What's New in This Version

The list of new and enhanced features in version 3.30 is extensive, so we've broken it down by category. First, here are the major new features:

Stonefield Query for Sage Timberline Office now supports connecting to Timberline Office databases up to version 9.6.
Stonefield Query for Sage Timberline Office supports connecting to and reporting from an Argus SQL Warehouse.
The new Formula Editor allows you to create your own formulas without using the Advanced Report Designer or customizing the data dictionary.
The new Show percentage of total option in the Format page of the Field Properties dialog automatically adds a new column to the report showing the percentage that the field is of the subtotal in detail lines, of the next level of grouping in subgroup footers, and of the grand total for group footers.
Turn on the new Show totals in group headers option in Step 5 of the Quick Report Wizard and the Options page of the Reports Explorer to display group totals in the group header rather than the group footer.
Stonefield Query now supports Crystal Reports reports. You can add them to Stonefield Query using the External Report Wizard.
The Preview window is no longer modal, meaning you can open multiple instances. Also, the new Preview reports in tabbed pages setting in the Options dialog allows you to determine whether different preview windows are used when you run more than one report or whether the reports appear as different tabs in the same preview window.
There are several new output options available. You can specify that a timestamp is added to the file created to prevent overwriting existing files, that the file emailed to someone shouldn't be deleted after the email is sent, and what filename to use for the emailed file.
Previous versions of Stonefield Query create a report as a PDF file when emailing the report to someone. You can now specify the type of file used as an attachment.
You can now specify that each group in a report should be output to a separate file or email and that the email address should come from a field in the report itself. This can be used, for example, to email invoices to customers; the report is grouped by customer name and includes the customer's email address, so each customer's records are emailed to them.
You can now sort fields in database order or alphabetical order in Step 2 of the report wizards.
You can now tell Stonefield Query to display in the Tables drop-down list only those tables related to tables already appearing in the selected list.
Reports are now stored as export files with an SFX extension in a folder structure that exactly matches the folders in the Reports Explorer.
The new Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog allows you to specify whether Stonefield Query or the database engine does data summarization. This may significantly improve the performance of certain types of reports.
The new Run report with no records option in Step 5 of the report wizards and the Options page in the Reports Explorer allows you to run a report when there are no records that match your conditions.

Here are the details of the new features.

Report Wizards

The new Formula Editor allows you to create your own formulas without using the Advanced Report Designer or customizing the data dictionary.
You can now sort fields in database order or alphabetical order in Step 2 of the report wizards. Alphabetical order makes it easy to find a field in the list but sometimes it makes more sense to display fields in the order they appear in the table, such as for typical address fields.
You can now tell Stonefield Query to display in the Tables drop-down list only those tables related to tables already appearing in the selected list. For example, if you chose a field from Customers, you are more likely to choose a field from Orders than from Products, so this feature reduces the list of tables to only those directly related to ones you've already selected fields from.
The Values button in Step 2 of the report wizards now works for either available or selected fields.
Templates can now have multiple group bands. This allows different grouping levels to be formatted differently. For example, if you're grouping on country and then on city, you might want the country name in the group header to output in blue to make it stand out but the city name in its group header should be in normal text. The Elegant, Fancy Groups 2, and Ledger templates supplied with Stonefield Query take advantage of this to provide differently formatted group headers.
The Show commas option in the Format page of the Field Properties dialog now appears as Show 1000 separator, since some countries use a different character than the comma as the thousands separator.
Step 2 of the report wizards no longer displays the table name in the available fields list or the table caption in the selected fields list when the Display real table and field names option is turned on. This allows you to type a letter in the available list to jump to the first field starting with that letter and makes the selected list more compact.
Code windows are once again available by right-clicking the code in the Customize dialog and selecting "Zoom." Also, Find functionality was added to code windows; right-click and choose Find to display the Find dialog.
Stonefield Query now respects the color choice you've made for a field in the group header band rather than using the color defined in the report template if you've changed from the default color.
The Use old report engine option was removed from Step 5 of the report wizards and instead now appears as Use version 1.0 report engine in the Customize Report Wizard.
The Customize Report Wizard has new options for adding a DISTINCT clause to the SQL statement for the report: No, which never adds DISTINCT and is the same as turning on the Include duplicate records option in the previous version; Yes, which always adds DISTINCT; and When filtering on a table not included in the fields list (the default), which is the same as turning off the Include duplicate records option in the previous version.
Stonefield Query now automatically fills in the linking properties for ask-at-runtime filter conditions when you link to another report if possible, making it easier to use.
The report wizards now have minimize and maximize buttons.
Stonefield Query now supports subqueries in the fields list of custom SQL statements.
The Show only favorites button is now a graphical button so it fits beside the sort and relation buttons added to Step 2.

Quick Reports

Turning on the new No group footer if only one record in group option in the Grouping page of the Field Properties dialog suppresses a group footer for a particular group if there's only one record in that group. This means you don't have a subtotal line with the same values as the single detail line in the group.
The new Show percentage of total option in the Format page of the Field Properties dialog automatically adds a new column to the report showing the percentage that the field is of the subtotal in detail lines, of the next level of grouping in subgroup footers, and of the grand total for group footers.
Turn on the new Show totals in group headers option in Step 5 of the Quick Report Wizard and the Options page of the Reports Explorer to display group totals in the group header rather than the group footer.
You can now choose how dates are displayed—Date, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year—in the Field Properties dialog.
Totals in group footers that are close to the left edge of the page are not moved to a new line in the report but instead the "Totals for" item now word-wraps onto a second line if necessary. This is controlled by the template used for the report; turn off the Stretch with overflow option for that item to disable it.
Step 2 of the Quick Report Wizard now shows a message explaining why the controls are disabled for advanced layout reports.

Charts and Cross-Tabulation Reports

If you select only two fields in the Chart Wizard and one is numeric, Stonefield Query now automatically puts the numeric field into the Y axis and the other field into the X axis. You can, of course, rearrange the fields as necessary, but this makes creating a chart a little faster and easier.
New Palette and Theme choices in the Chart Wizard make charts more colorful.
Area charts with more than one series automatically appear semi-transparent, making it easier to see the series behind the first one. Also, shadows are automatically applied to the items in bar, columns, and pie charts, making them more attractive.
New series added to a chart automatically assume the same settings as the first one rather than automatically being added as columns with default settings.
A new All Series option in the Chart Wizard allows you to change the chart type or point labels options for all series at once rather than having to do each individually.
X-axis labels by default are now rotated to 45 degrees so they won't overlap.
Headers and footers now appear in chart reports. You can modify the way they appear by editing the Chart Template using the Template Editor.
There are more styles available for point labels, such as Percent Relative.
Blank categories now show as "(None)" rather than the numeric value from the Y axis.
Chart reports now support Unicode so they properly display non-Western characters. Also, the Edit Chart dialog now respects the language setting you've chosen.
In addition to formatting dates as month, quarter, or year in cross-tabulation and chart reports, you can now format them as weeks. Since different people consider different days to be the first day of the week, the Options dialog has a new Week starts on setting.
You can now rotate column headings in cross-tab reports, which allows you to have more columns on each page. Also, the column headings are now bottom-aligned which makes them easier to read.
Fields are shown in the data area in Step 3 of the Cross-Tabulation Wizard with an indication of what type of totaling is done, such as "(Sum)".

Preview Window

The Preview window is no longer modal, meaning you can open multiple instances. For example, you can preview two different reports and put the Preview windows side-by-side to compare them. You can even run the same report a second time with different values for ask-at-runtime filter conditions, such as a different date range, and compare the two results.
The Preview reports in tabbed pages setting in the Options dialog allows you to determine whether different preview windows are used when you run more than one report or whether the reports appear as different tabs in the same preview window.
The tabs in the Preview window (which only appear when more than one report is being previewed) now display the header of the report rather than the report name. This is handy when the header contains an expression, such as displaying the name of the current customer.
You can now middle-click (that is, click the wheel on your mouse) to close the active tab in the Preview window.

Outputting Reports

There are several new output options available. You can specify that a timestamp is added to the file created to prevent overwriting existing files, that the file emailed to someone shouldn't be deleted after the email is sent, and what filename to use for the emailed file.
You can now specify that each group in a report should be output to a separate file or email and that the email address should come from a field in the report itself. This can be used, for example, to email invoices to customers; the report is grouped by customer name and includes the customer's email address, so each customer's records are emailed to them.
Previous versions of Stonefield Query create a report as a PDF file when emailing the report to someone. You can now specify the type of file used as an attachment.
There's no longer a separate dialog prompting you for the email address, subject, and body; these now appear in the output options page.
You can now specify blind carbon copy (BCC) email addresses when emailing a report. This is also supported in scheduled reports and reports run from the command line or other applications.
You now get a warning when you select a file that already exists when specifying the output filename.
You can see the name of the selected printer on the Output page.
You can now use expressions in the subject and body of an email.
The Display file after creation setting is now turned on by default.
The Microsoft Word - Table Format and Web Page - Table Format output types were removed because they are in many cases somewhat inaccurate in their layout and are rarely if ever used.
You can now only output 20 records to data-only files (such as comma-separated values) if you haven't activated Stonefield Query.

Advanced Report Designer

You can now define linking on fields in the Advanced Report Designer just as you can with fields in the Field Properties dialog.
The Multiple Selection dialog in the Advanced Report Designer, which appears when you select multiple objects and then double-click, allows you to change more features of the selected objects.
When you bring up the Advanced Report Designer from Step 5 in the Quick Report Wizard, the Quick Report Wizard form is shown in a dark color, visually indicating that you can't use it until you close the Advanced Report Designer. The same happens with the Template Editor when you bring up the Advanced Report Designer from that dialog.
The new GetValueForField function allows a report to prompt the user for a value when the report is run and not prompt them multiple times. For example, in an advanced layout report, you might want a field that sums values only for a certain date. To ask the user for the value to use for the date, call GetValueForField('Table.Field'). You can use the return value both in the column header and in the field in the detail band, but the user will only be prompted once for the value.
When you turn on Advanced layout and click Edit to bring up the Advanced Report Designer, you are now prompted if you want Stonefield Query to auto-fit the field widths. Choosing Yes actually runs the report (although no output is displayed) so that each field is automatically sized to accommodate the widest value in the field. Choosing No sizes each field to the defined width of the field in the database.

Scheduling Reports

Schedule Report is now available in the shortcut menu in the Reports Explorer.
The Schedule Wizard is now modeless, meaning you can open it and then go back to another window if desired.
The Schedule Wizard now sends its parameters to a parameters file, stored in the Schedules folder under the folder when Stonefield Query stores its reports and specifies that file name on the command line. This avoids a problem with the command line being too long, such as when the name of the file to create is in a very deep folder structure.
The same new output options described earlier are available in the Schedule Wizard.
The Schedule Wizard now reminds you in the Other Settings step that you may need to specify a domain when you enter the user name for the scheduled task.
You can now specify which printer to print the report to for a scheduled report.
You can now using carriage returns in the body of an email sent from a scheduled report.

General

In earlier versions of Stonefield Query, all reports were stored in a file called REPORTS.DBF (along with the associated CDX and FPT files). Although this gave performance benefits for loading the reports list into the Reports Explorer, it also meant that if that file was deleted or corrupted, you'd lose all your reports. In this version, reports are still stored in that file for performance reasons, but they're also now stored as export files with an SFX extension in a folder structure that exactly matches the folders in the Reports Explorer. These folders are located under the Reports subdirectory of the folder where you told Stonefield Query to store reports (that is, the location of REPORTS.DBF). The first time you run Stonefield Query after upgrading to this version, it will take a few moments to create these physical folders and files. Now, if the reports file is corrupted or missing, Stonefield Query will automatically rebuild it from the physical folders and files. The file is also rebuilt when you use the Refresh Reports function in the File menu. One other benefit is that you don't need to use the Export function any more (although it's still available if you want to); instead, simply make a copy of the SFX files in the appropriate folder.
Because of the previous point, the Reports Explorer may close significantly faster than earlier versions.
The new Send summary queries to database engine setting in the Options dialog allows you to specify whether Stonefield Query or the database engine does data summarization. This may significantly improve the performance of certain types of reports.
The new Run report with no records option in Step 5 of the report wizards and the Options page in the Reports Explorer allows you to run a report when there are no records that match your conditions. The resulting report is blank (other than headers and footers) and shows that no records were printed. In the case of outputting to a data-only file (such as comma-separated values), the file is empty.
Stonefield Query now supports Crystal Reports reports. You can add them to Stonefield Query using the External Report Wizard.
You can now add external reports (FRX and RPT) files in three ways: choosing New from the File menu and selecting the External Report Wizard, dragging a report file to the Reports Explorer, or choosing Import Reports from the File menu and selecting the desired file type from the drop-down list.
You can now drag a folder of reports to the Reports Explorer to import all the reports in that folder at once.
The Field Properties, Filter Condition, and the ask-at-runtime conditions dialogs now remember the location they were at the last time you used them.
Linked fields are no longer underlined when the report is printed.
Runtime licenses are now called "Report Viewer" licenses, which is a clearer name about what the license is for.
You can now preview or output to file when you don't have a default printer defined. You cannot, of course, print a report without first selecting a printer.
You can now use simpler expressions in headers, footers, and other places expressions are accepted. Rather than entering an equals sign (=) followed by an expression, you can now specify field and function names within "{" and "}" (without the quotes). As a result, there isn't a need to concatenate strings together as you had to before. For example, this expression:
```
= 'Sales report for ' + Customers.Company
```
can now be simplified to:
```
Sales report for {Customers.Company}
```
You can now press the Delete key to delete the selected report or folder in the Reports Explorer.
The Email buttons in the Reports Explorer and Preview Window are no longer disabled if you haven't filled in the email information in the Options dialog. Instead, if you click those buttons, a message tells you that the information hasn't been filled in, asks if you want to enter the information, and if you choose Yes, brings up the Email page of the Options dialog.
A parameters file, which tells Stonefield Query what report to run when called from another application, can now use XML format, making it easier to read.
The Open Database dialog is now resizable.
You can now dynamically add filter conditions to a report you run from another application.
You can no longer delete an unlimited license in the License Manager.
The Expression Builder now shows the description for all built-in functions.

Bug Fixes

The Cut off the data, display an ellipsis at the end and Cut off the data, display an ellipsis in the middle settings, used when you turn off Auto-fit column setting in the Field Properties dialog, now work as expected.
Fixed a bug preventing Stonefield Query from handling custom File Locations (set in the "File Locations" dialog in Timberline Office) properly.
Fixed a number of captions and relationships, and added City/State/Zip fields in many places where appropriate.
Fixed a bug where certain Timberline Databases weren't being detected properly.
Linking now works for row fields in cross-tab reports.
The Quick Report Wizard no longer displays a message about saving the report layout when you close the Advanced Report Designer without making any changes.
Some options in the Find dialog of the Preview window that weren't supported (such as Use wild cards) were removed. Also, the Preview window no longer has a shortcut menu.
If you output a report to Microsoft Excel and Excel can't be started (for example, it isn't installed), the error message displayed now mentions Microsoft Excel rather than Microsoft Word.
Creating a new report, typing a name for the report, and then pressing Esc or clicking Cancel now displays the proper report name in the dialog asking you to confirm the cancellation.
When you preview a report from the command line or another application, the Email button is now enabled; previously, it was always disabled.
You are no longer prompted for the values of ask-at-runtime exclusion conditions when you display the SQL statement for a report.
You can now delete more than one email address at the same time in the Email Addresses dialog.
Templates now have the same name restrictions that reports do. Certain characters aren't allowed in report or template names, specifically "/", "\", ":", ".", "*", "?", "<", ">", "|", "!", the comma, and the double-quote.
The email option in the Schedule Wizard is disabled if you haven't filled in the information in the Email page of the Options dialog.
You no longer get a warning about a memo field being used in a group if the memo field has the Display this field in the report option turned off.
You can no longer create a group on a memo field in the Advanced Report Designer.
The Commonly Used Functions drop-down list in the Expression Builder is now always enabled when the Expression Builder is invoked from the Advanced Report Designer, and it now shows those functions that apply to date/time values as "(datetime)".
The Adjust field width automatically setting in the Field Properties dialog in the Advanced Report Designer is now turned off by default so it doesn't inadvertently change the width of a field when you edit the expression.
Export files are now smaller because they no longer include template information for advanced layout reports or labels.
The Reports Explorer status bar now shows the progress when you import multiple reports. Also, if a problem occurs importing one report, the others following it are still imported and a message indicates which report failed to import and why.
The Template Editor function is now only available for advanced users with a Report Designer license, not for non-advanced users or those with a Report Viewer license.
In previous versions, bringing up the Schedule Wizard and then trying to preview the report, whether it was actually scheduled or not, caused an error. This was fixed.
Outputting to an image file in the Preview window now outputs each page to its own file (e.g. MyFile0001.GIF, MyFile0002.GIF, etc.).
A bug that prevented email settings entered in the Setup dialog from being saved was fixed.
The Field Properties dialog for cross-tab reports no longer overwrites changes you make to fields in the data area defined as "Count" and properly handles numeric fields changed from Count to another summary type.
Fields dragged from the Data area to Row or Column in Step 3 of the Cross-Tabulation Wizard are no longer formatted as Count fields.
A bug that sized numeric fields too small under certain conditions was fixed.
If you filter on a date/time field that displays only the date and use the "is between" operator, the time for the first value is 12:00:00 AM and for the second is 11:59:59 PM to avoid missing any times. This will allow, for example, 2009-04-02 1:00:00 PM to be included in a filter of "is between 2009-04-01 and 2009-04-02", which would have been excluded in earlier versions because the time used for conditions was 12:00:00 AM so the filter was actually "is between 2009-04-01 12:00:00 AM and 2009-04-02 12:00:00 AM".
For the "is greater than or equal" operator, the time is 12:00:00 AM. For "is less than or equal", it's 11:59:59 PM. This prevents excluding records that should be included. For example, 2009-04-02 1:00:00 PM is now included in a filter of "is less than or equal to 2009-04-02", which would have been excluded in earlier versions because the filter was actually "is less than or equal to 2009-04-02 12:00:00 AM".
For the "is greater than" operator, the time is 11:59:59 PM. For "is less than", it's 12:00:00 AM. This prevents including records that should be excluded. For example, 2009-04-02 1:00:00 PM is now excluded in a filter of "is greater than 2009-04-02", which would have been included in earlier versions because the filter was actually "is greater than 2009-04-02 12:00:00 AM".
Editing a report that uses one module, then editing another that uses a different module, then switching back to the wizard for the first report no longer displays the second report's module tables in the Filter dialog.
You no longer get an error importing a report that belongs to a module you don't have access to.

See the Release History topic for a list of new features and bug fixes in earlier releases.