More about new features in production release

There are several new features that I'd like to call attention to in the production release. One of the most important, even though it's not visible to end users, is the installer's ability to create a Windows service. Previously, the only way to run cubeSavvy on Windows was to use the start.bat file. While very easy to use and understand, it had a major shortcoming - the DOS command window remained open as long as cubeSavvy was running. The window could easily be closed accidentally, ending the cubeSavvy session in the process. Also, it's just not a good practice from a system administration point of view to have open DOS windows for each process running on a server. The Windows service allows for stopping and starting cubeSavvy just as you would any other service.

The next new feature of note is the ability to share ad-hoc grids with other cubeSavvy users. Administrators have always had this capability, using the "Users" - "Edit User Access" button of the "Home" tab. Now regular users can also share the grids they create. This is key: users can only share those grids that they themselves create. For such grids they have the option of giving fellow users either "Read/View" access or "Full Access". As the name implies, read access means that the grid appears in the user's list of grids on the left. The user can then open the grid, refreshing the retrieval contained therein. They can even modify the retrieval on the grid while they have it open, however, they do not have the ability to save their changes and make them visible to other users. Users with "Read" access to a grid are also not authorized to share it with other users. Only the creator of the grid, and admins, have this level of authorization.

An "Insert Attributes" button has also been introduced. Clicking this button will add those attribute dimensions to the grid that are not already present. For example, using an ad-hoc grid based on Sample.Basic, if the retrieval already contains "Caffeinated_True"; "Ounces", "Pkg Type", "Population", and "Intro Date" will be added to the header row. If no attribute dimensions are currently present, they will all be added.

The last enhancement is the "Environment" button, also for ad-hoc grids (are you seeing a trend here? ;-)). Clicking on this button presents a slide-out panel on the right of the grid. This panel displays most of the information available when creating or editing a grid: Environment, Application, Database, Calc script, Shared Services Groups, Comments, Description, and Decimal Places. A user with read access will see these options all grayed out, but can at least see the main settings for the grid. An admin user, the grid's creator, or a user with "Full Access" will be able to edit these fields and save the changes.

Give cubeSavvy a try. It has a 30-day free trial, so you have nothing to lose!

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

Regards,
Harry