Fusion 2.3

Build Date: 2011-05-08

New Features

• Under Fusion Core the Show Lot's Pens and Show Pen's Lots menus have been renamed to reflect the window titles, ie. Lot's Pen List and Pen's Lot List.
• You can now change the weight of animals (lots/pens, not individual) in a historical context. To do this, use the Pen's Lot List or Lot's Pen List windows. Go to the date you want to change and then selected the lot/pen combination you want to change. Double-click the sublot weight and you will be able to enter a new weight. Within a few seconds, Fusion Server will have made the changes in the background. You can click the Refresh button to see the changes once the server has made them.
• The Pen Edit window has been rearranged slightly. The "This Use Start Date" field has been moved to the Bunk Call Graph area and it is now possible to change this date manually when needed. This should only be needed rarely, but it is available to fix mistakes. Also, you can now add the pen itself to the list of pens the bunk call graph will be drawn from which makes sense when animals have been in and out of the same pen multiple times.
• The Advanced Print window now includes reports designated as Inline reports in the report list which will make it easier to test them. They are shown in italics to distinguish them from normal reports.
• The Print Center window has changed a bit. All reporting now happens from within the window itself instead of opening the list window and working through that. You can now send the report to the clipboard, the printer, or to a file directly from this window. Note that if no saved search is associated with a report, it will default to printing all items, so you will almost always want to have a saved search associated with the report. Fusion will let you know how many items will be reported on and make sure that is okay before actually building the report.
• The menu buttons in the list windows now always react properly to right-clicks. (It used to be that a fast right-click could be interpreted as a left click.)
• The Risk Analysis Export window has a new Options tab which has some new checkboxes that make it possible for Fusion to automatically add and remove included lots each midnight. If Automatically Send New Lots is checked, Fusion will look for newly created lots that are not in the list and include them. If Automatically Stop Sending Lots is checked, Fusion will wait until the lot has been closed for the specified number of days and then stop including the lot. If Fusion auto adds a lot that you don't want to be included, just right-click on the lot and choose Don't Auto Send This Lot. You can always include the lot again by manually adding it. The Options tab also allows you to determine whether the optional "blocks" of information are included in the file. In the past, the Contact and Ownership blocks where included and two additional blocks have been added. Check with the company you are sending the file to to see which blocks they require.
• Added some new advanced find search fields to the Contact List for finding contacts which have categories and keywords assigned them. For example, you could have a "Buyer" category assigned to some contacts and then use the new field in a saved search to quickly find all your buyers. Also, there is now a Current Owner search field for the Lot Center window. This means that you can now create saved searches that automatically do everything you could with the Lot Center window manually and print from the Print Center window.

Lists and List Windows

A number of enhancements have been made to list type windows and some lists themselves that are shown on other types of windows. The internal structure of the lists has changed which should make them generally faster when scrolling and less network intensive because they are more intelligent about when they refresh their information. Here are some of the enhancements:

• Columns can be resized and dragged into a new order. (The width and position, among other things, can be saved--see the notes about Saved Views below.)
• The search box above each list now has more capability. Clicking on the magnifying glass brings up a list of possible fields to search on. As you choose a field, you also choose which type of search to perform. Once a field is chosen, the search box will search on that field until you change it. Note that it understands what type of field you are searching on. For example, if you choose a date field, you can enter the date with all the date entry shortcuts you are used to in other areas of Fusion. If you hover your mouse over the magnifying glass for a moment, a tooltip describing the current search will appear. Clicking the "x" button on the right of the search box will clear the search box. Alt-clicking this button will make sure an Advanced Search is also cleared if one exists.
• Another change to the search box is that the search is only initiated after you tab out of the field. Many searches used to happen on every keystroke which was fine when we first started Fusion because no network was involved. Searching only after tabbing out should speed things up quite a bit now.
• There is a new gear icon to the left of the search box which gives additional features. For example, direct access to saved view, search, sort, and print options is available. These options are described below.
• One option in the gear icon is the Advanced View. You can use Advanced View to customize which columns appear in the list, the width and position, and font and color attributes. This works similar to Advanced Find and Sort in that you can use the window to temporarily customize the list view as well as save as many views as you like so that you have fast access to them in the future. Note that some columns can be very resource intensive so you will only want to display them when necessary. However, this also means that you can now display pretty much every column that could previously only be printed with Advanced Print reports.
• Advanced Views, Searches, and Sorts can now be set as the default (either globally or per user) for when a window first opens. This can be done through options within the Gear button or from within the Advanced windows themselves using the Save buttons. If both a global and per user setting is saved, the user setting will be used when the window opens.
• (Note that when saving Advanced Views, Searches, or Sorts from within the Lot edit window for the Cattle In and Cattle Out tabs, you must save the lot itself for the changes to be saved.)
• Some list windows used to have some extra objects above the list to make it easier manage what was displayed in the list. For example, the In Cohort list window had a checkbox which, by default, made it so only non-assigned cohorts were shown. These objects often got in the way of printing from the Print Center window. In most of these windows these objects are now gone and their functionality should be replaced by setting default advanced views, searches, and sorts which gives you more flexibility without getting in the way of the Print Center window.
• Another option in the gear icon is Open Child Window. This feature works best on larger monitors. If you choose this you will be given the choice of several other list windows that can act as child windows to the current list. This works exactly the same way as inline reports, but you can see the results live. A list window can have several child windows open at the same time and a child window can have its own child windows and so on to any depth. When a child window is open, you can select an item in the parent window and the child window will only show items that make sense based on the selection. For example, if the Contact List window is open and you have opened the Lot Center window as a child based on Buyer, then when you select a buyer in the Contact List window, only lots for that buyer will show up in the Lot Center window. You can also select more than one item in a parent window and the child window will show the correct items for whatever is selected. If this sounds complicated, just play with it a bit--it will make sense quickly. Note that you can still use the search box and Advanced Find in the child window--the search results will just be narrowed even further.
• You can now have multiple copies of the same list window open at the same time. Hold down the Option key (Mac) or Shift key (Mac or Windows) when opening a list window from the menu bar to do this. For example, if you already have the Lot Center window open and would like a second copy for comparing, hold down the Shift key as you select Lot Center from the Lots menu. Each copy is completely independant of the others so you can apply different Advanced Views, Searches, Sorts, etc.
• For many types of columns you can right-click on the column header to achieve additional functionality. For example, doing so on a number type column gives you the option to have Fusion calculate various math functions on the selected or displayed records and show the results. Some other types of columns allow you to get a list of the unique values in the column and a count of how many times each occurs. Whenever a calculation is performed, the result is also placed in the clipboard so it is ready to be pasted elsewhere (such as in a spreadsheet).
• The same code is now used when displaying columns in lists and printing the same columns in Advanced Print reports so what you see displayed should be exactly what you see when printed. The same is true for inline reports/child lists. If you can open a child list, you can also use it as an inline report. This should keep things more consistent.
• Please note that the internal changes we have made makes it easier for us to add new columns to lists and new parent/child relationships between lists. If there are columns or relationships you feel we have missed, please send a feature request and we'll try to add them if we can.

