OpCon version 3.1

**(Operator Console)**

**Release Notes**

##### This document contains the release notes for the

OpCon Application

17 May 2002

Prepared By:

##### Eric King

![](media/image1.wmf){width="0.7847222222222222in"
height="0.9895833333333334in"}

The Johns Hopkins University

Applied Physics Laboratory

# Table of Contents

Table of Contents [ii](#table-of-contents)

Introduction [1](#introduction)

Bug Fixes [1](#bug-fixes)

New Features [1](#new-features)

Usability Changes [2](#usability-changes)

Technical Changes [4](#technical-changes)

# Introduction

This version of OpCon adds many new features, implements one major bug
fix (changing a user's organization) and several minor bug fixes. All of
the important changes are described below.

The previous major release of this software was version 2.1. This
document describes the changes made to the application since that
release.

# Bug Fixes

-   OpCon v2.1 allowed a user's organization to be changed -- the user
    could be reassigned to any existing organization. However, doing so
    would sometimes create an inconsistency in the subscription
    registrations data. Unfortunately the problem would only become
    apparent (an error message dialog box would appear) when an attempt
    was made to create one or more new subscription registrations. This
    major bug is fixed in this release.

-   A minor bug prevented OpCon from displaying a new organization or
    user under very limited circumstances (i.e. if there was only one
    organization or user in the system). The only way to display the new
    organization or user was to exit and restart OpCon, or add a second
    organization or user. This minor bug is fixed in this release.

# New Features

The following features are new to OpCon version 3.0.

-   Inspection Report subscriptions are supported. They can be created
    and modified just like Carrier Snapshot and Vehicle Snapshot
    subscriptions.

-   OpCon supports subscription registrations involving main (non-sub)
    accounts. Prior to this release, subscription registrations could
    only be created for users who had a "sub" account in addition to
    their main (non-sub) account. Certain classes of users, however,
    only require subscriptions. They do not execute *any* operations
    (queries, for example) for which a main account is normally used.
    This feature was designed to accommodate this class of users.

> Prior to this release, setting up such users required that both a main
> and a "sub" account be created. Next a subscription registration was
> created (which could only be attached to the "sub" account). Lastly,
> the properties of the registration were modified: the destination
> (e‑mail) address was changed to point to the non-sub account.
>
> This release of OpCon allows subscription registrations to be created
> for main (non-sub) accounts and/or "sub" accounts. With this release,
> setting up a user such as that described above only requires that a
> single main account be created, and that a subscription registration
> be created that is attached to that main account.

-   A new manager is available. Named the "Jurisdiction Manager", it was
    created to assist with e‑screening operations. It is not expected
    that this manager will be used frequently. Consequently, speed
    buttons and menu selections to open this window only appear on the
    OpCon Control Bar.

-   The name of an organization can be changed.

-   The name of a subscription can be changed.

-   The organization point-of-contact information includes a new
    telephone extension field. In addition, the organization phone and
    FAX fields were expanded from 10 to 20 characters. (These changes
    are only available when utilizing a version 3 database schema.)

-   The user phone and FAX fields were expanded from 10 to 20
    characters. (These changes are also only available when utilizing a
    version 3 database schema.)

-   The User Properties dialog box displays the point-of-contact
    information for the user's organization inside a small frame.

-   Whenever the properties of a user are examined (via the User
    Manager), OpCon checks the network domain for the existence of the
    main account and (if necessary) the "sub" account. If either network
    account is missing, a message is displayed. The user is then given
    the opportunity to create the missing network account(s), remove the
    user information from the database, or do nothing. This feature is
    only available when utilizing a version 3 database schema.

-   The first dialog box displayed when creating or modifying
    subscriptions no longer contains separate "Entity Type" and "Data
    Type" drop-down lists. They were combined into a single drop-down
    list named "Product Type."

-   OpCon can be configured to display a list of database/computer
    connections, thereby allowing a user to select which connection he
    or she desires. This feature is aimed primarily at OpCon and
    SAFER/CVIEW Service software developers. Since end-users are not
    expected to need this feature, the program can be configured to
    behave as it did before. When so configured, the "Available OpCon
    Connections" dialog box is not displayed.

-   A new "Maintenance" sub-menu appears in the Tools menu. The
    operations available on this sub-menu are system maintenance
    oriented, and should be used very infrequently. Consequently, this
    sub-menu is disabled and can only be enabled by using a password.
    (Descriptions of the maintenance operations can be found in the
    OpCon User Manual.)

-   On SAFER (not CVIEW) installations only: a new check box can be
    found on the first subscription dialog box (which appears when
    adding or modifying a subscription). The check box is named "PRISM
    Subscription", and is should normally not be checked. This feature
    will find greater use in the upcoming OpCon version 4.0, but must be
    incorporated now (for technical reasons).

# Usability Changes

-   The "New Account Description" dialog box was improved. It is now
    always displayed whenever a user is created or modified, and its
    readability was improved. It is now possible to copy more of the
    displayed text (via Ctrl‑C) so that it can be pasted (via Ctrl‑V)
    into other fields in the dialog box, which should reduce the amount
    of typing required.

> It is also now possible to change the network domain descriptions for
> **all** of an organization's users. Simply examine the properties of
> the [organization]{.underline}, click on the OK button, and follow the
> instructions.

-   The dialog used to display textual information (for example, the
    dialog displayed when Tools \| View Connection Information is
    selected from the Control Bar's menu) has a button that, when
    clicked, copies all of the displayed text onto the system clipboard.
    The text can subsequently be pasted into another document.

