PhixFlow Help
Release Notes
PhixFlow new features and fixes are described in release notes. Each release has a version number with the format X.Y.Z, for example 7.9.3. Numbers ending in zero, for example 7.9.0, indicates a major release with significant changes. If Z is 1 or more, it indicates a minor release that contains security updates and bug fixes.
This page includes the release notes (most recent first):
Release 8.0.11
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.11. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvements
DEV-7280 Performance for archiving has been improved, especially for self-updating streams.
DEV-7135 Information messages about stream actions reported in the console no longer include the initial context parameters.
DEV-7051 If a user exceeds the maximum allowed password reset attempts, you can now easily unlock the account by clearing the new User → Basic Settings → Password Reset Locked check box; see User. Clearing the check box also resets the count of password reset attempts.
Bug Fixes
DEV-7059 In grid cells that have both a drop-down icon and a background image, the background image is no longer replicated in the drop-down icon.
DEV-7058 Exporting emails using the Export Selected Records option no longer causes a 404 error in another tab.
Release 8.0.10
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.10. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6927 The stream view property Advanced → Show records count is now correctly applied to stream views when they are used as a layout component.
DEV-6999 PhixFlow now automatically refreshes dashboards even when they contain many elements.
DEV-6986 Dashboards now refresh appropriately when elements are set with Dashboard property → Data Retrieval Options → Refresh When Dashboard Refreshes? → Always except on first load. The dashboards were sometimes incorrectly refreshing when the user selected something from a drop-down dashboard element.
DEV-6906 Styles for column headers on grids will now also apply when the headers are multi-line (group) headers.
DEV-6953 In a grid with a drop-down list, where the list depends on the data in the selected row, PhixFlow now correctly updates the filter when the user clicks into a different row.
DEV-6972 PhixFlow now saves hidden passwords correctly. Previously, hidden passwords were only saved if you clicked out of the field before closing the window or form.
Release 8.0.9
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.9. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
- After upgrading, check for models that contain the
StaticStream → PushPipe → Stream
structure; See Check For Affected Models, below.
Check For Affected Models
Due to improvements in the way push pipes and static streams interact, after upgrading you must check your existing models for the StaticStream → PushPipe → Stream
structure.
If you have any problems, please contact support@phixflow.com.
- Run your preferred SQL tool or database management tool.
Copy the following SQL query into the tool and run it.
select s.stream_id, d.name as "Stream Name", p.pipe_id, p.name as "Pipe Name", p.output_data_handler_id from stream s, pipe p, data_handler d, stream s2 where s.stream_id = p.input_data_handler_id AND s.stream_id = d.data_handler_id AND p.output_data_handler_id = s2.stream_id AND p.pipe_type='NOTIFY' AND s.static_data_boo='T';
- If the
Static_Stream → Push_Pipe → Stream
structure occurs in any models, the query returns the rows that represent the static stream and its push pipe.
If you have this structure, note that:- In previous releases, running analysis on the stream at the end of a
Static_Stream → Push_Pipe → Stream
structure would cause the static stream to run. - From version 8.0.9 the static stream will no longer run.
- In previous releases, running analysis on the stream at the end of a
- If this change will affect how the model runs, you must modify the model to ensure it continues to work as intended.
Features and Improvements
DEV-6893 Before you can reset your password, you must have three security question/answer pairs and an email address associated with your account.
Remember to update your User Details to ensure your user account details are complete.
DEV-6791 The way push pipes and static streams interact has been improved. This fixes an issue in which a static stream would sometimes be run when it should not; see Check Affected Models, above for details.
DEV-6846 Audit records now record that they were created by an import process. The records state "<change made> while importing".
DEV-451 To track down user login problems you can now configure logback.xml to produce a security log file. This log file records login, logout and failed login attempts. You can find the option in the TOMCAT/webapps/$WEBAPP/WEB-INF/classes
/logback.xml.example
file. See also Install PhixFlow Webapp.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6888 Google Chrome's password manager no longer asks to save data (such as the answer to a security question) that is not your password. Previously, the password manager treated the answer to a security question as a password.
DEV-6854 When dragging items from lists into property tab grids, selecting multiple items now works correctly. You can select items by clicking the line or using the checkbox at the start of the line.
DEV-6911 A double-click (default) action on a stream view now works correctly for views other than grids, for example charts.
DEV-6796 In number columns, if you try to use a quick filter with no value specified, PhixFlow now treats the search value as _NULL
.
DEV-6803 Scrolling in a drop-down list no longer adds columns to the list when the stream view has Show Records Count set.
