New Features
This document provides an overview of the new features released in Aptify version 7.0. The content of this document is divided into the following sections:
Azure Enablement in Aptify
Microsoft Azure is a tool that allows businesses to manage their cloud computing and storage accounts with ease. With Microsoft Azure one can manage virtual machines, databases, storage, networking etcetera across multiple subscriptions and locations.
Aptify release 7.0 provides Azure native support that allows the Aptify applications to run on Azure native constructs. This release enables Aptify to run all of the major application components using Azure platform as a service (PaaS) cloud computing model.
Azure Enablement activity will be carried out in phases. Release 7.0 introduces phase I activities that targets re-hosting of following Aptify application components. For more information on this refer to Azure Enablement in Aptify.
- AptifySA user support for Azure Enablement
- Azure BLOB storage for creating and uploading attachments
- Migrating existing attachments on Azure BLOB
Azure App Services for e-Business Classic (CMS/Non-CMS), Aptify Web and e-Business 7.0
- Aptify Smart Client (Desktop) hosting on Azure Virtual Machine
- Aptify Database on Azure SQL Managed Instance
- Hosting SSRS and Crystal Reports on Azure Virtual Machine
- Authentication using Azure Active Directory
- Scheduling existing and new tasks using Azure Web Jobs
- Serilog Integration with Azure Application Insight
e-Business 7.0
The following new e-Business features have been included in Aptify 7.0:
Related Product Widget for e-Business
E-Business 7.0 provides the functionality of displaying related products. Related products are considered added products that can be connected to another product through a product relationship type. Unlike kit products, related products are optional and do not have to be bought along with other products. The related product feature is supported for both the General and the Meeting products and is available on the Product Information page, Event Details page and Your Cart page.
Whenever a user selects a product with other products associated to it (cross-selling products), the related product widget appears under the label: "You may also be interested in…". The widget displays the cross-selling product's name, image, and brief description. For more information refer to Related Product Widget for e-Business 7.0.
Committees Management
Organizations frequently assemble committees to focus on specific tasks or events. The committee may be designed to perform a single function for a brief period, such as organizing a corporate event, or it may be a long-term project that operates indefinitely. e-Business 7.0 introduces the Committees Management feature as a menu option on the landing page for all the logged in users. Committees Management functionality provides below options:
My Committees
Committees Listing
Committee Term (General and Members)
My Committees option provides the ability of listing down the member’s current, past, and future committees under My Committees page, while the Committee Listing page displays, all Active committees. Navigate to the Committees Term page through the My Committees page. For more information refer to Committees Management for e-Business 7.0 document.
Building Controls Using React
Starting from 7.0, developers are able to build user interfaces using React js for the new features in e-Business. React, is an effective JavaScript library that enables building complex user interfaces from small bits of code called “components”. The older controls will continue using Knockout and will work harmoniously with the React controls. For more information on how to build e-Business control using React js refer to Building e-Business Controls Using React.
Aptify Web
The following new Aptify Web features have been included in Aptify 7.0:
Generic Entity (GE) Metadata Refactoring Changes
In Aptify release 7.0, refactoring of Generic Entity metadata code has been done to reduce memory consumption of Aptify based applications. Until Aptify 6.4, an instance of the Generic Entity consumed large amount of memory. This high memory consumption was due to the fact that each GE metadata, including subtypes and fields, were allocated its own copy of the metadata structure. To manage this issue, changes have been done to Metadata.dll which significantly reduces the memory consumption by GEs.
For more information refer to Generic Entity Metadata Refactoring.
Nucleus Integration with Aptify Web
Nucleus Analytics by Gravitate Solutions provides easy and comprehensive data analytics for associations.
With 7.0 Release, Aptify provides a provision for connecting with Nucleus Analytics software using Single Sign-On (SSO) integration. A new application termed Nucleus Reporting is configured as a placeholder application which connects to a sample Nucleus analytical dashboard using the SSO integration. If you are interested in integrating your Aptify application with Nucleus, please contact Aptify Support.
Refer to Nucleus Analytics Integration with Aptify Web Using SSO document for more details.
SAP Crystal Reports Runtime Engine Upgrade
Aptify release 7.0 comes with the upgraded version of Crystal Report Service Pack 32. To upgrade older Aptify versions to Crystal Reports Service Pack 32, refer to Upgrading Crystal Report Version. For information on deployment of Crystal Reports on Aptify Smart Client (Desktop) and Aptify Web applications, refer Deploying Crystal Report on Azure VM.
Record Pinning Improvements
In Aptify release 6.4, for the pinned record’s tab, if the length of characters exceeded twenty, only the first twenty characters were displayed along with ellipsis points (...). This issue has been addressed by providing a configurable attribute, "Aptify.framework.configuration.pinLength", in Aptify.Framework.Configuration.External.js file. The attribute’s value decides the number of characters displayed on the pinned record's tab. Further, to improve the identification of records, the record ID is displayed before the record name in the pinned record's tab, breadcrumbs, and the titles.
Attribute information from Aptify.Framework.Configuration.External.js file:
Aptify.framework.configuration.pinLength = <value>;
Addition of Privacy Policy URL
Aptify release 7.0 facilitates the users to view the Privacy Policy of Community Brands from Aptify Web and e-Business 7.0 applications. A link has been created at the bottom of the sign-in page of Aptify Web, and in the footer section of e-Business 7.0 application for the same. The link opens the Privacy Policy webpage of the Community Brands website.
Addition of a New confirmation Message in License Import
In Aptify Web, a new hard warning message has been introduced in License Import wizard for option ‘Update Licenses to Match this Server’. When a user selects ‘Update Licenses to Match this Server’, a pop-up window appears with ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ buttons and following warning message.” This option unassigns all licenses on the original server’s database. DO NOT select this option when refreshing a Test or Development Server with a Production database. Instead, use the Change Licenses to Different Server Type option. Are you sure you wish to Proceed?
Upon selecting ‘No’, the radio button for "Change License to Different Server Type " is selected automatically. Upon selecting 'Yes', the existing licenses for all the active users get unassigned.