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Compatibility and Upgrade Notes

Please read this page before upgrading. Nothing here requires work on the database, but several changes take effect on upgrade and a few of them are visible to users straight away.

Platform

PULSE Dashboard 5.66.0.0 uses DevExpress 26.1.4 for its screens and grids, upgraded from the 24.2 that 5.65.0.0 used. The DevExpress libraries are installed with PULSE Dashboard, so nothing needs installing or registering on the workstation.

The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 requirement is unchanged from 5.65.0.0. A workstation or server that runs 5.65.0.0 today runs 5.66.0.0 without a framework upgrade.

Spreadsheet imports no longer need Excel

Six import paths now read spreadsheet files directly rather than driving Excel to open them: Budget Entry's Import from Excel and Create Template, the matrix import on the main form, Load Matrix on the User Matrix Editor and on the Query Matrix Config form, and the matrix merge import. The new Import Collection Notes reads files the same way.

Excel no longer has to be installed on the workstation or server running the import, which matters most where PULSE Dashboard runs as a scheduled job. An import also leaves alone whatever copy of Excel the user has open. It previously closed that copy, and raised an error where the user had none open at all.

The same file types are accepted as before, with .xlsx added to the Load Matrix and matrix merge dialogs alongside the .xls they already offered.

Export to Excel still uses Excel

Writing to Excel is unchanged. Export to Excel and the Export Matrix buttons still drive the copy of Excel installed on the workstation, and that copy is still required for them.

The interop libraries PULSE Dashboard uses to drive Excel are now installed alongside the application rather than taken from the registration on the workstation, so an export no longer depends on which version of those libraries happens to be registered on a particular machine.

Changes that take effect on upgrade

  • Edit Settings on the Query Analyzer now requires Admin mode. Any existing grant of that permission to a user or usergroup no longer takes effect — see Admin-Only Edit Settings.
  • The Advanced Query Analyzer runs queries on the application's own database connection. That is what lets a query see the temporary tables PULSE Dashboard has already built, and it means a long-running query holds up the rest of PULSE Dashboard's database access until it finishes or is canceled with Alt+Break.
  • Show debugging log... has moved from the Help menu to the end of the Administration menu, where it is visible only in administrator mode. It was previously on the Help menu for every user.
  • Collection notes saved on Macola® ES before the upgrade need re-saving to appear. The customer number matching that kept them off the A/R aging report is corrected in this release, and each existing note corrects itself the next time it is saved. If you have a substantial backlog of notes in that state, our support team is glad to help you bring them across in one pass.
  • Every report grid labels its total rows. Group footers and the bottom row are named — Food Service Totals, Grand Totals — instead of carrying the SUM= prefix. There is nothing to turn on, and no report keeps the old prefix. The labeling applies to the grid on screen; the Excel export and the printout are unchanged.
  • The Advanced Query Analyzer caps results at 500,000 rows by default. Set the limit under Query → Row Limit.
  • Auto-refresh and Persistent Auto-refresh have moved from the main toolbar to the File menu, below Refresh. Whether they are switched on is unchanged.

Grant Customer Order Lead Time in User Control

Customer Order Lead Time is a new module with a module ID of its own, and no user is authorized for it until you say so — the same as any newly shipped report. Until it is granted it does not appear on the Add Report menu.

Enable it in User Control for the users and usergroups who should be able to add it.

Other notes

  • No database schema changes are introduced in this release. The Pulse database revision is unchanged.
  • Existing saved tabs, reports and module settings are preserved on upgrade.
  • The On-time Shipping Graph drilldown becomes available immediately after the upgrade; no setup is required, though the drilldown grid opens without columns until you configure its layout.
  • Toolbar quick search, Dashboard Explorer and View SQL Query all appear after the upgrade with nothing to configure.
  • An existing Query Analyzer report keeps the grid and the saved column layout it already had. A report whose query you deliberately give :: grouped column names switches to the banded grid and resets its saved column layout once when it does — see Grouped Column Headings.
  • The revisions issued as 5.65.1 and 5.65.2 are included in this release.

Need help?

Please contact Support or call (513) 723-8095 for assistance with software installation, configuration, or upgrades.

For licensing questions or to arrange a demo, please contact sales.