SW Release Notes - Suite 5.2.0 - Global Software, Inc.

Executive DashRelease V12R5Software Release NotesThis document describes all enhancements and changes to Global Software, Inc.’s Executive Dash in Release V12R5.Summary of Enhancements/Changes in Release V12R5Installation/UpgradeInstallation The following enhancements and/or changes have been made to the installation process:• Regardless of a user’s current release level of Executive Dash, all existing versions MUST BEUNINSTALLED prior to installing V12R5. Validation has been added to prevent installing thecurrent release V12R5 prior to uninstalling previous versions. Please refer to the UpgradeGuidelines for detailed instructions.• Added an alternate setup command, SetupCitrix, to control whether the Executive Dash add-in isautomatically enabled during the installation process.• Modified the setup program to install Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office, if it is not currently onthe PC, prior to installing Executive Dash.• Modified the setup program to install the XLA to the current path and to convert the registry keyshort path name to a long path name.• Enhanced the setup program to convert query descriptions when upgrading Executive Dash from apre-V12 version.• For more efficient processing, removed the Welcome panel from installation process.• Added delivery of instruction guidelines for performing silent installs (Excel ® 2010, 2007, 2003).• For Branded products, enhanced the installation program to automatically install the associatedcustom ribbon.GeneralConnectionManagementSettingsThe following enhancements and changes have been made to the Connection Management function:• Added validation to ensure that password is blank when the Prompt for Input option is selected.• Added encryption of connection passwords.Note: For pre-existing connections, passwords are not encrypted until the connection is edited. Atthat time, the system issues a message, ‘Saving this connection will alter stored attributes,rendering this connection unusable for users running previous versions. Continue with thischange?’ allowing the user to save or not save the connection changes.• When testing a connection and the test fails, modified the program to hide all connectionpasswords on the Connection Log panel.• For DSN connection types, added Pervasive as a valid SQL Syntax option selection.• For iSeries connection types, when adding a new connection modified the program to default theConnection Type option to ODBC.• For Oracle ® and SQL Server ® connection types, added the option Prompt for Input to controlwhether or not the user is prompted for sign-on data when connecting.The following enhancements and changes have been made to the Settings function:• Added the new button, Add Excel Ribbon, to allow for adding the Executive Dash ribbon toExcel ® . This button is only displayed for Excel 2007 (and above) users when the Executive Dashribbon is not currently registered.• Added the new check box, Show EDQ Detail, to allow the user to limit the retrieval/display ofEDQ file data. When the option is deselected, only the query name, last modified date and file sizewill be retrieved and displayed on the Explorer File System panel, thus reducing the load time ofthe query catalog.Executive Dash Release V12R5 Software Release Notes 1

General - ContinuedSettings - • Added the new check box, Auto-Alias Fields, to control automatically assigning field aliases.Continued When the option is selected, any added field will automatically be assigned an alias equal to thefield description (if it exists) or the field name.Note: This feature does not apply to calculated fields.• Added the new check box, Enable Web Based Licensing, on the Online tab to enable the user toverify their registered license on a different PC, thus allowing for a ‘floating’ license that is tied tothe user and not to a specific PC.• Cleaned up the screen layout by removing the obsolete Enable Query Progress Bar check box fromthe panel.Log ViewerRegistrationValidationThe following enhancements have been made to the error logging process:• Added additional fields to the View Log panel to allow for filtering log entries by date range, text,class, and method. In addition, a Clear Filter button has been added to aid in the filtering process.• Modified the logging process to use ApplicationLogging.dll for consistency with other GlobalSoftware, Inc. analytic products.Internal code has been modified to minimize the number of web requests made when registeringand/or using a manual license.When opening/using a query in Query Designer or Excel and the associated connection is missing, theerror message has been enhanced to include the name of the missing connection and to indicate thesteps to be taken to resolve the error.Query DesignerGeneral The following general enhancements and changes have been made to Query Designer:• Improved error message processing when Query Designer is opened and the connection file ismissing.• Enhanced the Table Quadrant on the Query View panel to retain spacing between the field nameand attribute/description when opening and closing queries.• Improved navigation by removing the Closing dialog box previously displayed when closing QueryDesigner.TablesSmart ParmsResultsContainerThe following enhancements have been made to Tables processing:• Added Favorites tab to the Table Selector panel. This new feature allows users to designatevarious tables as Favorites, and reduces the load time required for databases with a large volume oftables. In addition, added an All tab allowing users to toggle between displaying Favorite tablesand All tables.• Added the ability to select multiple tables at a time on the Table Selector panel for adding to aquery or assigning as Favorites.• Changed the Refresh button icon on the Table Selector panel.• Added the ability to assign an alias table name to a table, thus allowing for the same table to beused multiple times within a query.Note: This feature does not apply to SAP tables.The following enhancements and changes have been made to Smart Parm processing:• Added the ability to exclude values by using the forward slash (‘/’).Example: ‘[*,/123]’ will retrieve all values excluding value ‘123’.• Added the ability to wildcard a single position.Example: ‘1*2*’ will retrieve values with ‘1’ in the first position and ’2’ in the third position,regardless of what is in the second and fourth positions.The field, At Row, has been added to the top of the Results Container panel to display the rownumber of the current row selected.Executive Dash Release V12R5 Software Release Notes 2