DEV-6838 For floating point number fields, a default value of 0 now correctly shows the decimal places.
DEV-3553 The documentation has been updated to include the internal variable _system.instance
. You can use this variable in an expression to return the current instance name; see Internal Variables.
DEV-6881 Sometimes, tasks appear stuck in the Active Tasks section of the console. If this is caused by errors writing information to the log, the tasks will now automatically clear after 15 minutes. This means you no longer need to restart Tomcat to clear the console.
DEV-6892 For administrators setting up user accounts, you can save the properties without setting any security question/answer fields. If you set any security question/answer fields, you must complete all of them before you can save the user properties.
Release 8.0.8
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.8. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvement
DEV-6807 When an action starts to run, its context parameters are now logged to the console. This information is helpful when you are debugging user actions.DEV-7135 Feature removed.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6707 An action that runs on a second dashboard no longer requires the user to click into the second dashboard to complete the action.
DEV-6773 Column filters in a stream view grid now correctly finds attributes. In previous versions, when the filter failed to find an attribute the workaround was to open then save the stream view attribute.
DEV-6793 HTML text boxes that should be editable are no longer behaving as if they are read-only.
DEV-6830 On read-only forms or areas, setting a drop-down component to be read-only now works.
DEV-6384 Grids and card contains now only autoscroll when something is being dragged.
Release 8.0.7
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.7. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvement
DEV-6774 The cache attribute function records the cache size in the log file; see cache.
DEV-6780 Memory usage during long analysis runs has been optimised.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6780 To resolve a memory issue, PhixFlow will no longer automatically update a pipe filter when the attribute type is changed. If you need to change an attribute on a pipe filter, you must also resave the filter.
DEV-6781 Drop-down fields now return correct records when filtered by quick filters and other form fields.
DEV-6782 PhixFlow no longer goes into a loop if a stream action updates more records than can be buffered. This depends on the System Configuration → Default Buffer Size.
Release 8.0.6
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.6. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvement
DEV-6763 An input stream can sometimes have a stream set with a future date relative to the stream set being generated for the output stream; see Managing Future Stream Sets. You can now use the pipe properties → Basic Settings → Read Future Data check box to use future-dated stream sets when the:
- input stream has any Period option. Previously Period had to be Transactional
- pipe has any Data to Read option. Previously Data to Read had to be All or Custom.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6766 Dashboards now load correctly. In some cases, loading a dashboard was displaying an empty, white screen.
DEV-6743 An action to update a stream item no longer hangs sometimes. This occurred if a modified stream had not been published to the database.
DEV-6751 Fixed an issue that, in some cases, caused the export process to freeze if the Excel template was configured incorrectly.
DEV-6762 Exporting to an Excel template now correctly processes records from single row sources in a multi-row area.
DEV-6757 In a grid, double-clicking on the last, empty column correctly runs actions. In version 8.0.5, the action would not complete and the client had to be refreshed.
Release 8.0.5
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.5. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvements
DEV-6725 If a stream has Audit Manual Changes selected, PhixFlow automatically adds the Updated By Name attribute. Previously, PhixFlow created the Updated By Name attribute as a 50-character string. From this release onwards, PhixFlow will create a 250-character string.
DEV-6720 In an application drop-down list, the user no longer needs to mouse-click on a list item. If the user presses the Return key, PhixFlow will now select:
- either the currently highlighted item
- or the first item in the list.
DEV-6719 You can now type into a drop-down list on a grid column to select an item, in the same way that you can in an application drop-down list.
DEV-6098 During import, PhixFlow now has better handling for object names. Imported objects that have the same name as an existing object in the instance are renamed by adding a number. This ensures all objects have a unique name. However, in previous versions, this renaming occurred even if the existing object was deleted as part of the import process.
Now PhixFlow takes into account which existing objects will be deleted and does not rename new objects unnecessarily. This is especially helpful when you are importing things that are referred to by name, such as sequences and context parameters.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6718 Typing into a drop-down list to select an item now consistently works.
DEV-6740 Column filters have been corrected so that they apply:
AND joins to filters on different columns
OR joins to filters on the in-column parameters.
In versions 8.0.0, 8.0.1 and 8.0.2, column filters were incorrectly applying OR joins in both situations. In versions 8.0.3 and 8.0.4, column filters were incorrectly updated to apply AND joins in both situations.
Release 8.0.4
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.4. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvements
PhixFlow and its libraries have been updated to maintain security.
