What's New

Version 9.0.0

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 9.0.0

  1. Apply Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Update the resource_key column in the dt_resource table using SQL

    update table_dt_resource set resource_key = SUBSTRING(store_uri,LEN(store_uri) - CHARINDEX('/',REVERSE(store_uri ))+ 2,LEN(store_uri)) where resource_key is null

  1. Install NumberOfTags SQL function

    There is a new SQL function required: NumberOfTags, which returns the number of tags that a user has on a given object. This function is dependent on your specific schema. In order to facilitate different schemas amongst different customers, we have provided a utility for compiling this function.

    First, edit {dovetailAgent}\utilities\sql\InstallSqlTemplates.exe.config file

    1. Set fchoice.dbtype to either MSSQL or Oracle, depending on your database type.
    2. Set fchoice.connectionstring to a valid connection string for your database.

    Second, from a DOS prompt:

    1. DOS> cd {dovetailAgent}\utilities\sql\
    2. DOS> InstallSqlTemplates.exe ..\config\sql\{database}\

This should complete without any errors.

  1. Merge in your customizations with the baseline source code.

  2. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

  3. If using Dovetail Seeker as a Resource Store for images, upgrade Dovetail Seeker (to version 2.4 or higher) and Dovetail Rulemanager (to version 1.6 or higher).

Previous Versions

Version 8.0.0

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Change to webpack for script compilation

Agent has moved from requirejs to webpack for script compilation. While this move was nontrivial, it brought many long-term benefits.

Running in dev mode will compile the project into 1 script

It will no longer rely on requiring all of the scripts on page load (>600 requests) which made for a slow developer loading experience. Instead, webpack compiles all of the scripts into one script and loads that, even in dev mode. Debugging is not hindered, though, as webpack creates a source map so that files can be easily accessed and debugged.

Webpack allows for different dependency styles

RequireJS was great as a dependency manager, but since then better and more straight-forward solutions have come up, such as Commonjs. Webpack allows for code that use either style to co-exist with each other. This means you can choose between either style based on preference and webpack will just work to compile the scripts correctly.

Webpack allows for new technologies

Moving to webpack opens the doors to using the latest and greatest javascript features, namely ES6. It does this by allowing us to pass es6-specific code through a "loader" that translates it down to es5 and then compiles it. Instead of longingly drooling over the new es6 features, you can actually use them!

Webpack allows for removing Bower

We now solely rely on npm to handle javascript dependencies. Adapting your code for this change will be discussed below

Cache Buster

We no longer need to leverage cache busting due to the way resources are loaded now, i.e. directly via the browser instead of asynchronously via Requirejs. Because of this, you won't see any _={cacheBuster} suffixes on the requests in dev mode. There are still suffixes on ajax requests, but that is managed through jquery and only happens on XHRs.

Some important notes about moving to webpack
Change in handling localization

In your templates, you should no longer use the syntax {{$ LOCALIZED_STRING }}, but instead {{i18n "LOCALIZED_STRING"}}. This is because our previous localization strategy ({{$) was provided by a requirejs plugin that we no longer use. It was also not possible to override $ as a handlebars helper. Here's a regex you can use to find all occurrences in your code that need to be updated: {{\$\s+([\w_]+)\s*}}

agentLang, underscore, jquery should no longer be dependencies

Another benefit of webpack is it allows for declaring "global" variables that can be accessed from different modules without explicitly declaring a dependency. agentLang, _, and $ are now "globals" and no longer need to be called out as dependencies. Using these variables in your scripts will just work

Remove all occurrences of hbs! in template includes

Webpack will automatically handle compiling templates correctly (via a handlebars-loader), meaning that template dependencies no longer need the hbs! prefix.

Handlebar helpers should only return a function

If you have created any custom handlebar helpers, be sure to update them so that they just return a function instead of registering the helper with handlebars. See the helper editFor as an example

Localization handling has changed

Webpack will now create a script per localization that has the locale prefix in the name, e.g. en.bundle.js. To enable a localization, make sure a json file with the correct localizations exists and add a line to the languages hash in the webpack.config.js file.

No more Bower

Moving to webpack made removing bower possible, and using 1 package manager instead of 2 seems smart. With that, if any dependencies have been added to bower.json, be sure to move them over to the package.json file under the dependencies hash instead. You will also need to add aliases to those dependencies in the webpack.config.js file if you had added aliases in the requirejs config file for these new dependencies.

