dbMASS 4.3
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[ dbMASS 4.4 ]
This file documents the enhancements and problem fixes provided with dbMASS version 4.3. Please read to stay up to date on these developments.
CONTENTS
----------------------------------------------- Version / Published
- New Features
- Bug Fixes
- Configuration/Effectivity Paging
- [Ctrl]-[Right-Click] Issue
- New Entry Button
- MPEX Standard Part Filter
- MPEX Standard Part Filter (cont.)
- More New Features
------------------------------------------------- 4.30 / July 25, 2001
------------------------------------------------- 4.31 / Sept 18, 2001
------------------------------------------------- 4.32 / Oct 16, 2001
1. New Features
The entries that reference a class category can be identified by first toggling the mode of the Class Window so that it is in edit mode, selecting the category of interest from the list with a left mouse button click, [Left-Click], then, with the mouse pointer over the activated category field, by clicking with the right mouse button, [Right-Click]. The Select Assigned To Window opens listing the entries that have the particular category directly assigned to it. Selecting an entry from this list will cause that entry to be opened so that it can be worked on. This feature has been extended to now support identifying category assignments at the location level.
To identify entries that have the location class field assigned a particular category use the same procedure outlined above except when making the [Right-Click] hold down the [Shift] key. The Select Assigned To Window will then list all parts, assemblies, installations and projects that have a location in a next assembly that has the assigned category. To list the standard parts hold down the [Shift] and [Ctrl] keys while making the [Right-Click]. By selecting an entry or standard part from the opened Select Assigned To Window the corresponding window will be opened. You can then go to the next assembly of the identified entry by using the [Right-Click] feature on its Id/Description field. All next assemblies will be listed, so if there is more than one, you will need to identify which one you want to examine.
2. Bug Fixes
A problem with the Select Window that would occur when paging down/up through a list of configuration/effectivity options for a selected entry has been fixed. Previously, page operations would cause this usage of the Select Window to add a bunch of garbage characters to the presented list of information.
Two [Right-Click] operations frequently used are to access next assemblies or to open an entry listed in the Entries Window. By holding down the [Ctrl] key while making the [Right-Click] the active Entry/Entries Window is closed prior to opening the requested Entry Window. This feature is helpful in reducing window clutter when using this [Right-Click] feature to move up or down the product structure.
A [Right-Click] on the dbMASS background screen opens the color selection window. If the [Ctrl]-[Right-Click] feature described above is used on a window that doesn't have another window directly behind it, the color selection window was also being opened. This annoyance has been eliminated.
The New Entry Button found in a group of similarly designed windows could cause dbMASS to hang when this button was selected when no previous entries were defined. This bug has been eliminated. The following windows were affected: Categories, Configurations, Contingencies, Effectivities, Factors and Materials.
A couple of problems were identified and fixed with the MPEX import translator with regards to its support of standard part filtering. The first bug pertained to the use of filters that specified an Id ending with an asterisk and a Description that gave an exact match, i.e. no asterisk. The Description part of the filter was being ignored. The second bug would cause some entries to be mistakenly interpreted as standard parts. The entries affected appeared to be random but were misinterpreted based on the binary representation of their respective weight.
The latest modifications to the MPEX Standard Part Filter feature fixed some issues but introduced a new one. Under special circumstances entry records were being deleted and this would cause invalid record number errors when the entries window referencing the record was opened. This problem has been fixed.
3. More New Features
The dbMASS version 4 MPEX support introduced a +/- Mode column which is used to indicate whether the uncertainty data contained actual values or percentages and whether it was manually assigned or automatically assigned based on linked uncertainty values associated with the entry records weight status (contingency assignment). dbMASS previously would read and store this status along with the uncertainty data for each ENTRIES data set record. It was assumed that the data values were consistent with the linked values if the +/- Mode indicated that it was automatically assigned based on the linked uncertainty values. Now dbMASS actually reads the linked uncertainty values and assigns them to the entry when the auto-mode value is indicated. This effectively ignores the uncertainty values given in the ENTRIES data set if the +/- mode is either set to 2 or 3, a weight status is assigned and the assigned status has a linked uncertainty values set. The dbMASS environment must also be set to use the auto-assigned mode for linked uncertainty. For further information on this feature please read the linked uncertainty documentation.
The Duplicate Window is automatically open when duplicates are identified after copying data between dbMASS databases. It is used to resolve how inconsistent data between the databases are handled. Two new buttons have been added to the Duplicate Window to support Discard All and Maintain All processes. The Update All button has also been moved to be below the Update Original button. See the updated Duplicate Window below:
The Discard All button performs the same process as the Discard Update button except that it does it for all duplicate records of the type being processed at the time. Likewise, the Maintain All button performs the same process as the Maintain Both button for all duplicate records of the type being processed. Please refer to the Duplicate Window documentation for further discussion of its use.