One more regression defect with spares notification.  System was sending notifications for workshop/unit sales orders.  Now suppressed.

Recent changes to spares order notifications would send emails when parts initially go on backorder. Although the email stated parts were on backorder it wasn't obvious in the email and it would be easy for customers to incorrectly assume their order was infact ready due to poor layout of the email.  Overhauled email notification so email subject and body content make it clear what is going on. Also modernised emails to look alot nicer with proper tables/styles etc.

• Orders
  • Only send backorder alert the first time parts go on backorder for a particular customer order  invoice. Do not send subsequent alerts whenever the order is updated
  • Bugfix : cancel alert could erroneously be sent to customers who do not have cancelled parts on receive order. Now fixed
• Workshop
  • Create new job : redesigned screen so it is no longer wizard type process, looks more like modify job
  • Tech Clocking : prominently display the current tech at top of the window
  • Tech Clocking : automatically close tech clocking screen after 5 minutes of inactivity
• Workshop schedule
  • Tweak colour scheme and include a color chart/legend
  • Memorise granularity setting (per terminal basis)
• Spares
  • Print customer code on A4 credit notes.
• Business
  • Clerk report : show movement of parts from spares to workshop or unit sales. (Normally clerk report only shows things that generally yield income. Intent of including these is to show staff activity for tasks that do not immediately generate any sort of income type outcomes).

Includes database changes, you'll need to log all terminals out during upgrade

• Spares
  • Stocked parts : ability to set arbitrary attributes on a part. i.e. colour/sizing/weight etc. Imports attributes from price file
  • Added stock export for Harley Davidson.  Spares -> Utilities -> Export Stock / Dead Stock.
  • Import Suzuki price file, tweak import a bit so it works a bit nicer with importing unzipped TXT files individually
  • Fixed 'transaction error' that can sometimes happen when rapidly flipping from fiche diagram (being remotely cached) and other parts of c9
  • Receive order : new option to bulk flag all items on order as 'backorder','cancelled','supplied','still on order' etc. Useful for massive orders where most/all items are on back order
  • Send SMS notification on cancelled or backordered parts.
  • Spares invoice : supress printing of  'Tendered' if no actual tenderable payment method was selected. i.e. suppress on eftpos and suppress on no cash collected
• Orders
  • Miner : allow linking of order item to franchise in a miner query
  • Advanced browse order : allow filtering based on date range.
•  Accounts
  • Add transaction like a payment, system could allow operator to enter a record without a date. Now fixed : if no date default to today
  • Sync to Xero. Transmit GST amount, don't allow Xero to calculate it from tax rates.
• Units
  • Ability to record a sales rep that differs from clerk doing data entry. Sales report will print the rep.
• Workshop
  • New job, set initial deposit. Email deposit receipt did not autopopulate customers email address
  • Tweaks and fixes to staff report
    • Show discounts given
    • Would not correctly print staff activity if staff member also using clocking types (i.e. break/smoko etc)

Includes database changes, you'll need to log all terminals out during upgrade

This version includes a significant new feature : detailed workshop scheduling.  Scheduling provides a proper calander like system for workshop service management tailored specifically for workshop servicing.

Features:

• Track availability, normal hours, public holidays, breaks etc
• Track specific staff availability, i.e. record annual leave and record non full time arrangements, i.e. tech X only works Mon-Thu.
• Jobs seldom run on time with frequent overruns/underruns/cancellations etc.
  • Scheduler is fully adaptive/responsive and it will adjust on the fly. No need to drag jobs around to fill in the gaps created or wrangle overlaps
  • Automatically respond to jobs taking longer or shorter, automatically compressing jobs when things change or jobs overrun
  • Automatically provide visual alerts so that when job X overruns and impacts job Y's promise schedule
  • Ability to flag work as beginning from a certain date and time, i.e because we are waiting on parts, so don't always compress. Allow other jobs to automatically push in to fill any gaps created by waits.
• Integration with workshop
  • Integrates into c9 clocking so tasks will automatically reflect clocking results in realtime
  • Changes to start date/effort on job card reflect on scheduler
• User Interface design
  • Ability to track multiple tasks against a single job, even done by different techs. i.e. Tech A is doing rebuild while apprentice is fitting new brake pads
  • Drag and Drop design
  • calendar search

How to use

Setup - Default business hours

Goto workshop -> utilities -> Schedule Availability.  Here you add rules that define the schedule.  Rules apply from top down.  So lunch break from 12:00 to 13:00 overrides business hours rule before it, so between 12:00 and 13:00 it is non available time.

Setup - Track techs on your calendar

goto Workshop -> utilities -> Staff. Change setting 'Mechanic with regularly scheduled work' to access feature. Also here you can create customised avialability rules for the tech : these overlay ontop of default ones from above.

