Metastorm BPM Version 9 Service Release 1 has been released. Be sure to read the Release Notes in detail. I have listed some of the important features, fixes, and changes.
NEW FEATURES
Navigation Pane
Service Release 1 includes a new navigational style in addition to the traditional task pane oriented approach within the Designer environment. This new Navigation Pane improves ease of use for non- technical users and familiarity for users of Metastorm ProVision. This may be enabled via Designer Options - > Display -> Task Panes.
Custom Lists
Custom Lists provide a simple mechanism for creating customized role specific task or work lists. In previous versions of Metastorm BPM, Custom Lists were defined via Administrative Forms and could only be accessed via the Metastorm SharePoint Web Parts. Version 9 Service Release 1 includes many enhancements to the Metastorm’s Custom List capability including:
• Faster Implementation - Custom Lists are now included as a standard capability within the
Designer which makes the design and deployment much easier and faster.
• Broader Participation – Custom Lists are now utilized by all clients including the standard
Web Client.
• Enhanced Filtering – Custom Lists now include enhanced filter capabilities allowing end users even greater control over their task or work lists.
Enhanced Process Model Customization
Service Release 1 further enhances the customization capabilities of the BPM Process Model with the ability to either hide or show the icons for Stages, Actions, and their events. This new capability allows customers to create a more simplified process model view that is in better alignment with and more appropriate for users of Metastorm ProVision.
Enhanced Web Services Connections
Service Release 1 provides faster and easier integration into web services with enhancements to the Web Service Connection. When connecting to a web service, a new layer of proxy code is now created removing the need to write code to access web services. In addition, the Web Service Connection definition includes a new tab “Methods and Parameters” which allows the process designer to automatically indicate which service methods should be displayed as custom formulae in the Expression Builder or activities within the Visual Scripting environment.
Simple Generation of Web Services for Process
Integration
Originally contained within the Process Orchestrator for Web Services, the Process Activator for Version 9 is within the core platform and is distributed as part of Service Release 1. The Process Activator enables process specific web services to be generated using the ECL for Web Services for easy integration from other processes or 3rd party applications.
Report Hyperlinks and Drilldown
Service Release 1 includes new functionality for the Metastorm Reports capability to allow for the inclusion of dynamic data driven hyperlinks and inter-report navigation.
Reports now include a new Hyperlink field type. Hyperlinks can be used to initiate new processes, open existing folders, open other reports, and open custom web pages.
When Hyperlink fields are used to call another report, data may be passed from the calling report in order to pre-populate the report filters of the new report. Any report opened from another will automatically include a breadcrumb link at the top of the report to allow the user to easily navigate back to the calling report.
Process Debugging
Service Release 1 includes new integration to Visual Studio 2008. When Visual Studio is installed on the same machine as the Designer and Process Engine a new button titled “Debug” will be available on the “Home” ribbon. This will deploy the process and open all deployed code within Visual Studio enabling process designers to use Visual Studios debugging capability to debug any process logic including processes, forms, expressions, process and form event visual scripts, and server-side script code.
Side-By-Side Compatibility
Service Release 1 introduces the new Side-by-Side compatibility for v7.6 and v9.x. This new capability provides additional flexibility for customers with a large number of deployed processes to choose when and how they migrate. Using this new capability, v7.6 and v9 environments can be effectively merged to provide end users with a single user interface displaying processes and work items from both
systems. With this, customers can set up a v9 environment in parallel to their existing v7.6 one and can begin new development in v9 while maintaining or planning migrations of processes in v7.6.
Support for Firefox
Metastorm BPM now supports the Firefox browser Version 3.5 and higher.
Additional Client-Side Scripting Control
Client-side scripting functionality has been extended with three new functions to provide additional control and support to developing custom form behavior. The additional functions are:
• submitForm
• cancelForm
• buttonClick
Customizable Intellisense for Expressions
Intellisense is used for expressions to assist process designers in the creation of data expressions. By default, in version 9.0, this list was restricted to provide a simple interface showing only formulae provided by Metastorm or promoted from user defined Server-Side Scripts. Service Release 1 includes a new option to disable this filtering allowing any .NET framework class or method to be used in addition to the standard Metastorm core formulae.
