v23.6.5.900
EventSmith SMTP Configuration Enhancement
EventSmith SMTP is a stand-alone version of EventSmith that is an independent install and allows you to use an SMTP mail server with or without Authentication. The standalone version of EventSmith SMTP has been updated to improve user configuration. EventSmith SMTP v1.5 removes sensitive information from the services configuration files such as the mail server login and database connection information.
- Configuration Files - The config files for the two services (Data Connect and EventSmith SMTP) have been modified to remove all mail server settings. These settings are now accessed in Site Manager and stored in the user profile table in the Site database. If any of these settings are left in the config files, it will be ignored.
- Database Connection - The database connection information has been removed from the configuration file and is now obtained directly from the CM4D.4ds file. EventSmith SMTP finds the CM4D.4ds file based on the CM4D Installation path in the Windows registry.
If you already have the standalone version installed, save a backup of your config files and then uninstall it from the machine before running the updated version.
See here for more information about the installation and configuration of EventSmith SMTP.
v23.6.4.900
TLS 1.2 Support
Support has been added for Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2. Microsoft provides an updated OLEDB 18 (or higher) driver that uses TLS 1.2 and is backwards compatible. The change in this patch allows CM4D to use the updated driver to connect to the database using TLS 1.2.
If you want to use TLS 1.2 you will need to install an updated driver for OLEDB 18 (or higher) and add a specific setting to the Cm4d.ini file that will enable the correct connectivity for CM4D. For assistance with this driver and to obtain the INI setting, please contact CM4D support.
By default, CM4D will use TLS 1.0 and legacy OLEDB drivers and will not require you to make any changes in order to run this patch release.
v23.6.3.900
Picture API
Three new API functions have been added to the QaSheet object to support the Picture annotation:
|
Methods |
Return Type |
|
GetPicture(LPCTSTR label); |
IQaPicture* |
|
GetPictureByPos(long pos); |
IQaPicture* |
|
GetPictureCount(); |
long |
v23.6.2.900
Sample Load - Order 'As Selected'
A new option has been added to the Sample Load dialog to be used in conjunction with the option ‘Load Samples Selected’. After selecting the option and choosing the samples manually in the Select dialog, set the Order by dropdown to ‘As Selected’. This will load samples in the order in which they appeared in the Select Samples list. This feature was added as a solution to a bug reported where the order of the list of manually selected samples could not be used to order the samples loaded into the query.
v23.6.0.900
CM4D Printer
The ATS CM4D Printer is a new PDF printer driver that can be used as the printing mechanism for generating PDF reports from all CM4D applications (including Scheduler and CM4D Web). Since the CM4D Printer is not a third-party add-on (like eDoc PDF Printer), a special license for the print driver is not required.
This is a limited release installer that is only supported in CM4D v23.6. Any other v23 will not support the CM4D Printer. A standalone installer for the print driver will be provided by ATS along with instructions for how to install and setup the print driver. Starting with v24, this print driver will be embedded directly into CM4D without requiring a separate installer.
You should install the CM4D Printer on all systems running CM4D, including Servers and Clients. While eDoc was only required on systems running the Scheduler services, this version of CM4D will require the CM4D Printer for internal application printing along with the Scheduler and Web printing. If a system does not require PDF printing you may choose not to install the CM4D print driver.
The generated PDF reports created with CM4D Printer are the same as those created by eDoc. Files with the same name are overwritten and all sheets in a Managed Report are merged into a single file. However, you may notice some minor changes regarding the appearance images or ways markings are drawn. It is highly recommended to test the CM4D print driver prior to installing on multiple systems or directly in production.
In the [defaults] section of the Cm4d.ini file, set the following:
[defaults]
PDFPRINTDRIVER= "ATS CM4D Printer"
v23.5.0.900
Auto-Orient View to Routine Camera
The Auto-Orient function on a View has been enhanced to include a new option that automatically orients a View to a saved Routine Camera. This function is also supported with a new API object for creating and managing Routine Cameras.
API – New Objects and XML
Some new API objects have been added to CM4D. Additionally, these new objects take advantage of using an XML call in place of extensive individual methods or properties. Using XML in this way will be the direction that API changes will take in the future.
Routine Cameras
To create or modify Routine Cameras, two new objects have been added:
The primary function of these new objects is to support Routine Cameras that will be used with the new Auto Orient to Routine Camera option added in this version.
DataSet – Sift Rules
To modify DataSet Sift Rules, a new object has been added:
In the future, this object will be expanded to include other DataSet properties.
Managed Documents
To obtain a list of Managed Documents and the Managed SheetSets within each document, a new object has been added:
This object is called from QaDoc. The primary function of this new object is to support the new Managed Report API added in this version.
Managed Reports
To create or modify Managed Reports, two new objects have been added:
The primary function of these new objects is to support the new Scheduler Job API added in this version.
Scheduler Jobs
To create or modify Scheduler Jobs, three new objects have been added:
These objects, when used in conjunction with the Managed Report and Managed Document XML, provide all the calls needed to set up an automated report via the API.
Picture Annotation – PNG Support
The Picture annotation now supports PNG file types.
v23.4.3.900
Feature Cache for Report Performance Boost
A new option has been added to the Cm4d.ini file for caching feature types. After the first time a feature is loaded from the database into a report, the feature type is stored while the data is loaded in the report. This provides a significant performance improvement for displaying data in a report. This setting is on (1) by default, but can be turned off by setting to zero.
