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GENERAL COMMENTS: In
keeping with Microsoft's recommendations to cure 'DLL hell', WHOS-IN 2002 no
longer includes a SETUP program of any description (all files now reside in a
single folder on the server). This eliminates potential workstation installation
problems encountered in the past (particularly with Citrix MetaFrame
users). On the down side, this has meant we have been forced to DROP
support for Windows 95 users, which supposedly can't handle loading DLL's etc
from anywhere other than the system folder. However we have not tested this, and
you MAY find that WI2002 still DOES run under Win95. To
ease the installation burden on Administrators, there is now no need to
physically install WHOS-IN on each workstation. Assuming a network login script
is NOT in use, adding a new user is now as simple as sending an email to the new
user pointing them to run the user.exe file on the server. The new user.exe now
detects if NO NAME is entered, then displays the 'Add New User' screen which
adds a new entry into the database, and creates an Icon on the users desktop.
This also eliminates the need to run the old ICONMAKE program.
NEW PROGRAM ADDED:
CONVERT.exe is a new utility
which will read your existing (Version 2 or 2000) database, and import it into
the new WHOS-IN 2002 format.
USER program:
1. With previous versions of WHOS-IN, the USER.EXE program
would open a connection to the database when the program started, and 'hold'
that connection open for the duration of the session (closing the connection
when the user program shut down). This method is fine as long as everything is
working correctly, however if someone crashes their PC, or simply switches it
off, the database could quite easily become corrupted. Having a 'permanent'
connection to the database also meant that there was a maximum limit of 255
simultaneous connections - Microsoft designed the Access 2000 database format
this way...
We have spent many months refining & beta testing a completely new method of accessing the database. The user
program now only opens a connection to the database when it 'needs' to, such as
when updating a status, or performing a refresh. The advantages of this method
are that the 255 user limit is now broken (the new theoretical limit is 15,300
users in a single database). The chances of a database corruption due to a PC
locking up are virtually eliminated (but there is still a small chance this can
happen), and (the Administrator will love this) a rebuild/repair of the database
can now take place while everyone is still 'logged in' to WHOS-IN 2002.
On the down side, opening and closing the database as
needed appears to be slightly slower, so to offset this slowdown, most of the
data has been moved into a new EmployeeSettingsTable. (See DATABASE updates
below for more info).
2. Removed
web scanning code that checked for new updates of WHOS-IN on our web site. This
was necessary to eliminate problems the web scanning caused to firewalls at some
sites. 3. Added
procedure level error reporting. If (or when) bugs are discovered or an error
occurs, the area within the program is now displayed, thereby making it easier
to track down & fix the problem. 4.
New OPTION added to allow WHOS-IN to appear on either the Task Bar,
System Tray, or both. 5.
Removed option to enable In/Out/Busy on the system (popup) menu. The status
types are now permanently on the menus. 6.
Added column reordering on the main WHOS-IN screen. You can now drag & drop
columns into whatever order you like. NOTE however, that the column order is not
saved (yet). Saving & reloading the column order is a complex task which
will be tackled in a later release. 7.
Modified the ToolBar to use Windows XP style Icons. (Gives XP look & feel on
all versions of Windows from 98 up). 8
The user ToolBar now has selectable Icon size and Text Labels (set in the
OPTIONS screen). 9 Modified
Transaction Log updates so that entries are no longer 'appended' (which can be
time consuming with a large database). Transactions are now INSERTED into the
Transaction Log Table which is MUCH faster. 10.
User HELP file completely rewritten. 11.
Added support for Windows XP 'themes'.
ADMIN program:
1. Added 'AutoSync' option to main
'Servers' screen. This feature scans, merges and updates the 'Remote Servers' list, allowing all databases to
communicate with each other. Previously, each entry had to be entered manually at each site. This is
now almost totally automated. (See Admin HELP for a more detailed explanation of
how this works).
2. Added font point
size and
Portrait / Landscape options to Transaction Log printing.
3. Added Logo Orientation options.
The background logo can now be set by the Administrator to Top Left, Top Right,
Bottom Left, Bottom Right, Centered or Tiled.
4. Changed Compact/Repair database
option to Repair/Compact to more accurately indicate the function it MOST
performs (repairing damaged databases).
5. Added save/reload of main Admin
screen size & position (if Admin is in 'normal' screen mode, not minimized
or maximized).
6. Added new 'Default User Settings'
screen. This allows the Administrator to automatically pre-configure the
settings & options for new users as they are created. The user still has the
ability to change most of these settings at any time themselves.
7. Added EXPORT
option in CSV (comma separated value) format for the Transaction Log.
8. New user screen now allows
'selecting' from an existing list of user names (previously imported). 9.
Program Icon now supports Period/Full Stop in user name component.
DATABASE - Updates: 1.
Added 'Global Settings' Table & EmployeeSettings' Table.
2. The WHOS-IN 2002 database has
been completely redesigned, adding new tables & fields, deleting
superceded items, and most importantly moving all the 'static' items from the
main EmployeeTable to a new EmployeeSettingsTable. Moving the static data to a
new table has reduced the amount of data sent to the user program by approx 75%
during a typical update or refresh. 3.
Added extra fields (DueBack & Comments) to the Transaction
Log. 4. All text fields
have been increased in size to at least 250 characters.
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