Captell 6.13.1.0 (Current Production Release)

Web annotation preview failed to show all annotations in a group if group was across more than 2 pages

Fixed

Document build from the Build menu when building multiple documents failed to save the built document

Fixed

Version number of Captell web was incorrect

Fixed

Captell 6.13.0.8

The Excel table source type now allows wild cards

Any excel workbooks matching the file mask will be processed.

New option in TEXT and EXCEL table source types to allow reprocessing already processed files

With this new option checked Captell will ignore the fact that the source file has already been processed.

Cutting and pasting Annotation points after previously deleting a point in the document higher than those cut caused the pasted AP's to loos any saved annotation text

Fixed.

Updated CCL commands BUILD_DOC_NOW to include W and PA parameter

Setting W (Wait) to NO causes the command to signal the caller immediately rather than waiting for the document build to complete. Setting the PA parameter to a ; delimited list of parameter names and values causes the build process to set those specified parameters before building the document.

Updated CCL commands UPDATE_TABLE_NOW to include W and to allow specification of multiple tables

Setting W (Wait) to NO causes the command to signal the caller immediately rather than waiting for the table update to complete. This release also allows specification of a ; delimited list of tables to be updated.  The command starts a separate table update task for each table specified.

Changes to the Query based table source definition to allow specification of ISJOB

ISJOB changes the behaviour of the table update process so that queries stored as procedures that include calls to CCL UPDATE_TABLE_NOW and BUILD_DOC_NOW only run those processes once.  With ISJOB specified all other normal table properties and operations are ignored.

Menu View --> Web now opens current database in web browser

The Captell Workbench menu VIEW --> WEB opens the default web browser pointing at the default Captell database (as specified in the Captell web configuration file), this release changes this behaviour to open the Captell database currently open in the workbench.  This change also affects the Captell Web component in that the FRMCAPTELLLOGIN.ASPX page now accepts a Server and Database parameter, for example http://localhost/Captellweb/frmCaptellLogin.aspx?S=(local)\Captell&D=Captell_Samples.  This allows a site setup a reporting home page with links to all the Captell databases.

Table partitioning fails when partition column is last in primary key

Partitioning a table using a column that is the last column in a complex primary key would fail to partition the table.  This problem has been resolved in this release. Also, changing the Table Requires Partitioning check box on the table partitioning dialog did not prompt to save the table definition on closure, this too has been fixed.

Ability to include URL's in query output

Including the control string #CAP_URL(text, url) in Captell query output which is subsequently used in a document will result in the text being rendered as a clickable hyper link either to an external web address or a document target or to another Captell report object.

Clicking Annotate menu from the dashboard and the dashboard image disappeared

This has been corrected in this release.

Dialogs provided to edit conditional formatting strings used in Captell queries

All conditional formatting control strings including #CAP_CH (charts) and #CAP_TL (Traffic lights) can now be edited using simple dialogs.  Using the Captell query definition dialog, right click the query text and either insert control strings or edit existing control strings.  Conditional formatting control strings in Captell queries are now replaced with simple tags #CAP_CH, #CAP_MC_BAR, #CAP_FM etc which simplify the query, control strings can be edited by right clicking the tags.

Default formatting for data included in documents

Data (Tables, Queries etc.) included in documents are now formatted using default format options specified in the Captell Options Document\Tables dialog.  The default formatting can be over ridden when inserting the data into the document or by accessing the inserted data properties; right click the table in the document..

Two new Captell Command Line CCL commands

UPDATE_TABLE_NOW and BUILD_DOC_NOW trigger table updates or document builds by talking directly to the Captell service rather than through the task list.  These commands execute immediately rather than scheduling a task for execution.  BUILD_DOC_NOW also allows specification of the built document name.

Improved performance of document refresh activities

Changes to the method used to refresh document objects has resulted in a significant improvement in refresh speed.

The ability to change the source of tables included in Captell documents

A new popup menu appears when right clicking a table included in a Captell document, Change source data allows for the source data for the included table to be changed to a different query, table or subject.