FE****A****T****UR****E CHANGES
The following are the feature changes to note since the Version 9 General Availability Release
(GA):
• The 'Max length' property on text fields was not being validated correctly in version 9.0.
This validation has been corrected for 9 SR1 and therefore may cause some old solutions to fail validation. The user simply needs to adjust the value of the properties failing validation.
• In version 9.0 the eEntryTime in the eEvent table was being recorded incorrectly for new folders. As a result reports for folders created prior to v9 SR1 may be wrong.
• To better align with the Metastorm ProVision product, the Solution Explorer is now known as the Inventory, the Services Explorer is now known as the Repository, and the Business Object Explorer is know known as Data Access.
• When referencing fields on Form Segments in a client script, it is no longer necessary to include the Form Segment name and reference. The user now just uses the field name as in version 7.6. This change means that all fields on a Form now have to be uniquely named. This may cause validation of existing solutions to fail.
• In version 9.0 SR1, there is a change in the library code generation implementation. As a result, library code is now generated in the ‘Metastorm.Runtime.Models.Library1' namespace, where ‘Library1’ is the name of the corresponding library. In version 9.0, library code was generated in a 'Metastorm.Runtime.Models.Project1.Library1' namespace, where ‘Project1’ is the name of the project that references the library. Existing library script namespaces will need to be updated as well as any code referencing the library namespaces for existing solutions to validate and deploy successfully.
• Web Service connections built in version 9.0 did not contain some of the properties required within the 9.0.1 release. To obtain these properties, the web service needs to be reactivated by clicking on the "Locate" button.
RESOLVED ISSUES
ASP.NET Web Parts
| Help Desk\# / Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐11162009‐0009 DEF10819 |
ASP.NET Web Parts |
Time Zone adjustment is not applied to ToDo list. |
Designer
| Help Desk\# / Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐12302009‐0012 DEF10707 |
BPM Designer |
Weekday units not available. |
| DEF10708 |
BPM Designer |
Code compilation fails when referencing a Library with server script using Visual Script activity. |
| SR‐01042010‐0006 DEF10709 |
BPM Designer |
Assignment activity hint does not update. |
| SR‐02092010‐0006 DEF10766 |
BPM Designer |
Default maximum length property for Grid column with Column Editor is not correctly set. |
| DEF10662 |
BPM Designer |
Event code is created with the same name as an existing event code. |
| DEF10828 |
BPM Designer |
Swimlanes order is not saved after re‐opening of solution. |
| Help Desk\# / Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐12112009‐0001 DEF10452 |
BPM Designer |
Problems with editing property values using arrow keys. |
| DEF11098 |
BPM Designer |
Search does not find text in client scripts. |
| DEF11099 |
BPM Designer |
Using Save As for a solution that uses MLP throws exception on re‐open |
| SR‐02162010‐0001 DEF11103 |
BPM Designer |
ODBC driver warning message is not clear. |
| DEF11166 |
BPM Designer |
Standard system roles from Library take precedence over default roles in a Project. |
| DEF11483 |
BPM Designer |
A form template that references a form segment template cannot be deployed. |
| DEF11394 |
BPM Designer |
Field width increases automatically when caption size is longer than the field and alignment is set to Top. |
| DEF5983 |
BPM Designer |
Controls can be dragged off the edge of the form. |
| DEF11700 |
BPM Designer |
GetAttachment Path description should mention file name with extension to be included in the path. |
| SR‐03102010‐0003 DEF11828 |
BPM Designer |
When deleting a Business Object, which is assigned to a variable, the message shown has GUID instead of variable name. |
| DEF12016 |
BPM Designer |
Polish characters are being lost from Server Script. |
Deployment
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| DEF11002 |
Deployment |
Changing the variable name of the Business Object column results in run time error. |
| DEF10998 |
Deployment |
Action fails if the target stage has a Timed Action with a null date. |
| SR‐01182010‐0009 DEF11283 |
Deployment |
Code generation fails if Project contains Library with promoted scripts. |
| DEF11432 |
Deployment |
