Assure 7.1 Release Notes

Assure 7.1 enhancements include:

Rule Import/Export

The system can now export or import layouts, translations, or result templates separate from the control entities that use them. In addition, during control entity imports, a new option is available to skip importing of dependent rules that already exist in the system. These changes provide greater control over the backup, restoration, and promotion of rules among various system environments.

Scan Control Point Cycle Derivation

Scan control points can now compute a current cycle, similar to the “Must Create” or “May Create or Update” cycle options available for data capture control points. You can set up a scan control point that completes normally even if it detects no data for the computed cycle. Previously, the control point would always fail if control data did not exist for the computed cycle, such as if there was no control data for the “most recent” cycle of the control entity.

Monthly Cycle Generation

Three new monthly cycle generation options are available for control entities: Start of Current Month (yyyymm00), End of Current Month (yyyymm99), and End of Previous Month (yyyymm99). These options reduce the need to use an extracted cycle for controls that run on a monthly schedule.

Infogix ER Cross Recon Support

The system now supports Infogix ER Cross Recon reconciliations. This facilitates matching of open items across top-level reconciliations defined within Infogix ER.

Multiple Result Set Database Layouts

The system now supports database queries that return multiple result sets, as long as each result set has the same returned column structure.

Database Layout Read Commit Interval

A new system configuration option enables rules writers to specify a commit interval for a database source. The interval is the number of rows to read and then commit at one time from the database source. By specifying an appropriate interval, you can minimize the read lock impact of the database queries performed.

Runtime Database Passwords

You can now define runtime fields for a control point which represent hidden text passwords. These runtime fields can only be used as the way to specify the password for a database layout channel override in a capture source. This allows you to supply the password for restricted data at runtime via an external process or scheduler without any password values being stored within the system.

Improved Microsoft Excel 2007 File Processing

The system now processes Microsoft Excel 2007 or above files (xlsx files) without loading the document into memory. Previously, all Microsoft Excel files were loaded into memory, which could result in out of memory errors for large documents.

OLAP Data Access

You can now access an OLAP data source by setting up an OLAP layout and specifying an MDX language query.

Discrete Alert Delivery

Result action rules can now specify that an alert should be delivered separately for those users who are getting email delivery. Previously, any alerts delivered by email to a user might have been combined or summarized into one email within a five minute interval.

Generate Reports Utility

The new Generate Reports utility produces PDF, formatted text, or CSV files of reports and result catalogs and outputs them to an external directory of your choice outside Infogix Assure. This eliminates the need for business analysts, managers, or auditors to log in to Infogix Assure to view reports or results. You can output specific result catalogs only, or result catalogs and/or reports for a specific or relative time period. You can further narrow the scope of reports produced by control entity, control point, and report type.

Control Run Result Extract

Users can now generate an xml document containing summary-level results (including result template data) for selected control point runs. This information is useful for internal troubleshooting or to follow up with Infogix customer support on problematic control runs.

To generate the result extract, select Results > By Control Point and filter the result list to display the runs of interest. Click Generate Extract. The system will prompt you to open or save an xml document, catalogs.xml, that contains summary level information for the filtered runs.

Web Service Data Access

You can now access a Web Service as a source for data capture or translation processing, by defining a Web Service layout.

Capture Source Duplication

Rules writers can now duplicate and edit data capture sources for control points that have multiple, similar data capture sources. The duplication feature is available on the control point Capture tab.

Express Control Field Definition

Rules writers can quickly generate control fields for a control entity from an existing layout or from an Infogix ER reconciliation view. The rules writer can pick and choose which fields to include, edit field names and types, and designate selected fields as ID fields or match data index fields.

Date Format UI Improvement

Rules writers can directly select the display format for Date control fields in the Manage Control Fields window. Previously, it was necessary to bring up a separate editing window to specify or change the display format.

Test Data Repository Improvements

Rules writers can now filter files in the test data repository by date. They can also select a test data file and delete it. These changes allow rules writers to more quickly find and manage the files they put into the test data repository. In addition, the rules writer can now use the test data repository to pick or upload a file for use in layout generation, and then reuse it for layout rule testing.

JAX-WS Web Service Protocol

The system is upgraded to use JAX-WS instead of the older JAX-RPC library to implement the API. This is the same mechanism that the new Web Service layout uses.

Separate Retention Processing for Control Entities

In prior releases, retention processing occurred for all control entities during a single daily process. Processing began at midnight (by default) and sometimes conflicted with control execution. You can now choose to run retention processing for particular control entities on a separate schedule that you define.

Enhanced Control Data Presentation

When users browse control data in the user interface, they can print or generate a PDF of current values or selected history data to save or share with others.

Text values now display in a non-proportional font between single quotation marks. This makes it possible to distinguish null values from spaces when browsing control data. This is similar to the way that text values display on the Control Report.

Results Extract

Users can also generate an xml document containing summary-level results that meet specified filter criteria, such as a timespan or severity level. This information is useful for internal troubleshooting or to follow up with Infogix customer support on problematic controls.

To generate the result extract, select Results All and filter the result list to display the results of interest. Click Generate Extract. The system will prompt you to open or save an xml document, results.xml, that contains summary level information for the filtered results.

Additional Log Information

You can now configure the system to report the control entity and control point name on every line of the log associated with a particular control point execution.

Automated Archiving

The system now supports scheduled, daily archiving of reports and results generated by control runs. Archival processing makes PDF, formatted text, or CSV outputs of reports and result catalogs produced since the previous archival run. You can disable archiving for selected control entities. Before deleting reports or results, the system verifies that archival processing succeeded or was intentionally skipped.

Archived outputs are available outside of Infogix Assure for analysis and auditing proof of your controls. You can safely set the Infogix Assure data retention policies to the minimum timespan necessary for operational use of the system.

Separate Report Retention

You can now apply different data retention policies to the control data andreports produced by a control point. This enables you to apply the (shorter) alternate retention policy to high volume reports, in order to minimize database and file system space requirements within Infogix Assure. At the same time, you can apply the standard policy to the control data and result catalogs produced by the control point, to track execution history for a longer timespan. Archived reports are still available for analysis and auditing purposes.

New Web Service to Obtain Results

A second web service API is available to retrieve the results of control point invocation. The original API returns a result catalog ID. The new API uses this ID to obtain the same information available on the Summary and Results tab in the user interface for a control point result.