What's New WEBcnx 2024.1

Overview

Custom fields in item types now support Expressions, enabling forms to perform calculations in real-time as users fill them in. These calculations can utilise data from connected lookup custom fields or system fields, such as customer information. For instance, this enhancement allows forms to compute complex figures, like instant quotes that incorporate customer-specific discount levels. A completely new Quick Layout module has been introduced, allowing users to create a layout for anyone one-up design, whether it already exists in the Impact database or has been recently created by running a standard or importing a design. Standards have also had a usability makeover to make it much easier to find the style to meet your design requirements. Along with all of this new functionality, WEBcnx 2024.1 has had a very significant range of performance improvements across the board.

Custom Field Expressions

Configure task types to perform calculations as users enter data such as estimated tool costing, packaging "quick quotes" and other formulae in a simple "Excel" style format. Full support is given for linking to data held in associated tables, including customer discount level and other fields in the customer database, plus diecutting machine data, material cost information and any other data in lookup database tables.

WEBcnx Expressions have been developed to give users a very similar experience for those familiar with using equivalent Excel functionality. In many cases, existing Excel expressions can be copied and pasted into WEBcnx expressions. There is a wide range of common mathematical and logical functions, including SUM, IF, ROUND, SWITCH, and many others.

In addition to using Custom Fields in expressions, users can define Expression Variables to allow formulae to reference common values in the Item Type. These could be transport price bands, labour rates, etc.

References:

WEB-303134, WEB-303856, WEB-303955, WEB-304079, WEB-304792, WEB-305451, WEB-305452, WEB-305454, WEB-305455, WEB-305456, WEB-305458, WEB-305459, WEB-305461, WEB-305462, WEB-305540, WEB-305541, WEB-305586, WEB-305587, WEB-305617, WEB-305635, WEB-305636, WEB-305637, WEB-305669, WEB-305679, WEB-305681, WEB-305683, WEB-305693, WEB-305694, WEB-305695, WEB-305766, WEB-305767, WEB-305795, WEB-305831, WEB-305838, WEB-305867, WEB-305876, WEB-305877, WEB-305885, WEB-305888, WEB-305894, WEB-305929, WEB-305936, WEB-305937, WEB-305938, WEB-305940, WEB-305941, WEB-305942, WEB-305943, WEB-305944, WEB-305945, WEB-305946, WEB-305947, WEB-305953, WEB-305960, WEB-305964, WEB-305966, WEB-305972, WEB-305974, WEB-305982, WEB-305984, WEB-305996, WEB-306008, WEB-306016, WEB-306063, WEB-306064, WEB-306065, WEB-306067, WEB-306068, WEB-306075, WEB-306080, WEB-306082, WEB-306083, WEB-306085, WEB-306115, WEB-306116, WEB-306117, WEB-306121, WEB-306122, WEB-306123, WEB-306133, WEB-306135, WEB-306141, WEB-306142, WEB-306143, WEB-306144, WEB-306145, WEB-306152, WEB-306154, WEB-306158, WEB-306164, WEB-306173, WEB-306178, WEB-306179, WEB-306223, WEB-306228, WEB-306232, WEB-306234, WEB-306235, WEB-306237, WEB-306248, WEB-306249, WEB-306250, WEB-306251, WEB-306277, WEB-306278, WEB-306280, WEB-306282, WEB-306288, WEB-306289, WEB-306296, WEB-306297, WEB-306309, WEB-306315, WEB-306316, WEB-306317, WEB-306319, WEB-306322, WEB-306323, WEB-306324, WEB-306325, WEB-306326, WEB-306327, WEB-306328, WEB-306330, WEB-306331, WEB-306332, WEB-306334, WEB-306335, WEB-306336, WEB-306337, WEB-306338, WEB-306340, WEB-306341, WEB-306342, WEB-306343, WEB-306344, WEB-306345, WEB-306346, WEB-306347, WEB-306362, WEB-306363, WEB-306364, WEB-306372, WEB-306373, WEB-306374, WEB-306378, WEB-306385, WEB-306386, WEB-306391, WEB-306393, WEB-306406, WEB-306407, WEB-306408, WEB-306413, WEB-306417, WEB-306422, WEB-306436, WEB-306437, WEB-306438, WEB-306439, WEB-306440, WEB-306441, WEB-306442, WEB-306443, WEB-306444, WEB-306445, WEB-306446, WEB-306447, WEB-306448, WEB-306453, WEB-306454, WEB-306460, WEB-306461, WEB-306466, WEB-306467, WEB-306473, WEB-306475, WEB-306477, WEB-306479, WEB-306480, WEB-306481, WEB-306482, WEB-306483, WEB-306484, WEB-306485, WEB-306488, WEB-306492, WEB-306498, WEB-306499, WEB-306501, WEB-306502, WEB-306505, WEB-306513, WEB-306514, WEB-306515, WEB-306516, WEB-306519, WEB-306523, WEB-306524, WEB-306531, WEB-306535, WEB-306536, WEB-306537, WEB-306538, WEB-306541, WEB-306558, WEB-306567, WEB-306572, WEB-306594, WEB-306595, WEB-306596, WEB-306663, WEB-306664, WEB-306665, WEB-306669, WEB-306685, WEB-306695, WEB-306696, WEB-306726, WEB-306826, WEB-306827, WEB-306982, WEB-306996, WEB-306997, WEB-306998, WEB-307036, WEB-307037, WEB-307061

