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 Clover 1.13 Available for Download
We are pleased to announce that Clover 1.13 is now in General Availability (after completion of an extensive beta test period). You can download the software from the Free Software Downloads area of our site. 
Clover 1.13 includes the following main features:
- Several new template families, with a number of templates within each, all designed specifically to create different types of reports.
- Powerful, all-new wizard screens to allow you to easily create complex reports without coding a line of PML or HTML.
- Flexible and powerful charting and graphing templates, to create many styles of Flash graphs (see the writeup on SmartCharts below).
- Numerous features to make it simple to create informative reports, including options to work with subtotals, level breaks, sorting and conditions.
- All the features of the WebSmart IDE for working with your HTML and PML code to enhance your report with custom features and code.
For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the release of Clover, the wait is over! Clover builds on the extraordinary success we have experienced over the last few years with WebSmart, and its features will greatly enhance the applications you are building with WebSmart, as well as extend WebSmart's usefulness to other people in your company who have less programming knowledge.
Who benefits?
Anyone who wants to design iSeries - i5 reports and queries and deploy them in browsers, and anyone who cares about eliminating reporting requirement backlogs. Managers, power users and end users can use Clover to design their own reports without involvement from your programming and design staff. All levels of users can get timely, relevant, and accurate information on their desktops in a web browser. In addition, your viewers can access secured Clover-generated pages from anywhere: Internet, Extranet, or Intranet.
How does Clover integrate with WebSmart?
Clover is not simply an add-on product to WebSmart. Clover provides a proven Query design environment, totally integrated into WebSmart's full-featured, enterprise-class web application design tool. You can work seamlessly with the reporting features of Clover and the core features of WebSmart. When you use Clover, all of the tools in the WebSmart IDE are available to you.
Clover's breakthrough technology includes a straightforward, end-user friendly set of wizards, guides and intelligent templates for you to design reports. These wizards feature codeless SQL statement construction, report layout prompts, level break selection, runtime record filtering options, subtotals, totals, calculated values, drill-downs to detailed data, charting and more. In fact, Clover is designed specifically to let you create powerful reports with no coding at all! Clover's own templates power the Wizards, making it easy to design reports with breaks, subtotals, charts, graphs, KPIs, dashboards, Excel spreadsheets and more.
Clover and SmartCharts
SmartCharts are a set of charts, graphs and gauges that run as Flash objects. With SmartCharts you can give your users animated, professional quality graphical views of realtime data. Clover includes templates that incorporate SmartCharts with no coding required. Clover also provides a robust development environment for extensively customizing SmartCharts functions to build even more powerful charts, graphs, gauges and KPIs. SmartCharts do not use ActiveX plugins, so there's nothing for end-users to install - SmartCharts powered Clover applications run effortlessly in web browsers. And, because SmartCharts use client-side technology, they help conserve the use of precious server resources. Read more about SmartCharts in the next section below.
For an outsider's view of Clover, you can also read what Alex Woodie wrote in IT Jungle.
If you have any questions about Clover 1.13, please contact Technical Support.
New Product Announcement: SmartCharts
One of the highlights of our presentations at COMMON a few weeks ago was the announcement and demo of another new member of the WebSmart application development family:
SmartCharts.
SmartCharts uses charts, graphs and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to provide instant snapshots of vital business metrics. This helps you visually improve the communication of business information as well as giving you the ability to drill down into data, allowing you to monitor the pulse of your business.
SmartCharts is now an integral part of the current releases of WebSmart and Clover, and will also be included in the upcoming Nexus 3,
at no extra cost. SmartCharts with progressive charts and KPIs offers you the latest in single dimensional, three dimensional and animated:
- Graphs
- Charts
- Barrels
- Speedometers
- Radar Style Gauges
- and more...
You can easily integrate SmartCharts with BCD's WebSmart, Nexus and Clover solutions and any of your existing iSeries, PC, 3rd party apps and spreadsheets to provide real-time summary views of important data. These KPIs give viewers the ability to drill down many levels to more detailed supporting information or to finer granulated graphical views of business information by simply clicking on graph columns, pie segments and more. SmartCharts gives your users the tools to visually analyze information and better react to business conditions.
Click here for a demo of SmartCharts in action!
If you have any questions about SmartCharts, or would like a demo of how to create any of the graphs and charts shown at right, please contact Technical Support.
BCD @ Spring Trade Shows
At COMMON a few weeks ago we had the opportunity to touch base with many of our customers and we were very pleased with the feedback on the new releases of Catapult, Nexus and Clover. In particular, attendees couldn't wait to get their hands on the new SmartCharts templates in the latest versions of Clover and WebSmart!
If you didn't have the opportunity to get over to Minneapolis for COMMON, you can connect with us us over the course of the next few months at any of the following locations:
- If you'll be at the 2006 IBM System i5 Spring Technical Conference EXPO
May 8-10 (Hilton Walt Disney World Resort, FL) you will find us in booth 18.