Inclusion of 32 and 64 Bit data access components

This release includes both the 32 and  64 bit Microsoft Access Database Engine redistributables from MS Office 2010.  These components are used by Captell to access text, Excel and Access data files.  the New 64 Bit ACE redistributable allows Captell to load these data formats when run using SQL Server 64 bit instances.

The inclusion of multiple #CAP_xxx control strings in a single table cell is now supported

The #CAP_xxx control strings are used to embed charts, traffic lights, the new Captell mini charts and conditional formatting in Captell queries.  These, when included in a Captell document or viewed through the Captell web show the included objects.  This change allows for multiple control strings to be included in a single cell along with text and other document objects.

Ability to apply conditional formatting to table rows using #CAP_RF control string in first cell

The #CAP_RF control string can be used to set the background colour and font information of table rows generated from a Captell query.  This control string is placed in the first cell of a row and can be conditionally constructed using a case statement in the SQL query.

Ability to create breaks in Captell document tables #CAP_BR

Including a control string #CAP_BR in the first cell of a table row will cause Captell to remove all text and formatting from the row including the vertical borders (effectively creating a break in the table), the specified text will then be rendered in the first cell using specified formatting.  This has the effect of creating breaks in the table and if the text is formatted with a heading style, headers in the table breaks which can be jumped to from the table of contents.

Insert number of pages option on Captell documents

This facility inserts a field at the current location containing the number of pages in the document, as changes are made the field is kept up to date automatically.

Table border widths now correctly remembered during table refresh

Under some circumstances the table border widths of table/Queries etc. included in Captell documents were not remembered during table refresh operations.  This has been corrected in this release.

Input SQL text boxes in table source definitions now accept TAB

The text box used to enter the Input SQL statements of table source definitions now accepts the TAB and enter keys.  This allows for better formatting control when entering these SQL statements.  This functionality has also been propagated throughout Captell where ever multi line textboxes are used.

Table headers included after page breaks in automatic tables

Any Table, Query or Subject included in a document with a header row will have the header row automatically included whenever the table breaks across page boundaries.  The page break header rows are created and maintained whenever the table is refreshed.

Custom colours saved across sessions

Custom colours added in any of the Captell colour dialogs will be saved and restored across Captell sessions.

Ability to limit columns when inserting data into document

The Insert Options dialog that pops when you drag a table, query or subject to a Captell document now has an option that allows for the selection of the columns that are to be included.  This allows for a single query or table etc. to be included in different places in a document or documents with each inclusion showing different columns if required.  It also allows for a filter to be specified limiting the rows included based on columns that are not necessarily shown in the document table.

Problem reading text or Excel date time of 2010-05-04 06:00

An apparent problem in the MICROSOFT.ACE.OLEDB.12.0  and the  MICROSOFT.JET.OLEDB.4.0 drivers prevent the above date time string from being read correctly, the drivers read it as 2010-05-04 05:59:59.997.  The problem has been reported to Microsoft and we await a response, in the mean time, this change is to allow specification of the Microsoft ODBC driver for accessing desktop file formats such as EXCEL, Text or Access files.  The ACE provider option on the General tab of the Captell Administrator now provides a "JET ODBC DRIVER" which when set will result in access to the above mentioned file formats being carried out using ODBC.

Update: Microsoft have stated this is by design (yes I know!!!) The issue arises because of rounding errors that occur when converting the higher precision values found in Excel, Text and Access to the less precise SQL date time values.  Captell developments now recommends the use of ODBC drivers for accessing these source types.

Support for Microsoft OLEDB 64 bit ACE drivers

On 6th May 2010 Microsoft released the new Access Data Engine for MS Office 2010, this includes a 64 bit OLEDB and ODBC drivers for Office file formats such as Text, Excel and MS Access.  This change provides support for this new driver.  The ACE provider option on the General tab of the Captell Administrator now provides a "MICROSOFT.ACE.OLEDB.14.0" options which is for the Office 2010 formats.

This change also introduces single threading during table updates that utilise OLEDB drivers, only the portion of the update that reads the external file is single streamed.

HOWEVER: a bug in the shipped driver prevents this driver name from working, until the bug is resolved by Microsoft you can must specify MICROSOFT.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 this provider will be the 64bit OLEDB driver if installed otherwise the 32 bit driver.

