Release Notes

Type: User Documentation 04-Apr-2024 | Marius Balandis
In this article

Pims DCS Release Notes

Read about the new features and fixes

Release 24.04

The April release introduces several significant enhancements and new features aimed at streamlining correspondence management, improving collaboration, and enhancing user experience. Key highlights include the ability to register correspondence via .eml file uploads [@342512], add additional receivers in cross-module correspondence wizard [@344312], and include related files in the References tab [@192538]. Noteworthy additions also include logging downloaded files in a ZIP [@303201], reserving revisions in Site Modifications [@304528], and auto-sharing including support and appendix system type files [@295403]. Additionally, users now have greater flexibility with options such as registering all types of outgoing correspondence [@133109], modifying contractor reply deadlines for multiple reviews [@313365], and un-canceling documents from projects in Site Modifications [@67809]. These updates reflect a commitment to enhancing functionality, improving efficiency, and addressing user feedback for a more robust and user-friendly experience.

New functionality

  • Revisions reservation has been introduced in Site Modification domains [@304528].
  • Related files now can be added to a document profile [@192538].

  • The system now supports registering correspondence by uploading .eml files [@342512].

Important changes:

  • Only a single unfinished (draft) IAB revision can exist in Site Modification domains [@304528].

The changes in core functionality

  • The "Reserved in Site Modifications" functionality is now exclusively used in Asset type domains [@350125].
  • Engineering Tags can now be linked with a document profile from different plants used in the domain [@340350].
  • Foxit v6 is no longer a part of the system [@345259].
  • Resolution details now are being shown instead of project's revision in Site Modification project's details [@94245].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Verification files are now accessible via side panel in a grid view of 3rd Party Verification application [@339090].
  • Support and Appendix system type files now will be shared with auto-sharing functionality [@295403]. 
  • An option to add actions in batch for a specific user has been introduced into the Matrix's grid [@341068].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 24.03

The March release brings in changes of having Document Control more connected to the modules - we have implemented support for Linked Items in Document's Profile [@308517], Correspondence details [@290556], and Contracts' Documents [@174176]. Furthermore, we have introduced a new feature allowing the removal of published documents from PIE [@157663]. Additionally, the release introduces a long-awaited feature: editable setup of document distribution templates.[@167271].


New functionality

  • Added editable Revisions tab into Document's Details web application [@317253].
  • Engineering Tags Types has been added across DCS [@131216].
  • Option to cancel multiple reviews at once [@308183].

The changes in core functionality

  • Limited Editable Attributes functionality is now available for all users with capability "Documents: edit Limited Attributes" [@81457].
  • The Responded Correspondences functionality has been added into the web application [@318350].
  • Draft revisions shall no longer be shown in the Side Modifications Documents Register when no project current revision exist [@339965].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Upgraded Foxit PDF Web Viewer to version 9.1 [@162024].
  • Improved the performance of review comments download by changing the way documents are verified for existing review comments to download [@292108].
  • Superuser now shall be able to provide, approve, and decline access for Interface Documents without being a contract member [@308801].
  • A searchable description column has been added for both files and folders in Shared Files [@318501].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 24.02

The February release introduces a few major QoL improvements - Documents Register now has a full Document's details application in the right panel [@171015], and recently opened documents now shall be listed under the "Recent" dropdown [@160667]. Also, PDF "health checks" and Cover Page verification have been introduced in Documents Upload, allowing Contractors to verify the files before submitting the new revisions [@304647].

New functionality

  • Additional predefined filters based on shared status in Contract's Documents and Batch Sharing applications [@312194].
  • Contracts application now has a right panel containing contract's details [@171010]

The changes in core functionality

  • A setting to enforce revision number uniqueness between document's project revisions has been added [@312058].
  • 3rd Party Verification uploaded as 'For Information' shall not have a deadline [@310734]. 
  • Reminders for Planned Revisions and Contractor Response Deadlines shall no longer include voided/superseded documents [@312123].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Various UI/UX improvements for adding and removing approval participants in Approval's application [@288725] 
  • The creation process for a range of documents in Documents Wizard has been optimized [@305887].
  • Added a Voided/Superseded filter in Documents Confidentiality Follow-up and a Voided filter in Correspondence Confidentiality Follow-up applications [@313597].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 24.01

The first release for 2024 introduces significant enhancements to the system's flexibility - the capability to define custom revision files [@194418], providing a greater control and adaptability of DCS. This release also seamlessly integrates the Redlining process into the distribution setup [@174305]. This means that document controllers can now proactively set up redlining participants in advance, streamlining the workflow. Moreover, to simplify and expedite the process of correspondence management, Distribution Templates have been newly introduced [@173082]. These templates empower users by facilitating the setup of receivers for various types of correspondence.