- And we'll also have booths at the iSeries Core Decisions conferences
May 2nd in Seattle, WA;
June 27 in Columbus, OH and
June 29 Dallas, TX.
We'll look forward to seeing you!
Catapult 6 Beta Available
The Catapult 6 Beta is now available for download. If you are interested in participating in the Catapult 6 Beta, please fill out the form at our web site.
Catapult 6 is a major new release which includes many significant new features, including:
- Support for polling PC directories and distributing PC files using the same grab rules features that you apply to iSeries files.
- Grab-rule security, to specify who is authorized to view and edit specific grab rules.
- CC and BCC emailing support.
- Updated Console and Poller Configuration UI.
- Support for retrieving distribution/mailing list values from outside files.
- Support for mail group entry replacement values.
Support for polling network directories has been in particularly high demand, and we're sure you'll enjoy trying this feature out. Depending on the formats of the files you select, not only can you distribute them with Catapult, but you can also split and extract other data from them, just as you do with your iSeries reports.
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NN Solutions Completes IQ Garage Project for Havam Automotive
www.nnsolutions.nl (Rosmalen, Holland)
NN Solutions, the BCD dealer in the Netherlands is a company who's objective is to be an ICT Total Solution Provider for small and medium sized companies. NN Solutions distributes BCD products, and also provides consulting and development services on BCD software, for the local and international market.
NN Solutions' latest WebSmart project is the creation of a pair of portals for Havam Automotive, an importer of car parts. Havam delivers parts to automotive wholesalers.
Historically, wholesalers have sent in their orders to Havam by telephone or fax, or via a special application the distributor provided. With this application, orders could be entered locally and then sent to the Havam system. However, these systems presented a number of difficulties and inconsistencies.
IQ-Web
Two years ago NN Solutions prototyped for Havam a web order-entry program as an example of the new possibilities available. This led to Havam Automotive requesting that NN Solutions build their first web application, IQ-Web. IQ-Web is an application in which the wholesalers can enter their orders. Using IQ-Web, wholesalers can order parts up to just 15 minutes before the trucks start driving. The web applications, order transactions and the logistics are all tightly connected.
In addition to the order entry, wholesalers can search a parts database, enter parts to be returned, search old orders, etc. There are also options to display the latest news and special offers. As part of the application, NN Solutions created programs for Havam to maintain all these areas internally, also including support to create users and authorizations, menus, adjust settings, etc.
IQ-Garage
While IQ-Web is only for the wholesalers, NN Solutions also built a second application for the retailers. This application is called IQ-Garage. IQ-Garage is more complex than IQ-Web, also allowing retailers to order car parts from the Havam wholesaler network. The retailers have access to an extensive car parts database in which they can find all the parts available, many of them including drawings or photos that can be displayed online. The retailer can then select the article and add it to their shopping cart. Parts can be searched for make, number, license code, etc.
When the retailer has finished 'shopping', they can go to the order page and select a wholesaler (by preferance, or distance from their shop). Havam provides this interface as a service to it's wholesalers.
If you're interested in learning more about this application and the features that were added, as well as several screen shots of the application,
click here to read the full article.
For further information about NN Solutions or the Havam Automotive project, please visit our web site, or contact Rene van Dijk.
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If you have any questions about the upcoming release, or any of the new features, please contact Technical Support.
Nexus 3 Beta Available Soon
We had to draw on some resources from the Nexus development team to finish up a few other urgent projects, but we're now back on track to release the Nexus 3 beta in the next few weeks.
To participate in the Nexus 3 beta,
please visit our web site to sign up.
Nexus 3 includes exciting changes in several main areas, including the Enterprise Content Manager (ECM; previously the WOW), group management, a new skins feature, a long list of user interface additions and enhancements, and a greatly improved calendar.
Here is a summary list of some of the features included in the new release:
Enterprise Content Manager
The ECM is a key Nexus feature, and version 3 includes numerous features and enhancements. These changes have been driven both by the growing number of people using it and requesting additional functionality, and our own visions for the future of the product. The changes include:
- The ability to navigate in both the viewing mode and editing mode using a tree interface.
- Dynamic display of folder contents.
- Symbolic links.
- Redesigned editing interface.
- Navigation with breadcrumbs.
- ECM quick-search ability.
Completely Rebuilt Group Management System.
Nexus is all about being able to easily manage and customize your site for many users. The group management has been revamped for version 3, to include the following improvements
- An entirely new group management interface.
- Support for group within group structures.
- Group inheritance allows for granular construction of subgroups.
- Support for controlling the other Nexus users that each member can access.
Skins (or formatting profiles)
And no matter how many function-driven features you add to a product, everyone seems to also want applications to look better too. So Version 3 also includes enhanced support for working with skins, with the following new features:
- Support for editing skins though a visual interface.
- Consolidated style sheets based on one template.
- Ability to attach and retain custom changes for a skin.
- Support for users selecting their own favorite skin.