Changes to Privileges
DEV-6700 Users no longer need the View Users privilege to change their own user details.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6703, DEV-6705 We have made it easier to resolve problems when logging into PhixFlow.
- If your login fails, PhixFlow displays a message to explain that:
- either your username or password are incorrect
- or the account is locked. This can occur if your password has expired or you have exceeded the login attempts. Please contact your PhixFlow administrator, who can unlock your account.
- If you enter an incorrect username or password, PhixFlow leaves the login form open so that you can try again.
- When you correct an invalid password, PhixFlow enables the Submit button.
DEV-6644 Column filters now correctly use OR rather than AND.
DEV-6671 There is no longer a risk of data being lost when multiple actions simultaneously insert data into an empty stream.
DEV-6692 Setting a form to read-only now sets all the fields in the form to be read-only.
DEV-6699 An application with no menu will now load correctly.
Release 8.0.3
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.3. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6647 File exporters that generate Excel files based on a template no longer create corrupt files.
DEV-6619 Whilst analysis or actions are running, you can now change a stream or pipe and then publish. Previously, making a change whilst PhixFlow was reading the data would cause the process to hang.
DEV-6631, DEV-6635 Column filters now work correctly in:
- database collector grids
- system console grids
- property tabs.
Release 8.0.2
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.2. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Features and Improvements
PhixFlow and its libraries have been updated to maintain security.
DEV-6563 In stream views, the CSS properties for grid rows can use the variable _current
in their expressions. _current
contains all of the data in the current row.
DEV-6280 You can now apply column filters to aggregate values except aggregated percents.
Bug Fixes
DEV-6565 When you edit a stream view filter, then Save Filter As, PhixFlow now correctly associates the new filter with the stream view.
Release 8.0.1
To upgrade an existing PhixFlow instance:
- Check the Compatibility Guide and Upgrade Planning for changes to the system requirements or supported database versions. For example, you may need to upgrade your database or Java version.
- Ensure you have a backup of the database before upgrading PhixFlow.
- Follow the instructions in Upgrading PhixFlow. There are no special instructions for upgrading to PhixFlow 8.0.1. However, if you are upgrading multiple versions, remember to check the Special Upgrade Instructions.
Performance
DEV-6467 After editing, dashboards now load more quickly.
Features and Improvements
DEV-6047 To facilitate moving large applications between PhixFlow instances, the time allowed for exporting or importing has been increased from 1 hour to 10 hours.
DEV-6493 When loading or exporting data from web sources, you can now refer to attributes on lookup pipes. In the HTTP header properties → Value field, include the string {pipe_name.attribute_name}
where pipe_name
is the name of the pipe and attribute_name
is the name of the attribute; see HTTP Header.
DEV-6400 In the stream view attributes properties tab → Basic Settings section, PhixFlow now only displays the Number Format field for attributes with decimal, integer or float attribute types.
DEV-6438 When you right-click on a layout component to Copy as template, PhixFlow now also copies the component's background filter rules.
DEV-6450 To improve usability, the Password Policy option names have changed.
From | To |
---|---|
After a warning period of N Days | Days Valid |
... and a Grace Period of N Days | Days to Reset |
Bug Fixes
DEV-6344 During the import or export of applications and packages, PhixFlow no longer generates a large number of stream action 'invalid object relationship' warning messages in the log file.
DEV-6463 After a user has reset their password, PhixFlow displays the login screen.
DEV-6473 PhixFlow no longer reports an error when saving stream view attributes that have a selection view background filter, but do not have a selection view.
DEV-6523 An action now correctly opens a page where the URL includes a variable string determined by a context parameter.
DEV-6382 PhixFlow now correctly saves and uses placeholder text in the properties tab for date and date time form fields.
DEV-6455 The following changes resolve some issues seen during login:
- Sometimes a user may remain logged into PhixFlow, but may not use it for some time. During this period their password can expire. Previously, when re-accessing PhixFlow the user was notified that their password had a negative number of days remaining. Now when the user returns to PhixFlow, they will be logged out and notified that their password has expired.
- For the user details window and login window, users could make no changes but then click save. PhixFlow would resave the same details, causing a warning that the password had been recently used. (This depends on the Password Policy). Now PhixFlow only resaves details if they have changed.
Release 8.0.0
Discontinued Features
The following items, and their associated privileges have been removed:
DEV-6083 The Show where used repository context menu option has been temporarily removed as it was taking a long time to generate the list.
Databases Going Out of Support
We no longer support Oracle 12.1 (Oracle 12c Release 1). Major releases after 1st Jan 2020 will no longer support MariaDB 10.1.
