Release Notes 2.1.3

Introduction

This page provides detailed information about release version 2.1.3 of AppBoard. It details the System Requirements, New Features, Resolved Issues, and Known Issues associated with the release.

What is AppBoard

AppBoard is a data integration and data visualization platform that dramatically redefines the cost/benefit equation for the development and deployment of real-time business systems dashboards. AppBoard allows you to connect, integrate, visualize, and interact with your data in a simple, straight-forward builder environment. The end result is powerful, compelling dashboards that summarize data from multiple sources and can be accessed from any device.

System Requirements

The following is a snapshot of the minimum System Requirements for AppBoard version 2.1.3:

Server Requirements

Vendor	Platform	Versions
Sun Microsystems	Solaris	8, 9, 10 / Sparc 32 bit
Red Hat / CentOS	Linux	8.0, Enterprise ES 2.1, 3, 4, 5, 6
Microsoft	Windows	Windows XP, 2000, 2003 Server, 2008 Server R2

Component	Requirements
Hardware	Windows, Linux: 2.0 GHz Processor 2.0 GB RAM Solaris: 1.0 GHz Processor 2.0 GB RAM
Disc Space	Minimum: 1.0 GB* Recommended: 2.0 GB*
* Note: Additional space may be required for database-related disk space requirements.
Software	Java SE Development Kit 6+ (JDK 1.6+) Web Application Server (Tomcat is default)
Database	A specific database installation is not required. Connectivity from the server to the data sources is needed for presenting data in AppBoard widgets.

Default IP Ports Used

	Port (default)	Protocol	Scope
Web Server	8080	HTTP	public
Database (e.g. Postgres)	5432	JBDC	private
SSH	22	TCP	public

Client Requirements

Web Browser

Vendor	Platform	Version(s)	Plug-In
Microsoft	Internet Explorer	6+, 7+, 8.0	Adobe Flash Player 10.2+
Mozilla	Firefox	3+	Adobe Flash Player 10.2+

Development Requirements

Software	Java SE Development Kit 6+ Adobe Flash Builder 4.5.1 Adobe Flex SDK 4.5.1 Adobe Flex 4.5.1 Data Visualization Components for Flash Builder 4.5.1

Recommended Specifications

The minimum system requirements for running AppBoard are detailed above. When running AppBoard in a production environment, the robustness of the user experience is an important consideration. Thus, the following system specifications are suggested as a guideline for provisioning AppBoard in a live customer environment:

• Production Server (configured for speed)
  • Dell PowerEdge R710 w/ dual Xeon X5650 (or similar equivalent)
  • 32 GB 1333 MHz RAM
  • 4 73 GB 15K RPM SAS 6Gbps drives - RAID 10
  • Dual GbE NICs

• Development Server
  • Dell PowerEdge R410 w/ dual Xeon E5620 (or similar equivalent)
  • 8 GB 1333 MHz RAM
  • 2 15K RPM SAS drives – RAID 1

The production servers can be scaled out by adding additional servers behind a network load balancer (with SSL acceleration if HTTPS is used), with an additional remote database server used for configuration sharing between the multiple application servers. Load balancing must supply session affinity (persistence / stickiness).

New Features

This section describes the enhancements to AppBoard that are available in version 2.1.3.

1. Added a new widget called "Comment Widget", under the "System" widget type. It allows end users to enter comments in a list. All other users can see all comments in the list.
2. Enhanced banner branding support to be able to fit in logos that are wider than the previous 120x48 allowed, without rescaling them on display. The width of the image will determine how wide it is in the Appboard banner.
3. Enhanced the Google Map Widget to toggle when clicking the buttons "Map", "Satellite", "Terrain", "Hybrid" found in the upper right hand of the map component.
4. Added support for two logos in the Appboard banner, to better support various OEM and re-branding models.
5. Enhancements to the QuickAction widget
   1. Added new skins
   2. Reduced the minimum height from 150 to 110 to help streamline the widget.
   3. Added dynamic default selection (for example, first, last)
   4. Made widget label (above dropdown) optional and use text box rather than column name to label it
   5. Reduced amount of extra padding in the widget
6. Added basic validation to a Diagrammer widget when it gets a model. Will now check all referenced paletteItems to see if they exist in the diagramModel.
7. Added option to Bubble Chart widget where y axis can start at minimum y value (auto scale) rather than zero (like in the Area & Line chart).
8. Enhanced Gauge widget to size itself to the size of the widget container.
9. Added support for LDAPSync command to be run from an admin channel in the administrator UI rather than command line.
10. Added new 'Gradient' and 'Cyrendering styles for the following charts:
    1. Area
    2. Column
    3. Bar
    4. Bullet
    5. Pie
11. Enhanced performance by having Data Collections refresh only if a change in order, length, or references has occured.
12. Added SWF/Bitmap caching that will cache all types with bitmapdata (PNG, GIF, BMP, etc) as well as SWF/FXG vector images. This enhances the performance of the system with regard to processing speed and memory utilization. This update does not require any change to configuration or end-user interaction with AppBoard.

Resolved Issues

This section describes the issues resolved in AppBoard version 2.1.3.

1. Fixed an issue where a Bullet Chart, when first loading Appboard, on the top level of a stack redraws its content numerous times before then drawing the quick filters at the bottom of the widget and stopping.
2. Fixed "String index out of range" errors being returned by the server on certain types of Data Sources.
3. Fixed issue where the tab order of stacks in the viewer for the end-user was not the same as the order in the AppBoard builder for the same role.
4. Fixed issue where an action that sets a URL for a web widget would be ignored on first access and was instead using the default URL for the widget on first access.
5. Fixed issue of bars becoming widened and overlaid for several seconds when re-painting certain bar charts. The repaint is now done in the background to avoid excessive visual distraction.
6. Fixed an issue when configuring "use icon from library" with the Icon Badge option in the Google Map Widget, where none of the icons listed were visible.
7. Fixed issues on some boards with excessive memory footprints and growing memory utilization over time.
8. When using a rule to select a image by URL, fixed to show the default image in the icon renderer rather than the broken image indicator, in the event of a 404 error.
9. Fixed default link shape rendered by Diagrammer to match link shape on the toolbar.
10. Fixed issue where if you have an action that sets a URL for a web widget, it will be ignored on first access and instead use the default URL for the widget on first access.
11. Fixed Gauge widget background to be translucent.
12. Fixed problems on some boards causing uneven layout spacing. Changed Layout code and changed status bar to use a flowlayout so the children will stay within the bounds of the widget container.
13. When a series in the clustered column chart contains NULLs in one of the series, the columns are rendered unevenly. Fixed rendering to use the same width for both series instead.

Known Issues

1. Using an Icon List widget with a coverflow style and a mixture of URLs that are PNG and SWF files can cause version 11,1,102,55 of flash player to crash

Contact Information

For questions or assistance with this release of AppBoard, please see the support page for contact information.