What's New in MainBoss 3.2, Update 1

The following lists changes between MainBoss Advanced 3.2, Update 1, and the previous release.

Major Changes

1. This release introduces the Web Requests module which provides a way to submit requests directly through a web page.
   
   It also introduces the Web Access module which lets you access your assigned requests and work orders using the Web. You can add comments to these requests and work orders. You can also close work orders through the web page; in the process, you can record the actual usage of resources which correspond to existing demands (materials, labor and miscellaneous costs).
   
   Web Requests and Web Access use web pages which may be viewed on ordinary desktop/laptop computers, or on high-end mobile devices (e.g. iPhones or BlackBerry phones).
   
   In order to use these modules, you must have appropriate license keys. For further information, contact your MainBoss dealer or MainBoss support.
2. Facilities for searching tables have been significantly improved. You can now search on multiple fields, such as finding work orders in a particular work category taking place in a particular building. You can also do date-based searches (e.g. before or after a particular date), searches for strings either at the beginning of a field or anywhere in the field, and searches based on pattern-matching. The shortcut key sequences Ctrl+F (Find) and F3 (Find Next) are now recognized.

Lesser Changes

1. You now have more control over the fonts to be used when printing reports.
2. There is a new option in the Defaults for Request section of the Requests table viewer. The option is called Requests are set In Progress when linked to a work order, and are closed when work order closes. If you turn this option on, whenever you close a work order, MainBoss checks any requests associated with the work order. Any such request will be closed at the same time the work order is closed, provided that the request is not associated with other work orders too. (If a request is associated with multiple work orders, it must be closed explicitly; it will never be closed automatically, even if all the associated work orders are closed.)
   
   This option has a second effect. When you link a new request to a work order using Link to Work Order, or when you create a work order from a request using Create Work Order, the request is automatically put into the in progress state.
   
   With this option, users can choose whether closing a work order also closes associated requests (as in MainBoss Basic) or whether closing operations are done independently (which allows greater control over the process of closing requests, such as entering specific comments to be sent to requestors).
3. State history records now record the name of the person responsible for the record (e.g. the person who created or closed a particular work order).
4. In report filters for units, you now have a new option: Unit and all Subunits lets you specify a single unit. The report will cover that unit and all sub-units of the unit you specify. Similarly, in report filters for locations, you now have the option Location and all Sublocations; you specify a single location and the report will cover that location and all its sublocations (possibly including units and subunits, if appropriate to the specific report).
5. The "Evaluate Security As" action now only checks the effect of security roles. If you perform some operation (e.g. closing a work order) while evaluating security as a different user, the operation will be attributed to your own name, not to the other person.
6. Employee records now have a "Per Job Inside" section.
7. Various default behaviors have been changed in an attempt to reduce the number of clicks required to perform common actions.
8. The software for interpreting dates has been improved to accept more formats. For example, you can now type either "Jan 3" or "3 Jan". Furthermore, times can be entered using a 24-hour clock (e.g. 16:00 is 4:00 pm).
9. The new release corrects a problem that occurred when upgrading a MainBoss 3.1 database to MainBoss 3.2. In the upgrade process, user contact records were not created properly; this has now been fixed.