Please email support@phixflow.com if you are planning to run PhixFlow 8.0.0 on an unsupported database version.
Changes to Privileges
If you have created an App User role, please update it to add the privileges:
- View Application
View Layout Components
View Streams
View Styles
Features and Improvements
In previous versions, PhixFlow was incorrectly applying margins and padding to some layout components. In this release, PhixFlow will correctly apply the values as configured. This may cause layout components in your applications to move to slightly different positions. If this occurs, adjust the margins and padding style options; see CSS Properties.
- Open the properties for the component.
- In the CSS Properties section, double-click on the property for the border or margin.
- Update the CSS and save your changes.
If you are unable to resolve the position of the component, please email support@phixflow.com.
Performance
PhixFlow performance has improved in the following areas.
DEV-5878 Card views now run actions or drive other views more quickly.
DEV-5897 Viewing stream data that has filter rules is quicker.
DEV-5900 Data in pipes is processed more efficiently.
DEV-5982 Images are cached by the browser.
DEV-6062 The audit summary loads more quickly.
- DEV-6031 Applications with a large number of objects in them open more quickly.
- DEV-6154 Dashboards load more quickly.
Analysis Models
Datasources, Collectors and Exporters, Email export, Streams and Pipes, Stream Views
DEV-5830 For transactional streams, where Period is set to Transactional, PhixFlow now creates the UID attribute automatically, if it is required. If you then set the transactional stream to audit manual changes, using Basic Settings → Audit Manual Changes, PhixFlow also creates the audit trail identifiers automatically, if they do not already exist. The audit attribute names are:
UpdateAction
UpdatedByName
UpdatedByID
UpdatedTime.
DEV-6007, DEV-6257 In stream view properties, there is a new Advanced option called Always Show Quick Filter. Tick this option so that, in a stream view, the column headers always display a filter icon. When not selected, the filter icon only appears when the mouse pointer is in the column header. Also, aggregate column headers no longer have the option to apply a column filter.
DEV-6239 For read-only grid cells in grid views, you can display action icons all the time. Use the option: stream view → attributes properties → Basic Settings section → Always Show The Action Icon. The user can click anywhere in the cell to run the action.
DEV-6059 It is now easy to show or hide columns in grid stream views. Previously you had to open the stream view properties and change the Hidden check box. You can now show or hide columns from the stream view's context menu.
- Select Show Attributes for <stream view>.
- PhixFlow displays the list of attributes. All attributes are listed. Hidden attributes are shown in italics.
- In the attributes list, right-click an attribute and select Show this column or Hide this column.
You can also select multiple rows and show or hide them.
DEV-6157 Hidden stream view attributes do not appear in the list of options when creating a new filter.
DEV-5310 In a stream attribute grid, you can now right-click the attribute name to open its expression in the large edit box. This is a useful shortcut when you need to edit a long expression.
DEV-5997 When you drag a stream onto a form to create a card container, the card container inherits the name of the stream.
DEV-6162 When you drag a stream onto a form to create a stream view, the stream view is now auto-sized by default.
DEV-6276 If you delete a stream that has a pipe to a destination stream, PhixFlow does not delete the pipe. The pipe appears in the list of inputs in the destination stream's properties → Input section. PhixFlow now highlights pipes with no source stream so that you can resolve the problem by replacing the stream or by deleting the pipe.
DEV-6065 Decimal stream attributes now default to having 10 significant figures and 2 decimal places.
DEV-6311, DEV-6115 You can now limit the file size that a file collector will attempt to upload using Maximum Excel File Size (MB). When exporting, PhixFlow generates Excel files in series, rather than concurrently. These changes prevent extremely large Excel files, or multiple files, from causing Phixflow performance to suffer.
Applications
Dashboards, layouts and layout components, styles, palettes, actions and context parameters.
General
DEV-5957 When you create a new application, PhixFlow automatically creates a default menu and displays it in the menu bar. This means you can quickly populate the menu, by simply dragging an action or a dashboard onto the menu.
DEV-5879 You can now load your own images into PhixFlow to use them as backgrounds and icons; see Image and Layout for details.
DEV-6141, DEV-6139 PhixFlow can now translate additional application interface text to the language in a user's locale; see Translating an Application Interface. Provided the text is present in the translation table, you can translate:
stream view headers
tooltips, for example on an action icon (which is displayed in a grid)
month names and abbreviations in date formats.
