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.Release Notes v2020.1


Release 2020.1 is now available; it is a minor feature release that contains new features, bug fixes, and refinements.


We will begin scheduling 2020.1 updates on customer Test systems starting April 13th, 2020.

Notable Changes

    • Added support for creating/updating Remarks and User-Defined Field values to the Contact API endpoint.
    • Replaced PCR-360 API Token Authentication with a JSON Web Token.
    • Various security fixes and enhancements for Custom Events, Custom Validation, Custom API, and Conditional Logic.
    • Added an Audit Cleanup Event to remove Audit entries where no changes were made to the data, aside from updating the "Modified Date." These entries are effectively duplicates of the original Audit entry.
    • Enhancements and bug fixes for the Cable Path Import and Department Hierarchy Import.
    • Multiple Time Entry and Service Desk Labor fixes.

Please review the Database Changes in 2020.1 and make any necessary changes to your Adhoc Grids, Custom Events, and API calls.


Review and Refresh Session(s)

We are planning two Review and Refresh sessions for 2020.1; the first session is scheduled for April, 14th at 1:00 PM Eastern, and the second is scheduled for April, 15th at 3:00 PM Eastern.

Key

Release 2020.1.5 (10-06-2020)

Component

Description

Type

Incident(s)

Documentation

API

Submitting poorly formed JSON data, or data with bad characters will no longer fail and return a null value. Now $params will be returned with the default data.



Billing

The Bill process now checks for Equipment Billling Group overrides for Equipment Charges.

IN-4342
The Bill process now checks for Billling Group overrides for GLA Charges.



Custom Logic

Restored the data displayed on the Schedule Tab on the Custom Events screen.

IN-4333

Inventory

The Warehouse Actions Return is now changing the Service Desk Equipment Status from Pending to Complete.

Note: With this change, the Return "Quantity" field will no longer be available when returning "In" Equipment on Remove Actions. All items must be returned at the same time for Remove Actions.

IN-4304

IN-4262


General

Fixed issues with the validator when creating an empty database for new installs.



Reporting

Due to licensing the constraints of Oracle Java, we have officially dropped support and switched to using OpenJDK for Crystal Reports.  Please submit any requests to upgrade java on our portal help.pcr.com.



Services

The Call Details Tab on the Service form now includes Rated Unbillable calls.

IN-4316

Service Desk

Service Desk Actions will no longer display an erroneous "was not found in the haystack" error on the Service Options field.



Completing a Service Order with Actions no longer produces erroneous "Failed to save record" errors, when there is some other issue on the form (such as no owner or a missing GLA).


IN-3000

IN-4225

IN-4239

IN-4365

IN-4192


Release 2020.1.4 (09-01-2020)

Component

Description

Type

Incident(s)

Documentation

CustomerCenter

Approved Service Requests are now showing in the Service Requests Grid.



Custom Logic

Customer Validation now supports using call function to invoke Write methods for API types.


Custom Validation

Syntax

Large Custom API, Custom Events, and Custom Validation scripts no longer generate erroneous error messages.  (e.g. that the str_replace function is not supported)

IN-4164

Events & Notifications

Workflow Start Date Notifications/Escalations are now triggered when the Workflow Start Date is set automatically.

IN-4216

Services

The Service Desk tab on Services once again includes Pending Add Actions.

IN-4215

Service Desk

Completing a Service ID Action no longer clears the Path Location.

IN-4188 

SDC Workflow steps that should be added at completion are now added to Incidents and Work Orders upon completion.

IN-4196

Release 2020.1.3 (08-06-2020)

Component

Description

Type

Incident(s)

Documentation

API

The Service Desk API now properly supports Service/ Equipment UDFs on Incidents.


Service Desk API Calls

CustomerCenter

The Service Option flags (Billable, Directory, Report 911, etc.) are now set for Task, Change, and Remove Actions on Service Requests created from CustomerCenter.

IN201833105

IN-2965


SDCs are now properly applied to Service Requests when a matching SDC is found.

IN-4125
Existing Service Charges are now added to Change Actions on a Service Request.

IN-4125
Task Actions are no longer converted to or displayed as Add Actions in the Cart. Similarly, in certain cases, Add actions are no longer converted to or displayed as Tasks in the Cart.



Service Desk

Converting an Estimate to an Action now allows applying the Estimate to Task Actions.

IN-4153


Release 2020.1.2 (08-03-2020)

Component

Description

Type

Incident(s)

Documentation

Billing

The "Test File" column on the Call Details grid has been restored.

