setting or turn on or off the feature. With the feature on, the home page will display the favorites when they login and not the standard home page. This is for the user that has the reports that they use most often added to their favorite’s area. They can still access the home page by clicking on the Home link

Below is the Edit User page with the new User Options tab displayed with the two new options.

System Setup and Configuration

Added New Option for the Home Page (3.4.3.0)

Added two new options for the home page. Both of these new options can be changed by each user.

Minimal Home Page - This option only displays the essentials needed for the home page. Extra information is not displayed. This is helpful when the connection is not fast or the users do not need the extra information.

Display Favorites As Home Page – This option allows the favorites to be displayed as the default home page. This option is for the users that want to quickly see all their favorite reports first.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a Issue with Users Marked as Inactive (3.4.3.0)

If a user has the Active flag un-checked they were still able to login to the system.

Overview

Below are the new features, updates and bug fixes for version 3.4.2

Home Page

More Detailed Messages when running a report (3.4.2.2)

If the Crystal Report fails when running; a more detailed message will be displayed. This can help in trouble shooting the problem.

Change the Menu for scheduled History (3.4.2.3)

When the user is logged in as a Super user, Administrator or a Scheduler then the menu option changes to “Scheduled Documents”. If the user is a normal user or Publisher they see the menu as Scheduled History.

Scheduler Changes

New Option to use Adobe Reader for Printing (3.4.2.3)

This new option will allow the Administrator to use Adobe Reader for printing directly to a printer. This allows for a second option when the Crystal Report Engine will not print.

Added the Schedule Name and Location to the Top of the Page (3.4.2.3)

Added the Schedule Name and the Folder Location to the top of the page. This will help when clicking on the tabs to know which report you are working on.

Added New FTP Transfer Type (3.4.2.1)

A new option has been added to the FTP section of the scheduler to allow the scheduler to select between Binary and Ascii for the transfer method.

Edit Document Page

Added Validation for Saving to the Home Folder (3.4.2.0)

New validations were added if you try to publish a report to the Home folder or move a report to the Home folder. A new validation message will appear if you try to save the document to the Home folder.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a Issue Where the Report Viewer Disappears (3.4.2.2)

When using Internet Explorer if the user moved the mouse to certain sections of the page the Crystal Report view would not be visible. The CSS style sheet was changed to fix the problem.

Fixed a Date Format problem In SQL Server (3.4.2.1)

When saving dates into the Ripplestone SQL Server database the program was not adding leading zeros. For example, the date January 4^th 2013 at 9:30 AM was formatted as 201314 9:30 and it now is formatted as 20130104 09:30

Fixed Duplicate Database Connection Problem (3.4.2.0)

If the system had a pick list database connection and a connection string pick list connection string with the same name the system would get an error on the edit dynamic parameter page. The page will now display both items with a the identifier “(connection string)” behind the name.

Overview

Home Page

New Blue Blocks Wide Skin (3.4.1.0)

Scheduler Changes

Added New Hourly Option for Start and End Times (3.4.1.0)

Added New Option to Use Roles for the Email Addresses (3.4.1.0)

Added New Active Flag (3.4.1.0)

Edit Folders Page

Added New Validations (3.4.1.0)

• Moving Folders – You cannot move the folder to the same folder


• The Folder Name will have any spaces removed before and after the name


• Folder Name with special characters are not allowed / ? < > \ : * | "


• Cannot add or move folders in the system Shared folder


• Cannot delete the system Shared folder

Bug Fixes

Fixed an Issue with a Report Parameter in the Scheduler (3.4.1.0)

Fixed an Issue with the Publish a Document link (3.4.1.0)

Fixed a problem when updating the name of the Home node (3.4.1.0)

With the new version of the Crystal Reports Runtime Engine there is page size limit that determines how many parameter values are in each page of values.  The default is 200 values per page or batch.

Below is an example of a report that has 2100 parameters.  The parameters are broken up into 11 pages of values.  The first page has the first 200 parameter values and as you move through the pages you get the next 200 values.

This page size can be changed in Ripplestone by updating the web.config file located in C:\Sites\Ripplestone\web.config (this is an XML file that can be updated with a text editor).

Look for a section called <businessObjects> and add or change the line highlighted below.  In the example the value is set to 500, but this can be any value.

