Enhancement Requests

Summary

Customer satisfaction is top priority for Stibo Systems. When customers make software enhancement requests, Stibo Systems works diligently to meet these business needs. Many of the changes available in 9.2 are implemented as a solution to these requests.

The list below highlights many of the enhancement requests that were completed in 9.2, but this is not a comprehensive list. Additional customer-requested enhancements were completed as part of previously planned roadmap-driven projects, as well as for specific product lines and/or customers which are not globally applicable.

Details

Solutions are listed below. A cross-reference to more details is provided, if applicable.

• Objects within the Tree Recycle Bin can now be automatically deleted and/or purged on a scheduled basis, similar to how other processes are scheduled in STEP (e.g., data imports, data exports, and bulk updates).
• Two new attribute validation base types have been introduced that prevent STEP from counting style tags as characters when calculating an attribute value's maximum length. These are 'Numeric Text (exclude tags)' and Text (exclude tags).'
• A new plugin, the Metadata Hierarchy Builder, has been added to the Hierarchy Builder located within the Asset Importer. This new plugin creates folders in STEP from a metadata file containing the desired file structure for each asset.

For more information on the items above, see the Additional Enhancements and Changes release note here.

• When a 'Create Object in Workflow' screen is configured for the 'Initiate' function on either Status Selector widget and the 'Cancel' option is clicked immediately following a click on 'Initiate', the Web UI now auto-navigates the user back to the previous screen. Previously, a blank screen would display following a 'Cancel' action, requiring users to manually navigate to the desired screen.
• The Browse tab in the node picker of the Move Action in Web UI did not include the ID of the objects, which is inconsistent with other node pickers. This has been corrected so that the object ID is now shown, in addition to the object name.
•  It is now possible (as of 9.1-MP1) to configure different default tab pages to display for an object using business functions. This was further elaborated on in the 9.1 release notes. For more information, see the ‘New default Tab Page designation’ section in the Web UI Enhancements release note in 9.1 here.
• A new mapping condition, 'Business Condition Condition,' can be used to set a screen mapping based on criteria described in a selected business condition. If the condition returns true, the screen mapping is used; if it returns false, the system continues to evaluate other mapping options.
• A new parameter has been added in the designer called 'Swap User' that changes which user the system records as initiating a file upload via the widget. Rather than logging the user configured for the widget's Inbound Integration Endpoint (IIEP) as the file loader, the system instead records the user as the logged-in Web UI user. This allows users to track the progress of the actual import of the file via standard BGP tracking mechanisms.
• The Business Action with Web UI Bind component now has the option to accept user input in the form of attribute-validated parameters and/or a node picker. And, now also includes the Enforce Validity parameter so the button can be disabled until all data on the screen is valid.
• The 'Workflow States' component, formerly the 'Workflow State' component, has been updated to allow for more granular configuration (users can determine which states within workflows can be displayed in the component), and visually redesigned to provide relevant workflow data in a simple display.
• The 'Add Reference' toolbar action now provides users with the ability to configure more detailed searches when looking for objects to reference. Headers can now be configured in the 'Search' tab for the 'Add Reference' action's Node Picker component.
• A new Web UI toolbar action (Multi Context Edit) for Node Lists enables users to see more information about product data for multiple products in multiple contexts. Additionally, this new action enables users to quickly assess, or 'profile,' which values are local to that context.
• Orphan attribute values are now visually identifiable in the Web UI. When an attribute value is orphaned, it now displays in a yellow-outlined field with warning text.
• The list of valid assignees that displays when initiating the Assign Toolbar Action on a Task List screen is now shown in alphabetical order, based on the username. Previously, the ordering of usernames displayed unpredictably, making it more challenging to locate and select the right assignee from the dropdown.
• Tab pages and sub screen tab pages in the Web UI can now be configured to display based on whether a business condition has been met. If the selected business condition returns true, the tab displays; if false, the tab is hidden.
• The display of colored dots beside objects enabled by the Alternate Node Appearance component has expanded to include objects appearing in typeahead search results for the Global Header Search component. Previously, the colored dots would only display beside objects in the Tree Navigator, as well as the 'Browse' and 'Search' tabs in a Node Picker dialog.
• Pop-up dialogs that display based on a click or hover-over actions now end display based on the same user action that initiated display. This update helps make pop-up behavior in the Web UI more intuitive, consistent, and easier for users to manage.
• The Follow Single Reference component in Web UI was missing an arrow icon in the component header to indicate that it could be expanded / collapsed. This has been corrected so that the arrow icon now displays as expected.
• Deep linking and "keep state" behaviors have been implemented throughout the Web UI. This allows users to navigate throughout the Web UI without losing selections. For example, using the browser back button to return to a task list or advanced search will now retain the applied filters and/or search criteria. In addition, users can provide a URL link to a specific object / tab / data point on a screen.
• A new component called 'Product Summary Card' is now available for Node Details screens. Available as an option in the 'Below Title' parameter in the Child Components, Product Summary Cards display a grouping of product data in a templated format at the top of a product details screen, just below the screen title. Additionally, Classification Summary and Entity Summary components have been renamed to 'Classification Summary Card' and 'Entity Summary Card'.

Many of the Web UI changes outlined above are described further in the Web UI Enhancements release note here.

• Previously, when List Of Values (LOV) values were sent for translation, all of the values were marked with the <TranslatableText> tag, even if the translation status was up-to-date for those values. Now, only those List Of Values values that need translation will be marked with the <TranslatableText> tag; this will reduce overall translations costs. For more information, see the Enhanced Translation Functionality release note here.
• It is now possible to enable and disable integration endpoints via the REST API V2. Additionally, the REST API V2 has been extended with functionality for getting accurate event counts, and functionality has been introduced for enabling / disabling and invoking endpoints. See the API Enhancements and Updates for details about these enhancements and more here.
• Users can now export a subset of all user objects and user group objects. For more information, see the Configuration Management Tooling Enhancements here.
• While implemented prior to 9.2 (9.1-MP1), customers should note that a new 'jms-integration' component allows STEP to integrate with external systems. For more information, see the Data Exchange online help documentation here.
• Security enhancements were made that, while improving the security of the STEP application, have no impact to end users. These no-impact enhancements are not described in detail in the 9.2 release notes.
• In STEP Publisher, text frames mounted onto InDesign pages from child or referenced objects can now be split across columns or pages, adding a new level of flexibility for users who produce print catalogs. For more information, see the STEP Publisher Enhancements release note here.
• Text wrapping in Smartsheets is now supported as part of the new 'open format' option. For more information, see the Smartsheet Enhancements release note here.