General

[New] The primary project editing screens in the Design Module now have an undelete function that is accessed by right-clicking on the Delete command for the project component you need to restore. This is described in the command section for each screen, and in the "How to..." section under Undeleting Data. Since FF&EZ is a "relational" database, there are specific rules and recommendations to follow, especially for items that were deleted in the past.

This command depends on the prior creation of a "deletion set" at the time of deletion, to avoid restoring "garbage" items that were already deleted previously. For this reason, only areas, rooms, objects and object Worksheet entries that were deleted with version 4.3.030 or later can be undeleted. In contrast, projects have used a deletion set since version 4.1.011, and projects from that point can be restored, also. Specifications can be undeleted without regard to the version that was active when they were deleted.

Important! Using the File Cleanup utility removes all deleted data and compacts the database, so no deleted data can be recovered after using it.

[Enhanced] For certain editing tasks, you can now choose to suppress reminder messages that might repeat during the current FF&EZ session. The messages help new users understand the nuances of some changes they make to the data. This includes the reminder that an item in a query may "disappear" from the query results when you save it with corrections for issues the query is displaying.

[Enhanced] The Query Tool that appears on all main editing screens now has a "current value" option for the upper conditions. It is similar to that on the Reports Setup screen for printing the "current" vendor or project.

This can be used to quickly add a condition based on the current value of a common field. For instance, if you want to create a query that includes only items from a specific vendor, you can highlight a line from that vendor and then use this option to select "Vendor ID" and click on the "Add" button to its immediate right. This will instantly create a query condition for the current vendor. Other conditions can then be added as needed. You can edit the resulting condition like any other existing condition.

Also, the Query tool now displays more helpful messages when no records match a complex query.

[Fixed] The Query Tool has better error handling in instances where a query is too complex to be processed. A more meaningful message will display and the program will no longer close as it did before.

[Fixed] When using the "Find All" option of an editing screen's "Search" tool or when using one of the "Status Check" or "Setup Check" commands, the Query tool was called to execute the command, but did not automatically close to display the results.

[Fixed] The "Search in" tool did not list some commonly used ID fields as potential search fields. These were IDs from lists that were related to the active list (such as the "Vendor ID" when using this tool on the Specification List or the Expediting screen). The fields that were missing varied depending on the screen, so check this tool for additions when using it.

[Fixed] Changes to the "Default output folder for PDFs" option did not take effect until FF&EZ was restarted.

[Fixed] When the report setup screen appeared on screens that automatically selected the "Current" option (e.g., the current project or current check request), the report list did not have focus, which could lead to accidentally changing the "Current" setting. This wasn't noticeable unless you locate reports by typing the first letters of their names.

[Fixed] The image statistics generated as part of the Setup> System Information> Statistics command did not include a count or total size for thumbnail images created from the main image library.

Vendor List

[New] You can now set up a second alternate payment address for a vendor.

This can be used when a vendor already has an alternate address used to send payments, but a different address needs to be used for sending payments by express or overnight delivery (but which isn't the ordering address). Once you enter the second address, you can activate it using the checkbox on the vendor screen. Typically, you will deselect this option when the normal payment address is needed (the address will be retained for future use).

Project List

Enhanced The Undelete Project command now does a better job of handling vendors, suppliers and clients that were deleted after the project was deleted. The previous version could cause a "trigger failure" if the vendor did not exist when a project specification was restored.

Area List

New] Right-clicking the Delete command now displays a list of areas that have been deleted since version 4.3.030 was installed. You can use this command to undelete an area, the rooms within it and all of their contents in the Worksheet, subject to specific limitations. If an area was deleted in the immediate past, this is typically a very simple procedure. For more, see Undelete Area.

Room List

[New] Right-clicking the Delete command now displays a list of rooms that have been deleted since version 4.3.030 was installed. You can use this command to undelete a room and all of its contents in the Worksheet, subject to specific limitations. If a room was deleted in the immediate past, this is typically a very simple procedure. For more, see Undelete Room.

FF&E Worksheet

New] Right-clicking the Delete command now displays a list of objects usages that have been deleted since version 4.3.030 was installed and for which the original rooms and objects still exist. You can select and restore a usage that was accidentally deleted. There are some rules that need to be followed if the Worksheet entry was not deleted in the immediate past. For more, see Undelete Worksheet Usage.

Object List

[New] When cloning an object, a reminder will display about the specifications in the new object being the same as that of the original. This warning can be suppressed after the first time it appears in a session. Objects are not normally cloned unless you plan to replace one of the components with a different one.

[New] Right-clicking the Delete command now displays a list of objects that have been deleted since version 4.3.030 was installed. You can use this command to undelete objects. Since objects are connected to the Worksheet and Specification screens, there are some rules that need to be followed if an object was not deleted in the immediate past. For more, see Undelete Object.

Specification List

New] Right-clicking the Delete command now displays a list of specifications that have been deleted. You can use this command to undelete specifications, and if needed, restore the original vendor and/or supplier. For more, see Undelete Specification.

[Fixed] A confusing message about a vendor's use as a shipping address was displayed when replacing a vendor in a project. 

Orders List

[Fixed] When adding an order manually, the tax amount from the last highlighted order was displayed instead of remaining blank until order items were added. This was a display issue and had no effect on calculations.

[Fixed] [Known Issue] The data mechanism that displays the Orders list with various summary and status values is extremely complex. As a result, some conditions set up with the Query tool may exceed the program statement size allowed by the program. This has been addressed to allow typical conditions. However if your use of the Query tool results in a "Line is too long" message, please contact technical support for advice. This error will no longer cause a software crash.

[Fixed] The "Search in" tool did not list the "Vendor ID" as a search field.

[Fixed] Some older order reports were including voided orders without an option to exclude them. Order "summary" reports now automatically exclude voided orders, while order list reports automatically exclude them but have an option to include them if desired.

Remember that if you have saved an order report with custom options, you need to recreate it from the original base report in order to see the new report options.

Item Screen

[Enhanced] The "Additional freight invoice" item type has been modified to allow this type (appearing as "Freight vendor charge") to be added before an order to a freight vendor has been issued. Previously, this was restricted for unissued orders since this type of item was intended for unexpected, separate freight invoices, not the overall freight quoted for the original order.

This change works best if you have set the "Freight line" flag on all shipping vendors. The vendor type flag controls which options you will see.

Expediting

[Enhanced] The Update Order Status command now allows you to select which order items and splits you wish to update. This is done by checking or unchecking the "Include" column in a new list on the right side of the command's pop-up. This makes it easier to deal with large orders in which a vendor is shipping groups of items at different times.

This list now appears on the right side of the Update Order Status command. You can specify groups of items to update using the "Include" column.

[Enhanced] When building a query, the "Description" field includes both the "Product/Type" and the "Add'l Description" fields. Generally, the best comparison "operator" to use for this selection is the "contains" operator.

[Fixed] When entering the expected "Qty shipped" on an item that had been processed on a balance request, a warning message appeared that did not apply in that context.

[Fixed] If you clicked on another row while in edit mode but without making any changes, some reference values were not reset for the item in the selected row. This could cause problems if a "Shipped" quantity was entered or changed after this specific sequence happened.

[Fixed] The "Search in" tool did not list the "Vendor ID," "Client ID"  and "Project ID" as search fields.

Check Requests

[Fixed] If you attempted to use the "All records" filter option on a report after having used the default "Current request" filter, the report may have continued to only include the current request.

Invoices

[Fixed] If you attempted to use the "All records" filter option on a report after having used the default "Current invoice" filter, the report may have continued to only include the current invoice.