Information Access A.06.00 New Features in A.06.00 ======================= Name Change ----------- NewWave Access is now called Information Access for Windows. New Report Writer ----------------- A new version of Access Reports with a large number of new features: ~ Drag fields between sections ~ Context sensitive help ~ Promotion/Demotion of sections. This allows you to change the level of a section without recreating the entire report. ~ Zoom Print Preview for viewing the entire page ~ Browse Fields gives you sample values capabilities in many dialogue boxes ~ Grid Alignment - Improved from 1/8 inch to 1/24 inch ~ Right Mouse on Section - Easier hiding, changing format, etc. Additionally, hidden sections can be unhidden using a right mouse. ~ Improved printing options ~ Shift Select allows you to choose more than one field at a time, then change the format, font, etc. of the fields - A great time saver. ~ Automatic Field Titles ~ Insert multiple fields at one time ~ Expanded ICON button bar - Including Print to File, and others ~ Real Field Length for Field Cursor - Alignment of fields is made a lot easier as the outline of the field is shown during placement! ~ Status Bar now displays valuable information ~ Margins now appear in the Report Editor as dashed lines ~ Increase/decrease sections by dragging on line ~ Increase Workspace - Abbreviate section information for greatly increased workspace on the screen. ~ New Field Info button displays field data type, length, and a list of field values ~ Memo fields (older version was limited to 80 characters) ~ Borders - Border facility enables you to create boxes, line highlights and drop shadows ~ Variance and Standard Deviation summary field total types ~ New Menu commands: File|Print to Printer - You can print from File or Print menus Edit|Report Title - Edit the title of the report Insert|Graphic & Edit|Graphic - You can now add graphics to your report (.pcx, .bmp, .gif, .tif, .tga) Print|Select Printer enables you to change the printer, page orientation, etc. Print|Set Printer Margins - Use to get hard page margins for your report. Print|Select Records & Print Select|Groups have been made easier to use. ~ New Formula Functions: ToWords - For converting numbers to words, like when writing a check. Variance Functions - For statistical variance Standard Deviation Functions Evaluation Time Functions - Evaluate formulas at varying times Repeat Functions - Repeats characters User Defined Functions - Write your own functions in C and include them in a DLL Misc ---- * Search Condition Variable Values agent and DDE commands * Print Report to File from the Information Access Report menu, including DDE and NewWave agent task commands * Output to Excel .XLS format * A new "Private Help" facility. This enhancement allows data managers to provide customized help files for their IA end users. For more information, look at "Creating Customized Help" in the main Help topics. * Support for INFORMIX Outer Joins. * Support for ALLBASE Outer Joins * Fixed defects WINSOCK ------- * Support for the WINSOCK Windows TCP/IP 1.1 sockets standard. This will allow Information Access to work with the following network operating system client products when accessing ALLBASE, ORACLE, INFORMIX, PROGRESS and INGRES on HP-UX: Stability Based On Network OS Client Product Our Testing ----------------------------------- ------------------ 1. NetManage TCP/IP version 3.1 Most stable 2. LAN Workplace for DOS, 4.2 . 3. Microsoft LAN Manager/Microsoft . Workgroup for Windows . 4. FTP Inc. PC/TCP version 2.2 Least stable 5. Others, as they are rolled out. Not Tested Check with the client O/S company for when they will support WINSOCK Windows TCP/IP 1.1. Be aware, however, that most of the WINSOCK 1.1 providers (FTP, Novel, etc.) are still shaking out defects in their code. Take note of the "stability matrix". Make sure that you are testing with the latest and greatest WINSOCK.DLL from the particular company. ODBC ---- * Support for the Open Database Connectivity API (ODBC). This SHOULD allow access to any database that supports an ODBC driver, but BE AWARE. All ODBC drivers are still in the Alpha and Beta phase and it will take A LOT of time to flush out all of the problems with these new drivers. If at all possible, sell a solution that does NOT use ODBC. Access to dBASE and Paradox via ODBC have some advantages over our own local engine (formulas, outerjoins, etc.). However, our current connections to ALLBASE, ORACLE, INFORMIX, INGRES, PROGRESS (HP Information Access SQL/UX server based), SYBASE, SQLBase, Microsoft SQL Server, Red Brick Warehouse and IBI/EDA (direct via vendor API) ARE SUPPERIOR TO ANY ODBC DRIVER CONNECTION!!!! If ODBC support is needed, however, work with me, Guy Randazzo, at (916) 785-4816, to qualify it because of all defects in the ODBC drivers that are are still in the early stages of development. New Features in A.05 ==================== Report Writer ------------- Info Access now includes a full report writer, Access Reports. Once Info Access is installed, you will see that a new menu has been added "Report". This menu has the following commands: Report Create/Edit Report Used to enter Access Reports to Create and or Edit your report layout. Clear Report Used to delete the existing report layout to start over. The next time you enter Access Reports, you will start with a fresh default layout. Print Report Will start Access Reports and print the existing report. Preview Report Will start Access Reports and automatically preview the report. Formulas -------- Information Access now lets you define formulas for use in a view definition. Formulas can be based on both arithmetic operations and SQL function calls. The calculations can incorporate arithmetic values and column values. With this capability you can create calculated columns in the View Columns window, sort your data view based on calculated columns, and specify search conditions using a formula definition. In addition to defining formulas for a specific data view, you can also share formulas among other data views that use the same NWACCESS.INI file. For a description of how to define, maintain, and share formulas look under 'formulas' in the Task Index of Information Access Help. New Data Sources ---------------- Information Access can now connect to 2 new servers: * IBI's Enterprise Data Access (IBI/EDA) Server - EDA integrates heterogeneous distributed DBMSs by providing a cohesive model of system functionality - independent of diverse data representations, system software characteristics, communication protocols and hardware environments. * Red Brick's Gold Mine Server - The Gold Mine data access technology provides a high speed query server that can significantly improve query performance, from 10X to 40X, and a query language, RISQL, which allows the user to easily express complex, important business queries. With use of RISQL query response can go up to 100X current response levels. Direct user benefits include: * The ability to perform more interactive ad hoc analyses * Asking more complex business questions not currently possible with standard ANSI SQL. * Reducing the cost of producing batch reports * Reducing system costs by lowering connect time and eliminating stored aggregates. Convert Out Enhancements ------------------------ Information Access for Windows and the NewWave Desktop The 'Convert Out' feature now supports two Lotus 1-2-3 formats. In addition to Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.0 (.WK1), you can now select Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, Release 3.0 (.WK3). Information Access for the NewWave Desktop The 'Convert Out' feature now supports three object types. You can now convert out a Information Access object to a Lotus 1-2-3 object in one of two formats: Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.0 (.WK1) or Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, Release 3.0 (.WK3). As a third option, you can convert out a Information Access object to a NotePad object. For more on these enhancements, refer to 'Convert out' in Information Access Help. Network Installation Notes -------------------------- Network installation notes have been added to the 'Troubleshooting and technical topics' section of Information Access help. This topic describes how to install Info Access for a range of network scenarios. Each scenario includes a step-by-step description of the installation procedure. Activities are split into network administrator tasks and user tasks. From the initial screen in Information Access Help, select 'Troubleshooting and technical topics'. Under Setup, select 'Network installation notes'. Agent Task (NewWave Desktop Users Only) --------------------------------------- New Report Writer Agent Task SAVE PRINT_REPORT The PRINT_REPORT prints a report using the current report definition file. The SAVE is necessary before the PRINT_REPORT to pull all the data down to the PC before invoking the report