New npm scripts

To make the developer setup and experience easier, we have moved the most common dev tasks to npm scripts for the frontend. This means you no longer are required to have gulp installed globally and can run npm scripts instead of gulp tasks to setup the environment. Below is a list of possible npm scripts and a summary of what they do:

If you use LiveReload in your dev flow, this is still supported. To enable watching for webpack, run npm run webpack -- --watch. This is a continually running task that does a first compilation (~20s), and then very quick iterative builds as javascript files change.

Tab Badge Enhancements

The tab component has been updated to allow for richer badges. To make use of these enhancements, adjustments need to be made to both the initial count passed to the tab, and how the badges are updated (usually via a collection reset event).

The count variable can now be one of a number of types.

In addition to these types, the initial count passed in the tab configuration object can be a function that returns any of the above types

When updating complex badges, you will need to use either the reset collection event or manually trigger update:count on the tab's object. Triggering update:count will not do any post-processing of the value as that should already have been done (e.g. collection.trigger('update:count', [1, 'new', { total: 3, type: 'important' }]))). However, the reset event is a little different, so the tab component has added functionality to handle the different possibilities. These include a simple reset that should update the badge based on the collection's length (collection.reset(newItems)), and resets with more complex badges (collection.reset(newItems, [1, 'new', { total: totalResults })).

Supported Node Versions

The Node.js project has experienced a major shift in its management and development speed over the past couple of months. One major change is that they now have an LTS release, code-named "Argon". To better serve our customers, "Argon" will be the version of Node that we will officially support. While other versions both lower and higher may work, these will not be officially supported until we explicitly announce their support. To get the latest LTS release, visit https://nodejs.org/en/ and select the LTS release download link.

Upgrading to Version 8.0.0

  1. Configure rich logs using markdown (email, notes, research) for cases and subcases using the MarkdownSettings.IsRichLoggingEnabled application setting. Requires Dovetail Rulemanager 1.5 or higher for rich HTML outgoing emails.

  2. Merge in your customizations with the baseline source code.

  3. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 7.0.0

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 7.0.0

  1. Apply Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Setup part request searching.

    If using part requests, edit Dovetail Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file to allow for searching of part request headers and details. Within Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file, include the part request specifications needed by Dovetail Agent, which are provided in the $dovetailAgent\source\config\seeker.config\part-request-domain-specification.xml file

  3. Import data files.

    • logistics_user_defined_lists.dat
    • agent_logistics_data.dat
    • activity_codes.dat

  4. If using Part Requests (Logistics), grant the Logistics privileges to the desired privilege class(es) using Dovetail Admin.

  5. Merge in your customizations with the baseline source code.

  6. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 6.0.0

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 6.0.0

  1. Install the .NET Framework 4.5

  2. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 6.0 source code.

  3. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.11.0

Enhancements

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 5.11.0

  1. Apply Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Update last modified timestamps for parts and part revisions

Update table_mod_level.x_modify_stmp and table_part_num.x_modify_stmp using the Update Timestamps SQL

  1. Setup part searching.

    If using parts, edit Dovetail Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file to allow for searching of parts. Within Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file, include the parts specifications needed by Dovetail Agent, which are provided in the $dovetailAgent\source\config\seeker.config\seeker-part-domain-specification.xml file

  2. Update contact searching.

    Edit Dovetail Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file to allow for searching of contact email addresses. Refer to the $dovetailAgent\source\config\seeker.config\seeker-contact-domain-specification.xml file for reference Within Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file:

    • include the email addresses into the contents:

      <contents>
 ...existing paths ...
 <path>e_mail</path>
 <path>contact2e_addr:e_num</path>
</contents>

    • include the email custom field:

       <customField title="email" description="Email Addresses">
   <path>e_mail</path>
   <path>contact2e_addr:e_num</path>
 </customField>

  1. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.11 source code.

  2. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.10.0

Enhancements

Upgrading to Version 5.10.0

  1. Apply Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Install SQL functions

    Dovetail Agent uses user-defined SQL functions for certain operations. The functions are defined in the $dovetailAgent\source\config\sql{database}\toc-queues.sql file. Install these functions to your database.

