Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

Release Name - pi.2021_10_28

Release Date -


We are pleased to present our latest offering of pi - our October 2021 release! This page helps summarise and familiarise you with the changes we have made, and is supported (where applicable) with useful videos to help explain the changes we have delivered.

Note

- in response to a Java security vulnerability around Log4J2, this version of the dashboard needs to be updated to a version from our patched November 21 (inclusive) - or mitigating actions taken to provide security assurances - more information can be found HERE

Info

Before upgrading, we ALWAYS recommend taking a backup. You can find more information on how to do this here.

Info

Known Issue - There's a breaking change on the database schema between our September and October releases, which means Blue-Green deployment is not possible between the two versions. Those using Blue-Green deployment can upgrade to October, by shutting down the old deployment and standing a new one up.

Info

Known Issue - when using an external database, if you use a username other than root, or a different schema name, we are aware that the connections are failing. We are expecting to rectify this in our November release - target release date

Here’s what we’ll cover;

Table of Contents


Added

Rich Text Editing (

pi#2

Zendesk#12199,17277,8739,9168,9257)

Reporting/ Card Charts

Rich text editing allows you to change the appearance of text by using different fonts, changing the font size and colour, applying background colours and changing the alignment. The screenshot below shows how some of the new formatting options can be used.

The following screenshot shows the new formatting toolbar when creating/ editing a Card Chart.

Changing a font is really easy, select the text that you want to change and click the ‘Font Family’ icon to choose a new font.

Rich text editing has been added to the following areas of the dashboard:

  • Scheduling screen

  • Report text editing

  • Report header text editing

  • Card chart type

Users will be able to apply formatting to entire paragraphs of text, particular sentences or to individual words or characters.

You can see full details of this new feature here.

You can also find details of the changes affecting reports and scheduling by clicking this link and card charts by clicking this link.

In addition to the formatting options:

  • Users will now be able to download a Card Chart as a Word.docx

  • Card Chart types used in a report will appear when the report is downloaded as a Word.docx

Video

We’ve created a short video to explain this in a bit more detail.

Confluence youtube macro video
fullscreenConfluenceButton
videoIdhttps://youtu.be/O_wSMs22dkA
Info

Please note that with effect from the 2021_10_28 dashboard release formatting can only be applied by using the new text editor toolbar. HTML code will no longer be recognised as a way of applying formatting.

Storage Access API (

pi#369

Zendesk#15468,15723)

Authentication

The Dashboard now supports the Storage Access API that some browsers offer (currently Edge, Safari and Firefox), which allows a user to permit usage of third-party cookies for a website e.g. when the Dashboard is embedded in another website. This allows the Dashboard to work embedded even when third-party cookies are blocked as long as the feature is supported and permission is granted.

Certificates for SMTP servers (

Scheduler#22

Zendesk#15225)

Scheduler

A new option, ‘Allow Unverified Security Certificates’, has been added to Dashboard Configuration> Settings which allows users to ignore a self-signed/invalid certificate.

By default, the button will be unticked which will allow for the security checks to be carried out for the certificates used.

Info

This functionality will affect the certificates used for forgotten password emails and scheduler emails.


Changed

Exclude excel reader logic from excel - incompatible databases (

pi#386

Zendesk#16672)

Data Connections

Some extra logic has been introduced, which will now skip any excel-reader related logic if the data connection does not support the excel-reader. This change has been introduced in order to improve performance and will affect the following data connections; MYSQL, MYSQL_8, SINGLE_STORE, SQL_SERVER, FREE_FORMAT_JDBC.

Improve Category Filters step debug time (

pi#410

Zendesk#17278)

Filters

The time taken to build category filter values in charts will now be visible in the dashboard.

Change to external URL message text (

pi#419

Zendesk#17155)

Charts

The message that was displayed when a user clicked on a drill down level on a chart that was launching an external URL has been changed from 'External URL link has been launched (Disable pop-up blockers)' to 'External URL link has been launched'.

Improve Configuration Tool --help

(configuration#80)

Configuration Tool

The --help option of the configuration tool has been improved.

Use Linux services for managing the dashboard (

dashboard-deployment#25

Zendesk#16464,18107,18356)

Deployment

Added Linux services for managing the dashboard.


Fixed

Replace [[variables]] in the exported/ scheduled file names (

pi#390

Zendesk#16704)

Exports

When files were exported, any Variable values such as in ‘Report for [[TODAY]]’, were not replaced in the exported file. The Variable name will now be replaced in the exported file for example, Report_for_2021-10-02.pdf.

(pi#399)

More Options

The old import-export link in ‘More Options’ will no longer be visible when installing a slim-docker build. Users will be able to access it directly (if they still use it) when installing the full fat docker build.

Card Charts with no data not displaying correctly

(pi#472)

Card Chart Types

Card Charts that contain text but no data were not being displayed correctly when saved.

Restore repo from filepath (

pi#473

Zendesk#18035,18131)

Dashboard Configuration

The path error which was shown in the configuration tool logs when the repository was being restored from the file path will no longer appear.

Word output of a report containing Card Charts (

pi#545

Zendesk#17284)

pi Reports

When a report that contained a Card Chart was exported to Word, the Card Chart was not being displayed correctly.

Charts not displayed when changes were made to colours used in the legend (

pi#575

Zendesk#17116)

Chart Types

When a legend item containing a numeric value was recoloured and the chart then filtered on this value no data was being displayed.

Environment variables fix

(deployment#25)

Variables

All Environment Variables should now be correctly applied. This specifically affected containerised and AMI deployments.


Keeping An Eye On pi

Info
  • pi Documentation - this area is where we store all our documentation. Please take a look - you can see what’s been added recently in the ‘Recently Updated’ section on the Home Page or by clicking the Pages link on the left hand side of the screen.

  • pi Community - this is an area where you can see recently asked questions and ask your own questions., and connect with other pi users from other companies - designed to help you connect and get the most from our community of users. You can register for an account really quickly by clicking the link at the top right of the screen or if you prefer you can even ask a question without creating an account

  • Customer Portal - don’t forget to download the latest release from here.

  • SupportDesk - log all your support tickets and see what’s happening on your previously logged tickets through our Support Portal

  • pi News - have a look at this area on our website, you’ll be able to see all the latest Panintelligence news

  • pi Academy - try one of our training courses and read through and watch some of our training materials

  • pi Social - see what’s going on at Panintelligence on one of our social media sites