
ReportSmith version 2.0 Release Notes
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Contents

I.      Compatibility with Prior Versions.
II.     Installation Notes.
III.    Paradox Engine and ODBC Driver Notes.
IV.     Warnings and Known Problems.
V.      Adjusting the List of Standard Formats for the "Format Field" Dialog.
IV.     Documentation Errata.

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I. COMPATIBILITY WITH PRIOR VERSIONS

New versions of ReportSmith will always be able to read reports created
with older versions.  Older versions of ReportSmith cannot read reports
created in newer versions.  Therefore, previous versions of ReportSmith
can't read reports created in this version.

If you have created or edited macros in this version, and afterwards try
to run an older version of ReportSmith, you may receive an error message
of "Assertion failed".  To remedy this, you can rename the RPTSMITH.GMC
file in the macro directory.  This will save the information pertaining
to global macros.  Then if this version of ReportSmith is to be used
again and the global macro information is needed again, rename the file
back to RPTSMITH.GMC.

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II. INSTALLATION

The ReportSmith installation will automatically install the ODBC drivers
that are shipped with the product.If these ODBC drivers are newer than
the drivers you have installed on your machine, the install will
overwrite them.  Otherwise, the install program will not overwrite your
existing ODBC drivers.

The ReportSmith installation also creates data source drivers for each
ODBC driver that you choose to install.  Each name is given the prefix
RS_ followed by the database name (e.g.  RS_dBase.)  These names appear
in the data type list in ReportSmith.  If you do not wish to keep these
data source names, you can easily delete them through the ODBC
administrator located in the Windows Control Panel.

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III. Paradox Engine and ODBC connection

    - This version of ReportSmith installs the latest Paradox engine,
      PDXENGWIN.DLL.  This enables ReportSmith to connect to Paradox
      versions 4.0 and 4.5, and Paradox for Windows files.


    - There is a user interface to set Network Configuration and
      Resource Limits in your win.ini file.  The executable,
      PXENGCFG.EXE, is located in your ReportSmith install directory.


    - If you are running Paradox in a Network environment and want to
      share data files, then all users MUST set the same Network Control
      File Path.  See HELP in PXENGCFG.EXE.


    - If you are upgrading from an earlier ReportSmith version and you
      wish to connect to Paradox 4.0 or higher, add the following lines
      to the rs_sqlif.ini file in your windows directory:

       [Q+E ParadoxFile]
       QuoteFromList=0
       OuterJoinSyntax=1
       OuterJoinText="*"
       OuterJoinSupport="LRM"


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IV.  Warnings and Known Problems

   - The pop-up calendar that is available in Selection Criteria and
     Report Variables for date fields have a maximum year of 2099.

   - Some video drivers may have problems inserting pictures onto the
     report surface.  Also, with some video drivers, charts will not
     display correctly (the bottom and right side are trimmed off).
     Changing your driver specifications to a higher resolution (for
     example 1025x768) will correct this.


   - If you use ODBC drivers that are not delivered with ReportSmith
     product, you may have to make entries in the rs_sqlif.ini file in
     order for ReportSmith to communicate with these drivers.  There is
     a RS_SQLIF.TXT file provided that describes the possible entries.
     We have added entries for commonly used drivers.  If you have a
     previous version of ReportSmith installed, the ReportSmith version
     2.0 install will NOT write over the existing ini files.

     The following are some common entries for ODBC drivers that some of
     our customers are using.  NOTE:  RDS refers to the Raima ODBC
     driver.

     [WATCOM SQL]
     FnListType=2
     CountStarSupport=1

     [ShowCase ODBC]
     FnListType=2
     CountStarSupport=1

     [RDS]
     DBInFullColumnName=0
     CountStarSupport=1
     SortExprSupport=0
     DateFormat=""date '"yyyy-mm-dd"'""
     TimeFormat=""time '"hh:mm:ss"'""
     OuterJoinSyntax=0
     OuterJoinSupport=


   - The report and crosstab styles that you customize, should be
     backed up after you have made significant changes.  These files
     have an extension of *.rst and are located in the ReportSmith
     directory (unless otherwise specified in RPTSMITH.INI).


   - New ini file settings

      As mentioned above, some video drivers do not deal with bitmaps
      very well.  If you are having trouble inserting certain bitmaps
      into a report, try either a 1 or 2 setting of these RPTSMITH.INI
      file settings.  Insert under [OptionsSection].

        BitmapDisplayMode=n
                where n is one of the following
                0       default setting
                1       will trim the top line (usually one pixel)
                2

      To suppress the 'No rows found' message (after SQL execution that
      retrieves a zero row result set), add the following setting under
      [ReportSmith].

        NoRowsWarning=n
                where n is
                0       do not display the message box
                1       display the message box (default)


   - For some users,if they are scrolled to bottom of a page, and then
     go to to the next page, want to remain at the bottom of the page.
     To set the cursor position when going page to page, add the
     following setting under the [ReportSmith] section in the RPTSMITH.INI
     file:

        ScrollToTop=n
                where n is
                0       leave cursor at same relative position
                1       go to the top of page (default)


   - There is a known problem that prevents you from using the macro command
     "CloseRS" with a 0 for the "Prompt for Save" argument if there are
     any active reports with an embedded OLE object. It is still ok to use
     the command with a non-zero value for the argument when reports of the 
     above type are active.
 