writer. New Convert Out Agent Tasks CONVERT_OUT TO LOTUS_WK3_FILE filename_string CREATE CONVERT_OUT TO LOTUS_WJ2_FILE filename_string CREATE CONVERT_OUT TO NOTEPAD_OBJECT filename_string CREATE CONVERT_OUT TO LOTUS_OBJECT filename_string CREATE New Character Sets for Connections SHIFTJIS, the Japanese 16-bit character set, can now be selected as the character set in the create or modify connection agent tasks. You may specify SHIFTJIS as an option in any of the agent tasks that support the selection of ISO8859, PC8, and ROMAN8. Formula Agent Tasks DEFINE_FORMULA "name_string" EQUALS "formula" MODIFY_FORMULA "name_string" EQUALS "formula" TO "name_string" EQUALS "formula" DELETE_FORMULA "name_string" SHARE_FORMULA "name_string" SHOW_FORMULA_LIST name_string - The name you have assigned to the formula. The name_string must be bracketed by quotation marks. Note: If you are connected to Access Server, the formula name can be up to 16 characters long. The name must begin with an alphabetic character and it can only contain alphabetic characters, numeric characters, or one of the following symbols: +, -, /, ', ?, #, %, &, and @. formula - The formula definition (not to exceed 1024 bytes). A formula's syntax varies among different database servers. Use the appropriate syntax for the selected server. formula must be bracketed by quotation marks. Example DEFINE_FORMULA "total" EQUALS "inventory.quantity * prod.price" New Features in A.04.01 ======================= * New Convert Out options: ~ Lotus 1-2-3, Version 3.0 File Format (.WK3) ~ Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows NewWave Object (Requires NewWave 4.0 (C.01.00) or greater) ~ Notepad NewWave Object * The workaround described in "Dateline Europe" for European date formats in no longer needed. The defect that forced the need for this workaround has been fixed. * Misc. other defect fixes New Features in A.04.00 ======================= * Access to New Data Sources: Paradox INGRES on HP 3000 running MPE/iX (Requires Information Access SQL/iX) INGRES on HP 9000 Series 800 running HP-UX (Requires Information Access SQL/UX) INFORMIX on HP 9000 Series 800 running HP-UX (Requires Information Access SQL/UX) PROGRESS on HP 9000 Series 800 running HP-UX (Requires Information Access SQL/UX) Gupta SQLBase SYBASE Microsoft SQL Server Note: Microsoft/Sybase SQL SERVER and Gupta SQLBase do not require Information Access SQL server software, but do require similar components from the respective database vendor. * Windows Only - This version will run independently of NewWave in a Windows environment (or encapsulated under NewWave as a Windows application) including: ~ Windows based installation (includes OLE registration and creation of HP Access Group in Windows) ~ Full integration with client applications that support Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) including the ability to pass sophisticated commands via the macro capability of client applications such as Excel, Word for Windows and Lotus 1-2-3. ~ Full integration with client applications that support Object Linking and Embedding. ~ Drag/Drop Printing in Windows 3.1 * Comma Separated Variable (CSV) Convert Out * Picture format on clipboard * Improved reporting capability including: ~ Ability to rename column names in the Data View window ~ Ability to change fonts in the Data View window for display and printing ~ Page Layout Header/Footer macros similar to Excel * "Motif" look in the View Definition Window * Improved logging/tracing facility * Minor usability improvements in the View Definition window * Improved Native Language Support when accessing ALLBASE/SQL NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! ======================================================================= It is an excellent idea to always have SHARE.EXE loaded when running under MS Windows to prevent file corruption via multiple file access. With Information Access, if you are going to access ANY local data source, R:Base, dBASE or Paradox, you MUST have SHARE.EXE loaded. To load SHARE.EXE, simply run the program from the DOS prompt. It can be found in your MS DOS subdirectory, usually \DOS. It is highly recommended that SHARE.EXE be automatically loaded. To do this, add a line that looks like this to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE Substitute C:\DOS with the correct drive and location. Failing to do the above will result in DM074 errors whenever you access any local data sources (R:Base, dBASE or Paradox).