To utilise 64 bit ODBC drivers a new driver option has been included "JET ODBC DRIVER".  This is the recomended driver option for both 32 and 64 bit SQL Server installations.  See here for more details.

Mini charts

Captell mini charts are very small charts that are rendered directly in query output either to a Captell document or to the Web, that is they don't have any underlying Captell chart object.  Click the thumbnail for a small example.  The Captell mini chart facility allows control strings to be generated by a query, these instruct the Captell document and Captell web to render the charts.  Currently supported are mini bars, lines, pies and bullets. 

Mini charts do not have any labels or headings  etc, they provide limited formatting capabilities. They are ideally suited for use in a dashboard style report to present a large amount of information in a small amount of space.  Click here for a preliminary sample document.

Scroll bars not always working in Security tab of Captell Administrator

This problem occurs when the currently defined list of users is not large enough to require scroll bars, then a new user is added which makes the list too large to be displayed completely, the scroll bars would become visible but not active.  This problem is now fixed.

New table source type to access externally loaded and managed tables

A new table source type "Existing table in database" has been added that allows for a table to be created, loaded and maintained from outside the Captell system, this table type is effectively a place holder to show the table in the Captell explorer and therefore allows use of the table in Captell queries and other Captell report objects.  The underlying table must adhere to Captell table naming conventions i.e. it must contain at least one folder component [foldername\tablename].

Improvements to table update elapsed times

Minor improvements to elapsed times when updating tables with source types of Excel, Query based, Jet or ODBC.  Under some circumstances the time taken to determine source data schema has been reduced.

F5 in query definition window now executes the query and shows the results

If the SQL text is shown in the Query definition window, pressing the F5 key will (in a similar fashion to SQL Server Management Studio) executes the query and show the results

Save queries as procedures

This enhancement allows Captell queries to be saved as procedures, which allows queries to be created that make use of temporary tables and that can define and access SQL Server cursors.  Essentially a Captell query saved as a procedure can do anything that a SQL Server Stored procedure can do with the additional benefit of being accessible via a FROM clause of a SELECT statement.  e.g. You can write a query that utilises temporary tables, cursors and calls other procedures to manipulate data, the final step should be select * from a temporary table.  The data provided by this query saved a procedure can be consumed in other Captell objects such as Charts, Documents or can be utilised in other Captell queries by simply selecting from the query name.  SELECT * from querysavedasprocedure.

This change also gives access to other SQL Server stored procedures by simply including EXEC storedProcedureName as the query text.

Captell 6.12.0.2

Captell 6.12.0.2 includes no new functionality two minor bug fix  specifically:

Inability to drag single chart from Dynamic chart group to a document

Dynamic chart groups can be dragged to a document at which time all charts in the group are rendered to the document.  Prior releases had a bug that prevented single charts from the group being used in a document.

Manage access fails

Release 6.12 introduced a bug that prevented the Manage Access explorer menu item functioning properly.

Captell 6.12.0.1

Captell 6.12.0.1 includes no new functionality only performance improvements, and one minor bug fix  specifically:

Performance improvements

Improved performance and accuracy of query meta data refresh when editing queries.  Any queries that have a dependency on the query being edited will have their meta data refreshed when the query is saved, this process now occurs in a stored procedure on the database and thus eliminates round trips between the Captell workbench and the SQL Server.

Improved performance of Captell explorer refresh.  Only one trip to the database is made to refresh the Captell explorer.  Improvements in access control have also significantly reduced the time taken to refresh the explorer.

Improved performance and accuracy of pivot meta data refresh when editing underlying queries or changing parameter values that are used in underlying queries.  This functionality is now carried out in a Stored procedure on the database thus eliminating database round trips.  Previous versions of Captell did not refresh the pivot meta data when a parameter value (used by an underlying query) was changed.  This resulted in pivots not showing the desired results when a parameter value change reduced or increased the number of data values available for use as columns in the pivot.

#CAP_SET_STATUS output not correctly displayed in web

Improved ability of Captell web to display output from #CAP_SET_STATUS and #CAP_FM functions.