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V.   ADJUSTING THE LIST OF STANDARD FORMATS FOR THE "Format Field" DIALOG.

     The "Format Field" dialog in ReportSmith maintains a list of
     possible formats for the operator to choose from.  The initial
     entries in the list are a set of "standard" formats that are
     automatically inserted by ReportSmith.  The remaining entries in
     the list are formats the operator entered previously that are
     remembered by ReportSmith.  (This same list is also used in the
     "Report Variables" subdialog of the "Query" dialog when defining
     date, time, and date+time Report Variables.)

     The set of standard formats for each formatting category is built
     into ReportSmith, but can be overridden in the RPTSMITH.INI file,
     allowing the ReportSmith user to specify their own set of standard
     formats.  This is particularly useful in locations outside of the
     United States, where the built-in U.S.-style formats might not be
     appropriate.

     The sets of standard formats are specified in the following
     sections of the RPTSMITH.INI file:

     [FmtStdDate] - Set of standard "Date" Category formats.
     [FmtStdTime] - Set of standard "Time" Category formats.
     [FmtStdNum] - Set of standard "Number" Category formats.
     [FmtStdCurr] - Set of standard "Currency" Category formats.
     [FmtStdPcnt] - Set of standard "Percentage" Category formats.
     [FmtStdScien] - Set of standard "Scientific" Category formats.

     Note:  Do not confuse the above section names with other sections
     in the RPTSMITH.INI file with similar names, but without the "Std"
     in the middle of the name.  Those other sections are used by
     ReportSmith to save the remembered operator-entered formats.

     Each section contains an entry that specifies the count of the
     number of formats in the set.  The name of this entry is the
     section name with the characters "Count" appended to it.  For
     example, for the "FmtStdDate" section, the entry name would be
     "FmtStdDateCount".  The count may be zero to specify that there are
     to be no standard formats for that category.  It may be -1 to
     specify that the built-in standard formats are to be used.  If the
     count entry is omitted, or if the entire section is omitted, the
     built-in standard formats for that category will be used.

     Each format in the set is represented by an entry with the name of
     the section with an underscore and a number appended to it.  The
     numbers range from 1 to the number specified in the count entry.
     Any valid ReportSmith formatting string may be used.

     Here is an example of overriding the set of standard date formats,
     replacing it with a new set of 3 standard formats:

     [FmtStdDate] FmtStdDateCount=3 FmtStdDate_1=dd-mmm-yyyy
     FmtStdDate_2=yyyy-mm-dd FmtStdDate_3=dd mmmm, yyyy

SPECIFYING THE FORMATS FOR THE FORMATTING BUTTONS ON THE TOOL RIBBON.

     There are three pushbuttons on the ReportSmith tool ribbon that
     apply a format to the currently selected field(s).  The formatting
     strings used for these buttons are built into ReportSmith, but can
     be overridden by settings in the RPTSMITH.INI file.  This is
     particularly useful in locations outside of the United States,
     where the built-in U.S.-style formats might not be appropriate.

     There are three optional entries in the [OptionsSection] section of
     RPTSMITH.INI.  These entries are:

     RibbonCurrencyFmt - Specifies the format for the Currency button
     ($).  RibbonNumericFmt - Specifies the format for the Numeric
     button (,).  RibbonPercentFmt - Specifies the format for the
     Percent button (%).

     Any entry that is present in the RPTSMITH.INI file will override
     the built-in format for that button.  Any valid ReportSmith
     formatting string may be used.

     Here is an example:

     [OptionsSection]
     RibbonCurrencyFmt=$#,##0_);($#,##0)
     RibbonNumericFmt=#,##0.000
     RibbonPercentFmt=0.0%
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VI.  DOCUMENTATION ERRATA

Getting Started Guide -
        p.1-14  The graphic for step 1 should only include the following
                options: Character, Border, Field Format, Text Alignment,
                Column Width, Field Height.
        p.1-32  In Step 7, you must Press OK twice instead of just once
                as the step indicates.
        p.2-10 The step title should read "To modify a Style" not "To
               Modify a System Style."
User's Guide -
        p.5-37 The message shown in the Cartesian Products dialog box
               has changed. The message in this dialog will now read
               "Table [name] is not linked to any other table in the
               report. This might cause a large number of records to be
               generated by this query. Do you wish to return to Query
               editing?"
        p.8-56 There is an additional option in the Field Height dialog
               box called "Can Split." This option lets you decide
               whether to let a field which has multiple lines to remain
               together or to let it split over a page.
        p.8-78 Do not save a style you have created if you are in
               Full Page Zoom mode.

ReportBasic Macro Language Guide -
        p.5-97 The Chr$ command is listed in the Basic commands table,
               but is not explained in the documentation. Please refer
               to the on-line Help for a description of this command.

        General Comment:  The new version of the SoftBridge Basic
        Language was added to version 2.0 of ReportSmith.  The new
        commands now available in our product did not make the
        ReportBasic Macro Language Guide, so please refer to the on-line
        Help for descriptions of any commands not found in the printed
        documentation.