Quick Layout

An optional new Quick Layout module allows you to create a manufacturing layout of any one-up design, whether it's an existing design in the database or a newly created design from running a standard or importing a supported CAD file. Simply select the diecutting machine or stock sheet size you want to create your layout for and the layout pattern for how the design should be laid out or interlocked. Real-time machine and fitted sheet efficiency statistics will quickly tell you all the information you need to know about your new multi-up layout, making this the ideal tool for estimators and production planners.

As a new module, please contact a member of our sales team about pricing.

References:

WEB-306564, IM-817076, IM-817107, WEB-50867, WEB-306936, WEB-306937, WEB-306967, WEB-307010, WEB-307011, WEB-307012, WEB-307016, WEB-307031, WEB-307032, WEB-307033, WEB-307034, WEB-307166, WEB-307167, WEB-307168, WEB-307175, WEB-307208, WEB-307261, WEB-307299

Standards Browsing and Searching

A streamlining of Standards browsing and searching makes it easier to view "My" Standards and browse the various categories of standards, including FEFCO Corrugated, ECMA Folding Carton and displays. Thumbnails are bigger with the full Standard code and description displayed. 

Searching for specific standards has also been simplified, allowing the user to search for any standard, no matter what folder the user is viewing, easily view their search results and even after closing the dialog, view the previous search results next time the Standards dialog is opened.

Re-Running Standards

When running a Standard and viewing the newly created design, the user can notice something that may need adjusting; whether they've entered an incorrect size or selected the wrong type of magazine slot, locking tab, etc. From the unsaved drawing, users are now able to re-run the standard and the previous board selection, sizes and preferences are reloaded making it quick and simple to make adjustments without having to remember all of the previous selections. If the user is displaying their unsaved drawings on a Dashboard, they're able to open a standard previously created in that sessions and re-run it making any changes they need.

If you run a Standard and realise it's not the design you were looking for, the Standards Browser now stays open behind the scenes, making it much easier to run an alternative standard instead.

References:

WEB-55522, WEB-306585, WEB-306586, WEB-306587, WEB-306588, WEB-306589, WEB-306590, WEB-306591, WEB-306592, WEB-307079, WEB-307164, WEB-307351

Performance

WEBcnx 2024.1 has had a huge performance boost across the product, from signing in, running workflows, viewing customers, tasks and user groups, searching for tasks, displaying lists of SQL Power Reports and across the new form designer. 

References:

WEB-301697, WEB-302630, WEB-306502, WEB-306839, WEB-306840, WEB-306841, WEB-306848, WEB-306856, WEB-306857, WEB-306859, WEB-306860, WEB-306865, WEB-306874, WEB-306876, WEB-306918, WEB-306923, WEB-306924, WEB-306926, WEB-306927, WEB-306928, WEB-306934, WEB-306935, WEB-306941, WEB-306962, WEB-306968, WEB-306977, WEB-307004, WEB-307051, WEB-307052, WEB-307056, WEB-307058, WEB-307071, WEB-307072, WEB-307077, WEB-307123, WEB-307124, WEB-307268

Touchscreen Friendly User Interface

The heights and layout of various elements of the user interface has been adjusted to improve the usability for touchscreen and mobile users. This includes vertical tabbed pages in dialogs, menus and action toolbars. Mobile users are now also able to view interactive designs with the full functionality of the full user interface.

References:

WEB-305414, WEB-305416, WEB-305418, WEB-305420, WEB-305421, WEB-305563, WEB-305656, WEB-305801, WEB-306649, WEB-306656

Other Enhancements

• Manufacturing Information - The interactive design viewer now supports the display of "manufacturing information", for example, displaying separate parts of cuts and creases instead of one continuous cut/crease line. This applies to all types of combination line types, such as perforations and cut/score palettes. The display of manufacturing information can be controlled in the full screen visibility options menu. This preference is persisted when next logging into WEBcnx.
  WEB-306647
• "Recently Viewed By" Filter on Design Searches - The system design saved searches "Projects I've Recently Viewed" and "Layers I've Recently Viewed" have been replaced by a more flexible "Recently Viewed By" search filter that any user can make use of. This means that for customers predominantly using drawing layers instead of projects, you no longer have to have "Projects I've Recently Viewed" cluttering the Dashboard.
  On upgrade, the two previous system saved searches are migrated automatically to custom saved searches owned by the WEBcnx administrator and can therefore be changed, the share of them changed or them removed altogether.
  WEB-306647
• SVG Document Preview - When viewing any SVG type documents, these are now displayed in the document preview page to allow users to view them without having to download them first.
  WEB-304766