ExcelFix Broken LinksFormulaAssistantA new option, Fix Broken Links, has been added to the Add-in menu and ribbon to correct all brokenlinks to the XLA within a workbook.Error message processing on the Formula Assistant function has been enhanced by improving the textof various error messages and by controlling field focus after an error occurs.Build a Template A new function, Build a Template, has been added in Excel to aid in quickly designing the layout of aworksheet. The Build a Template function is accessible from both the ExecDash add-in menu andExecutive Dash ribbon.Segment ListsEXSsRibbonMiscellaneousWindowsExplorerAdd/RemoveProgramsA new option, Segment Lists, has been added to the ribbon to allow the user to access, create andutilize Segment Lists within Executive Dash. This feature is only available for Spreadsheet Server.Net users.Note: When in Query Designer, Segment Lists may also be entered as a query parameter value;however, there is no option available within Query Designer to access the Segment List file.The EXS - Select Item panel has been enhanced for the following:• Added the ability to reorder columns. When selecting a value for insertion, the data in first columnis the value that is returned to the worksheet.• Added the ability to sort and to filter data within the list.• Replaced the previous four insert buttons with a single insert button and modified the program toassign the correct syntax.• Modified the panel layout for improved navigation and easier processing.The Executive Dash ribbon in Excel has been recreated in Visual Studio 2010 for more efficientprocessing.The .EDQ file type has been registered in the registry, thus allowing a user in Windows Explorer todouble-click on an EDQ file and have the selected query open in Query Designer.Additional support information has been added to the Add/Remove Program properties for theExecutive Dash application.Miscellaneous Errors CorrectedConnection Made the following corrections to the Connection Management function:Management • Modified panel layout size to properly display the RED error message indicator.• For iSeries connection types, corrected error message text displayed when the library field is blank.• For iSeries ODBC connection types, modified processing logic to prevent locking tables whilereading data.• For iSeries OLEDB connection types, modified logic used to save the connection to prevent errorswhen creating a query.Smart ParmsQuery DesignerMade the following corrections to Smart Parm processing:• Modified queries in Excel to run correctly when the Smart Parm value contains a single quote.• Corrected to not default Smart Parms to uppercase for SAP fields.Made the following corrections within the Query Designer component:• Corrected processing error for calculated fields when the SQL Server table name contains a space.• Corrected anchoring of the Parameters quadrant for proper resizing.• Modified to properly run 1000 records for DSN DB2 syntax connection type queries.• Corrected to properly close open connections after running a query in Query Designer.• Corrected various locked query issues (i.e. prevented deletion of a locked query; modified to notassign the original lock code when cloning a query).• Prevented duplication of field in table when SQL Server field is designated as both a Primary andForeign key.Executive Dash Release V12R5 Software Release Notes 3

Query Designer- ContinuedFormulaAssistantEXDsEXQsEXSsReport Designer• When the Auto-Alias Fields setting is turned on and add all fields via ‘*’, modified system to notassign field aliases.• Corrected to properly write/save the timeout setting (specific scenario: change the setting and run aquery prior to closing the application).• When creating a new query corrected error where Tables panel would not appear (specificscenario: create new query, select connection, click Cancel on Login panel, create new query).• Corrected visual join lines to match the SQL statement.Made the following corrections to the Formula Assistant function:• Corrected the Formula Assistant panel icon to match the icon associated with Formula Assistantbutton on the ribbon.• On the EXQ tab, modified the panel layout to show the entire literal (‘Use Cell References for theparameters below’).• On the EXD tab, modified the Starting Cell/Range/Table field to exclude the sheet name when theactive sheet is different than the sheet containing the formula.• When using the CTRL feature to hide the Formula Assistant panel in order to select parametercells, corrected the program to properly resize when restoring the Formula Assistant panel.• When the Mixed Regional Settings option is selected, corrected an error re-inserting a modifiedexisting formula to the spreadsheet.Made the following corrections to the EXD formula and the Generate EXD function:• Modified calculation to not calculate the entire workbook.• Corrected to properly size ranges when the EXD is generated to a Range.• Corrected Clear Range process to function properly when the range to be cleared starts in eithercolumn N or Y.• Corrected to properly return data containing pipes.• Corrected to properly process for Northwinds database when a carriage return exist within the data.• Corrected to not delete but to properly update fill down columns outside of an EXD range.• When generated to a Table, corrected the program to properly preserve the Total Row.• Corrected queries ending with the same characters to generate correctly in Excel.• Corrected formula results to format properly when a comma (‘,’) is used as a decimal separator.Made the following corrections to the EXQ formula:• Corrected processing error for EXQ when the SQL Server table name contains a space.• When using Distribution Manager to execute an EXD, modified the program to properly calculatean EXQ fill down.Made the following corrections to the EXS formula:• Corrected the insertion of an unwanted blank space when a single value for EXS is selected.• Corrected unique query count when processing EXS queries without a registered license.Within the Report Designer function, corrected the program to properly display tables/fields forOracle and SAP ® queries.DocumentationThe application user guide has been updated to reflect all changes.Copyright © 2011, Global Software, Inc.3201 Beechleaf CourtRaleigh, NC 27604 USASupport: +1.800.849.7500 Fax: +1.919.876.8205helpdesk@glbsoft.comTrademark Acknowledgments: Microsoft, Excel, Windows, Office, Access, Outlook, and SQL Server are all registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM, iSeries andAS/400 are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. SAP is a registered trademark of SAPAG in Germany and in several other countries. Trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective manufactures in the UnitedStates and/or other countries. Global Software, Inc. is not associated or affiliated in any manner with the respective owners of the foregoing trademarks, trade names or service marksunless expressly stated otherwise. The respective owners of the foregoing trademarks, trade names or service marks have not endorsed, certified or approved any of Global Software,Inc.’s products for use in connection with their respective products.Executive Dash Release V12R5 Software Release Notes 4