Validation error message are not helpful. |
| SR‐03102010‐0001 DEF11573 |
Deployment |
Validation fails if sub procedure and main process have comments in the process. |
| DEF10931 |
Deployment |
Complete validation not happening on Library deployment. |
| SR‐01182010‐0009 DEF10727 |
Deployment |
Code generation failed if Project contains Library with promoted scripts. |
| SR‐11192009‐0022 DEF10226 |
Deployment |
Error message missing parameters. |
| DEF7156 |
Deployment |
Using the 2008 Native Client driver at runtime causes error on grids. |
| SR‐03102010‐0002 DEF11936 |
Deployment |
A validation fails to flag warning/error even though referenced Business Object is deleted. |
Documentation
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐03032010‐0016 DEF11445 |
Documentation |
When action started for flagged action mentioned but it does not exist. |
| SR‐01272010‐0009 DEF11492 |
Documentation |
Installation Guide.pdf does not mention how to add eUser.js when DB is created. |
| DEF11225 |
Documentation |
Library code namespace was changed and should be documented. |
| SR‐02112010‐0013 DEF11121 |
Documentation |
Designer documentation should include \*.PNG in supported image formats. |
| SR‐12282009‐0005 DEF10646 |
Documentation |
Migrated solution does not deploy due to type mismatch error. |
| SR‐06302009‐0013 DEF10598 |
Documentation |
Numbering is not in the right order. |
| SR‐12282009‐0006 DEF10600 |
Documentation |
What MLP stands for is not mentioned. |
| SR‐11132009‐0013 DEF10489 |
Documentation |
Deployment of migrated procedure fails to start in Blank Form. |
| DEF12187 |
Documentation |
Exceptions thrown if custom assembly is not strongly named. |
| SR‐04212010‐0005 DEF12040 |
Documentation |
Remote access of the Web Client is not possible when using split deployed SSO. |
| SR‐03252010‐0013 DEF11730 |
Documentation |
We need a note in the Support Environments.pdf stating that any DB driver used must support DTC. |
| SR‐03112010‐0026 DEF11670 |
Documentation |
No way to set group separator to empty. |
| SR‐03032010‐0012 DEF11899 |
Documentation |
VERSION 9 Designer guide documentation should not mention external forms as this feature was not implemented. |
| SR‐02082010‐0006 DEF11903 |
Documentation |
Information shared with respect to alert generator in InstallConfig.chm is not clear. |
Engine
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐04082010‐0003 DEF12157 |
Engine |
“Object reference not set” error on inserting to table when action completed. |
| DEF10903 |
Engine |
Stages within a Sub‐Process do not show the Form specified in the Sub‐Process stage. |
| SR‐01052010‐0021 DEF10689 |
Engine |
Error when raising flag using eRaiseFlag.exe |
| SR‐11122009‐0014 DEF10641 |
Engine |
Alerts are getting locked if same static/dynamic roles assigned to ToDo & Watch. |
| SR‐11302009‐0023 DEF11277 |
Engine |
In certain instances, the Metastorm BPM Engine does not respond. |
| DEF11580 |
Engine |
Folder priority should not be restricted to 0 to 9. |
MEMP
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐03122010‐0022 DEF11256 |
MEMP |
Behavior of Rule is incorrect during moving of control on front and back (z‐order). |
| DEF4377 |
MEMP |
Transparent color should not be available for Form. |
Migration
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐02112010‐0003 DEF11092 |
Migration ‐ Files |
Version 7 procedures with icons fail to migrate to version 9. |
Reporting
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐01192010‐0016 DEF10944 |
Reporting |
Page orientation in reports is incorrect when exported. |
| SR‐01182010‐0002 DEF10737 |
Reporting |
Percentages in pie chart display in decimal format only. |
Web Client
| Metastorm\# |
Component |
Issue |
| SR‐01222010‐0002 DEF10954 |
Web Client |
Referencing Client Side Scripting with Form Segment Objects using eworkSetField does not work. |
| SR‐12212009‐0012 DEF10589 |
Web Client |
Web Client displays a blank page when the locales are modified. |
| SR‐03112010‐0026 DEF11542 |
Web Client |
No way to set group separator to empty. |
| DEF11392 |
Web Client |
Not possible to type multiple letters in a dropdown field to narrow down the search. |
| SR‐02152010‐0004 DEF11264 |
Web Client |
Commit button with required field on the form is getting disabled. |
| SR‐04212010‐0015 DEF12180 |
Web Client |
Column sort order is lost on grids when field is dependent. |
| SR‐04092010‐0014 DEF12177 |
Web Client |
When changed property is not setting dropdown to empty. |
| SR‐04192010‐0013 DEF12258 |