Administration Features

New Task Type Designer

The form designer used for building Task and other Item Types has been significantly modernised with a much more responsive feel, in line with the rest of the user interface in WEBcnx. Adding and updating Custom Fields is simpler with a redesigned Field Properties dialog that is easier to use and now also significantly quicker.

Whilst it's possible to enter data into fields in design mode to test visibility rules and other user interaction, a new dedicated preview page allows the administrator to fully test the form before publishing.

References:

WEB-305332, WEB-305492, WEB-305493, WEB-305494, WEB-305495, WEB-305496, WEB-305497, WEB-305624, WEB-305625, WEB-305626, WEB-305627, WEB-305628, WEB-305629, WEB-305630, WEB-305631, WEB-305632, WEB-305633, WEB-305634, WEB-305718, WEB-305763, WEB-305765, WEB-305768, WEB-305805, WEB-305829, WEB-305833, WEB-305873, WEB-305970, WEB-306000, WEB-306183, WEB-306620, WEB-306621, WEB-306622, WEB-306624, WEB-306804, WEB-306805, WEB-306806, WEB-306966, WEB-306983, WEB-307088, WEB-307091, WEB-307092, WEB-307093, WEB-307094

Other Administration Enhancements

• User Group Privileges Dashboard Widget - A new dashboard widget type has been added for the User Group Privileges settings. This allows user administrators to have a dashboard containing everything they would need to manage their users.
  WEB-306002
• Web.config Options Migrated to Admin Features- To simplify the installation and upgrading of WEBcnx, and to provide administrators easier access to some configuration options (previously held on disk), the following web.config parameters have been migrated to the administration area in WEBcnx:
  • EnableSiteSearchBar - This option controls whether the global Site Search bar appears at the top of the screen or not. This is now available in Administration > Configuration > General
    WEB-306270
    
    
  • ContactsEnabled - Enables the use of non-user customer contacts, added and managed in the customer dialog. This is now available in Administration > Configuration > General
    WEB-306270
    
    
  • PublicSitesColumnName - Now set in Administration > Maintenance > Database Administration on the Sites table Relationships page. For multi-site and Enterprise environments, it is desirable to differentiate between end-user sites, such as roaming users, and manufacturing sites that you want to display in WEBcnx.
    WEB-306552
  • AddressesCustomerSiteColumn - Now set in Administration > Maintenance > Database Administration on the Address table Relationships page, under Customer. This allows the administrator to select the column from the Address table which stores the key of the customer site, allowing an address to be associated with the manufacturing site that supplies that customer location.
    WEB-306553
  • AllowDomainLoginFromDefaultLogin - A new option to "Display 'Domain Login' link on Login Page" has been added to Administration > Security > Single Sign On Configuration. For LDAP/SSO enabled environments, this provides a convenient button to allow those users configured for LDAP/SSO to log in automatically.
    WEB-306834
    
    
  • DirectImpactAlternativeConnectionString - For performance reasons, some functionality in WEBcnx queries the Impact database directly using the Direct Alternative Connection String defined in Administration > Configuration > Impact Configuration.
    WEB-306832
    
    
  • ForceSingleLayerAdHocDrawingExportToZip - This option zips even single page Reports to reduce their file size. A new option "Zip Single Layer Report Template Drawing Exports" has been added to Administration > Maintenance > Report Templates
    WEB-306833
    
    
  • Power Reports - Configuration of SQL and Crystal Power Reports has been moved to a dedicated new page in Administration > Configuration > Power Reports.
    WEB-306917
    
    
  • Search Constraints - All parameters relating to search behaviour have been migrated to the Administration > Configuration > Search Constraintsdialog.
    • MaximumRecentLayers
    • MaximumRecentProjects
    • MaximumRecentStandards
    • MaximumRecentTasks
    • MaximumMyItems
    • MaximumProjectSearchResults
    • MaximumProjectOrLayerLookupValueMatches
    • MaximumMultipleItemEditCount
    • MaximumNumberOfSavedSearchesOfGivenType
    • MaximumRowsetSizeForConstrainedSortColumns
    • MaximumSelectorSearchResults
    • SelectorDisplayAllLimit
    • SearchPageInstanceTimeout
    • SearchPageResultsTimeout
• Import and export Contextual Help values - As more online user guide pages are published, the Contextual Help configuration needs updating. This new option allows an administrator to export values from our release database and import them into a customer environment to make sure the help contexts are up to date and users can benefit from as much contextual help content as possible.
  WEB-306808
  