Action : scheduler

Access scheduler from Workshop -> scheduler. Some tips on how to use:

• Left lists show time and techs and what is assigned to them
  • Double click on tasks to tweak them: change task details (time required) or the underlying workshop job
  • drag and drop tasks to move them around between techs
  • Delete tasks when you finish. Completed jobs will automatically delete tasks
  • Click on a task and click 'Clock' button in order to clock onto a job.
  • Use search at top to search  calendar
• Resolution at top controls granularity of visibility. allowing you to see more but get a more cluttered screen
• Right hand side contains all jobs in the system
  • organised to prioritise jobs that might need your attention (not assigned, or running over their promise date)
  • Drag jobs from this screen onto your calendar to place new tasks
  • Double click jobs to edit the jobs directly

Fixed bugs with Whites Power Sports integration. Was working on our test systems but nowhere else. Should be fixed now

Tweaks to PC-EFTPOS.  By default if PCEFTPOS sends a query back to c9 asking "Customer Copy?", c9 by default will now automatically answer Yes.  Intent here is that we do not want to unnecessarily pause and risking failing txn finalisation with non essential post txn processes such as receipt printing.  At this point the txn has gone through but PC-EFTPOS is withholding telling c9 this.  Had an instance where operator walked away from the terminal and the txn in c9 cancelled due to timeout.  This change will only impact a couple of setups/ banks where this question is sent back via the terminal.

Release 4.619 introduced a bug which broke ability to run manual backup by breaking the backup progress screen: screen would pause with no activity/progress. (Online backup was fine). The nature of the bug meant it may of affected other screens too (none I am aware of though).

Also finally got Husky F12 availability check to work again!  Turns out it was working fine on non Windows systems (Linux/Mac which myself and James use to build/test) but wouldn't work on Windows. Should now be working again on all.

Includes database changes, you'll need to log all terminals out during upgrade

• Whites Power Sports - Integration
  • Magician parts enquiry
  • Push button upload orders
  • Import price file directly from WPS website
•  Spares
  • Suppress 'zero val transaction' warning on receive spares where supplier is selected
  • Received parts fromC9 E-Reference. Import could result in rounding errors. Now fixed.
  • View process web orders. Show summary of status of parts on order from supppliers needed to fulfill weborder
  • Fiche Diagrams, sometimes flipping rapidly from fiche to another part of c9 while c9 is running an 'update cache' could trigger a database in inconsistent state error, now fixed (the error was actually a false positive)
  • Some tweaks to hopefully fix an issue with Husky/Butmac Parts enquiry faced by one dealer.
  • Receive items hotkey : added still on order option : esp useful for cross continent orders : not on backorder but still a couple of days away
• Workshop - VicRoads integration. Now working again

VicRoads integration continues to prove to be challenging. They'll happily show rego info on a bike on website but they actively try to stop likes of c9 from being able to perform exactly the same query fulfilling exactly the same end-user intent (save hassle of having to hunt down VIN numbers etc as bikes are checked in for a service for the first time) nor do they provide an accessible means to establish a technical partnership with them. We've sort of got it working again (it works mostly but will sometimes fail), but for how long we cannot reasonably say. This is all best effort type stuff and expect it to stop working again very soon.

• Messenger / Low level systems
  • Found another way messenger could lockup, users changing the clock on their computers can mess with c9.  C9 assumes clock clock time now is always greater than time last time it checked in critical sections of the code. Such changes could cause c9 to stuffup/lockup and generally misbehave. Modified and audited code to remove most of these assumptions so c9 should now be able cope with computer clocks being altered in deliberate ways
•  Units
  • Discounting
    • Include facility to discount base unit and print discount $ on invoice
    • Print line discounts on line items/accessories etc
  • Suppress 'zero val transaction' warning on tradein where  changeover value is zero and tradein type is account
  • Bug fix with General Ledger of units on consignment.  Previously asset check process would incorrectly include consignment units as part of asset list. Now fixed.
  • Floorplans, c9 now allows you to track whether input credits on floorplan can be claimed before or after curtailment. Some suppliers will issue a tax invoice with the floorplan meaning you can possibly claim input credits early. To let c9 know this is happening when you add/modify a floorplan, key in an invoice number into (tax) invoice number field.
    

C9 statement run can be configured for a print run for debtors without an email address as printed statements and for debtors with email addresses for emailing.

To do this you run the statement print process twice. Once for email and once for physical print.

Email run

• Select all customers
• Select Only email capable statements
• Optionally Modify email body message if you like
• Click on Print Statements

Print Run

• Select all customers
• Select non email capable statements
• Optionally use print address labels to print labels for statement recipients if you are not using clear window envelops
• Click on Print Statements to print actual statements

Messenger reliability improvements

This version includes some experimental changes to help improve reliability of messenger related functions : SMS/Email delivery, backup syncing, scheduled tasks like automated SMS reminders plus a heap of other chores.

Looking at messenger problems we see consistently that issues are occurring when messenger is trying to reach C9's database but is unable to and is stuck, waiting for data that will never come.  Root cause of these is typically hardware/network and OS setup. i.e. most common cause is timing of computers going into sleep mode disabling network card while c9 is mid database read, and to a lesser extent network links intermittently dropping out.

Solution involves implementing brute force timeouts on database waits.  Messenger should now be able to better detect an unresponsive network and heal from this.

Other changes

• Website
  • Import KTM/Husky webshop parts info : was skipping over a % of parts because of how they were represented on dealernet website. Should now be fixed
• Workshop
  • Redesigned repair authority a bit.  Notably increased font size of fine print
  • New job : include option to email repair authority
• Contacts
  • Print all biz activity for a given contact
  • Bug fix : quick SMS was no longer tracking sent SMS against the customer removing ability to easily see all quick SMS messages sent to a given customer (message was logged in global notification list still). Bug introduced with recent-ish inclusion of being able to quick SMS a number built into spares invoice order number from view invoice screen.  Got it working way it was with one addition: if you change the mobile number to SMS c9 will not track it against the selected customer.