What's New in Version 15.5 - November 2014
This topic lists all the additions and improvements incorporated in InfoNet Version 15.5 which were not available in previous versions.
Asset Networks and User Defined Objects
InfoNet now supports a new network type, the Asset Network. It is a minimal network model intended to allow you to use some of the existing network objects (such as zones and work packages) along with your own asset data model for whatever purpose you wish. A whole new set of network object definitions are available so that user defined objects can be managed as easily as collection system or distribution system assets. The use of user defined objects has been extended to collection and distribution system networks, making the modelling of these networks more flexible and customisable.
User defined objects are defined in the User Defined Objects Dialog which is available via the Master database settings | Users defined objects... option of the File menu. If user permissions are enabled in the database, only Database Owners will be allowed to create and edit user defined objects.
The properties of user defined objects cannot be seen on the tabbed format property sheets. They are displayed on the Object Properties Window. User defined objects come with a set of built-in data fields which are linked to the object type and geometry. Additionally to these built-in fields, users can specify their own user defined fields. These are configured in the User Defined Field Grid.
Please note that an InfoNet Suite licence is required for the use of asset networks and user defined objects.
As part of the introduction of this new functionality, the licensing options have been rationalised as follows:
- InfoNet Desktop - allows access to both collection and distribution networks. Collection and distribution networks with user defined objects and asset networks can be opened in Viewer (read-only) mode. This licence used to be called InfoNet Suite in previous versions of InfoNet.
- InfoNet Suite - allows access to collection, distribution and asset networks. The user defined object functionality is available. User defined objects can be used and edited, and the actions can be controlled through permissioning. See above for more information.
- InfoNet Viewer - allows access to all network types in Viewer mode only.
See Licence Setup Wizard for further details.
Improvements to Dashboards
Multipliers have been added to pie charts and tables to improve rendering on the Dashboard Normal View. Enhancements are as follows:
- The number of categories shown as separate entities on pie charts can be increased thanks to the size multiplier property, instead of being collated into a single generic category (Other).
- The size of tables can be customised to eliminate the presence of scroll bars, by use of the width multiplier and height multiplier properties.
Refer to the Dashboard Design View topic for more information.
PACP/MACP export enhancement - ability to choose export units
A new option has been added to the Survey Export Options Dialog, which allows the user to choose which units to use when exporting to PACP/MACP format.
Set the status of the Export with imperial units option to choose whether to export the survey data using imperial or metric units.
See Exporting Survey Data for further information.
GIS export enhancement - export selected tables only
When exporting to GIS file format, it is now possible to restrict the export to a selection of tables.
Check the Export selected tables only option on the GIS Export Dialog to restrict export to selected tables. Tables are selected from a list displayed by clicking on the Tables button in the GIS Export Dialog.
See Export to GIS File Format for further information.
Improvements to User Fields
To increase the amount of data that can be stored in user defined fields, the number of User Numbers and User Text Fields has been increased from 20 to 40. Please note that the extra fields (no. 21 to 40) are only available via the Object Properties Window (not from the Tabbed Property Sheets).
In addition the number of characters for User Text fields has been increased from 100 to 250.
Pipe class choice list
A choice list has been added to the Pipe class field for pipes in both collection and distribution networks.
See User Defined Choice Lists for information on editing the default choice list.
Display of Pipe Repairs on Long Section strip plan
Functionality has been implemented to allow pipe repairs (collection and distribution networks) to be displayed on the Long Section Window strip plan. Display settings (visibility, colour, symbol, etc) are the same as on the GeoPlan Window and are available for customisation via the GeoPlan Properties dialog.
The display of pipe associated objects in the Long Section has been limited to pipe repairs for the two following reasons:
- Pipe repairs are part of the rehabilitation process (see Rehabilitation Planner) and users may find it useful to allow existing/previous repairs to be seen whilst previewing the recommended repairs.
- To avoid making the Long Section Window too crowded.
See Pipe Repairs and Displaying Pipe Repairs on the Network Views for more information.