Web Client |
Client Script is not getting committed when clicking on Commit button. |
| DEF11945 |
Web Client |
Not possible to submit a form with required grid even if no row has been added. |
KNOWN ISSUES
| Metastorm \# |
Component/Area |
Issue |
| DEF4357 |
Business Objects |
Not possible to have the parameter name the same as the column name. |
| DEF6415 |
Business Objects |
Spaces in Oracle column names will cause forms to fail to open when a field uses a Business Object referencing that column. |
| DEF7105 |
Business Objects |
SQL Server DateTime2 data types display as Memos unless the SQL Native Client driver is used. |
| DEF7230 |
Business Objects |
LDAP Business Objects returning date/time data will throw an error when accessed during process execution. |
| DEF10056 |
Business Objects |
Trying to open a form containing a grid that references process data Business Objects or local Business Objects on Oracle will throw an error. |
| DEF8780 |
Business Objects |
Trying to use an equal/does not equal filter against a memo column will cause an error message, "The data types ntext and nvarchar are incompatible in the equal to operator". |
| DEDF12181 |
Custom Lists |
Filtering on float columns can sometimes give incorrect results due to rounding. |
| DEF11814 |
Custom Lists |
SQL comments in a query used by a Custom List may cause an error when viewed in the Web Client. The error displayed is “multiple step OLEDB operation”. |
| DEF4629/DEF 4628 |
Deployment |
Projects with large images or many images may timeout while deploying. |
| DEF12084 |
Deployment |
Trying to deploy sample solutions fail with validation error messages. |
| DEF10415 |
Designer |
Width property is not available when more than one form control is selected. |
| DEF12211 |
Designer |
Importing a Form that is missing a Form Segment into a new Project and then validating causes Designer to crash. Workaround is to delete the reference to missing form segment before validating or to re‐link the Form Segment. |
| DEF10852 |
Designer |
Adding stages to lanes on the Process design surface does not immediately set the role. Workaround is to move the stage within the lane. |
| DEF12198 |
Designer |
Tooltips are wrong for the Inventory and Data Access items on the View ribbon. |
| DEF11996 |
Designer |
There is currently no validation of Custom Lists formed in an unsupported way – i.e. queries with duplicated columns. |
| DEF11915 |
Designer |
It is possible to select Reports from the Forms list on stages. Doing so will cause a deployment failure. |
| DEF11828/ DEF11708 |
Designer |
When deleting a Business Object that is assigned to a field, the warning message shows a GUID rather than the name. Same problem when deleting a Business Object from a Custom List. |
| DEF11459 |
Designer |
Roles in a referenced Library are not read‐only. |
| DEF11432 |
Designer |
Validation error messages do not always provide the location of the error. |
| DEF11018 |
Designer |
The export graphic feature does not correctly display lanes on a Process. The lanes do not extend to the full size of the Process. |
| DEF12271 |
Designer |
Copying and pasting fields from one form to another results in all the names and captions changing. |
| DEF12296 |
Designer |
When working with solutions out of source control, solution backups can sometimes be read‐only. Saving the solution then throws an error on trying to overwrite the read‐only files. The workaround is to switch off the backup system via the Designer options. |
| DEF11888 |
DMS |
It is not possible to tab through the DMS browser window in the Web Client. |
| DEF11784 |
DMS |
DMS folder icons are not consistently displayed as open in the Web Client. |
| DEF11408 |
DMS |
Unauthorized windows appear behind the DMS blank form. |
| DEF12321 |
DMS |
Assignment Expressions cannot be used for form fields dependant on DMS Multi clip selected rows. |
| DEF12320 |
DMS |
DMS Multi clip displays Remove and Delete options when set to Edit Mode. |
| DEF12323 |
DMS |
DMS Multi clip SelectRow dictionary items are not in upper case for Oracle. |
| DEF12325 |
DMS |
Files are displayed in alphabetical order in a DMS Multi clip if using SelectedRow. |
| DEF12326 |
DMS |
Last file added to a DMS Multi clip is not given focus if SelectedRow event is used. |
| DEF8906 |
Expression Builder |
When building a SelectSQL function containing ‘@’ parameters against Oracle, the Expression Builder does not show the parameter fields correctly. Workaround is to remove the quotes from around the parameter in the SQL. |