Captell 6.12.0

Subject Data Entry

For small sets of data usually provided by a user in your network, the Captell Subject Data Entry facility provides an easily established dynamically built data entry screen delivered to the user via the Captell web.  Data entered via Subject Data Entry is stored in a common table, each subject area defined has a separate view automatically generated that allows the subject data to be consumed in other Captell report objects.

Dashboards

Captell documents can now be published as dashboards, which results in the document being rendered on the fly into PDF for viewing in the Captell Web facility.  The dashboard can be simply laid out by dropping Captell report objects into tables.  Any element allowed in a "normal" Captell document can be used in a dashboard, including Charts, traffic lights, plain text, text provided from a query and table and query output.

Parameters used to drive the content of report objects can be published alongside the dashboard allowing users  to refresh the dashboard simply by changing the parameter values.

New function DBO.CAP_SET_STATUS

The DBO.CAP_SET_STATUS function accepts a value column and a threshold, it compares the value to the threshold and returns a string made up of the value along with a character which is set (including its colour) depending upon whether the value is greater than, equal to or less than the threshold.  The output from this function makes an excellent summary table for documents.  The character can be any character for any available font including Wingdings.

Greater control over editing tables in Captell documents

Previous releases were very restrictive when editing manually created table content in a Captell document.  Most of these restrictions have been removed.

Improvements to report object lock handling

Report object in-use locks will be ignored if the current user is the user who holds the lock.  The in-use lock can be ignored from the message indicating the object is in use; you no longer need to go back to the Explorer to release the lock.

Data cull failed if date time column had space in column name

Fixed

Table and query output can now be inserted into manually created document tables

Output from queries and tables can now be dropped into manually created tables in the Captell document.  This allows for much finer control over table/query output in a document.  Previous releases have allowed charts and traffic lights to be included in manually created tables; with this inclusion charts can be shown with their respective data side-by-side.

Lite license removed from Captell installer

This license type is no longer supported, Desktop and Enterprise (perpetual and annual) are supported.

Report Object not found error when refreshing task list

This error appeared if Task list refresh was requested while one was under way

Preliminary support for SQL Server 2008 64 bit

The recent release by Microsoft of their BETA 64 Bit OLEDB ACE drivers (see download here) has prompted this change to allow for specification of different OLEDB drivers either MICROSOFT.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 or MICROSOFT.ACE.OLEDB.14.0.  This specification is made by the Captell Administrator using the Administrator application.  NOTE: at time of writing as these drivers are BETA we urge caution if considering their use in a production environment.

Captell Administrator window is now resizable

Out of memory condition when editing documents

Under some circumstances editing a document caused an out of memory condition.  This was traced to large image sizes in documents built on older versions of Captell.  This has been rectified in this release by automatically changing the image resolution when opening a document for editing.

Max row count on Table, Pivot and Query viewers and editors

Table, Pivot and Query viewers and editors now has a maximum row output count, set to a default of 20000.  Once this limit is reached the transaction will be stoped.  This is to prevent memory conditions when "accidentally" trying to view several million rows of table output.  Changing the Maximum rows value to 0 will display all possible rows.

Attempt to release MUTEX not owned by caller error when updating an Excel sourced table

This error was occasionally thrown when updating multiple excel workbooks in parallel. It has been resolved.

Truncate table fails if table didn't previously exist

The new table disposition Truncate option failed if the table didn't already exist.  This has been resolved.

Administrator now has a Clear List options provided in the Instance dropdown

This removes all previously discovered SQL Server instances from the list.  <Browse for more> discovers new instances.

Problem displaying long parameter values in Captell Web

Long parameter values are now shown as tooltips when hovering over them in the parameter drop down list.

Order option on parameters

In previous versions parameters displayed in the Captell web in alphabetical order.  In release 6.12.0 the order can be manually set when adding parameters to the Publication dialog of the various report objects.

Added ability to set subordinate parameters when defining a parameter

Subordinate parameters are those that are dependent upon the one being defined.  For instance DIVISION, BRANCH and SECTION parameters, BRANCH and SECTION are subordinate to DIVISION.  Specifying subordinate parameters causes their selection lists to be correctly redrawn when a higher parameter value has changed.