Usability improvements to asset network selection when performing cross network queries and configuring dashboards
It is now possible to drop asset groups onto the Networks droptarget of the Dashboard Design View and the Asset networks droptarget of the Run Query Dialog. The asset groups will be replaced in the selection box by the networks contained within the groups. Please note that this process is not recursive, i.e. it will only work for networks placed at group top level.
As a result of these changes the Asset networks droptarget of the Run Query Dialog has been renamed Asset networks and groups.
See Dashboard Design View and Run Query Dialog for more information.
Option to prompt users to commit their changes regularly
The Prompt for commit before closing version controlled items option has been added to the General page of the Options dialog to encourage users to regularly commit their changes to the Master Database so that they are available to other users. This option is per user and is disabled by default. When it is enabled, a commit prompt is displayed whenever one of the following actions is undertaken:
- Closing a locally modified version controlled item.
- Closing InfoNet when there are one or more locally modified version controlled items.
Bulk deleting of Database Items now available
It is now possible to delete a number of database items at the same time. For this simply select multiple items in the Explorer window, and either right-click one of them and select Delete from the popup menu, or press the DELETE key. Please refer to Working with Database Items for more information.
Please note that this functionality is available for master databases (not transportable databases) and that deleting multiple database items is not allowed for selections including the top-level master database or the Recycle Bin.
SQL Object Type field
The read only variable OTYPE can be used to return the type of an object. An otype option is now available from the Field list in the SQL Page of the SQL Dialog.
Please refer to the SQL Dialog - SQL Page topic for further details.
Ability to share Object Property Window layout settings across a Workgroup database
It is now possible to
The Update all from master database and Push all to master database option have been added to the Layout menu option of the Configuration toolbar icon (
). The Update all from master database option allows users to override the current layouts of the Object Properties Window with those of the Master Database while the Push all to master database allows users to update the layouts of the master database with those of the users.
Update all from master database
If Object Properties Window layouts have been edited locally by the user, selecting the Update all from master database option will overwrite the local layouts with the master database layouts. A warning message will be displayed letting users know that proceeding with this action will overwrite any local changes they may have made.
If the layout has not been edited locally, layouts will automatically be updated from the master database when the Object Properties Window is next accessed or when InfoNet is next launched, depending on whether the software was open when the updates were made.
Push all to master database
Select the Push all to master database option to overwrite the master database layouts with your own local layouts. This will display a warning message informing the user that this will overwrite the existing mater database layouts, and therefore potentially affect all master database users.
Please note that if users and permissions are implemented for the database and that the Only database owners can change database-wide settings option is enabled, users who are not Database Owners are not allowed to push their layouts to the master database.
The About Box has been updated as part of these enhancements and now shows both the Object Properties Window local and master timestamps.
Better usability of dialogs or views containing grids
The F6 key / Shift+F6 shortcut can now be used to move from grids to the next and previous item in tab order respectively.
Upgrade to MapXtreme 7.2
InfoAsset Manager now supports MapXtreme version 7.2.
See Changing the Current Map Control for further information on supported map controls.
Support for ArcGIS 10.3
See Changing the Current Map Control for further information on supported map controls.
Ability to disable in-place renaming of tree database objects
In previous versions, the ability to rename database objects directly in the Explorer Window tree view by clicking on the object name and typing in a new name, was always turned on.
It is now possible to switch this in-place renaming on or off by setting the status of the Allow in-place renaming of objects in tree option that has been added to the General page of the Options dialog. Uncheck this option to disable the functionality in order to prevent inadvertent renaming of objects in the tree view. Renaming can still be carried out by right-clicking on the database object and selecting Rename from the context menu.
Please note that it may be necessary to close and re-open the Explorer Window or even to restart InfoNet altogether for changes to this option to be taken into account.
Enhancement to Network Object Grid Window
A tooltip is now displayed when a column header of a Network Object Grid Window is hovered with the mouse cursor. This tooltip contains information about the related object data field. See Network Object Grid Windows for further details.
Keyboard shortcuts for switching between tabs in the Network Object Grid Windows
CTRL+Page Up and CTRL+Page Down can now be used to switch between tabs by moving to the next tab on the left / right respectively. See Keyboard Shortcuts and Network Object Grid Windows for more information.