  
• User Group Privilege Dashboard Widget - Useful for any users who are frequently working in user management, the User Group Privileges settings list can now be added to a users Dashboard, such as a dedicated User Management dashboard.
  WEB-306002
• Corporate Image - The logo appearing in the top-left corner of WEBcnx is a "Corporate Image" that allows some level of customisation of the appearance of WEBcnx, applied most effectively with the configurable colour Theme. The Corporate Images can now be easily updated via Administration > Environment > Theme.
  WEB-306901

System Requirements

All system requirements should meet the minimum set out in our hardware and software guide.

• Minimum Supported Version of Impact - Impact 2022 (v12.0)
• Minimum Supported Version of nServer - nServer 2022 (v12.0)
• Minimum Supported Version of Safari - Safari v15.8
  WEB-307267

Reported Bug Fixes

• Searching on WEBcnx Task columns is case sensitive on Oracle database installations when it shouldn't be. A hot fix is also available for WEBcnx 2023.1, 2023.2 and WEBcnx 2022 R3. Please contact a member of our support team for further information.
  WEB-306640
• LDAP/Single Sign-On (SSO) users shouldn't manually be added to groups.
  WEB-302877
• Adding a colon to a 'name in search' prevents it from displaying as a search column.
  WEB-306375
• Jobs created via Workflow ignoring default status. A hot fix is also available for WEBcnx 2023.1, 2023.2 and WEBcnx 2022 R3. Please contact a member of our support team for further information.
  WEB-306738

Removed Features

• Export Project/Layer Privileges - Has been replaced by more flexible Custom Actions that allow the user to do the same thing but with finer control. On upgrade, it is important to ensure a Custom Action Set that allows those users who need to export designs is in place. This can be done ahead of the upgrade.
  WEB-306639
• Modify User Database Windows - Has been merged into the existing Custom Actions that control who can add and modify users as this is an important part of user management. No action is required on upgrade that specifically relates to this change.
  WEB-301170
  
  
• Web.Config Legacy Options - The following legacy options in the web.config are no longer used and have therefore been removed. They should be removed from any installation on upgrade.
  • EnableTestingCoverage
  • DashboardBrowserCount
  • WebGridQuickPages
  • ImmediatelyParseUnitFields
  • HierarchicalWebGridIndentPixels
  • TasksCompletedDaysAgo
  • WarningXYLayoutValue
  • MaximumXYLayoutValue
  • MaximumListPagingValue
  • LayerPreview sizes

  • MaximumRecentReports

  • MaximumRecentStandards
  • MaximumMyReports
  • MaximumMyStandards
  • MinimumProjectSearchResults
  • MaximumProjectSearchResults
  • MinimumStandardValueMappingSearchResults
  • MinimumProjectOrLayerLookupValueMatches
  • MaximumAdminSearchResults
  • ForceSingleLayerAdHocDrawingExportToZip

            WEB-306746, WEB-306555, WEB-306554, WEB-306833

• Web.config Move EnhanceRevisionDetails to System Value - This placeholder option has now been adopted as system functionality and removed as a configurable parameter from the web.config.
  WEB-306964
  
  
• Web.config Move to WEBcnx Administration - The following web.config options have been moved to the administration area of WEBcnx. See Administration Features above for more details. They should be removed from any installation on upgrade.
  • EnableSiteSearchBar
  • ContactsEnabled
  • PublicSitesColumnName
  • AddressesCustomerSiteColumn
  • AllowDomainLoginFromDefaultLogin
  • DirectImpactAlternativeConnectionString
  • MaximumRecentLayers
  • MaximumRecentProjects
  • MaximumRecentTasks
  • MaximumMyItems
  • MaximumProjectOrLayerLookupValueMatches
  • MaximumMultipleItemEditCount
  • MaximumNumberOfSavedSearchesOfGivenType
  • MaximumRowsetSizeForConstrainedSortColumns
  • MaximumSelectorSearchResults
  • SelectorDisplayAllLimit
  • SearchPageInstanceTimeout
  • SearchPageResultsTimeout
  • SQLServerReportsxxx
    
    
• Web.config Manual Configuration for Health and Status - The Administration > Maintenance > Health & Status checks that were wanted for the site were manually defined in the web.config HealthCheckConfigurationSection. Each check is now automatically included if WEBcnx detects it's in use.
  WEB-306929
  
  
• Microsoft Oracle Provider - The Oracle Provider has been deprecated by Microsoft and is therefore no longer supported in WEBcnx. Oracle users should continue using the ODP.NET provider.
  WEB-304630

Further Reading

• Expressions
• Layouts
• Dashboards