December 2024

New Layout Options

Labels Above Controls

You can now position control labels above the control instead of beside it. Checkbox labels will remain beside the checkbox but will be positioned on the right side instead of the left.

This layout is the default for new menu items. Existing menu items will continue to use labels on the left. You can configure this setting separately for each menu item under NewEdit settings and Parameter page settings.

Show Fields to the Right of Other Fields

You can now place one field to the right of another in the NewEdit component, a feature previously available for parameters. This is especially useful for related controls, such as intervals or keyboard shortcuts.

In the GetEditFields call, use a special column between the first field and the field to be displayed to its right.

SELECT
	ASWR.TimeFrom,
	1 AS ADMINShowRightOfPreviousField,
	ASWR.TimeTo...

For fields in a Multi-control, it is a setting on the second field.

SELECT
	'CtrlKey' AS FieldName,
	'Checkbox' AS FieldType,
	1 AS ShowRightOfPreviousField...

New UX Features

System-Wide Announcement Banners

The new Announcement Banners feature displays messages at the top of the window, similar to the Maintenance Warning banners.

Banners can be configured to target all users or a subset of users, making it easy to communicate critical updates or general information.

Since banners demand significant user attention, use notifications for more frequent or less critical messages.

• SoftadminApi.AnnouncementBanner_Insert
• SoftadminApi.AnnouncementBanner_Update
• SoftadminApi.AnnouncementBanner_Delete

UX Changes

Redesigned Column Picker and Support for User Defined Default Sort

The Grid's Column picker has been renamed to Display, order and sort. In addition to hiding columns and changing column order, users can now also choose how the grid should be sorted on first load.

Drag & Drop in Multirow

Multirow controls that allow reordering will now show drag handles, allowing users to reorder rows using drag & drop.

New Shortcut for Extended Description

We’ve introduced a new keyboard shortcut to improve the usability of extended descriptions in forms. Previously, the extended description for controls was accessible via the Tab key, which could interrupt users trying to quickly navigate through forms.

Now, you can toggle the extended description using the shortcut Ctrl+i.

New Features

Web Service Publishing, Raw Mode, Supports Client Certificates

You can now use client certificates to authenticate clients for the new raw web service publishing, bringing it closer to feature parity with the old entity-based mode.

Phrase Aliases

You can now assign aliases to language phrases that you need to access from code, and get their translation with SoftadminApi.Phrase_TranslationFromAlias. This is more portable, and more readable, than hardcoding phrase-IDs.

Delayed Events

You can now schedule events for processing later instead of immediately. This can be done by using the optional @RunAfterDatetime parameter.

For example, if you're integrating with a newspaper printing service, you can delay synchronization of all new subscription data with their server until a specific time in the evening, using a single batch update.

Language Support for Roles

Previously, user roles lacked the ability to be translated into multiple languages, unlike user functions, which already support this feature. While we generally recommend using functions due to their flexibility, we have addressed this shortcoming.

Performance Center for End-Users

We've introduced a new feature that allows you to provide privileged end-users with access to the Performance Center dashboard. To enable this, assign them the View Limited Performance Overview function.

Configure Date Format for Web Service Call

Since JSON does not specify how dates should be formatted, there are competing standards. Web Service Call always used the Microsoft standard, sending dates on the form Date(xxx). Now, it also has support for the ISO format (yyyy-mm-ddTxx:xx:xx.xxx).

Database Designer

The Database Designer's "read-only" mode is still in beta, but all major database-related features are now available. The new "Import from Tool" feature can import most basic information; however, function blocks in the dbo schema are not yet supported.

• Friendly names, descriptions, sort orders, box layouts, and colors can now be imported from Softadmin® Map.
• Support added for more "Delete actions" beyond just CASCADE.
• 1:1 foreign key relationships are now visualized.
• MS_Description metadata on schemas is now visible.