    MSSQL: sqlcmd -UmyLoginName -PmyPassword -SmyServer -dmyDatabase -i toc-queues.sql

    Oracle: sqlplus myLoginName/myPassword@ora11 @toc-queues.sql

    These should complete without any errors.

  3. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.9 source code.

  4. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.9.0

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 5.9

  1. Apply General Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Apply Database-specific Schema Changes.

    The database-specific (mssql/oracle) schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\{database}\agent.{database}.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.{database}.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  3. Setup contract searching.

    If using contracts, edit Dovetail Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file to allow for searching of contracts. Within Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file, include the contract specifications needed by Dovetail Agent, which are provided in the $dovetailAgent\source\config\seeker.config\seeker-contract-domain-specification.xml file

  4. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.9 source code.

  5. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.8.0

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 5.8

  1. Apply Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Import data files.

    • web_types.dat

  3. Edit Dovetail Seeker's documentSpecifications.xml file.

    Specifically, edit the account specification, changing the idColumnName property from org_id to objid.

    The $agent\config\seeker.config\seeker-account-domain-specification.xml file shows the correct specification.

  4. [Optional] Setup Agent Reporting

  5. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.8 source code.

  6. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.7

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Changes of Interest to Developers

Upgrading to Version 5.7

  1. To take advantage of the web.config setting which removes the Server header which identifies that this is an IIS server, install the IIS URL Rewrite on your web server (if its not already installed).

    • Open IIS Manager
    • Click on the Dovetail Agent web application
    • In the middle pane, under IIS, look for URL Rewrite icon
    • If that icon is there, then URL Rewrite is already installed.

  2. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.7 source code.

  3. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.6

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Upgrading to Version 5.6

  1. Apply Schema Changes.

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Run upgrade script

    • The upgrade script is located in $dovetailAgent\config\scripts\upgrade\5.6
    • Be sure that the Dovetail SDK is installed on the machine running the upgrade script
    • Edit the fc.env file, defining your database connection information
    • From a DOS prompt: cscript upgrade.js

  3. Import data files.

    • user_impersonation_activity_codes.dat
    • agent_basic_data.dat (for the Impersonate Employee privilege)
    • WorkgroupQuery.dat

  4. Add the canImpersonate custom field to the employee document specification in Dovetail Seeker's documentSpecification file. The custom field specification can be found within the $dovetailAgent\source\config\seeker\seeker-employee-domain-specification.xml file.

  5. Grant the Impersonate Employee privilege to the desired privilege class(es) using Dovetail Admin.

  6. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.6 source code.

  7. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.5

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Upgrading to Version 5.5

  1. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.5 source code

  2. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.4

Enhancements

Upgrading to Version 5.4

  1. Apply Schema Changes

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Import Data Files

    Import these data files found in the $dovetailAgent\source\config\dat directory:

    • agent_support_data.dat
    • commitment-rule-properties.dat
    • commitment-templates.dat

  3. [Optional] Setup Task Manager

  4. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.4 source code

  5. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.3

Enhancements

Developer Concerns

Upgrading to Version 5.3

  1. Apply Schema Changes

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.3 source code

  3. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.2

Enhancements

Upgrading to Version 5.2

  1. Apply Schema Changes

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.2 source code

  3. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.1

Enhancements

Bug Fixes

Upgrading to Version 5.1

  1. Apply Schema Changes

    The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailAgent\config\schema\agent.schemascript.xml The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

  2. Import Data Files

    Import these data files found in the $dovetailAgent\source\config\dat directory:

    • localizations.dat
    • user_defined_lists.dat

  3. Merge in your customizations with the baseline 5.1 source code

  4. Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Version 5.0

Dovetail Agent 5.0 is a completely redesigned user interface and architecture.

On the back end, it uses the FUBU MVC Framework, which is a popular .NET framework for building web applications. It's built on top of the core ASP.NET libraries. The back end is all written in C#. On the front end, is HTML 5, CSS3, and JavaScript. It uses the Backbone JavaScript framework, along with a boatload of other common JavaScript libraries, including Require.js, jQuery, Marionette, Underscore.js, and Moment.js. In short, all leading-edge technologies.

Features

For specific features, view the High-level functional comparison between Clarify and Dovetail applications