IN-3983
The Available Charges Bulk Update event no longer fails on Oracle. 

IN-4066
Back Dating a Monthly Recurring Charge Stop Date on a Back-Billing & Forward-Billing Charge no longer generates double Credits

IN-4051

Cable

The Service Location column on the Ports/Pins/Lens grid now displays data for the "To Port" on a Path. 

IN-3873

Events

Events that occur during the Fall Daylight Savings Time change should no longer fail. 



Inventory

User-Defined Columns now stay in the correct position on the Equipment Grid after you save the Perspective.

IN-2899

General

Long-running reports sent via email no longer get stuck in an infinite loop (which prevented the reports from being sent out). 

IN-3963

IN-3965

IN-3968

IN-3970

IN-3964

IN-3966


Service Desk

Completing a Service ID Action now sets the Ports/Pins/Lens status to Assigned. (Previously this was set to PDPC)



Default Charges from Task type Service Catalogs are now applied to Task Actions

IN-4031

IN-3915


The Add From SDC button on the Service Desk Workflow tab now selects from the correct SDCs.

IN-4094


Adding Equipment to an Incident Request no longer generates an Oops Error. 




Release 2020.1.1 (05-29-2020)

Component

Description

Type

Incident(s)

Documentation


API

Added SDC support to the Add Incident API endpoint.


Service Desk API
The Barcode API now properly handles "Units" when creating Unit Equipment.


Barcode: Warehouse Bulk Add
Incidents created by API now automatically select an SDC when one is not provided.



Added the 'bill_date' parameter to the Service Charges API endpoint. This allows setting a Start Date for recurring charges via the API.

IN-3375Service API Calls

Billing

Clicking on the "Switch to full detail view" link, on certain Test Bills, no longer redirects you to an error page. 



Cable

The Ports/Pins/Lens Add Range functionality now properly updates Back Connects for ranges over 100 PPLs.

IN-3770
Various "minor" issues with the Port Side Requirement were addressed.



Service Desk Remove Actions now set Cable Pairs and Ports/Pins/Lens to Spare upon completion of the Action.

IN-3785

IN-3792

IN-3816


Adding Multiple Path Legs no longer causes an error when adding a non-spare Ports/Pins/Lens to the same Path.

IN-3039


General

Expanded the Authentication Mapping (AUTH_MAPPING) field on the ROLES table to allow for longer SSO Group names.


Authorization Parameters

Services

When a Service is used on a Service Order that has multiple Actions, the Service Desk tab on the Service form no longer displays data for all of the Actions on that Order.  Previously data for unrelated Actions was displayed on the Service Desk tab.

IN-3622

IN-3736


Release 2020.1 (04-10-2020)

Component

Description

Type

Incident(s)

Documentation

API


Added support for creating/updating Remarks and User-Defined Field values to the Contact API endpoint.


Contact API
Replaced PCR-360 API Token Authentication with a JSON Web Token.


Token Authentication

Service Host Rest API

Authorization Parameters

*JSON Web Token Standard

This release allows more HTML tags for HTML remarks added via the API.

Allowed tags: 'a', 'img', 'strong', 'em', 'p', 'h1', 'h2', 'h3', 'h4', 'h5', 'ul', 'ol', 'li', 'table', 'tr', 'th', 'td', 'br', 'embed'

Note: Support for these tags will come to the Remarks form in a later release.

IN-2857

Remarks: Allowed HTML Tags

Billing

Bill Summary totals on tabs/grids now include the Taxes from Usage and Calls.



Cable

The Cable Path Legs form and Service Desk Cabling Path Legs form will now populate both sides when the Port/Pin/Len is selected.



The Transfer Pair/Strand Range process now properly associates To/From Cabling Equipment pairs transferred from one cable to another. Because of this issue, the Cable Maintenance form displayed connected Equipment for Cables with no Pairs (and no Equipment for some cable with Pairs). 

IN-3446

IN-2854


Catalogs

Now, when a Location is made Inactive, the child Locations are displayed in the Locations Grid as Inactive. Previously, the child Locations were incorrectly displayed in the grid as Active.

IN-3236

IN-2879


Custom Logic


Centralized the logic used to validate allowed PHP functions in Custom Logic. This affects Custom Validation, Custom API, Custom Events, and Conditional Logic.