| DEF11488 |
Installation |
The wrong Oracle driver is currently included in the main install’s Redist folder. Please see Supported Environments document for the correct ones to use. |
| DEF11169 |
Installation |
Configuration files are not created if the user selects a physical path rather than a URL path to the Engine and Deployment Service configuration files. |
| DEF12178 |
Installation |
The ActivateCallerID Engine registry key is getting reset on some operating systems after upgrading to SR1. This will affect SSO configuration. |
| DEF11978 |
Installation |
When Deployment Service account is set to a local admin account on Server 2008, the upgrade from version 9.0 to SR1 may roll back. Workaround is to change the Deployment Service account before the upgrade and then revert afterwards. |
| DEF12192 |
Installation |
Deployment and Engine services do not auto start on Server 2003 when SQL Server is installed to the same machine. Workaround is to start the services manually. |
| DEF10295 |
Migration |
If an action name is changed during the migration process, any chained action properties that reference the action will not be updated. These can be manually updated afterwards. |
| DEF10384 |
Migration |
Forms that contained spaces in field names prior to migration will throw validation errors post migration with regards to invalid fields. Workaround is to reselect the form fields for each action that references the forms. |
| DEF6606 |
MLP |
Grid column captions are not previewed when switching language. |
| DEF11914 |
Reports |
Spaces in Business Object columns cause data to fail to appear in a Report. Workaround is to create a query like “SELECT \[My Column\] AS \[NoSpaceName\] ...”. |
| DEF11171 |
Side by Side |
Auto refresh does not work for 7.6 processes in the Version 9 Web Client. |
| DEF9420/ DEF11329 |
Validation |
Double clicking a validation message returns a message “Associated item was removed from view” when the error relates to a field event such as “When changed”. |
| DEF10319 |
Web Client |
Clip fields can only open the current folder’s attachment. Even if the clip fields references a variable from another pr ocess data Business Object it will use the current folder’s folder ID to retrieve the attachment. |
| DEF9635 |
Web Client |
Dropdown controls placed at the bottom of a form can result in the list appearing at the top of the form on clicking the dropdown. |
| DEF9680 |
Web Client |
Dropdown controls can display their list in the wrong position on a form when used in an Arabic or any RTL locale. |
| DEF8945 |
Web Client |
Using web help link on locales other than English, German, French and Spanish will cause an invalid URL error. |
| DEF12209 |
Web Client |
Trying to sort on Memo/Hyperlink/Folder columns in Custom Lists will give an error. This is not a supported operation and needs to be disabled. |
| DEF12089 |
Web Client |
Multi‐clip controls show all previous attachments after deleting them and then adding a new one. |
| DEF11998 |
Web Client |
Not possible to narrow down a search on items in a list field by typing multiple characters. |
| DEF11943/ DEF11497 |
Web Client |
Edit Grids: clicking the Delete row button when no rows are present will throw a script error. |
| DEF11901 |
Web Client |
GetField client extension fails for empty Date/Time fields. |
| DEF11695 |
Web Client |
It is not possible to sort on Folder or Hyperlink columns in Custom Lists. |
| DEF11736 |
Web Client |
Values cannot be entered into dropdowns in grids using the keyboard on Firefox. |
| DEF8941 |
Web Client |
When selecting an item from Recent Content dropdown in the Web Client, before the item is opened and dropdown display is closed, the item name is displayed twice in the dropdown. However, when you click again on the dropdown to select an item, the items in the list are displayed correctly without any duplicates. |
| DEF12265 |
Web Client |
In some case after an upgrade from version 9.0 to version 9.0 SR1, the Web Client shows an error on first load similar to the following: Line 121: Line 122: Line 123: Line 124: runat="server" Line 125: AlternatingRowCssClass="altGridRow" GridHeaderCssClass="gridHeader" ScrollBars="Auto" To fix this issue, reset/restart the IIS. |
Related Non-Metastorm Issues
When using the Send E-mail activity it may be first necessary to register Microsoft’s
CDONTS.DLL file. Please see the link below for further information:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324649