DEV-6132 The Translate function can now take a source language string and multiple parameter strings. When PhixFlow translates the source language string, any "%s" characters are replaced with each of the parameters, in order.
DEV-5986 Previously, layout components that can have actions (buttons, stream views and cards) could only be connected to a data attribute with a matching name. You can now connect components and data via a data map. This means you are no longer constrained to using dashboard element names while running actions or fetching data. You can use names defined via mapping instead.
DEV-5962 The detailed list of dashboards has a new column to indicate if a dashboard is configured to preload or not.
DEV-5848 The properties tab for a URL component now includes a field where you can enter an expression. This means you can add an expression that takes values from data entered in a form, or from context parameters. PhixFlow can then evaluate the expression to generate a URL.
DEV-1525 You can now expand or collapse grid columns in a dashboard. Right-click on the column header and select Hide this column. To expand the hidden columns, right-click any visible column header and select Show hidden columns.
DEV-6203 For card containers and grids that have scrollbars, you can now drag items to targets that are currently off-screen. Click to select the item, start to drag it in the direction of the target, then pause at the edge of the component. PhixFlow then automatically starts to scroll in the direction of your drag, which may be left-right, up-down or diagonal.
DEV-5927 In rare cases, the backing stream data may no longer contain an attribute that appears as a column header in the grid view. In this case PhixFlow will prompt you to select an alternative attribute of the same type, if one is available. If the backing stream has no attributes of the same type, PhixFlow reports an error.
DEV-5776 The property tab for a drop-down component now includes the Data Type property. This means you can specify the format of the numbers or dates in the drop-down list.
DEV-6145 The width of drop-down lists in grids the larger of:
- the grid column
- the stream view's default width.
Palettes
DEV-5869 There is a new Show Palettes icon on the right bottom of the screen. Click the icon to open a panel on the right. The panel has sections for each of the available palettes. You can drag layout components from the palette into dashboards.
DEV-5992 The dashboard and layout context menu option, Show Palettes, now opens the palette tab with all available palettes listed.
DEV-5849 You can now set a default palette for each application using the Basic Settings → Default Component Palette property. In Design Mode, when you drag stream attributes onto a layout or area:
If the container application that contains the layout is running, PhixFlow uses the default palette set for the application.
If the container application is not running, PhixFlow uses the default palette set for the area.
If the container application is not running, but you are dragging stream attributes into a layout for a different (destination) application, which is running, then PhixFlow uses the default palette for the destination application.
In all cases, if no palette has been set for the application or area, PhixFlow falls back to using the system default palette.
DEV-6008 In applications where users can edit data in a grid, PhixFlow now indicates the edit using a pencil icon, instead of a lightning bolt icon.
DEV-5994 Instead of automatically naming application components as "New", PhixFlow now asks you to specify a name when you:
create a new form on an empty dashboard pane
drag a layout template onto an area.
DEV-5930, DEV-5947 There have been several improvements to the usability of palettes. For example:
You must save a new palette before PhixFlow allows you to drag in a layout template.
When you add a layout template, the palette refreshes to show the change.
You can select multiple layout templates and drag them onto the palette at the same time.
A palette lists components in alphabetical order.
Layouts and Dashboards
For information about layout properties, see Layout.
DEV-5761 For form layouts, you can now add grey, placeholder text to display in an empty field. The text can provide a useful tooltip to application users. To specify the placeholder text for a layout component that has input fields, use the Place Holder Text property.
DEV-5824 You can now drag a layout template onto a palette's layouts list to add the layout. To set the default component for the palette, you can drag the components onto the corresponding drop-down fields.
DEV-5803 You can now add a paging bar to card views. In the layout properties for a card, tick the Show Paging Bar check box.
DEV-5871 The layout property, Default Value, is now also available for dynamic text layout components.
DEV-5922 When you are designing a layout, manually resizing an area will automatically untick Layout area → Style Settings→ Auto-size. There is a new context menu option Turn auto size off/on, to toggle the autosize property as you work.
DEV-6308 Dashboards have a new Basic Settings → Cache Locally property. This option is an alternative to Preload. When the user loads the dashboard, PhixFlow caches it on the client computer. When subsequently reopened during the same session, the dashboard layout loads more quickly.
DEV-5996 The dashboard context menu includes new options:
- Show Attributes for <stream name> is available when a dashboard has a backing stream.
- Show Attributes for <view name> is available when a dashboard has a backing view, as well as a backing stream.
DEV-6163 It is possible to drag a dashboard onto a form, to create a button that opens the dragged dashboard. The button will be positioned to the next available space. If you want the button to be positioned at the drop position, use CTRL+drag.