This change adds support for:

  • PHP array_, is_, str*, etcin Custom Logic.
  • Using PHP Constants in Custom Logic (e.g. STR_PAD_LEFT).
  • regex functions


Custom API

Custom Validation

Custom Events

Custom Logic

Import Conditional Logic

Custom Logic Syntax

Various security fixes for Custom Events, Custom Validation, Custom API, and Conditional Logic:

  • Corrects false Custom Logic validation failures when there are multiple PHP versions installed on the server.

  • Variable function calls are blocked.

  • Access to the following constants is blocked

  • The following globals are blocked

  • The following PHP functions are blocked



General

Added User Defined Columns (UDCs) to the GLA picker.



Added an Audit Cleanup Event to remove Audit entries where no changes were made to the data, aside from updating the "Modified Date". These entries are effectively duplicates of the original Audit entry.


Audit

Events

Historical Data Archiving Events

Fixed various issues with Read-Only Permissions not working consistently.

IN-3387

Imports & Exports




Various Cable Path Import enhancements

  • The import now allows appending Path Legs to existing Paths.
  • The import now allows removing Cable Paths.
  • Added the configuration option CHECK_SERVICE_STATUS. When this option is set to true, the import will throw an error when attempting to add a Path to a Service that is not Active.


Cable Path Import
The Department Hierarchy Import now supports clearing and appending existing contacts to the Department Hierarchy Coordinator tab.

IN-2855


Various fixes to to the Cable Path Import

  • The import no longer allows creating a Path on a Service and Location, if that Location does not exist on the Service.
  • The import no longer replaces Paths with Service data, from a different Service that has the same Location.
  • The import now maintains the correct Pair Status values.
  • The import can now find a Service record using either the formatted or unformatted Service ID.


Cable Path Import

Various fixes to to the Department Hierarchy Import

  • The import now finds the correct SLA when a Hierarchical String is provided in the import file.
    (e.g. "Parent SLA > Child SLA")
  • The import now uses the correct concatenator (defined by the constant GLA_IMPORT_CONCATENATOR)
    for the following import fields: SLA, Default SLA, GLA, and Permitted GLA.
  • The import will now throw an error if any of the following items from the import file are Inactive: Billing Group, Default GLA, Default SLA, Default Incident SLA, and Permission GLAs.
  • The import now defaults new Department Hierarchy records to Active when no status is provided in the import file.
  • New Department Hierarchy records now require the Billing Group. An error is thrown if a Billing Group is not provided in the import file.
  • The import now restricts the allowed Default GLA, and GLA permissions to those allowed by the Billing Group provided in the import file. The import will throw an error if a GLA in the file is not allowed on the provided Billing Group.


Department Hierarchy Import
Service Order and Work Order imports now properly save the SLA provided in the import file.


Inventory

We have enhanced our API and added a Barcode Endpoint.  This will allow scanner software to interface with the API sending barcode transactions into PCR-360 to do things like Warehouse Bulk Add/Transfer, Complete Service Desk Equipment, and Logging Service Desk Labor.


Note: This does require the development of a Barcode Scanner interface (software) to initiate the API calls from a scanner.  PCR worked with a company, Big River Barcode, to develop similar scanner software for COMIT; we are working with them to develop a version to interact with PCR-360.


Barcode

Barcode API Calls

API

Events: Quick Reference

People

Multiple Time Entry fixes:

  • The Time Entry form no longer allows creating, editing, or deleting Labor entries for Voided, Billed, or Finalized Service Desk Items.
  • The following values are now required from the Labor Form, the API or an Import:
    • Date Worked 
    • Worker (Contact)
    • Labor Type
  • Deleting a Time Entry record now deletes the associated Labor record.

IN-2860

IN-2962

Time Entry

Service Desk Labor

Workflow

Service Desk

Changing the Cable Path on an Incident now adds an Activity Record to the Incident.



Incidents
Service Desk Labor Charges are no longer updated when the amount on the Charge Catalog changes. Previously, changing the amount on the Charge Catalog kicked off an event that updated all Charges, including Labor Charges. Labor Charges, particularly those using a flat-rate charge, should be static and not updated by changing the Charge Catalog.

IN201834290
Service Desk Labor Charges are no longer deleted in cases where the user attempted to delete a Labor record, but the Labor record could not be deleted. Previously, even when the Labor record could not be deleted, the associated Labor charge was deleted.



Saving a new Labor record will no longer randomly display an "Oops Error" message.

IN-3293

IN-3082

IN-3089

IN-3102

IN-3408

IN-2931

IN-2892


 * Indicates external documentation not written by PCR.