Error saving query if only contains --# variables

A query that only included --# variables if accidentally saved as a view the query editor would hang.  This has been resolved.

Query text being converted to upper case if Captell query macros included

This has been resolved

#INCLUDE not commented out with Comment Out option

If a section of query text from a query containing a #INCLUDE statement was commented out using the Comment out option and the #INCLUDE contained multiple lines of query text, the second and subsequent lines of the included text were not commented out in the resolved query.

Performance improvements

Many changes made to improve overall performance by reducing the number of round trips to the database server.

Captell 6.11.3

Error in flow diagram when initial object deleted

Drag an object from the Captell explorer to the flow diagram and refresh the page and all is well.  Now delete the object from explorer and refresh the flow diagram and an error occurs.

ODBC source table updates now single thread

Table updates from a common ODBC DNS will now single thread.  In previous releases Captell could start multiple table updates from a common DNS which could result in failures.

Updated wizards

New wizards have been added to provide summary queries and tables containing basic statistics for a source table.

Excel table source types warn when source workbook doesn't exist

The Excel source type now warns when the source workbook is not present during definition.

Document build doesn't produce disk output if the document name contains a : character

: characters found in the document name (Usually included from a driving query) are now replaced with spaces

Administrator window is now smaller to fit on smaller screen resolutions

Options Working directory browse button failed if previous directory didn't exist.

Annotation point default text doesn't include bullet

Default annotation text from an annotation point with a number of bullet style didn't include the bullet or number.

Better messages when a user connecting to Administrator specifies password with Windows account

Error when scheduling a table update monthly

Previous releases would not accept time value from the monthly definition, instead it used the time value specified as part of the daily schedule.  The monthly schedule now correctly uses the correct time value.

Table of Contents building now searches for styles starting with lower case

Table of contents now searches for any paragraphs formatted with heading 1, heading 2, heading 3 or Heading 1, Heading 2 or Heading 3 styles.

Removal of the Lite license

Lite licenses are no longer supported or available.

Desktop license now allows up to 5 desktops on a single license

Up to 5 desktops each with a single SQL Server Express instance each supporting a single database (4gb in size) are allowed with a desktop license.  Each desktop in the license can access the databases on any of the other desktops.

Desktop license no longer allows scheduling of updates for document builds

The desktop license does not include access to the scheduler side of the Captell service; however, Run at Server can be manually performed.

Area chart doesn't correctly show area lines

An error introduced in Captell 6.11.0 prevented the correct display of area lines on area charts.  This has been corrected in this release.

#CAP_CH control string allows charts to be included in query output

If a query produces output that includes the control string #CAP_CH(chartname,width,height) Captell will replace the control string with the chart when the query is used in a document or viewed on the web.

Edit target allows easy removal of TOC targets in Captell document

The Edit --> Targets menu of the Captell document definition window now allows easy removal of TOC document targets.

Easy inclusion of traffic lights and charts in a query output

Dragging a traffic light or a chart to a query definition window will drop the correct #CAP_CH or #CAP_TL control string.

#CAP_TL and #CAP_CH output now correctly displays in Captell web

Truncate option from Captell explorer context menu

A new Truncate menu options appears when right clicking a table in the Captell explorer. Truncate removes all rows from the table leaving the table structure in place.  Delete table data deletes the underlying table without deleting the table definition and Delete Definition removes all the data, deleted the table and deletes the table defintion.

Annotations spelling checker now locks editor until closed

The web based annotation editor pops a spell checker when closing, the page will not completely close now until the spell checker window is closed first.  The spell checker window now stays on top of the annotation window.

Warnings issued when saving blank annotations

The web based annotation editor will now warn before saving blank annotations.

Test connection on SQL pass through incorrectly shows an Excel message

Annotation word count incorrectly accumulates every time the annotation is saved

This has been resolved in this release

New Delete Column menu when right clicking a column in the Captell Explorer

The Delete column drops the column from the table unless the column is used in the Primary Key or for data culling or partitioning.

