General

[Enhanced] All of the main lists on the editing screens now respond to the mouse wheel anywhere within the list, instead of only on the "elevator" at the right. Note that if the cursor is focused on another area of the screen, you may have to initially click on the list to set the focus there. If you are using FF&EZ on a remote terminal server, the response time may have a slight lag.

Exception: When you are adding or editing an item on a screen, you can only move the list up or down if the mouse pointer is on the "elevator" control on the right. This is available in case you want to review existing IDs. Note: Clicking on the elevator may trigger the normal data verification on the screen field you were editing, so an entry may have to be completed before you can move the list.

Important: This change means that the cursor "pointer" symbol in the cells in the list may appear to allow editing of the cells, which may confuse new users. Only columns displayed in blue are directly editable. Others must be entered (and therefore, verified) on the editing screen for that information.

[New] new shortcut keys for major screens have been added. From the opening screen or from any editing screen, the following shortcut keys are now available (F1 always displays Help):

Please note that the system may not recognize these keys if pressed too rapidly in succession. Note that the normal sequence of needing to save any entries on the screen you are on does not change: If you use a function key to move to another screen, the entries will be as you left them when you return to the first screen. This may be what you need to do, but don't forget to save at the appropriate time.

Example: If you start FF&EZ and wish to quickly return to the Specification screen on the last project you edited:

1. If applicable, start FF&EZ and log in as usual, pressing [Enter] to record your user name or the password if one is required.
2. Press [F2] to display the project screen.
3. When the project screen appears, press [F2] again to open the last project you used in a previous session.
4. Press [F8] to display the Specifications screen.

[New] An alternate approach to backing up your FF&EZ system has been added to the Utilities menu found on the main FF&EZ screen.

This utility creates a "batch" file containing commands that will copy everything in the FF&EZ data set (i.e., data, images, reports, etc.) to a backup subfolder it creates named "FF&EZ-Full-Backup". It will create this subfolder under the folder you specify. The new utility is used one time to create this batch file, which will appear on your personal Windows Desktop. Like the regular backup, access to this utility is limited to level 1 users.

You use the batch file by double-clicking it after you exit from FF&EZ. The first time it runs, the commands will create a complete backup of everything in the data set. After that, it will only copy files that are newer.

The "parent" folder you select should be one on another device or a cloud folder like Dropbox or OneDrive. Since the backup folder is a complete, uncompressed folder, it can be used to set up FF&EZ on another system in case of a complete hardware failure.

This isn't a replacement for the original backup utility, which creates multiple date-stamped backups (always a good idea). However, some users continue to have problems in which Windows does not properly close database files while FF&EZ is still open, leaving those files copied with zero bytes in the regular backup. You should verify that your last regular backup has no zero-byte files. If there are any or if you have questions, please contact technical support.

Project List

[New] A new "Project Title Sheet" report can be used to print a single "front" sheet for project books. It has options to include or exclude the project address, the client name and address and the design personnel on the project. On this screen, the report prints multiple projects unless you use a "Current" project filter, however if a project is open, it only prints a sheet for the open project.

[Enhanced] A new "Limit field size" option can be used to limit wider IDs (currently the object Tag, Spec ID and Catalog # fields) to the old shorter size. This must be used on projects that you plan to export to another FF&EZ system that has not been updated to version 4.2 or later. For more information, see the entries under "Object List" and "Specification List" below.

Important: All versions of FF&EZ earlier than 4.2 will truncate the new, wider IDs used in this version if a project from it is imported. If you are exporting FF&EZ projects to another firm, you must use this option unless you can confirm that the other firm has version 4.2 or later.

[Fixed] When adding a new person to the list used for the designer, project manager or salesperson, the other two lists were not immediately updating to include the new entry as a choice.

FF&E Worksheet

[Enhanced] The Clone command now defaults to a pop-up that allows you to place the currently highlighted object usage into multiple rooms. To select a room, you enter the room quantity needed in that room. Cloning a finish object also duplicates the location specified in the original room. If you wish you use the older "single action" version of this command, it is available by right-clicking this button.

[Enhanced] A new Replace command allows you to replace some or all usages of an object with a different object. To use it, highlight the first Worksheet object you wish to replace. When you launch the command,  you will see a list of all rooms in which that object currently appears.

When you select a replacement object, the system will flag rooms that already contain that object. If you select those rooms the original usage will only be deleted.

An option on this command also lets you delete all existing usages of the object without deleting the object from the Object List itself (that is, you can replace the object with "nothing").

[New] A new "Project Title Sheet" report can be used to print a single "front" sheet for project books. It has options to include or exclude the project address, the client name and address and the design personnel on the project. On this screen, the report only prints a sheet for the open project.