Database Changes in 2020.1


Default Schema


Table NameChangeTable Changes
API_PERMISSIONSUpdatedAdded Barcode as an API Permission
API_KEYSUpdated
ADD COLUMN DEFAULT_RATE_LIMIT INT DEFAULT 60 NOT NULL;
API_KEYS_USERS_TOKENSUpdated
 MODIFY COLUMN TOKEN VARCHAR(255)  NOT NULL;
ADD COLUMN RATE_LIMIT INT DEFAULT 60 NOT NULL;
ADD COLUMN RATE_LIMIT_REMAINING INT DEFAULT 60 NOT NULL;
ADD COLUMN RATE_LIMIT_RESET DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP NOT NULL;
ADD INDEX API_KEYS_USERS_TOKENS_1 (`TOKEN`);
CABLES_EQUIPMENTUpdated

Create missing "From Cabling Equipment" and "To Cabling Equipment" associations.

Removed orphaned "From Cabling Equipment" and "To Cabling Equipment" associations.

BARCODERemoved
BARCODE_TRANSACTIONSNew

EQP_CATALOGUpdatedCHANGE PART_NUM_BARCODE BARCODE VARCHAR(100);
EVENTSUpdatedAdded an Audit Cleanup Event.
SERVICE_DESK_LABORUpdated
MODIFY COLUMN LABOR_TYPE_LISTS_RECID INT NOT NULL;
MODIFY COLUMN CONTACTS_RECID INT NOT NULL;
MODIFY COLUMN WORKED_DATE DATETIME NOT NULL;


Metadata Schema


Table NameChangeTable Changes
No Changes


Archive Schema


Table NameChangeTable Changes
No Changes

Supported Versions


PCR will patch the last two versions of the application and the current LTS Release. Customers will continue to receive Help Desk Support for releases outside of the support period for a given release.  Bug fixes are only released for versions that are actively supported.

Key

Active supportA release that is actively supported.
End of lifeA release that is no longer supported and will not receive bug fixes. Customers using one of these releases should upgrade as soon as possible.


Version History


 Release Types
LTS ReleaseAn LTS Release is a Major Release that PCR will support for 12 months. All other releases are supported for two release cycles. LTS Releases will be patched (as a hotfix) for any Critical or High Impact bugs applied after a release. These include (but are not limited to): service-impacting issues, billing issues, or charge-related bugs. These issues have no workaround, or the workaround is cumbersome. LTS Releases are intended to relieve “Upgrade Fatigue” for Customers who may not need all of the latest features but need critical bugs fixed. Once the 12-month period has elapsed, PCR will work with customers to move them to the next LTS release.
Major ReleaseMajor releases consist of new features and some bug fixes. These features have a relatively large scope with a greater impact on development and testing, e.g. Accounts Receivable, Service Desk Archiving, Work Order, etc. There will be three feature & bug-fix releases in a given year.
Minor Release

Minor releases consist mostly of bug fixes and occasionally minor enhancements to the application. Minor enhancements are relatively small changes with a low impact on development and testing, e.g. adding a column to a grid, a new field, or tweaking the API. The specification process will occur in at least the month prior to being assigned.

The specification process will occur in tandem with the traditional development and testing cycle.

VersionRelease TypeRelease DateSupport EndsRelease Notes
2024.1
Major

  

Until 2024.2 is releasedhttps://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/3-MQAQ
2023.1
Major

  

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/hZEQAQ
2022.2
Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/NpEQAQ
2022.1
LTS

 

24 months+ or until the next LTShttps://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/Q5AQAQ


Archived Releases No Longer Supported

 Click here to expand...
VersionRelease TypeRelease DateSupport EndsRelease Notes
2021.3Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/zo8QAQ
2021.2Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/eY8QAQ
2021.1LTS

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/Yo8QAQ

2020.4

Major

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/A48QAQ

2020.3

Major

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/g44QAQ

2020.2

Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/lQYRAQ
2020.1Major

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/FI0QAQ
2019.7LTS

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/v4sQAQ
2019.6Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/DeAQAQ
2019.5Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/FosQAQ
2019.4Major

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/qIoQAQ
2019.3Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/wNUQAQ
2019.2Minor

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/DeAQAQ
2019.1Major

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/DeAQAQ
2018.1Major

 

 

https://pcr360.atlassian.net/wiki/x/DeAQAQ
2.1.4.7Minor

 

 

https://forums.pcr.com/t/release-notes-2-1-4-7-2018-10-09/526


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