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Data Crow version 4.0 Released on 2014-07-23
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This is a new major release. DO NOT install this version in the same location as
the old version as this will cause the program to fail to start.
NOTE 1 I have found that in old installations it is possible that both books.jar and a
book.jar file exists within the modules folder. Remove the books.jar file as the
book.jar file is the actual file used for saving module wizard changes.
NOTE 2 All modifications made to the Music Album and the Audio CD modules will be
undone by the upgrade. There was no other way to get the Music Album and
Audio CD modules merged.
NOTE 3 The web version is scheduled for version 4.1 and is not part of the 4.0 version.
[New]
- Client-Server mode. Full stand alone application server is now available. See Client-
Server notes for more details. This has been achieved through a complete change of the
Data Crow architecture.
[Changed]
! The Audio CD module and the Music Album module have been merged together. It did no
longer make sense to have them as separate modules. There is no loss of functionality.
- Italian translation has been updated. Big thanks to Marco Artioli!
- Added additional file support to the movie file import.
- Changed the tabs saving mechanism. Tabs are also no longer stored in the database but
our now saved per client. This makes it possible for users to create their own form
design.
- Code re-structuring; making the code and architecture future proof. This was a huge
undertaking but will not be directly visible to you as a user apart from having
new features released in the (near) future which would not have been possible otherwise.
- Upgraded Apache Tika to version 1.5
- Added a column selector to table views (right-click on the table header).
- The discogs.com music search has been implemented using the official API, making it more
reliable and future proof.
- Added Record Label to the the Music Album Module.
- The Sourceforge.net online service has been rewritten to use the official API, making it
more reliable and future proof.
- JTattoo (Look and Feel manager) has been upgraded to version 1.6.10.
- You can now place true type fonts (TTF files) in the fonts directory of the install
folder. These will be loaded by Data Crow and can then be used. They will appear at
the bottom of any of the font selection lists.
- PDF reports now can make use of Fonts installed (copied) to the fonts folder of the
Data Crow installation folder.
- Additional settings can be done by the user by editing the "pdf_config.xml" file
as located in the reports folder (of the user directory). Instructions:
https://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/1.0/configuration.html- Updated the Module Creation Guide (
http://www.datacrow.net/#downloads)
- Updated the Create Report Guide (
http://www.datacrow.net/#downloads)
- Created a Client-Server Guide (
http://www.datacrow.net/#downloads)
[Fixed]
- One more small issue fixed when upgrading from an old version of Data Crow.
- Regex pattern for the file importer was applied after changes to the name were applied
by Data Crow logic. This can cause the regex pattern to no longer match. The regex
pattern will now always be applied first.
- Lent versus lend grammar mistakes.
- Avoiding null pointer exceptions in case fields no longer exists.
- Restart of the Delete Module Wizard started the Create Module Wizard
- Problems with the creation of modules due to invalid table names caused by special
characters. Now the names are auto generated.
- UTF8 problems with the module.XML files has been resolved.
- Issue with user creation. Module permissions were not saved correctly on the user
creation. It only worked after updating the user.
- Create multiple used the view type (table / card) based on the selected search view.
Because of this the card view was used sometimes which is not editable.
- Backup process reported missing "dc.lck" and "dc.log" files.
- Opening the form to create a new user took a long time.
- Module wizard creation module allows Picture fields to be added to property modules
while this is not supported. Option has now been removed.
- The Mobygames.com online search has been fixed.
- The Sourceforge.net online search has been fixed.
- Dictionary.txt was saved in plain text instead of in UTF8 format.
- Original label in the general field settings showed the new, custom, label after
the user made the translation.
- The view and quick view were not updated after performing a loan action (return / lend).
- Mismatch between the contact person module name and the module jar file.
- A white space for decimal grouping symbol is reset to "." after a restart.
- Drive Manager window settings not applied correctly.
[Client-Server Notes]
A manual has been released:
http://www.datacrow.net/#downloadsHighlights:
* Clients don't have access to restore and backup functionality, regardless of their
access rights. These options are solely available when running Data Crow directly on
the server. Future versions might have scheduled backup routines.
* Server can be started using the server command. It's a headless server, meaning it
doesn't require a monitor / has not GUI.
* Clients are thick clients. Wait for the new web GUI release for thin client access.
Note that Data Crow will always support the client-server mode as currently released.
The code has been optimized for client-server access. Data is pulled in small batches.
For example, when scrolling in the table and list view only does items
are fully retrieved from the server which are currently visible. Clients connected to
a server will however always be slower than standalone clients.
* User management is available directly and has remained unchanged from previous
version. You can indicate on field level if the user has access to it and what he/she
can do with the field content (read/update/delete).
* Icons are cached on each client. No synchronization on icon changes has yet been
implemented. Nothing else is cached on the clients. After a restart of a client
the icons are retrieved from the server.
* The clients retrieve the settings, modules and value enhancers from the server.
Not all settings can be done on the client due to security restraints.
* Modules, system settings and value enhancers are downloaded from the server on startup,
this way the server is in control for the modules and system wide settings.