Styles
For information about style properties, see CSS Properties.
DEV-4649 You can now format static text that appears on a layout. In the layout properties, tick the Use HTML Formatting check box. PhixFlow adds a formatting toolbar to layout property → Display Text field. In the application, the static text will be displayed with the applied formatting.
DEV-5932 There are now more options to configure layout → Style Settings properties for forms, cards, tabs and areas. These give you more control over the way components flex as the application screen size varies.
- When Auto Size is ticked, you can also specify the Grow Factor.
- When you specify Direction there is now a separate property to control how components Wrap.
DEV-5983 There are new CSS properties Cycle Size and Offset. Use these options to apply CSS formatting to specific children of a layout.
Actions
DEV-6089 Actions no longer have to belong to a stream. This means you can create actions and use them with different streams. Actions are linked to stream data via stream item action rules. The repository has a new Actions branch for actions that do not belong to streams. If you drag a dashboard onto an area or button that does not currently have a backing stream, PhixFlow will create a streamless action. Similarly if you drag a column header onto a button that does not have an action, PhixFlow will create a new action and add the context parameter.
DEV-6133 You can now apply formatting to confirmation and response messages for actions.
DEV-2956 Action properties have a new field in Basic Settings → In Progress Popup Message. Enter text to notify the user about the action, such as how long it might take. Use the edit toolbar to format the text. When a user triggers the action, PhixFlow will display your custom message while the action is running.
DEV-5788 You can now include expressions in action properties → Result → Result Message text; see Action → Result Message.
DEV-3810 Button actions have a option, Advanced → Prevent Parallel Processing. Tick the check box so that, when the application runs the action, the button becomes unresponsive until the action has finished.
DEV-5935 You can drag a column header from a grid view onto an action button. This creates a context parameter, which was previously automatically given the attribute name. Now, PhixFlow will now open the context parameter properties. In the Basic Settings → Name, you can either select a name from the attribute list, or type in a different name.
DEV-5978 You can now configure how long PhixFlow displays an action message using stream action properties → Result section → Result Message Timeout (s). Specify the number of seconds to display the message. PhixFlow then automatically closes the message.
DEV-6034 It is now possible to specify custom a message to display in the progress window while a stream action is running; see Action properties → Result section → In Progress Message. If you do not specify a custom message, PhixFlow displays the default message.
DEV-5985 You can now use the jumpTo function in Stream Item Action Rules → Action Attributes → Expression.
DEV-6240 You can now use the _field internal variable in double-click or in-cell actions. The variable refers to:
- either the name and label of a column
- or the value in the cell.
Common Features
Filters, tasks and task plans, data formats, functions and macros, interface menus and toolbars
DEV-6082 There is a new Help tab displayed to new users which provides links to the help and training. You can change whether or not this is displayed using the User menu → My User Details → Show the help tab on startup check box.
DEV-6030 When you create a new application, PhixFlow asks if you want to load it immediately. Also, the repository context menu for Applications has new options:
- Load Application to select and load an application. The repository list is automatically filtered to show only the branch for the loaded application.
- Filter by name filters the list of Applications list and expands the branch of the selected application, but does not load it.
You can see the full list of applications again by removing the filter from the Applications branch.
DEV-5844 When you drag a stream onto a form, PhixFlow now prompts you to select the type for the stream view or card view that you want to create.
DEV-5850 Some property tabs have buttons to show specific items in the repository browser. If the items belong to a container, PhixFlow now shows the items within the container, rather than in the full repository. For example, in a layout component, if you click the Show Styles button, PhixFlow shows the list of styles in that container.
DEV-5757 In the repository browser you can now drag an attribute from its stream into an application component, such as a layout, area or form. PhixFlow adds a field to the application component for the attribute.
DEV-5927 There have been some improvements around creating a background filter on a layout. When working in a dashboard or layout, you can drag the column header from a grid view onto a form. This creates a background filter using the backing stream attribute. When you then select a different row in the grid view, the form updates to show the details for the selected row. You can now also drag a column header onto a card, to have the same effect.
DEV-5853 You can now filter branches of the repository to find items using search box next to the branch name. Type into the search box to filter by name. The filter is case-insensitive.
DEV-5828 When you add a filter or sort order on a grid view header, it is automatically applied. Previously you then had to select the new filter.
DEV-6062 The audit summary now includes the previous and new name when references to other objects are changed.
