April, 2004

APOS Freeware *Yes, It's True, Software, No Charge

We've accumulated a variety of useful tweaks and solutions for Crystal Enterprise™ that we're now offering on our web site. Note that APOS Freeware is provided complimentary and without support.

Visit here to download:

Update User Preferences

Now you can easily update specific preferences settings across all your Crystal Enterprise users at once, instead of changing them all individually.

ePortfolio Events tab

Now you can easily provide users with the ability to add an 'Event dependency' to a scheduled report right from the standard Schedule page in Crystal Enterprise.

ePortfolio Reschedule button

Now you can easily provide users with a 'Reschedule' capability right from the standard History page in Crystal Enterprise.

Why Use the Cascading Feature in Dynamic Parameters? *Cool Tip

Three solid reasons that translate into improved results:

    • better usability

    • updated data

    • pertinent information

Imagine that Susan, a school supervisor, needs to view a report about one of her secondary schools and then head into a meeting in 15 minutes to discuss how well the Grade 10 class has performed in Biology, compared against standardized tests.

The problem essentially centers on a dynamic parameter (the secondary school) with three cascading parameters defining the multiple dependencies (school year, class type, and subject). Since this is a dynamic list, the information that the user sees could and does change based on changes in the databases.

From Susan’s perspective, all she has to do is choose the school by name. There is no need to remember changing codes or other inputs. Once she chooses Moulsham Secondary, Dynamic Parameters first accesses the latest data captured in the data bases, and then displays only the information you’ve defined through cascading parameters in the value lists while selecting a valid combination as a starting point - grade 10, science, and biology. Again, Susan can only choose information pertinent to the configured set. She will not be presented with any other grades or class types, resulting in a clean set of valid data.

Cascading dynamic parameters represent a powerful tool for IT personnel to extract dynamically changing information. By manipulating these parameters, the IT department gives its user community the ability to shape how it can view performance. This feature is very helpful liberating information with multiple dependencies.

If you want to check out how cascading Dynamic Parameters can help your application, please visit here to request demo download instructions and our current price list.

Case Study - Automated Packaging Systems *Cool Customer “When we migrated from Seagate Info™ 7.5 to Crystal Enterprise 8.5, we lost a feature that helped us - the ability to schedule a large volume of reports at the same time. Luckily I came across APOS’ InfoScheduler Add-In software tool. It has saved us time and it has surpassed my most optimistic expectations,” recalled Mike Russo, Senior Programmer at Automated Packaging Systems.

New Features for Current Products *Stay Current

For current release notes on all our Add-in solutions, visit here to login to our new self-service portal, and then Search our new knowledgebase for all articles containing 'Release Notes'. Here are some highlights of recent updates . . .

Distribution Server v.10

'Export' function - now supports the latest Excel formats

Dynamic Parameters  v.10, v.9

History page - now includes a 'reschedule' link that reloads the schedule screen to allow the user to easily reschedule a report

Cascading parameters - now may be based on multiple parameter values; for example, selecting 2 states in parameter 1 will load parameter 2 values with all cities in both states

Multi-value parameters - now allows you to hide the value portion and display only the description

InfoScheduler v.10

Main screen - new, cleaner look with all commands moved to a new APOS menu within the Excel menu

APOS menu - new menu - Login, Logout, Schedule, Email Addresses, Object Search, Clear Folder Cache

Log on - new logon screen separate from the spreadsheet itself

Email Address - now you can lookup/copy/paste an email address from CE user objects

Object Search - now you can find/point to a specific report and load it in one easy step, including it's report id, parameter names, database connections, etc. - a fast track load!

Object Search - now you can find/point to a specific report instance and load it with 1 mouse click, including all the settings used to schedule the original instance

Clear Folder Cache - allows you to refresh cache if a report object is moved during a current session

FTP upload - now supports upload to unsecure FTP site

FTP upload - if 'User Name'/'Password' fields left blank, Job Server's default user name/password used

Instance Manager v.10, v.9, v.8.5

Scan performance - significant performance improvements have been made when selecting instances by any criteria based on dates

Save Column Order - now each user can re-arrange (and save) the columns in preferred order

Use Date Selection on the Client - use the date/time settings of the client workstation for retrieval

Reset Folder Cache - new command to clear the cache to include renamed folder paths

Object Manager v.9

Dynamic Parameters maintenance - now supports multi-value cascading parameters business rules

APOS Suite of Add-In Solutions *Extend Crystal Enterprise

One of our challenges is keeping our customers and colleagues current on the APOS suite of Add-In products as it grows. Visit here to request demo download instructions and our current price list.

Desktop Application Tools . . .

DocAssist - report documentation & repository tool

InfoScheduler - power batch scheduling from Microsoft Excel

Instance Manager - administrator power tool

Object Manager - report promotion, object management, security maintenance

Server-Based Add-Ins . . .

AddressBook Gateway - integrate your addressbook with ePortfolio scheduling

Business Calendars - customized calendars for report scheduling

Distribution Server - email link, email content, failure notification, distribute on alert

Dynamic Parameters - SQL-based, user-specific pick lists, cascading parameters

Instance Monitor - email notification of failed instances

KPI - who is viewing which reports, license usage analysis, server activity monitoring

Development Tools . . .

Processing Extension RAD - fast track processing extension development

Frequently Asked Questions

Visit here to see our latest FAQ list summarizing many of the needs our customers have been asking for help with in our various add-in solutions.

Suggestions, Requests, Unique Requirements

If you have a unique reporting system requirement, let us know. We love to work on special projects and regularly save our customers a lot of time and money by using our Add-In solutions as a fast-track foundation for a specific customized solution.

(c) 2004 APOS Systems Inc. All rights reserved. Crystal Decisions, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Analysis, Seagate Info and Business Objects are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.