The CXAIR 2017.2 release features a number of enhancements to a range of core functionality areas including the loading and saving, scheduling and creation of highly visual reports.

Installation Notes

Before upgrading, please close all instances of the Mozilla Firefox internet browser, including any remaining processes using the Windows Task Manager.

To install this latest version, a minimum of 16GB RAM is required. The update will not start if less than 16GB of RAM is detected.

There is now only one system service: CXAIR. This single service performs all tasks that were previously carried out by three separate services.

Following a successful upgrade, a new licence will need to be applied. This can only be installed by the super admin account and the relevant page is automatically loaded upon login.

Interface Enhancements

New Portal Screen

When logging in, users can now be directed to the Portal screen where a number of functionality areas can be quickly accessed.

To set this option, navigate to the front-end and click Preferences to open the User Preferences. Click the Starting Up CXAIR section to reveal the View After Login drop-down list. Set this to Portal and click Save to activate this feature.

New Default Skin

Following customer feedback, the default skin has now been refreshed. Lighter colours are now used throughout the solution, both in the front-end and in the administration screens.

Please note that any custom skins from previous versions will need to be reviewed, as minor adjustments may be required to ensure compatibility with the new styling options.

New Pages Interface

When Pages was first introduced, the drastically improved functionality provided by the drag-and-drop ability meant that creating highly visual reports was easier than ever before. Now, an interface refresh has further refined the creation process while retaining the intuitive design options.

Screen real estate has been carefully considered, resulting in a new Run icon and the available report components being relocated to a floating toolbox that can be manoeuvred anywhere on-screen. A detailed breakdown of the current report is located on the left of the screen, employing collapsible lists to allow a better understanding of the current report.

A number of performance enhancements have also been made to complement the aesthetic changes and ensure compatibility with wide range of supported resolutions and browsers. This includes the new Zoom functionality, accessed by clicking Report Style on the toolbox, that allows the size of the page to be altered on-screen.

System Diagram Redesign

The original system diagram design, while useful for establishing connections across Data Sources, was fundamentally limited in the way the data was displayed.

A complete structural and visual overhaul has resulted in a far more efficient process to present administrators with an accurate view of the data contained on the system along with the options to modify components and schedules directly from the System Diagram screen.

          

Furthermore, a new schedule view presents a real-time Gantt chart of configured schedules to allow greater visibility of timing across a system. Editing a schedule is now easier than ever before – simply click the relevant entry to configure the available options. 

New Load Screen Functionality

The loading and saving of reports has been revised to take advantage of the Indexing methodology used throughout the solution, improving reliability and performance when dealing with a large number of files and directories.

Reports can also be favourited by clicking the new Favourite icon, allowing fast access to selected reports. To favourite all reports in a folder, click the icon at folder level. 

Select Favourites from the view drop-down list to display reports that have been favourited, or Viewer to display saved reports using a structure based on the Report Viewer functionality.

New Scheduling Options

The inconsistencies across the Index schedules and report schedules screens have been addressed to unify the control available to users and administrators when configuring the Index and system schedules.

The option to now make report and Index schedules dependant on other schedules is now available. Select Dependant from the Frequency of Execution drop-down list to specify the other schedules that must run before the new schedule is triggered.

Crosstab Header Display Change

Dynamic Date Queries are now translated into the header of a Crosstab report.

Renamed Data Source

The Filters data source has now been renamed to ETL.

Redesigned Wizard Layout

The Wizard screens have been redesigned to present a far more ordered approach to the creation of Indexes. Also, the Column Mapping performance has been greatly enhanced to account for larger Data Sources.

System Settings Layout

The System Settings screen has been reorganised into logical groupings to assist system administrators when optimising system performance and modifying system-wide settings.

Licence Screen Redesign

The Licence screen now presents a far clearer view of the currently installed licence along with permitted usage.

New Features

User Data Source

The User Data Source option allows users, with the relevant permissions, to upload and configure their own Data Sources from CSV and Excel files.

The wizard contains a number of key options, such as Column Mapping and field modification, to ensure the best possible data quality and to walk users through the process step-by-step.

The entire process has been designed to be as intuitive as possible, providing access to functionality previously available only to administrators.

New Upgrade Functionality

Upgrading CXAIR is now easier than ever before. Once installed, the newest version can then be upgraded from within the solution. Click Setup, System then Upgrade CXAIR to access the functionality.

Simply drop the relevant CXAIR.war file onto the page for an automatic upgrade procedure that restarts the relevant service and prompts the administrator to verify a successful upgrade or roll back to a previous version.

CXWiki

Following a comprehensive review of the technical documentation that was distributed alongside the solution, it was clear that a number of improvements were required across all written content.

This has culminated in a complete re-write of all administrator and user documentation crafted specifically for a new online environment: CXWiki.

At over 150,000 words and spanning more than 50 web pages, the newly consolidated documentation is now far easier to navigate than ever before and is both printer and mobile friendly.

For navigation and search tips, please refer to the Wiki Guide.

Bugs Resolved in 2017.2

The following reported bugs have now been resolved and the fixes are included in this release: