ER 4.0 Release Notes

ER 4.0 enhancements include:

 

Additional Authority for Adjustment Events

Additional authority provides rule-based control for approval of adjustments. This is additional security that is flexible and can be configured to meet business requirements.

Two new workflow events for adjustment approval were added: Pre-Take Adjustment and Pre-Assign Adjustment. These events check a user’s profile and adjustment data to determine if the user has the additional authority needed to take or be assigned the adjustment. The Approve Adjustment event can also require the user to have additional authority to approve an adjustment.

If the user does not have the additional authority required, a workflow action can display an error message to explain that the user does not have the authority.

Enhancements to Favorite Search Feature

The previous release of Infogix ER allowed a user to save and recall search criteria based on the user’s login. The user could select the search criteria and arrange the results columns. When the user ran the recalled search, the search results displayed with the columns arranged.

The favorite search feature has been enhanced. A user can now save more than one favorite search, create and save searches by name, save changes to a search, rename a search, and delete a search. Result columns can also be arranged and sized. A user can view a list of favorite searches and select a favorite search to run. Search names are a maximum of 40 alphanumeric characters.

The number of searches that a user can save is configurable in the UI_MAX_SAVED_SEARCHES property in the ER.properties file.

If the user had a saved search in Release 3.1, the search displays in the Favorites list in Release 4.0 as Default.

Before upgrading to Release 4.0, be sure to apply all relevant patches. Infogix ER 3.1 Patch ER-31183-3 must be applied before upgrading to Release 4.0 to ensure that the Favorite Search feature works properly in Release 4.0.

Ability to Purge Recon Data in Parallel (supported for Oracle 11g)

In previous Infogix ER releases, the Recon data purge process is sequential and the total purge time is cumulative for the Recon types.

This enhancement allows a parallel purge option to improve performance and scalability of the Recon data purge. If parallel purge is configured, the system will purge Recon data in parallel based on the model recon type, for example, data belonging to different top level Recons will be purged concurrently.

Purge Inactive Tellers Only After Associated Cash Differences (CDs) Purged

The previous Teller purge process did not check if inactive tellers still had CDs associated to them. The data model does not allow a teller to be purged if CDs were referencing that teller and this conflict caused purge failures.

A check has been added to the Teller purge process so inactive tellers with CDs will only be purged after the associated CDs have been purged.

Enhancement to Workflow Adjustments

This enhancement now allows customers to set up default Adjustment Entry values through workflow rules and custom Web Service look ups before the entry is edited or validated. This was previously not possible with adjustment mapping rules or other workflow events which are only triggered on editing.

The workflow event Post-Add Adjustment Entry is triggered when an Adjustment entry is added manually. The event supports all available Adjustment workflow actions, including the “Set Fields By Web Service” action.

Enhancement to Revert Owner Back to Previous Owner

In Infogix ER 4.0, if a user removes an item from an adjustment, the owner status of the item returns to the previous owner and is no longer associated with the owner who returned the item. The enhancement improves productivity because manual intervention is no longer needed to change the owner.

If the current owner removes items from the adjustment panel but does not have permission to assign items, an error message is displayed and ownership does not revert to the previous owner.

New Teller Window Fields Are Configurable

The fields on the New Teller window are configurable on the Cash Differences User Interface Teller Detail Tab. System-generated and user-defined fields can be added on the Teller Detail tab from the Teller table. The Teller Information Group and Additional Teller Information Group fields display on the New Teller window.

Supplemental Validation Rules Added

When users manually enter data while creating an adjustment, errors can occur. The ability to validate data fields changed by users when making adjustments from cash difference helps to eliminate errors.

A Supplemental Validation Rules stack tab has been added to the Adjustment Definitions to apply validation rules against supplemental data. The Supplemental Validation Rules are applied to user-defined fields in the Supplemental Data Model. The Supplemental Data Validation Rules execute and set the applicability of supplemental data fields in an adjustment entry. The rules are optional but if no rules are defined the supplemental data entered is not validated.

Testing of Adjustment Workflow Rules

Users are able to test an Adjustment Workflow Rule for an expected result which will make rule writing easier to troubleshoot. An Adjustment Workflow Rule can be tested by specifying input data and the expected rule results. The rule is then tested to see if the expected results are achieved.

Rules Catalog Added

A Rules Catalog has been added which enables a user to search for specific rule types by entering a text string search pattern. The search results table displays the rules that match the rule type and search pattern. The search results table can be customized for each rule type.

From the search results table, a user can view a rule in the appropriate Adjustment or Reconciliation definition. A user can also use drag-and-drop to copy rules from the search results table to similar rule types in other reconciliation and adjustment definitions.

For this release, the rule types a user can search for are Reconciliation Routing Rules and Adjustment Approval Rules.

Control When Components Can Be Imported

Components can be exported from one environment, such as QA or Testing, and imported into another environment, such as Production. To control whether an exported ER component can be imported into a particular environment, Rule Release Control parameters have been added to the ER.properties file.

When the Rule Release Control parameters are configured, a release tag is applied to exported rules and rules must have an acceptable release tag to be imported. Refer to the Infogix Properties Guide for more information about the parameters.

Duplicate Items in a History Match Set

You can duplicate items in a history match set when the match set status is “Matched” or “Confirmed”. Being able to duplicate items in a history match set to a current Recon instance saves time and avoids manual entry effort and errors.

Duplicate Reconciliation Items from History

Reconcilers sometimes find (often many days later) that recon items were matched or closed by mistake. To manually re-enter the item so it can be matched with new items that just came into the system is cumbersome and error prone. A wrongly matched or closed by mistake item in history can be duplicated instead which saves time and avoids manual entry effort and errors.

On the Recon Item Search screen, a history recon item with a “Matched” or “Closed” status can be duplicated. All the Model Definition attributes for the history recon item are duplicated except for the Match Set Attributes. The new item can be edited and is saved with an “Open” status.

Duplicate Current Reconciliation Items

Current reconciliation items can be duplicated as a quick way to create similar items in the current Recon instance. Duplicating items avoids manual entry effort and errors.

On the Recon Item Search screen, a current recon item with any status can be duplicated. All the Model Definition attributes for the recon item are duplicated except for the Match Set Attributes. The new item can be edited and is saved with an “Open” status.

When you save the item, the system applies the same rules to the appropriate fields as it does when saving a new item. For example, the system will apply aging rules to the age field to determine the item’s age.

The system generates a distinct Activity Log entry that records that the item is duplicated from current and includes the Item UUID of the current item.

To help auditors search for items that were duplicated, the administrator can configure two properties in the reconciliation.properties file.

• The DUPLICATION_INDICATOR property identifies the field that was added to the Item table in the Model Definition.

• The DUPLICATION_INDICATOR_VALUE property specifies the value that the system will automatically populate in the field specified in the DUPLICATION_INDICATOR property and will append the current item's UUID.

Note: When the field specified in the DUPLICATION_INDICATOR property is added to the Item table, an error will result if the size the field is not large enough to accommodate the “duplication indicator value” and the UUID that will be appended.

The “duplication indicator” field can be added to detail and search screens.

Email Notification for Reconciliation Process Failure

Notification when a reconciliation process fails in a production system has been improved. Customers can receive email notifications from the system containing relevant error information. The customer can use this information to fix the issue or contact Infogix Customer Support with the information.

In the ER.properties file, properties can be configured to send a notification email to customer email addresses when recon processes fail. The subject of the email contains the recon definition name and the recon process that failed. The body of the email contains the time, error message, and stack trace of the error. Optionally, the server log file can be attached to the email in a zipped format.

Customers who want messages delivered to a pager device can have their email addresses specified in the EMAIL_NOTIFICATION_SM_ADDRESSESS property. The subject and the body of the message are limited to 120 characters or less. Exception stack traces are not included in the message and no server log files are attached.

Email notifications will not be sent if the reconciliation process hangs or there is a server or system wide failure, for example, server out of memory, server crash, or network outage.

Production Mode Configuration

ER operators can mistakenly delete all recon instances from the production system. This causes a massive data loss and very extensive recovery efforts. To prevent this mistake, the ER.properties PRODUCTION_MODE property is set to true by default for a more restrictive operational mode.

If the option is changed, a redeploy and restart of the client is required.

If a rollback is performed in production mode, a warning is provided.

Search Text Fields Using a Negative Match Operator

Previously, text field searches were all implicit “equal” type matches making it difficult to search for items not matching a field value. A negative match operator can now be used in text search fields and is supported for reconciliation, adjustment, and cash difference searches.

Remove Favorite Searches Created by Users No Longer in System

The command line utility favoritesearchcleanup has been added to allow an administrator to clean up favorite searches created by users who are no longer valid users in the system. More information about the utility and syntax is available in the Infogix ER Administrator’s Guide.

Duplicate an Adjustment Definition

The ability to make a duplicate copy of an adjustment definition and change desired fields has been added. Being able to duplicate an adjustment will help with faster implementations, easier usage, and quicker deployment of controls.

 

Infogix Administrative Console: Health Checker

The Infogix health checker will be available for certain Infogix applications. For this release, the feature is available for Infogix Assure.

New Additions to Installation Documentation

The installation documentation set includes two new guides: the Infogix Installation and Upgrade Troubleshooting Guide and the Infogix Administrative Console Guide.

Troubleshooting Guide

Previously, the Infogix Server Installation Guide and the Infogix Server Upgrade Guide each contained a Troubleshooting chapter. The information in that chapter along with additional information is now contained in a new guide, the Infogix Installation and Upgrade Troubleshooting Guide.

This guide describes errors, warnings, and problems that you might encounter during the various steps of the installation or upgrade process. The information includes causes and resolutions.

Infogix Administrative Console Guide

A guide that documents the functionality of the Infogix administrative console will be included on the installation documentation CD. This guide provides an overview of each platform feature in the administrative console and walks you through the tasks that you can perform.

Interested stakeholders who do not have access to the administrative console can use this guide to learn about the new functionality.

Standalone Database Validator

Upgrade problems can result if your database is not in an upgrade-ready state. It may not be easy to determine whether your existing database is in the correct state, and it is possible to perform what appears to be a successful upgrade, only to experience problems later.

The new standalone database validator enables you to test the state of your existing database schema before you begin the actual upgrade process. The validation script checks tables, columns, and constraints to make sure that they exist and that they are the correct size and type. The script checks to see that the database has not been changed.

Enhancements to the Validation Process

When you run the script to validate the configuration settings, the system tracks errors and warnings but allows the process to complete. You can then resolve all validation errors prior to running the script again. See the Infogix Installation and Upgrade Troubleshooting Guide for detailed information about validation errors and warnings.

Infogix Administrative Console: SQL Console

The SQL console is a new feature for this release. This feature enables a customer to execute an SQL SELECT statement and export the results to a CSV file.

Typically, the services of a DBA are required to execute an SQL query. Now, Infogix Customer Support can provide the select statement to the customer, the customer can execute the statement, and the customer can then send the exported results to support personnel.

The SQL console limits the number of generated results to 1000. Additional results that meet the requirements are not displayed in the console.

The following security features have been implemented. First, the SQL console does not support the manipulation of data. Only SELECT statements can be executed. Second, the SQL console is enabled by default, but the feature can be disabled through the SQL_CONSOLE_ENABLED property in the appserver.advanced.properties file.

Externalize WebSphere Queues

The default process for a WebSphere deployment automatically creates and configures the required JMS queue connection factories, the JMS queues, and the JMS activation specifications.

If you re-deploy or upgrade, the JMS components (connection factories, queues, and activation specifications) are deleted. However, you can use external message queues, which are not deleted or overridden during a redeployment or an upgrade.

To externalize queues, you must be familiar with the WebSphere Console and know how to create JMS queue connection factories, JMS queues, and JMS activation specifications.

Within each product-specific properties file, the WEBSPHERE_EXTERNAL_QUEUES property lists the required queues for that particular product. The property resides in the Do Not Change section, and by default, is commented out. If you leave the property as is, the system follows the default process to automatically create connection factories, queues, and activation specifications. You can choose to externalize all queues or only some queues.

Infogix Administrative Console: Thread and Heap Dumps

Previously, thread and heap dumps were generated from the same screen. The two features are now separate features on the menu and each has its own screen. The functionality has not changed.

Infogix Administrative Console: Audit Trail

SQL statements are logged as an audit event in the admin-console-audit.log file. You can access this file from the View Configuration and Log Files screen.

Infogix Administrative Console: Database Details

This feature provides information that can be useful to estimate the time it will take for an upgrade.

The View Database Details screen lists the name of each database table, the number of rows for each table, and the size of the database table. Additional information includes the database type, detailed version information, and the name of the database schema. The information can be exported into a CSV file and sent to Infogix Customer Support. Support personnel can use this information to help you plan for your upgrade process.

Infogix Administrative Console: Subsystem Logging

You can enable debug logging by subsystem rather than individual categories. A subsystem bundles sets of logging categories that span multiple components and classes. Managing logging by subsystem simplifies the process and is less prone to error.

Database Upgrade Process

Changes to the database upgrade process ease the process of upgrading from a previous release.

Previously, the upgrade process did not save completed tasks so any failure required that a user complete the process again from the beginning. The new process allows a user to restart the process from the last successful task. However, if needed, a user can choose to override any changes to the database and can restart the upgrade process from the beginning.

The new process tracks the progress of the upgrade procedure; throughout the process, progress notes show the current task and its status, and where possible, the number of records processed.

The new procedure continues to support both the express and custom upgrade processes. Script names have been renamed to clarify their purpose and the process enforces the correct order for running the scripts.