%CURRENTSERVER% and %CURRENTDATABASE% accepted in the SQL pass through defintion

These are replaced with the current server and database when the table is updated.

Error deleting last document archive

Previous releases would remove document definition node from the Captell explorer when the last document archive was removed.  Note: The document wasn't deleted from the database only removed from the explorer.  Clicking Refresh correctly redrew the explorer showing the document.  This has been corrected in this release.

Out of memory condition opening "some" documents

Under some circumstances when opening a document an out of memory error was thrown.  This has been traced to large image sizes when the document internal text was expanded for editing.  this has been corrected in this release.

Run at Server table or document updates are now scheduled for 1 Jan 2000

This has been necessary for environments where the Captell service runs in a different time zone to the Captell database.

Refreshing the Captell explorer now single threads

Under some circumstances (usually when closing a number of edited queries simultaneously) the Captell explorer could erroneously show the same object several times. This was a result of the explorer being refreshed by each closure.  Captell now single threads explorer refresh operations.  And trigger to refresh the explorer while a previous refresh is underway will be ignored.

Updates to the Captell samples

Overflow error in CAP_CORCOE function

Under some circumstances an overflow error resulted from the CAP_CORCOE function. This has been resolved in this release.

Captell now allows users to create folders starting with AAA_

Except AAA_CAPTELL Search Folders_AAA and AAA_Utilities_AAA

Location of Captell function pack can now be specified in Captell Administrator

Function pack can be installed into a Captell database via a UNC path.

Web now correctly processes server and database parameters of URL

If a URL referring to a Captell report object specified the S and D options Captell will automatically attempt to logon to the specified database and display the object.  If logon fails the Captell web logon window will be displayed.

Captell 6.11.2

Captell 6.11.2 provides minor fixes to the 6.11.1 release.

Insert hyper link fails

An error was introduced in the final production build of 6.11.1 that prevented hyperlinks from being defined, this has been corrected.

Stop summary table update from triggering an update on the base table

Under certain circumstances table update summary table processing would trigger a table update on the base table (the table initiating the summary table updates).  This resulted in two tasks in the task list for the same table, the initial task waiting for summary table updates to complete and a new task waiting for the initial task to complete.  This has been rectified, summary table updating will no longer trigger a table update task on the base table.

Allow - hyphen in annotation point names

An error was introduced in the final production release of 6.11.1 which prevented annotation points from having a hyphen in their name, this has been corrected.

Prevent workbench clients from accessing a database of a different version

Issues resulting when different versions of the Captell workbench are used to access a Captell database have prompted this change.  The Captell Administration application can now be used to set application version information into a Captell database.  Any workbench client of a different version attempting to access the database will be rejected.

Error message Object CAP_GET_USER_LISTS not found.

To prevent display of this message when users of databases prior to 6.11.1 open the database in the Captell Administrator application the Security tab has been disabled until the database is upgraded.

Error when creating new Captell database

Under certain circumstances an error was thrown when attempting to create new databases using the Captell Administrator application, this has now been rectified.

Captell 6.11.1

The following details the new and improved features provided in the 6.11.1 release of Captell.

New Desktop

A new release of the Captell system to open it up to smaller organisations or individual consultants.

Upgraded installation routines

Captell now ships as a single MSI file which installs a Captell installation bootstrap program.  The Captell installation program controls installation of all other components of the system including SQL Server express and Captell sample databases.

Table updates not waiting for summary table updates to complete

A table update that triggers summary table updates will now wait until all the summary table updates have completed before completing.

Support for SQL Server 2008

Captell now supports (and recommends) databases created in SQL Server 2008.  With this release we support databases created in compatibility mode only.

New licensing options available

Captell now provides several new licensing options firstly to cater for the new Desktop release and secondly to provide a Perpetual license for those clients wishing to retain access to the full functioning Captell system after they cease regular maintenance.

Document annotations

The document annotations facility allows for text to be entered by Web or Workbench users.  The text will be merged into the document template during the document build process.  Users choose the document to be annotated along with the necessary parameter values to select the desired document and the specific Annotation Point to be annotated. Once entered the annotations are stored in the Captell database along with the parameter values, this allows the document to be rebuild at a later date with the same text as per original publication.