Administration
Users, permissions, security, configuration, installation
PhixFlow and its libraries have been updated to maintain security. (Internal reference numbers: DEV-5768)
DEV-5945 PhixFlow now returns an error message when a datasource has an incompatible database driver.
DEV-4820 There is a new option System Configuration → General Settings → Feedback Email Address. Specify the email address for the User menu→ Send Feedback Email option to use. This should be your company IT support address.
DEV-6153 You can now configure PhixFlow to automatically dismiss notification pop-ups after displaying them for a time. Set how long PhixFlow should display the notifications in System Configuration → General Settings → Notification Timeout (s).
Bug Fixes
The following issues have been fixed in this release.
Models
DEV-5287 When you delete a modelling object, PhixFlow now correctly clears the references from other objects. Previously, if an object still had references to a deleted object, attempting to re-import the deleted object would fail.
DEV-5403 Modelling objects are not selected if you accidentally drag-and-drop over them.
DEV-5865 In a drop-down component, if you set a stream view to null, PhixFlow no longer reports an error when you save the component.
DEV-5936 PhixFlow now correctly removes commas from numbers exported from a grid to a CSV file.
DEV-5944 Copied stream sets now display the correct stream set size.
DEV-3497 After updating a macro, PhixFlow will always use the new version. In some cases, PhixFlow was using a cached version of the previous macro when running analysis on a model.
DEV-6091 When running analysis, if a file collector error count reaches the maximum allowed before rollback, PhixFlow displays the last error message as an error in the console, rather than as a warning.
DEV-6049 In a database collector, the Run query and show result button now correctly populates the grid.
DEV-5188 If export to email is configured, for example on a file exporter, a list of multiple users is now retained if a model is imported to another instance.
DEV-6044 In the console, viewing emails and managed files that reference deleted or removed fIle exporters no longer reports an error.
Applications
General
DEV-5845 When you drag multiple stream attributes onto a dashboard area, PhixFlow now sets up the input fields in the same order as the stream attributes.
DEV-6017 For a form or card view, PhixFlow now correctly uses the data in the backing stream (all attributes for one period). Previously PhixFlow was trying to use the default stream view.
DEV-5838 PhixFlow no longer lists layouts that have a container in the Unallocated folder of the repository browser.
DEV-6041 In Design Mode, when you right-click on a dashboard in the modelling pane, PhixFlow opens the context menu without bringing the dashboard to the front of the open models and/or dashboards.
DEV-6213, DEV-6105, DEV-6106 When using an application, autosave now works correctly if you click outside a grid between updates. During autosave, data records in a grid are prevented from being updated multiple times in parallel. In the console, autosave events are now tagged with AUTOSAVE
.
DEV-6181 Resolved issues with Google Chrome auto-filling drop-down lists with its own entries, rather than using the drop-down list entries configured in PhixFlow.
DEV-6287 When a grid has Refresh if not active unticked, it is now correctly refreshed when the dashboard is displayed.
DEV-6140 Where translation is configured, application menu options will continue to be translated when a page is reloaded.
DEV-5972 Forms are no longer marked as edited if the user clicks through the fields without making any changes.
DEV-6353 In a form, if you use the tab key to move into a drop-down list, PhixFlow opens the list.
Layouts
DEV-5837 The layout properties now includes the Parent Details section.
DEV-5845 In an area component, setting the style to add either a horizontal or a vertical scrollbar now correctly displays the selected scrollbar, rather than both.
DEV-6210 For card views with nested cards, you can now reference a parent card using data mapping with the option Current selected.
DEV-6171 Dashboards no longer keep data after layout components have been deleted.
DEV-6051 Check box selections are correctly cleared when a dashboard is re-opened.
DEV-6052 Rearranging the order of layout components in the repository now correctly rearranges the components in the layout itself. Previously, a rearranged component had both relative and absolute positioning applied, so it was incorrectly placed.
DEV-6306 Formatting rules no longer override layout settings, for example to switch off scroll bars.
DEV-6261 For dashboards and layouts that have components with filters driven by views, the driven elements now correctly refresh if the driver has Show records count ticked.
Styles
DEV-5947 The application properties → Style Settings section now includes the Row Selection Style option.
DEV-5861 When you drag a style onto a layout component, PhixFlow now correctly applies the style immediately.
DEV-5659 When you add a background colour to a grid, PhixFlow correctly applies the colour even if you have also set opacity for the grid. Previously, the colour was not correctly applied to date columns.
DEV-6159 Horizontal bar charts now use the horizontal and vertical axis configuration values correctly.