[Enhanced] Large image option on "Illustration Sheet" formats. The image layout options 1 and 2 of this report format now support large images (that is, images that print as large as possible on the page). To use this option:

1. On the Specifications screen mark the image with the new "Large image" checkbox. In addition to this new option, the Attach command to attach an image includes the same option on its pop-up screen.
2. Make sure the specification with the large image option is used as the primary component on the object.

If both prequisites are true, it will be printed at a size that fills the print area of the first page of the illustration sheet for that object. Landscape images will expand to fit the width, while portrait images will expand the fill the full page height, except for page headers and footers.

Note: There are some limitations on how other "Illustration Sheet" report options work with large images. See "Using the Illustration Sheet Formats"

[Enhanced] The "Illustration Sheet" reports now include the required submittals (selected on the Specification List screen) for each component of an object.

[Enhanced] Edit and Clone commands: If you edit an existing Worksheet occurrence after changing that object from "FIN" to any other object Class, the existing finish location will be cleared for you (since it no longer applies). This can be used to correct unneeded room locations until a general function to clear all of them is added.

[Enhanced] "Lead Time / Spend Analysis by Object" report: The lead times are now calculated using the lead time of the primary component plus that of the secondary component (if any) with the longest lead time. So a chair with a lead time of 7 weeks that uses a fabric with a lead time of 3 weeks would produce a lead time of 10 weeks. Use the version of this report "...by Specification" to identify components that do not have lead times entered. You can also use the Query tool to filter for lead times that equal 0.

If you have been entering lead times on the primary specification based on a manually calculated total lead time for all components, you can continue to do so, but make sure the lead times for secondary components are zero. You can also disable the report's default "add lead times" setting on the report's "Report Options" tab.

[Enhanced] "Quote/Contract" formats: If you select "Show component specifications for each item?" option, these formats no longer needlessly repeat the spec "Product/Type" text if it is being used as the object description (that is, if it would print the same short description). This is controlled by the "Use Component # 1 Type/Product" option on the Object screen.

[New] "Quote/Contract by Class" formats: This new variation of the quote format prints objects sorted by the "Class" and then "Tag" fields, producing a quote grouped by major category. It can be especially useful if you are using custom classes.

[New] "Budget Estimate by Area/Room" report: A new report that allows you to use object budgets as the basis of a preliminary quote has been added. The format is similar to the "Quote/Contract" report but it only shows objects and their "Budget" values instead of the specification-based "Price."

If you can enter reasonably accurate estimates in the object's "Budget" field, this can allow you to quote a job before specifications are complete.  It uses a different boilerplate text so your disclaimer text can be different for these numbers. This format can be used in conjunction with the Object Budgeting Tool to populate object budget values from existing, already-priced specs in a cloned project.

[Enhanced] PDF files created from reports that include thumbnail images should be somewhat smaller in size due to the creation of separate thumbnail sized files. Thumbnails are created as needed, which may cause a short delay the first time an existing project's images are processed.

[Fixed] After certain operations, the Query and the Replace function buttons were sometimes disabled where they should have been still available.

Object List

[Enhanced] The object "Tag" field has been increased in size to 20 characters.

The most important reports have been modified to avoid wrapping the Tag to a second line, however this may still occur on reports with extremely tight column layouts. If you are using longer Tags and find a report where wrapping of the tag causes a problem, please let us know. Also, if you are using tags or Spec IDs that are 15 characters or more, consider using a space or symbol character as a second or third separator in the format. This will create a "cleaner" look to any text wrapping that occurs. Tags (and spec IDs) that wrap use a logic that wraps at an appropriate separator character, moving it and the rest of the ID to a new line.

CAUTION: If you are planning to send FF&EZ projects to other FF&EZ users from this version, you MUST either 1) be sure that they have the newest version (4.2 or later) with expanded Tags or 2) you must not use Tags longer than 10 characters for those projects (see the "Project List" section above). Versions 4.1 and older will truncate Tags longer than 10 characters if a 4.2 version project is imported. There is an option on the Project List screen that will let you limit the size of these fields for that type of project. To avoid problems, be sure to set it before creating objects and specs.

[Enhanced] The behavior of the "Object Description" field has been changed to better reflect how it is used in the system. If you leave the "Use component #1 Type/Description" option checked, this field will display the content of that specification field after you save the new object. You can uncheck it if you wish to revert to using the object's description instead.

As part of this change, the Objects List now displays the "report description" by default, since that is what would be expected. You can switch the list to show all object descriptions by unchecking this option at the bottom of the screen.

[Enhanced] The fields available when adding a new object have been modified to add more control. This includes:

• A "Material/Finish" check box that is automatically filled if a "FIN" class is selected or if a library template is used that has that field checked.
• There is a separate "Unit of Measure" field for the primary specification that is filled automatically, but which you can change if needed.
• The "Quantity" fields for the secondary component have been merged to just one, since only one is needed to indicate quantity.