Captell Administrator utility

A new application "Captell Administrator" has been provided to do all the Administration functions previously carried out in the Workbench.  This utility can only be used by someone with SYSADMIN rights on the SQL Server instance.  Administrator is used to create new databases, define and maintain user access lists, backup, restore, detach and attach databases and to upgrade Captell databases after a new version of Captell is installed.

Upgraded Query Builder

The Captell Query builder component has been upgraded.

Improved object relationship display

The Captell flow diagram is now driven by dragging an object to the diagram, Captell will then add all the objects that the dragged object relates to.

Menu to control visibility of gridlines on tables in Captell documents

This toggles the visibility of table gridlines in Captell documents.

New Captell sign on process

The Database sign on dialog has been modified to allow specification of a windows user other that the one currently logged onto the desktop.

Database Open Close functionality

Menus have been provided that allow the Captell database to be closed and another opened without having to close the Captell workbench.

View small icons menu on Captell workbench

This toggles the size of the icons used in the Captell workbench

Number formatting with #CAP_FM

A new #CAP_FM2 function has been provided that uses a pipe symbol "|" to delimit the values in the control string.  This allows for commas to be used in the number format string.

New Captell sample database

A new Captell sample database has been provided that includes a full working reporting systems (Including some sample data) for a windows server farm.

Improvements to the performance of SQL pass through table loading

Support for Office 2007 file formats

Captell 6.11 includes the Microsoft ACE drivers which will provide access to the new Office 2007 file formats for Excel and MS Access.

Query Comment in / Comment out

Right click menu functions have been provided to automatically comment in or out selected query text in the Captell Query definition window.

Query definition to execute highlighted text

The Captell query definition window will no only execute highlighted text, if no highlight then the entire query will be executed.

Performance improvements in building and refreshing Captell explorer window

The Captell explorer window now refreshes substantially faster than previous versions.

Support for hyperlinks in Captell documents

Document targets and hyperlinks can now be created in Captell documents.  This allows for hyperlinks to be defined that jump to other places in the current document or to external URL's.  Hyperlinks functionality is maintained in documents exported as PDF.  This functionality allows for sophisticated menus structured to be created within documents.

Document table of contents now built with hyperlinks

The Document TOC will now be created with hyperlinks pointing at any Heading 1, 2 or 3 text in the document.  This conversion is automatic next time you refresh the TOC.

Upgraded chart component

The Captell charting facility has been upgraded to fix several issues previously found in charting.

Separate connection timeout for each table

A separate timeout value can now be specified for each table.  The new timeout is used during table update processing.

Captell web parameters changes

Changes to Captell web parameter processing allow users to specify all parameter values before the report object is updated.

No message logged with table load fails with duplicate primary key values

This has been rectified

Captell fails with exporting document to a directory that doesn't exist

This has been rectified, if the directory doesn't exist, it will be created.

Can't delete editable parameters for a document

If a document was created by renaming an existing document any associated editable parameters could not be deleted.  This has been rectified.

Automatic hiding of report object name details

A new options has been added that allows the name details of existing report objects, the name, folder and description etc. to be hidden automatically when editing these objects.  The View --> Name details menu has been provided to show the name details.  This allow more window real estate for the edited object.

Show windows in taskbar

A new options has been provided that causes major windows (report object definition, report object viewing and the Captell log) to be shown in the windows taskbar.  These are then accessible via the <ALT> <TAB> key combination.

Auto archiving of Captell log occurred even thought he checkbox was not ticked.

Under some circumstances the Captell log would be automatically archived by the Captell service, even thought he check box was not ticked.  This has been corrected.

Output directory for Build single document

Users can now specify an output directory when building single documents.

Scheduled document output to a directory doesn't appear to be working

Under some circumstances a scheduled document build with a specified output directory would not generate the require output to the directory.  This has been corrected.

Chart themes not saved to correct directory

This has been rectified

MS Access Numeric columns loaded to Captell as Decimal

This has been rectified, these columns are now loaded as float.