The changes to other areas of the user interface and the various available portlet classes are too numerous to list, but watch the Nexus home page on our web site for a comprehensive overview of this new release!
Participate in the Nexus 3 Beta!
For further information about the Nexus Beta, please contact Technical Support, or directly visit the
Nexus 3 Beta Request Form. By participating in the beta, you'll get early access to all these new features (most of which have been up and running in our internal portal for a few months now), and be in an ideal position to request modifications or further enhancements to better suit your own usage of the product.
If you have any questions about the upcoming release, or any of the new features, please contact Technical Support.
BCD Consulting Team Welcomes Two New Members
We are pleased to welcome Tyson Gilberstad and Katie Bateman to the BCD Consulting Group. Tyson and Katie bring unique skills and experience to our team. Both have excellent WebSmart programming skills and provide a mix of technical strength, application knowledge and professional design skills. Our consulting team continues to grow as requests for BCD Consulting services expands. The team's ability to deliver web applications quickly and professionally has been well received by many WebSmart clients. The overall professionalism and depth of experience is enhanced with the addition of Katie and Tyson.
If you have any questions about the BCD consulting team, or would like information about contracting us to help you with a development project, please contact Kevin Cronin.
New WebSmart Example Programs: Using a <div> With Dropdown Boxes, etc.
The WebSmart support group has added another couple of new WebSmart example programs to our library:
- Example 111 -
Table Application with an Update Toggle - This example demonstrates using JavaScript to improve your input-capable programs. With a little javascript, the program looks better and performs in a more intuitive way. It also allows users to more easily see what they are changing. Multiple changes can be made and submitted or reverted at the same time.
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Testing Web Pages with External Script Links
Problem :
You want to make changes to a generated web page (maybe generated by WebSmart or Clover) for testing purposes, but you don't want to keep playing around with it in the WebSmart IDE - just testing it locally. However, the page references relative URLs for external Javascript or css files, so it won't run just locally.
Solution:
View source and save it to local drive (eg: desktop) as a file with an HTML extension. Then edit the source and add this tag in the head section of the page:
<base href="http://esdi.excelsystems.com">
For example, I had a page with these external references in it :
<script language="JavaScript" src="/websmart/v5/javascript/imgswap.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script language="JavaScript" src="/websmart/v5/javascript/mm_menu.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script language="JavaScript" src="/docs/esdiapi.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<link rel="StyleSheet" href="/esdiapps/mybcdsoft/css/style.css" media="screen" type="text/css">
By just adding the base href tag, I was able to prepend the server name to all these relative URLs so even though I ran the page off my local drive, it still worked.
If you have any questions about this matter, please email Technical Support.
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- Example 110 -
Using <div> Tags to Improve dropdown Boxes - This example shows you how to place a <div> tag over a dropdown box. Internet Explorer does not normally allow you to place elements over a drop down box (select box), and this example shows how you can place a div over a drop down box by positioning an empty iFrame between the drop down box and the div. This feature is useful because many menu systems are now built with CSS which produces DIV blocks of menus that you can click on when you hover over a heading. If there is a select box underneath the menu, the select box would be displayed above the menu instead of the menu being displayed above the select box. To get around this you can put an IFRAME underneath the DIV which will cover up the select box.
For further details on any of the WebSmart examples, or if you have any questions on how to implement the techniques they demonstrate, please contact Technical Support.
Summary List of Recent Updates
WebSmart 5.27, PC Build
WebSmart Build 8752 (2006/03/20) includes the following features and changes:
- Hovering over a field will show its attributes
- Improved klist tool-tipping
- Better libl handling in SQL tool
- Varying length fields
- wrtdta function (works like wrthtml, but doesn't trim)
- New template directive: Increment
- New cool icon
- And a few other
For additional information on this and other updates, please visit the WebSmart Updates page.
Spool-Explorer/400 Release 4.27, PC build 1320.
A new version of Spool-Explorer/400 is available for download. This version includes all previous updates and enhancements. Version 4.27 includes the following fixes:
- Resolved an issue where adding a user in the User security module would cause the exodus job to go into MSGW.
- Resolved a problem involving the Spool Monitor not shutting down properly.
- Resolved an exodus bug that could cause message overrun errors.
- Resolved an issue involving saving and viewing reports as TIF images.
- Resolved an issue where the files SP@QLSTD and SP@QLSTH where not being retained properly after an upgrade.
- Under certain conditions, lists of spoolfiles would fail to load. This has been resolved.
- Fixed a problem creating spreadsheets with EZ-picken's autoscripts.
- A new control character added to *SCS spoolfiles (only useable by certain printers) is now being trapped and removed. This was causing accented 'u' characters to show up in reports.
Please visit the Spool-Explorer Updates page for further information on the available updates.
© 2006 ExcelSystems Software Development, Inc.
ProGen WebSmart and ProGen Plus are Registered Trademarks in the US and Canada, and Trademarks in all other countries.
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