DEV-6169 Stacked bar charts now load and display correctly.
DEV-5894 For grid rows set to be higher than the default value, any True/False columns now have their row background styles correctly applied to the full row height.
DEV-5980 Importing a style will now reconnect it to any layouts that refer to it.
DEV-6172 PhixFlow correctly uses the page size settings when it reopens a cached dashboard.
DEV-6168 The border formatting for layout components now correctly combines settings in the layout's CSS and Style Setting properties. Also, margins and padding are now correctly applied.
DEV-6120 Formatting rules referring to driven components now correctly refresh after the driven component refreshes.
DEV-6095 Tabs headers now correctly apply any flex settings. You can now use the Focus state on tabs components.
DEV-6279 HTML editor fields, when driven by other views, now correctly re-render.
DEV-6044 Tabs headers now correctly apply the height from shared styles.
DEV-6215 If a CSS property evaluates to null, the whole grid row no longer loses its styling.
DEV-5825 Attributes are now correctly added to charts when dropped onto chart editors.
Actions
DEV-5949 Stream actions now correctly move uploaded files to the directory specified in their Tag expression.
DEV-5799 If a user double-clicks on a button, the second click is ignored. The action runs once and PhixFlow no longer reports that the action is already running.
DEV-6365 When the user double-clicks in a grid cell, PhixFlow now correctly runs any in-cell action, rather than the default action for double-clicking.
DEV-5916 If an action has an incorrect target view, PhixFlow will report an error when the user attempts to run the action.
DEV-6236 Context parameters are now correctly cleared after closing the dashboard, even if the dashboard is set to Preload.
DEV-6209 Context parameters now work correctly while set to '0'.
Common Features
DEV-6097 If you right-click on a branch of the repository, the context menu is no longer displayed if there are no options for the selected branch. This is the case for right-click on Full Repository and Unallocated.
DEV-5960 When closing a filter editor opened from a column filter, the column filter now also closes correctly.
DEV-6275 When applying filters on charts, clicking Show The List of Values now correctly displays the list of values, rather than a chart.
DEV-6234 To resolve issues with filter selection lists displaying incorrectly, they are no longer formatted using the default column header style defined in the system configuration.
DEV-6146 Expanding the repository Unallocated → Database collectors branch now correctly displays the list, rather than reporting an error.
DEV-6134 Deleting a date style now deletes any date style mappings that refer to it. PhixFlow notifies you that the mappings will be deleted.
DEV-5790 The context menu options for an object now correctly exclude any option that has no purpose for that type.
DEV-6074 PhixFlow correctly applies the default filters and sort orders when it reopens a preloaded dashboard.
DEV-5188 In previous versions, if you exported data with an email distribution, but the users did not exist in the export instance, you would lose any mailing lists. PhixFlow now retains the mail list, even if the users do not exist in the instance.
DEV-5896 For the background filters on a drop-down component, you can no longer set a boolean filter field to null.
DEV-6227 PhixFlow no longer reports an error when you add a background filter to a drop-down list of attributes in a stream view. PhixFlow was previously incorrectly reporting that the attribute came from a different stream.
DEV-5880 When you import modelling objects with PhixFlow-defined drop-down lists, the audit detail now correctly displays translations (if it is configured) for the items listed.
DEV-6364 Resolved an issue with layouts using shared styles. This occured when shared styles were exported then imported into a different instance and the layout components were being developed in both instances.
DEV-6202 After importing a configuration file using the Import Configuration form, PhixFlow optionally publishes any changes to the streams that are backed by database tables. PhixFlow now no longer reports that the configuration upload has failed if there is an error during the publishing stage. An example of a publishing error is an attempt to change the type of an attribute from a Date to a Number. In the console, the import will be shown as successful and any publishing errors will be reported.
Administration
DEV-5591 The PhixFlow installer now correctly closes when the installation has completed.
DEV-5924 Some database connection errors were returning empty messages. These have been fixed.
DEV-5974 When adding a user group to a user, an audit summary record is created only if the user is new to the group.
DEV-6027 Users with no privileges will no longer see an error message when attempting to log in to an application.
DEV-5868 The Users and Privileges branches of the repository no longer also appear in the Unallocated branch.
DEV-5948 When you reopen the system console, it now automatically selects the most recently opened task and displays its details.
DEV- 6071 Filtering the grids in the properties for roles and for user groups now behaves correctly for is null
, is true
and is false
filter conditions.
DEV-6362 When a task is in progress, selecting a row in the Console Log will no longer select all rows.
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