Web document names with CHR(10)+CHR(13)

Under some circumstances the document archive process would append a chr(10)+chr(13) to the end of the document filename.  These documents could not subsequently be viewed in the Captell web facility.

Document cutting and pasting

Currently selected text in a Captell document that contains embedded report objects can not be cut, copied or pasted.  This functionality has been provided in this release.

Document opening and saving

Improvements have been made to the reliability and performance of document opening and saving.

Cancelling a SQL Server pass through table load

Under some circumstances attempting to cancel the load of a SQL Server pass through table type would fail.  This has been corrected.

Closing Captell after a Catastrophic SQL Server failure would be problematic

If the SQL Server service running the Captell database was closed while a Captell workbench was open, the workbench could not be closed without having to resort to task manager cancel.  This has been rectified.

Captell Command Line facility

A separate program (CCL.exe) has been provided that allow certain Captell functionality to be triggered by an external process.  Supported functionality includes the ability to update tables, build documents and set parameter values.

Chart axis offset not working

The Chart axis offset value adds a small amount of space above or below a chart series so that the series to not touch the top or bottom of the chart surface.  This failed to work correctly in the previous release but has been corrected in this release.

Web Database and Server parameters on the URL can now be dropped

If not specified on the URL the default values from the WEB.CONFIG file will be used.

New Web option to hide the "generate new document" menu

A new option has been provided to hide the generate new document menu currently available when viewing a list of available document archives in the Captell web facility.

Excel table source type option to control mixed type columns

A new option has been provided on the Excel table source definition to control the way Captell controls mixed type columns.  If specified mixed type columns will be treated as character, if not specified Captell will choose the most frequent type setting non conforming values to null.

Excel source type now provides a drop down list of sheet names

Users can now enter the excel file name and Captell will retrieve the available sheets.

File driver information removed from table source definition windows

This was not necessary on the table source windows.

Table update script return codes and messages

When an "after" script (or batch file) has a non zero return code the log does not show the value returned, just a message that it failed .  This has been corrected.

Chart properties does not support decimal values

When inserting a chart into a document template the Chart size values did not support specifying a decimal value such as 5.6 cm.  This has been rectified.

Newly opened document was not showing the first page

This has been corrected, now when editing a document it will be positioned at the top of the first page

Inserting  report objects in the first position of a documents problems

Under certain circumstances a report objects inserted into the very first character position of a document would cause problems and could not be removed.  Captell now does not allow report objects to be inserted into this position.

Table update timings

Captell now measures the elapsed time for various stages of the table update process and provides these to the suer via a menu (right click the table, select Show timings) and a utility query.

Log message cleanup

Some erroneous and unnecessary messages have been removed from the Captell log

Captell Query macros

Captell queries or snippets of query text can now be saved as a macro and used in other queries utilising the #INCLUDE directive as per the following example

--#source=WINDOWS\DATA\Summary\Tables\ProcessorWEEKLY
--#Metric=% Processor Time
--#Threshold=CPU #INCLUDE(WINDOWS\Macros\WeeksToIncludeInProjection)
#INCLUDE(WINDOWS\Macros\PROJECTION)

Captell function pack

Captell includes a separate DLL which can be installed in SQL Server database and provides several useful functions.  Including: Percentile, Slope, Intercept to name a few.  These are substantially faster than SQL query based alternatives and can be implemented in Captell queries in a similar fashion to standard SQL Server functions such as AVG or COUNT.  NOTE: the function packs are only available for use in SQL Server 2008 databases.

Utility queries

Several utility queries are provided in Captell databases, these include:

• Database File Size

• Errors in Log

• Table space

• Table Update Timings

• Warning in Log

Changes to the Captell Admin roll

Captell administrator users can now create report objects.

SQL Server SYSADMIN access no longer required for Captell Update users

The requirement for Captell Update users to have SYSADMIN access on the Captell server is not longer absolutely necessary.  SYSADMIN was required to ensure various linked servers and SQL Server options had been defined.  These options will now be checked and if not appropriately set the user will be notified and the workbench closed.  Captell Admin users will still require SYSADMIN rights.