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News in TARGIT 2019 update 4

TARGIT 2019 update 4, according to the release notification, is primarily a maintenance release, fixing a number of known issues. However, a few new features and feature improvements did enter the release as well.

The new features include:

• • "Fit to page width / page height / whole page" options when designing new Dashboard layouts for mobile platforms.
  • Improved Object Toolbar behavior.

Fit to page width

On a mobile platform, especially on a Smartphone, you will probably want to create a dashboard layout that is different from the dashboard layout that you use for PC screens.

The idea with multiple layouts has been supported since the initial TARGIT 2019 release, even making layouts specific for mobile platforms.

However, until now, these layouts have worked as "full screen" layouts, so most things you designed still needed to be crammed into the size of a PC screen or a Smartphone screen.

The new thing is that you can now make layouts designed for scrolling, and this is especially useful for Smartphone users who can now examine each individual object in detail before scrolling on to the next objects.

Fit to page width in an example: A Dashboard designet for a long, scrolling Smartphone layout:

Improved Object Toolbar behavior

With Generic Embedding we have made it a lot easier to embed the TARGIT Anywhere client in one of your Business Systems.

The idea is, that you do not need to know the exact URL that TARGIT Anywhere requires in order to open the right document with the right criteria. Instead, in the assigned frame in your Business System, you create your own Permalink - something that makes sense to you and your Business System. Then, in the TARGIT Windows client, these Permalinks are mapped in a user-friendly interface to their corresponding documents and dimensions.

Generic Embedding from unknown Permalink:

Generic Embedding from pre-configured Permalink:

Tabs

With Tabs you can open multiple documents in one client, rather than opening multiple clients with one document each.

As a Designer user you will benefit from this when:

• • Copying content (objects) from one document to another.
  • Comparing documents, to ensure a consistent and cohesive look and feel.

As a Consumer user you will benefit from this when:

• • Working with related documents.
    • Multi-selected documents can be opened as individual tabs.
    • Tabbed documents can be saved and reopened as one Bookmark.
  • Triggered documents can be opened in new tabs.

Tabs, general functionality and saving tabs as a bookmark:

Multi-select documents and open in tabs. User preference settings:

Open triggered document in new tab:

Scheduled Publishing

Publish and update your Dashboards and Slideshows as browser accessible HTML pages.

With Scheduled Publishing you can render Dashboards, Slideshows and Reports in "offline" mode. (Reports are rendered as PDF documents.)

End-users do not need a TARGIT client to view Dashboards and Reports.

All they need is a browser and the right URL. Even though these Dashboards are non-interactive (no filters, no drills, no triggers), end-users will be able to scroll large crosstabs.

Note: End-users are not authenticated when browsing the HTML output. I.e. everyone with access to the URL will see the same content. 

Slideshows no longer need a TARGIT client to run on monitors.

The monitor simply needs a browser with the right URL to run the Slideshow.

When the HTML output is updated (e.g. every 10 minutes), the browser based Dashboards and Slideshows will automatically update as well.

Links

Scheduled Publishing uses links for publishing the output. Technically, the output is placed on the TARGIT Server, and the URL link points to this location.

When you administrate a Scheduled Publishing job, you can change the source document (e.g. replace a slideshow for a different slideshow) without changing the link. In this way, from your central list of scheduled jobs, you can manage what is being displayed on e.g. 15 wide-spread monitors around your organization.

You can even have multiple scheduled jobs publishing to the same link. E.g. one job publishes and updates a Slideshow every 10 minutes from 8:00 to 16:50. Another job publishes a dashboard to the same link at 17:00.

Administration

Scheduled Publishing only adds workload on the TARGIT server and the Data Warehouse when the output is published and updated. Most of the end-users' workload is handled by the browser, which furthermore is often heavily cached. This behavior has a positive effect on the robustness on published content:

• • If the IIS (with the Anywhere component) stops, the published content will still be available, but will not be updated.
  • If the TARGIT server stops, the published content will still be available, but will not be updated.
  • If the Scheduled Publishing job is disabled, the published content will still be available, but will not be updated.
  • Only if scheduled job is deleted, the server will remove the link and the published content will no longer be available.

Setting up a Scheduled job for a Published link, (and first-time configuration of the Anywhere URL in TARGIT Management Studio):

Changing the source document for a Scheduled Publishing link:

Scheduled Publishing of Slideshow with custom link:

Easy Central Management of Scheduled Publishing jobs:

Two or more scheduled jobs publishing to the same link:

What happens if you change a publishing link? (Or the scheduled job is deleted, or the scheduled job hasn't run yet):

Drill History

In previous versions of TARGIT you would be able to activate the so-called "Drillpad" in your Smartpad.

From this version on, the Drillpad is history.

Instead, you will be able to explore your Drill History (including opening of documents, applying global criteria etc.) using the Back and Forward buttons in the upper right corner of the TARGIT Windows client.

Furthermore, right-clicking any of these buttons will provide easy access to any point in your Drill History.

Copy data objects from "Classical reports" to the new TARGIT 2019 report format

With the TARGIT 2019 version, the reporting engine was completely revised, and that was to such an extent that reports created in TARGIT 2018 or earlier versions cannot automatically convert to the 2019 format. While these "Classical reports" will still work in the TARGIT 2019 environment, this is only for a limited time. With the upcoming TARGIT 2020 we will no longer support the classical report format. In other words: You will have to re-create the necessary reports in the 2019 format if you want to ensure your reporting capabilities into the future.

To help the process of re-creating your reports in the new format, you can now copy data objects from the classical report and into the new report. Some of your old graphs and crosstabs may have held cumbersome calculations and formatting settings, which you no longer need to re-create as they can now simply be copied together with the data object.