  <businessObjects>
    <crystalReports>
      <crystalReportViewer>
        <add key="documentView" value="printlayout" />
        <add key="EnableTextClipping" value="true" />
        <add key="maxNumberListOfValues" value="500" />
      </crystalReportViewer>
    </crystalReports>
  </businessObjects>

After the config file has been changed to allow 500 values per page, there are only 5 pages of values.

Ripplestone 3.3 - Summary

Home Page

Home Page Data Caching

Most of the data used by the home page is now being cached by the system. This increases the performance of the home page by reducing the number of calls to the Ripplestone database. This option can be controlled by the administrator in the web.config file.

Fixed a problem when updating the home node

When changing the root/home node on the home page there was a bug that would not allow the administrator to change the node name.

Scheduler Changes

New FTP Library

Ripplestone is now using a new and improved FTP library and provides more options

Fixed bug to display the Schedule time correctly

When a scheduled job was set to run between 1 - 9 minutes after the hour the display would not display the 0 (zero) before the minute. It would look like 4:5 PM; in the new version it is displayed as 4:05 PM.

New Output type

A new output type has been added to the scheduler. The Editable RTF Export type has been added to the Output Format dropdown.

Fixed bug for Jobs between midnight and 1:00 AM

There was a bug for any jobs scheduled between midnight and 1:00 AM. The job would not always get started at the correct time.

New icons on the list schedule page

The Scheduled Documents page now uses icons to save space on the page. The page also added a Run Now button (the Green Arrow) to run a scheduled job now and bypass the scheduler. This is good for testing or when you need to run a job outside of the scheduled time.

Fixed a problem when Emailing a scheduled job to multiple addresses

There is an option in the System Setup and Configuration page to turn on an option to email messages from the scheduler one at a time. If this is turned on then emails are sent to each recipient as a separate email. If the option is unselected then all the email addresses are added to the email and the email is sent once. All recipients can see who else the email was sent to. There was a bug in the system that stopped the email from being sent. This bug has been fixed and all email addresses will be added to a single email.

Below is the option from the System Setup and Configuration page.

Database Connections

Added new fields to allow new Server and database

The Database Connection page has been change to allow the administrator to change the database server and the database name that the report will use. This helps when the Crystal Report need to get the data from a new server or from a new database name without needing to change and republish all the Crystal Reports that use that database connection.

The example below shows the original database connection using the RipplestoneTestServer and then with the new option the reports will login and use the RipplestoneProduction server.

Alternate Database Login and Password

This new option is set on the Edit Document page and allows the Crystal Report to have a different database login and password that will override the login and password stored in the database connection for that report.

Security

Windows Integrated Security Users

If the Ripplestone application is configured to use Windows Integrated Security the users are required to have the checkbox checked for Integrated Security to work. If the user does not have the checked box checked then they will be redirected to the sign on page.

The default configuration of Ripplestone uses an SMTP server that is hosted by Ripplestone. This will work for most users, but can be changed to use a different SMTP server or corporate mail server like Microsoft Exchange.

The web site and the scheduler both have their own configuration files that will need to be changed.

Web Site:

The web site configuration file is the web.config located in the C:\Sites\Ripplestone folder

Scheduler:

The scheduler configuration file is the RSScheduler.exe.config located in the C:\Sites\Ripplestone\bin folder

Both files have the same section that will need to be updated. Below is the section with the default settings. The line starting with <network host= is the line that will need to be updated. The host will change to be your SMTP server or Exchange server; it can either be the URL, Name or IP Address. If you do not need a user name and password you can remove those fields from the line.

After the changes have been made you will need to restart the scheduler service for the changes to read. The website will restart the next time a user uses the Ripplestone application.

<system.net>
    <mailSettings>
        <smtp deliveryMethod="Network" from="support@ripplestone.net">
    <network host="smtp.1and1.com" userName="emailsender@ripplestone.com" password="rs!email" port="25"/>
        </smtp>
    </mailSettings>
</system.net>

There are times when the URL \\localhost\ripplestone will not work on the server.  If this happens you can try the following to allow the server to run the Ripplestone website locally.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. Right-click Lsa, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type DisableLoopbackCheck, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click DisableLoopbackCheck, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
7. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart your computer.