Layout-8000 15.4.1 (June 8, 2016)

Layout-8000 v15.4.1
6/8/2016

Database Ranges

• By popular demand, Database Ranges has been redesigned from the ground up. The new design implements several suggestions from SCS and newspaper groups.
• You can delete multiple records.
• The sort order is maintained when you edit a record. It no longer resets every time that you edit a record.
• The Ordinal on the data entry form is consistent with the Ordinal displayed in the list of search results. Previously, that Ordinal could have been off by 1, which confused the heck out of people. For example, if the interface type was set to trans.dat and someone edited Group Ordinal 2, the form would show Group Ordinal 1. Pop-up messages now also refer to the correct Ordinal.
• At newspaper groups that use Layout-8000's multi-site feature, users will only see sites that they have access to. This allows delegation of Database Ranges administration to on-site staff. For example, a newspaper group can allow a local site to maintain Database Ranges for their newspaper without the risk of harm to other sites who share that Layout-8000 server.
• The "Export Spreadsheet" feature can create one CSV file with all of the exported data. Some people find one file easier to manage than several files.
• The "Export Spreadsheet" feature allows Database Ranges to be exported for one paper or site. Ann requested this feature, to help her migrate papers from one server to another server at Lee Enterprises.
• The "Import Spreadsheet" feature allows Database Ranges to be imported for papers of your choosing.
• The "Import Spreadsheet" feature can import partial data in a non-destructive fashion. For example, if you import a few groups, other groups will not be blown away. Be mindful of two new options on screen:  (1) Update existing records and (2) Delete all other data.
• The "Import Spreadsheet" feature creates a save point before it imports data. That allows us to easily restore data / roll back if you dislike the results of the import. To do that, right-click on the list and "Restore data from .trn file".

Multi-Site Access

• The "Site Logins" maintenance program allows users to be added to a special "ALL" site code, which means all sites. This benefits SCS and corporate staff who require access to all sites in order to support them.
• The "ALL" site code is easy to select in the "Site Logins" area and visible in the "Site Codes" area.
• When an administrator adds a user to the "ALL" sites code, they are warned and prompted for confirmation.

Ad Order Entry

• Descriptive Sizes may be associated with a mechanical width, for example 3.05 inches.
• Increased the maximum length of Descriptive Size codes to 10 characters.  The new length is supported by SCS XML files. In "trans.dat" files, size codes remain limited to 5 characters.
• Fixed bugs in the Group and Type fields' drop-down lists.

Products page

• Fixed 3 bugs in the "Remove Product" button that prevented a product from being removed.
• The "New Product" button allows templates to be filtered by Site.
• Expanded the product template list to allow up to 9,100 templates

Design & Dummy

• The auto-dummy feature honors "Block Edge" or "Block Left" dummying styles.
• The "Ad Demand" dummying option has been renamed to "Honor Position Requests". The new name more clearly explains what the option affects.
• The "Honor Position Requests" dummying option is checked / turned on by default in new products.
• Block templates may use Edition Link (EdLink) as a variable.
• In the ad list's Columns field, we have corrected a calculation for partial-column ads. The result is consistent with other SCS applications. For example, a "PTO" ad, which is 3.05 inches wide in SCS/Track and in Layout-8000's Descriptive Sizes, shows as 1.7 columns wide in Layout-8000's ad list. That is consistent with AdMAX, where the ad was ordered as 1.7 columns wide.

Reports - Press Run reports

• By popular demand, the Press Run Report has been converted from PCL to PostScript.
• Both reports are now combined. This is consistent with the Final Report which actually consists of several subreports. One file is easier to print, view, and email.

Reports - Page Dummies (PGL)

• If the user checks "CCI Page ID" on the "Parts" tab, PGL now checks the "Geometry File Type" which lives over on the "Files" tab. For the CCI page ID feature to work, the Geometry File Type must be XML.  If the Geometry File Type is OUTEXT, then the following question will pop up. "In order to show CCI page IDs on page dummies, may we change the Geometry File Type from OUTEXT to XML?" If the user chooses "Yes" (which is the default answer), then the Geometry File Type will change to XML, making it possible for page dummies to show CCI page IDs.
• Addressed a concern with CCI page IDs. On the "Parts" tab, someone checked "Newshole" and "CCI Page ID". Their product lacked CCI page IDs, because they had not yet been generated. CCI page IDs and newshole totals share the same space on page dummies. In this scenario, the resulting page dummies showed CCI page IDs, which of course were blank. PGL has been enhanced to detect this scenario and at least show newshole totals.
• Fixed a bug in the Lout program.

Reports

• On Linux desktop computers, AppLauncher opens PDF files and spreadsheets with the xdg-open program instead of gnome-open. xdg-open should work no matter what desktop you prefer on your Linux computer.

Send to Pagination

• The Product Map has improved how it maps to a Destination Paper with only one digit, e.g. paper 2. You no longer need to type "02".

Event Log

• The Event Log tracks when someone is added to the "ALL" site code and by whom.
• The Event Log has a new Type column. Examples of types include ad, page, product, application, and user. This helps us filter events.

ReserveAdBoss

• An advertiser or salesperson may reserve a double truck ad.

ColorAdBoss

• Fixed a bug in a conditional test.

High Availability - Mirroring

• Fixed permissions on global databases that are replicated on a standby server.
• Improved error reporting in the database replication process. When the primary server refuses a connection from the standby server, an error message is now logged in the "/u/scs/tools/data/mirror_update.log" file. This revealed problems with DNS and RSA keys at a new site.

Screen Shots