Cm4d.ini Setting:
[defaults]
CACHEFEATURETYPE = 1
v23.4.2.900
Document Locale Settings
A locale setting has been added to the CM4D document property defaults to accommodate different machine region settings. This allows the document to function as the template creator intended, regardless of the region setting of the machine where the document is opened. This setting defaults to US English, which is what will be used by all existing documents. For new documents, you can configure the default locale in the Cm4d.ini file:
[defaults]
initial_locale = "en-us"
If you change the locale on an existing document to a locale that uses commas as the decimal symbol, the document may not function properly. Any text-based numeric inputs (such as annotation properties, Scores, DataStacks, etc.) must be checked thoroughly to make sure that the separator used is entered correctly for the locale selected in the document. There is no way for CM4D to error-check these inputs, so either only use a different locale for new documents or be sure to check everything if you change an existing document.
v23.4.1.900
Global Report Tags
Some new options have been added to the Global Report Tags in Site Manager, which can be enabled available for use in CM4D Web.
Routine Parent
Routine Alias
Feature Alias 1
Feature Alias 2
Feature Alias 3
Feature Alias 4
Please note that once these new options are enabled, the Scheduler or Web reports must be re-run before the new tags show up in the Column Chooser in Web.
v23.4.0.900
DataStack Conformance Calculations
One of the fixes in the version was to show the correct Sample Labels when a new process baseline is introduced in DataStacks calculating conformance.
In CM4D, the conformance summary was only intended to be calculated on the current process baseline. With this fix the default conformance evaluation is still done on the current process only. But we have also added a new option to have it evaluate conformance on all samples, even with multiple process baselines.
The new “Evaluate on Current Process Only” option is in the DataStack Properties > Evaluation Conformance Summary Setup dialog. This change only applies to the Conformance Summary. The new check box is on by default so that legacy documents will continue to calculation as in previous versions.
Enabled (default) – Chart will display Samples for the current process only; the correct samples with the sample labels will appear to the right of the baseline.
Disabled – Chart will display all Samples; the samples will appear to the left and right of the baseline, and show sample labels for all samples.
Check any DataSets you want to use for evaluating conformance on multiple processes to be sure that your DataStacks have the necessary input. Disabling this setting does not automatically ignore any other settings that relate to evaluation processes. For example, if a DataSet in the DataStack performing the evaluation uses the Event option “Trigger on Current Process Only” you still only see data for the current process because the DataSet that inputs the data into the DataStack only includes the current process data.
Print Document to PDF
A new print option (File>Print Misc>Print Document) has been added to in Classic that allows you to print all Sheets/SheetSets in the document into a single PDF.
eDoc PDF Printer Reinstated
Due to some limitations discovered in Quick PDF, all applications have been reverted to use eDoc PDF Printer. All requirements for eDoc printer and printing functionality will be the same as prior to v23.1. Linked PDFs are not supported at this time.
v23.2.0.900
Load Images Variable
A new variable has been added that returns the total number of Routine images that have been loaded in the query: ~load,images~
v23.1.10.900
Trend Chart Trend Lines
An option has been added on the Chart Annotation that displays the Trend Line. Variables are included to return values for R-Squared, Trend Correlation Coefficient and the number of points to Out of Tolerance.
The Trend Line is disabled by default; to enable the trend line, go to the Chart Lines property for the plot space. See here for more information.
v23.1.4.900
Unselect All Managed Reports
An “Unselect All” option has been added to the Managed Reports dialog in Scheduler Manager.
v23.1.2.900
Migration from v21
When upgrading from v21 to v23, there are some migration requirements that must be completed. This migration was originally implemented in v22, a limited release, so please refer to the v22 What’s New and v23 Migration documentation prior to upgrading to v23.
JT Library Upgrade – 8.5
As of this release, CM4D has been upgraded to support JT Open Toolkit 8.5.
Using JT image files in CM4D requires specific setup, including libraries provided by your JT vendor. The version of the JT Open Toolkit used to build those libraries must match the version supported in CM4D.
If you are using Toolkit 6.6, then you cannot upgrade to v22.3 or newer.
Oracle Support Discontinued
Oracle Databases are now deprecated and will no longer be supported by ATS CM4D.
Quick PDF Replaces eDoc PDF Printer
Quick PDF, a built-in PDF printer, has been implemented to replace eDoc PDF Printer. Quick PDF does not require any additional license and will be utilized by CM4D, CM4D Scheduler and CM4D Web to print/generate PDF reports.
Linked PDFs
Links (or hotspots) can be added to a report that can be used to navigate to another sheet of the report or to a different report.
These links must be configured in the report template using CM4D Classic. Once the report is printed as a PDF, the links will be clickable by the end user from either CM4D Web or via direct access to the PDF on the file system.
Stand-Alone EventSmith with Authentication
A stand-alone version of EventSmith can be installed that uses an SMTP with Authentication. This requires a mail server that requires user authentication.
The standard version of EventSmith that is installed with CM4D Web uses an SMTP without authentication. The two versions of EventSmith cannot be run simultaneously, so if you want to use an SMTP server with anonymous relay, you must use the version of EventSmith that is installed with CM4D Server.
Not Version-Specific
The stand-alone EventSmith application is not version-specific, so it can be used with any version of CMC4D using SQL Server v21 or higher. It can also be installed independently from the CM4D installation, so you may choose to install the new services on alternate servers.
Oracle is not supported by the stand-alone version of EventSmith, even in versions of CM4D that support Oracle.
v23.0.0.902
Advanced Excel Library
An internal Preprocess option has been added to DataSmith that allows you to read XLS or XLSX files into DataSmith without having Excel installed on the local system.
In addition to the benefit of not requiring an Excel license, this advanced library provides more specific options for selecting the portions of the file that you want to read. You can specify a Sheet in a multi-sheet workbook, a range of cells within that Sheet, or display individual column data with repeating row header information.
The previous Excel Preprocessing option is still available and has not been changed from previous versions.