Scale System Changes

The scale system used in the truck and at chuteside has been completely rewritten. The main reason for this was to accommodate a new device called a DSI which is a replacement for the LCIB, but many other enhancements have been included. (More information about DSIs will be forthcoming when we finish field testing.) Following is a list of the most significant changes to be aware of:

• The Physical Computer Management window now allows you to choose whether you will use an LCIB or a DSI. A new Setup button exists which is used to calibrate and take care of other setup items for the selected device. This includes the pertinent settings that used to be changed with the Options button on the scale indicator window (which no longer exists).
• In the Physical Computer Management window, when you set up a remote display, there is a new Apply button. After changing the port or any other setting, you can click the Apply button and if the scale indicator window is open, it will immediately try to connect to the remote display with the new settings. This also happens when you save any changes by closing the setup window. This should make it easier to figure out the correct port for the remote display by trial and error.
• The "Chute hold delay" option, which used to be changed from the Options button on the scale indicator window has been moved to the Scale Indicator section of the Preferences window. The preference is still local to the computer it is being set on.
• The method for calibrating devices should now be a little easier as Fusion guides the user through each step of the calibration. Note that calibration now happens from within the Physical Computer Management window.
• The Scale Indicator window is completely new and now has the idea of "modes". Fusion will normally put the scale system in the correct mode for what you are doing (feeding, chuteside job, etc.). You can also switch to different modes yourself choosing the new menu options (Fusion Admin-->Utilities in office, or from the Options button in the touchscreen menu windows): Scale--Idle, Scale--Simple, Scale--Weigh, Scale--Off. For example, the Simple mode might be used to just use the scale system without having to be in a job. The Weigh mode has the same interface as Fusion Weigh does. This way you shouldn't have to use Fusion Weigh anymore in the few cases where some people were doing that.
• The Scale Indicator window used to always float above any other window. By default now, it behaves like a normal window so other windows can be on top of it. However, you can choose which window type you like on each computer in the device's Settings window (Physical Computer Management) by clicking the Scale Indicator Window... button. In this same place you can ask Fusion to reset the Scale Indicator window's size and position to the default. Whenever you move the window to a new position, or resize it, Fusion will remember and use that in the future. Occasionally you might get in a situation where you want to get the window back to the default settings and this allows you to do that.
• The device Settings windows mentioned above have a blue help button which can be used to access information to diagnose issues with your scale device.
• The new scale system stores the various settings related to your scale device differently than it used to. When you upgrade, Fusion will convert the old settings into the new system and then delete the old settings. We advise against using Fusion Weigh on the same computer as this version of Fusion or these settings may get mixed up. A new version of Fusion Weigh will be available in the future. In any case, with the new mode options, the need to use Fusion Weigh on the same computer as Fusion should no longer be necessary anyway.

Bug Fixes

• On the first launch for a new customer, if they chose different units than the defaults, the chosen units did not come into play until after a server relaunch. This is fixed.
• The scale indicator window used to be able to "freeze". Clicking the Options button and then clicking back off would "unfreeze" it. The new scale system ensures that this doesn't happen anymore.
• If a billing period spanned a time when a water meter was linked to an ingredient or unlinked from an ingredient, the tempering information after the change was not correct. This is fixed.
• The Customer Invoice used the term "Other Inputs", but we call these just "Inputs" everywhere else in Fusion now. This inconsistency has been fixed.
• In the Scale Ticket edit window, the displayed unit for the Base Price Override Value was incorrect. This is fixed.
• When clicking on the Ration Info or Equivalent Basis buttons in a Ration edit window, if the ration is assigned a specific location this will now be the location that these extra windows will default to.
• When a phone number for a contact is changed, but none of the main contact information is changed, the phone number did not update in the Contact List. This is fixed.
• Bunk graphs have now returned to their original behavior where they automatically scroll to the far right when drawing.