-   The icons in the upper left corners of each manager window were
    changed to reflect each particular window's purpose. For example,
    the icon in the User Manager window is a person's head, just like on
    the User Manager button on the OpCon Control Bar. This change will
    make recognizing each window a little easier.

-   Speed buttons for the Control Bar, and each of the three manager
    windows were added to the Subscription Registrations window. This
    will make switching windows a little easier.

-   A menu bar was added to the Subscription Registrations window.

-   The "Tools \| Event Viewer" menu selection on the OpCon Control Bar
    was removed. This change was made after consulting with current
    OpCon users at Volpe regarding its frequency of use.

-   The "Check All" and "Clear All" buttons on the dialog box used to
    select states for subscriptions have new pictures or "glyphs." The
    old glyphs were confusing. (The dialog box can appear during
    creation or modification of subscriptions.)

-   When the Cancel button was clicked in a subscription create or
    modify dialog box, another dialog box appeared with the text "Are
    You Sure?" That dialog box was eliminated.

-   The drop-down list that allows selection of an organization when
    creating or modifying a user was widened. Consequently, fewer
    organization names will appear truncated in the list.

-   OpCon's performance has been improved, especially when displaying
    subscription registrations. In an unofficial test with both the
    Subscription and Subscription Registration windows open, the period
    of time required to update the Registrations window after clicking
    on a subscription with a lot of registrations dropped from about 9
    seconds to about 0.7 second.

-   The characters used to separate an organization name from its
    sub-organization name were changed from a slash ("/") to two square
    brackets ("\]\["). This change is apparent in the User Properties
    dialog box (in the organization drop-down list), in the "Register
    Accounts to Subscription" dialog box used when creating subscription
    registrations, and in the New Users List (when viewed or printed).

-   Re-sorting a window, clearing filters, or changing a filter's
    contents will cause the cursor to move thereby changing which record
    is selected. The cursor moves to the very top of the window (i.e.
    the first record becomes selected).

> In this new release, however, the user can elect to lock the cursor on
> the currently selected record(s). Activating "Selected Row Locking"
> ![](media/image2.png){width="0.19791666666666666in"
> height="0.21875in"} causes the cursor to stay with the currently
> selected record(s). De-activating "Selected Row Locking" restores
> OpCon's old behavior - the cursor floats to the top of the window.
> This functionality affects the Organization Manager, User Manager, and
> Jurisdiction Manager windows. (Note: This feature does not work when
> more than one record is selected in the User Manager or Jurisdiction
> Manager when the filters are being displayed. You must hide the
> filters before attempting to lock onto multiple rows in the User
> Manager or Jurisdiction Manager windows.)

-   Deleting a record will also cause the cursor to move to the very top
    of the window. In this new release, the user can choose to lock the
    cursor so that it stays "in the vicinity" of the deleted record.
    Activating "Selected Row Locking"
    ![](media/image2.png){width="0.19791666666666666in"
    height="0.21875in"} causes the cursor to move to the record
    immediately below or immediately above the currently selected
    record. De-activating "Selected Row Locking" restores OpCon's old
    behavior - the cursor floats to the top of the window. This
    functionality affects the Organization Manager, User Manager,
    Subscription Manager, Subscription Registrations, and Jurisdiction
    Manager windows.

-   The \"Org. ID\" column was moved in the Organization Manager. It now
    appears as the first (left-most) column.

-   A status bar was added to the bottom of the OpCon Control Bar, and
    to the bottom of the Organization Manager, User Manager,
    Subscription Manager and Subscription Registrations windows. The
    status bar usually displays the database schema to which OpCon is
    connected, and that schema's version.

-   Required fields in the Organization Parameters, User Parameters, and
    Subscription Parameters dialogs are indicated with an asterisk.

-   Whenever a new vehicle snapshot subscription is created, or an
    existing vehicle snapshot subscription is modified, you will no
    longer be able to specify that snapshots containing specific States
    of Operation be excluded from the subscription. The ability to
    specify such states was removed. Note that this feature may be
    restored, depending on upcoming requirements.

# Technical Changes

-   OpCon version 3.0 is compatible with SAFER/CVIEW database schemas
    version 1, version 2, *and* version 3.

-   The OpCon.exe executable file no longer uses or requires the
    "OpCon_DLL.dll" file.

-   The organization "Org./Sub-Org. Short Name" field has been
    eliminated. This field appeared in OpCon in the dialog box used to
    create or modify an organization.

-   The ability to select ICC numbers for Carrier Snapshot and Carrier
    Snapshot File Subscriptions was removed. (They weren't being used
    anyway.)

-   OpCon now prevents "sub" (case insensitive) from being the last
    three letters in a new user ID. This is important because a user ID
    containing "sub" as the last three letters is assumed to be a "sub"
    account, and not a main (non-sub) account as is intended.

-   OpCon now prevents user IDs from being longer than 10 characters.
    This is necessary because of the system's law enforcement
    authorization software. If a valid law enforcement person is given a
    user ID longer than 10 characters, authentication of that user will
    fail when they attempt to acquire certain information (e.g.
    inspection reports).

-   OpCon now prevents passwords from being longer than 10 characters.
    This is necessary because of system processing limitations.

-   A new carrier snapshot PRISM event set was added. This new selection
    appears on the third of the three dialogs used to add or modify a
    carrier snapshot subscription.

-   A new vehicle snapshot PRISM event set was added. This new selection
    appears on the third of the three dialogs used to add or modify a
    vehicle snapshot subscription.