What's New in MainBoss 2.8, Update 1

The following lists differences between MainBoss 2.8 Update 1 and the previous release.

• MainBoss now has a facility that lets a MainBoss administrator save radio and option button settings to be used as defaults in various windows. This serves a similar purpose to preference settings but is specific to individual MainBoss windows. The feature is typically used to set up report options and input screens in accordance with your organization's needs.
• There have been a number of changes in the way MainBoss handles dates and times. First, you are no longer restricted to any particular format when entering a date in any date field (for example, fields in a work order that tell when the job is expected to start, when it's expected to end, the date the work order was closed, and so on). For example, you can type any of Dec 25, 2001 or December 25, 2001 or 2001/12/25 or 12/25/2001 or 12/25/01 and they will all be interpreted correctly. Times may be added, as in

  Dec 25, 2001 13:35:00

  Second, you have more control over how MainBoss displays dates on the screen and in reports. This is provided by administrator preferences. The preferences also control how MainBoss handles ambiguous date input like 01/02/03. If your preferences specify MDY, the above is January 2, 2003; if your preferences specify DMY, the above is February 1, 2003; if your preferences specify YMD, the above is February 3, 2001. Making the date/time facilities more sophisticated lets people enter dates in whatever format they find most natural, and also helps support different date-writing conventions from around the world.
• In the preferences for work requests, work orders, and purchase orders, there is now a checkbox labeled Change Sequence Number. You must checkmark this box before you are allowed to change the sequence number; this protects you from accidentally changing the sequence number.
• The window for previewing reports now has a Goto Page button that lets you jump to any page of the report. It also has a Print button that lets you print the report without closing the preview window.
• If an item appears in the materials list for a work order, and if the quantity of that item on hand is less than the quantity required by the work order, the work order will contain a line warning you about the problem. Note that this warning is based on inventory counts at the time the work order is actually printed (not when the work order was created or when the work is scheduled to begin).
• When you first start MainBoss, you will see a window that tells you a new version of MainBoss has been installed. This window has a checkbox that can make sure you won't receive this notice again (until another new version of MainBoss is installed).
• For greater ease of exporting data to Microsoft Excel, data in text format is now written into files with the extension .CSV rather than .TXT. (Excel handles .CSV data more correctly than .TXT data.)
• Program performance has been improved in some areas. For example, MainBoss takes less time now starting browsers and editors.