Specifications

[Enhanced] The specification's "Spec ID" field has been increased in size to 20 characters.

The most important reports have been modified to avoid wrapping the Spec ID to a second line, however this may still occur on reports that have not been reviewed. See the notes above under "Objects" for more about wrapping.

CAUTION: If you are planning to send FF&EZ projects to other FF&EZ users from this version, you MUST either 1) be sure that they have version 4.2 or later with expanded Spec IDs or 2) you do not use IDs longer than 10 characters in those projects (see the "Project List" section above). Older versions do not "know" about the widened ID size and will truncate Spec IDs longer than 10 characters if a 4.2 version project is imported. There is an option on the Project List screen that will let you limit the size of these fields for that type of project. To avoid problems, be sure to set it before creating objects and specs.

[Enhanced] The submittal tracking system has been completely revised to track ten individual submission types, along with two user-defined types for each specification. A new "Notes" field has been added to track internal notes about submittals.

Like the "Specification Status" fields, you can display the submittal tracking section using a checkbox at the bottom of the Specifications List screen. Once this screen is visible, you can use [Alt-B] to toggle the submittal display on and off.

The Submittals area on the Specification Status fields now shows the total submittals required and how many have been approved.

Individual submittal fields have been added to the Query tool's list of fields, plus a "Submittal pending" test that returns all specs for which any required submittal is still pending.

A new entry for Submittal Tracking has been added to Specifications Help section.

[Enhanced] The "Specification Status" and "Specification Sheet" reports now show the required submittals for each spec and the status and status date. On the "Status" reports, the "Subm Stat" column has been replaced with a "Subm Cplt" column showing how many of the submittals required for that spec have some form of "approved" status.

[Enhanced] The width of the "Catalog / Model #" field has been increased to 40 characters (from 30).

CAUTION: If you are planning to send FF&EZ projects to other FF&EZ users from this version, you MUST either 1) be sure that they have version 4.2 or later with the wider field or 2) you do not use Catalog / Model #s longer than 30 characters in those projects. There is an option on the Project List screen that will let you limit the size of this field for that type of project. To avoid problems, be sure to set it before creating objects and specs.

[Enhanced] The Specification list now includes a column showing the shipping destination. It shows "???" in red if no destination has been chosen.

Also, the "Specification Usage & Shipping Review" now appears in the reports on this screen.

[Enhanced] On a spec where the shipping destination has not been selected, the prompt that appears when you save the spec now allows you to postpone this selection if it cannot be made at that time. The new "Ship to" column in the list section shows a red "???" for items that are missing a destination.

[Enhanced] The Utilities> Status Check command now includes a check for specifications for which no shipping destination has been chosen.

Modified: The Vendor Name column has been replaced with a Vendor ID column to allow more room for the wider Spec ID column and the shipping destination column.

[Enhanced] When attaching images to specifications, the process now also creates a thumbnail image to be used in reports where small images are used.

[Enhanced] While in "editing" mode, the rectangle that displays the image file name for a specification can be double-clicked to locate that file. This makes it easier to make corrections to an image with an image editor. However, you must remember that changes to an image will appear in any and all specifications that use it in any project. Changes in image dimensions or orientation may not appear in a spec that has not been edited and saved to update these settings.

[Fixed] When the Add command was clicked, some of the cost calculation and vendor quote fields were not immediately clearing. This was a visual issue that cleared as the specification was entered and did not affect any data.

[Fixed] Attempting to attach PNG files to a spec caused an error. This bug was in an intermediate version of the software and did not affect many users. The bug did not occur in the Auto-Image utility.

Removed: The "Show images" option at the bottom of the screen has been removed. Modern systems do not have the update issues that required this option.

Orders List

[Enhanced] The "Vendor Payment Recap by Project" and "Vendor Payment Summary by Project" reports do a better job of showing total payments to a vendor (including deposits and balance payments) instead of only showing what has been applied during the entry of vendor invoices. A new line appears when payments have been made that shows the total payments by purchase order, vendor and project. Also, the "Recap" report lists the net amount (after the deposit is applied) for each item on check requests instead of the vendor's amount.

[Enhanced] The "Dep. Check #" field has been widened to 12 characters, which will allow longer entries. The quick entry characters "c" and "C" will expand to "Credit Card" if that is the only entry in the field. 

Expediting

Changed: The "Client Ref ID" column has been replaced by the "Spec ID" column, since this is more useful on this screen for most users. The column order has been adjusted to reflect this. This only affects this display—the "Client Ref ID" field is still available on the Project List and Orders List screens without any other change in how it is used..

[Enhanced] New text fields such as "Add'l Description" and "Catalog_no" have been added to the Search in tool.