Valence 2_0_20090927_0_RC3

[richard.milone]

About this Release:

This is the third release candidate of Valence 2.0, and the last "Release Candidate" prior to the final release (due before end of September 2009). We have continued to add major new functionality between release candidates based on strong customer demand, but this release marks a significant milestone in that no new functionality will be added between this release and the "final." Changes to this release prior to the final will be limited to bug fixes only. All new development is being moved to the Valence 2.1 release (due by end of December 2009).

If you are currently trialing a previous version of Valence, or if you had a previous version on trial that has expired, you may download and install this release candidate of Valence 2.0. Existing Valence customers may also install this new version to begin working with it, which should have no effect on your current Valence installation. For those of you with "live" deployed applications, please do not port them over to this release candidate of Valence 2.0 except for testing and preparation purposes. The final Valence 2.0 version will be released by end of September 2009 with an installation process that will overwrite this release candidate. To download this version of Valence, visit http://www.cnxcorp.com/valence/try. This version is encoded to automatically expire on November 30, 2009.

Version: 2_0_20090927_0_RC3

Release Date: 2009-09-27

System Requirements:

• Any hardware running the IBM i operating system V5R3 or higher.
• If at V5R3, then 5722-AC3 Cryptographic Access Provider is also required. V5R4 or higher, Cryptographic Access Prover is not required.
• A personal computer running Windows XP, Windows Vista, MacOSX or Linux (for installation only).
• A compatible browser on client computers. This version of Valence has been extensively tested with Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3 and Safari 4. Google Chrome is also very likely to work fine, but we do not currently QA test Valence with Chrome.
• If you would like to use the new PDF or Email capabilities of Valence 2.0 then you need 5722JV1 *BASE and option 6, Java Developer Kit 1.4. This is installed on most newer systems by default. After installing this version of Valence, just try to run the PDF and email examples. If they work then you know for certain your system has the correct configuration. Note that even though Java is required, you do not need to know or use Java to develop PDFs or send emails with Valence. You will use the Valence RPG Toolkit procedures, which use certain Java functions behind the scenes.

New Features in Valence 2.0:

• See the release notes for Valence 2.0 RC1 and Valence 2.0 RC2 for a description of new features added since Valence 1.2 and prior to this release.

New Features and Bug Fixes from RC2 to RC3:

• Added significant new features to the SQL and file-based AutoCode grid inquiry programs for automatic record grouping and search capabilities.
• Enhanced the charting AutoCode program.
• Added an entirely new Help Desk example application. This application includes a "My Tickets" program where end users can open "tickets" with the help desk, and a "Ticket Manager" program for help desk personnel to manage and report activity against tickets. While the Help Desk example application is intended as a learning tool for developers, it can also be used as an actual Help Desk application. As with all Valence example applications, full source code is included.
• Added new "Tab Link" capability that allows for easy communication between programs in the portal.
• Added new "Tab Link" examples that show how to link an inquiry in one program to a search list in another, and how to launch multiple portal tabs dynamically from a Valence program.
• Changed programming technique for loading Fusion Charts and Fusion Widgets. Charts are now loaded with data by making a standard Ext JS Ajax call and pumping that response into the chart. This technique allows for all global character sets to work with the charts. All chart examples and other programs in Valence have been updated to use this technique.
• Fixed several issues with the use of non-English CCSID's.
• Enhanced the vvChart procedures in the Valence RPG Toolkit for better global compatibility.
• Added the ability to manually size column widths when using vvPDF_addTable.
• Added a tool to the portal navigation panel to automatically collapse all open folders on the navigation tree.
• Updated Ext JS JavaScript framework from version 3.0.0 to 3.0.2.

Migrating to Valence 2.0 from Valence 1.0 - 1.2:

Valence 2.0 significantly alters the development methodology of Valence programs as well as changes the names of all the Valence RPG Toolkit procedures to be more closely aligned with their function. The benefit of this is that developing applications with Valence 2.0 will be faster and easier, but the downside is that existing applications developed for Valence 1.X will not run under Valence 2.0 without significant changes. In addition, because of the new design there is no automated way to migrate your Valence Portal data from a previous version of Valence to Valence 2.0. The CNX development team will assist licensed Valence customers who are current on maintenance to port their existing Valence applications and Valence Portal data to 2.0 at no charge. At this time our plan is to make all future versions of Valence backward compatible with with your Valence 2.0 applications wherever possible.

Installing Valence 2.0 RC3 over Valence 2.0 RC1 or RC2:

If you already have Valence RC1 or RC2 installed, this version will completely overwrite that version. Any settings in the Valence Portal and any development work you have placed in the /valence-2.0 path or VALENCE20 library will be completely overwritten. Copy any of your work out of those locations prior to installing RC3. Before installing over RC1 or RC2, be sure that VALENCE20 Apache server instance is ended and that there are no locks on the VALENCE20 library.

• End the VALENCE20 server instance configuration with command "ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(VALENCE20)"
• Check for locks on the VALENCE20 libary with command "WRKOBJLCK OBJ(VALENCE20) OBJTYPE(*LIB)". Do not proceed until all locks are cleared.

Customers Using CCSID other than 37 or 65535:

Valence is installed by default with the VALENCE20 server instance CCSID set to 37 (U.S. English). This maximizes the probability that the server instance will start on the first try. Many customers will be able to run fine with this setting. However, if your default system CCSID is set to a number other than 37 or 65535, or if you want to use a special character set, you may need to adjust this setting to your desired CCSID for Valence to be able to render special characters correctly. To adjust the Valence CCSID, look for this line in the Apache server configuration file for VALENCE20 and change the number to your desired CCSID:

DefaultFsCCSID 37

Once this is changed, restart the VALENCE20 server instance.

Support:

If you need assistance with installing this release please email support@cnxcorp.com.