The most important feature in this release is called “task reparenting” and it allows to move tasks all around the whole hierarchy. Hopefully this will help keep your tasks better organized.

Select any task you want to move, choose the “Reparent Task…” command from menu and point out a new parent in the Task Chooser window. Click OK and that is all. This feature is available only for paid users in MapleXp Classic.

Another small improvement is the “stop task” button placed in windows 7 thumbnail preview.

This version brings the following changes:

• database encryption and password protection
• safe mode

Database encryption

Database encryption is a feature of Microsoft SQL Compact Edition itself. Encryption and protection go together. If you set a password your database is automatically encrypted. If you delete the password database is decrypted.

I also added the ability to give database a short identifier which can be used to identify the database instead of its physical location.

This changes led to three new dialog boxes in the application

• create database
• database properties
• password prompt

Create database

Database properties

Query database password

Safe mode

This is not a completely new feature. In the past MapleXp had two entries in start menu: one for a regular launch and another one for the safe mode. Now when we use Microsoft Click Once for distribution purposes only one start entry is allowed.

You can however run MapleXp in the safe mode by pressing and holding down CONTROL key while launching. The safe mode displays the following dialog box which allows you to delete configuration files in case you suspect they got corrupted.

• Bulk operations for work items (modify & delete).
• Improvements in Copy to Clipboard command.
• Work Item Registry columns can be reordered.
• Setting to ignore installed license file.

Bulk operations for work items (modify & delete).
See the new dialog box which is displayed when there are many work items selected.

Improvements in Copy to Clipboard command.
As it is now possible to select more then one record you can decide whether all or only selected work items should be send to clipboard.

Work Item Registry columns can be reordered.
This is an enhencement over 1.9 where you only could decide which ones should be visible.

Setting to ignore installed license file.
This may be useful if one uses both “classic” and “express” databases for some reason.

http://blog.maplexp.com/archives/15 – change log for MapleXp 1.9
http://blog.maplexp.com/archives/24 – work item rates explained
http://blog.maplexp.com/archives/31 – restore environment feature explained

MapleXp can deliver this experience by saving the following:

• main window size and location
• recently used database
• characteristics of child windows, including their internal state (i.e. task window remembers which nodes were expanded and which task was selected)

You should also understand that the first two can be stored as application setting whereas information about child windows depends on an open database and as such must be kept in the respective database.

How it worked so far …

In MapleXp pre-1.9 you could control the “restore environment” feature by the means of the following settings:

The first two checks were independent, but to enable “other windows” you had to have “main window” and “last database” selected. The code to handle this was quite simple:

• restore main window, if requested
• open recently used database, if requested
• if the two previous was successful, restore child windows

What was wrong with that? The weakest point was that this algorithm ran only once at launch. It did not work for the following basic scenario:

• open a database
• open some windows
• close the database (<- here windows are closed automatically)
• reopen the database (<- nothing restored .. we are not at startup)

How it works now …

In MapleXp 1.9 control of the “restore environment” feature was split into two areas. See the following screenshots:

Controls located on the General tab have the same meaning as in previous versions. You can request to restore the main window and the recently used database independently.

Please note that the “restore database specific windows” option was moved to the Database tab to emphasize that it is no longer a startup option. Now the child windows can be restored any time a database if opened (including the launch if so requested). So:

• open a database
• open some windows
• close the database (<- here windows are closed automatically)
• reopen the database (<- child windows are restored to their previous state)

Hopefully you will like this improvement.

First of all, what is a rate? This is a figure telling how much you should be paid for an hour of your work. Thus all this functionality is aimed at users who need to invoice their customers and expect MapleXp to help them to do so.

So far …

Task rate was introduced about a year ago in MapleXp 1.7. How did it work? You were allowed to enter the rate for particular tasks. Having this figure allowed MapleXp to present a “value” for each registered work items. What was that value calculated? It was a product of the work item duration and the rate of the respective task.

This values were presented in two places in MapleXp:

• value column in work items registry
• summary in task tree

Now …

Now, the rate can be found in two places. (1) It is still a property of a task.  (2) Additionally each work item has its own rate. How are they related?

• during database conversion the task rate is copied to all related work items
• when a new work item is created it inherits the rate from its task – since then it is independent

An interesting point is when you change the rate for an existing task. What should happen to the rates that have already been copied to work items? MapleXp gives you 3 choices:

• do not modify work items – the new rate will be applied only to future work items
• copy the new rate to all existing work items
• copy the new rate only to those work items that have not yet been invoiced – this is the place where the new flag “invoiced” plays its role

The “value” of a work item is now calculated as a product of the duration and the rate of a work item.

Would you have any questions or suggestions related to this feature I will be happy to hear from you.

Most improvements in this version are devoted to help people who need to invoice their customers based on time spent on particular projects and are available in the Classic edition of MapleXp.

You can get this prerelease version by means of the following link:
http://download.maplexp.com/app/maplexp-1.9-prerelease.zip

This is a “take-away” version of the application (please see “MapleXp Stick” section of http://www.maplexp.com/Downloads to learn how to install it)

Change log for 1.9
(I will add a separate posts about highlighted features at a later time)

new kind of data stored for individual work items in database

• rate per hour
• flag “invoiced”

work item registry window

• ability to choose which columns should be displayed
• new available columns: rate & invoiced
• ability to filter records by invoiced flag (3-state)
• filtering by flag hidden enhanced to 3-state

task tree windows

• ability to filter work items by invoiced (3-state)
• filtering by flag hidden enhanced to 3-state
• task visibility control always shown
• added a readonly box to show path of the current task

modify task window

• ability to control how changed task rate should impact rate for existing work items

copy work items to clipboard

• includes rate & invoiced flag
• two commands in menu: copy with/without header
• main window flashes to confirm operation

export wizard

• ability to choose new columns: rate & invoiced
• ability to filter by flag invoiced

database wizard

• conversion classic-to-express must be extra confirmed due to data loss during such a conversion
• graphical changes

restore environment feature

• windows are restored any time a database is opened
• position of child windows is ensured to be completely within main window

settings/configuration

• changes in layout of controls forced by changes in how “restore environment” works (see above)
• ability to set format for currencies (affected: work item registry: values & rate, status bar for work items & tasks, task create/mnodify)

other

• toolbar icon for settings