New functionality

  • Possibility to replace previous revisions file in document profile web application [@297317].
  • Possibility to manually mark revisions as returned to originator [@300647].
  • Redlining process now can be started automatically when set up [@174305].

The changes in core functionality

  • Overhauled Offline Archive functionality [@146377].
  • Changed how system tracks handed-over revisions improving overall performance of revisions manipulation [@307826].
  • A verification check for submitting revision to an internal document for external users has been added [@300862].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Possibility to un-cancel verification in Third Party Verification [@290548].
  • Removed dot/decimal revision notation based on base revision in Site Modifications [@304352].
  • Improved the performance of sharing Contract Documents [@303610].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.12

In our latest December release, we are excited to roll out a series of enhancements aimed at optimizing user experience and system functionality. A notable addition includes an option to update ongoing review participants during the import of distribution setup via the Distribution Matrix [@183220]. We're also introducing the SystemFileType for revision files [@300636], setting the stage for the seamless integration of upcoming features - this addition will enhance the flexibility and adaptability of file type usage. Moreover, a conlict resolution process in Site Modification domain has been improved to a more flexible and controlled process [@191300]. Additionally, various improvements have been made to the Distribution Setup Inquiries process, incorporating valuable user feedback to refine and streamline the overall user experience [@179310, @180670, @185680].

New functionality

  • Possibility to update ongoing review participants when importing distribution setup in Distribution Matrix web application [@183220].
  • Possibility to cancel ongoing Distribution Setup Inquiries [@179310].
  • A link to navigate to a document profile in Site Modification domain(s) from Operations domain [@188929].

The changes in core functionality

  • Important change: Revisions files are now being mapped to SystemFileType for later implementations of new features like flexible FileType usage [@300636].
  • Review Tray will no longer auto initiate reviews for previous revisions [@184052].
  • Improved conflicts resolution process in Site Modification domain by allowing to specify project revisions that shall be resolved by it [@191300].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Redirect links in emails shall support project (concurrent engineering) references  when applicable [@288251].
  • Superseded documents now shall be marked in Interface Documents web application [@185604].
  • Users shall be informed about correspondence being confidential when creating a new one with confidential classification [@129966].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.11

The November release introduces a tool have an overview of revision's history in Operations domain [@183720]. Also, more additional extended logging has been introduced, for referenced documents [@193756], and correspondence [@193783], and contracts members [@167868]. 

New functionality

  • Option to link Purchase Order Numbers with contracts has been added [@154023].
  • Introduced additional instance fields for documents [@188738].
  • Option to send reminders to contractors for planned overdue new revisions [@180259].

The changes in core functionality

  • Purchase Order Numbers are no longer restricted by company code [@154023].
  • Improved the resolution process by not allowing DCC to resolve a conflict without file submission in Site Modifications [@284218].
  • Information of expired review now shall be captured in database [@284901].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Support for Z revision numbering scheme has been added [@185893].
  • Various improvements for demobilization [@124837, @188735, @189348, @189505].
  • Various UI/UX improvements for documents requests process in 3PV [@193741].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.10

The October release brings in changes in the mega menu - reorganized Documents Control applications throughout four (4) categories [@176317]. We believe that the change will enhance applications accessibility. Also, the release introduces two new applications to control confidentiality access to documents and correspondence [@147931].

New functionality

  • Introduced an option to enable document requests for 3PV for verifiers [@164346]. Check documentation for the details.
  • Introduced possibility to set Review Class per Document Project in Site Modification domains [@164565].

The changes in core functionality

  • Changed source for Domain type from DCS settings to System Domains [@38563].
  • External Distribution Tray now can be used to automatically distribute new revisions for information [@185569].
  • Both originator and verifier contractor representatives shall be informed when verifier uploads documents for 3PV [@80507].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Option to change original filename in File Properties dialog has been added in Documents details [@179652].
  • Added descriptions for additional attributes in Correspondence Details application [@89615].
  • Contractor Revision and Client Revision fields have been added into revisions card in Document's Details and into Documents Register applications [@179230].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.09

The September release signifies the last month of special emphasis on improving the quality of Document Control. Moreover, it introduces numerous quality-of-life (QoL) improvements [@73084, @179160, @176536], significant performance improvements [@140059, @148632, @181215], and various improvements to the UI/UX [@179908, @167249, @160463]. 

New functionality

  • Enabled free-text correspondence ID when the numbering scheme is not enforcing ID validation [@130398].
  • Shared Files allows to delete multiple folders and files at once [@142717].
  • Reintroduced correspondence "Viewed" functionality in web applications [@36467].

The changes in core functionality

  • Review Response Comments Statuses now are configurable [@179160].
  • Added new capabilities to share documents and to share correspondence [@180012].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Content search now shall include Appendix and Support files [@174447].
  • Optimized data aggregation per attribute data population for DCS Dashboard [@156183].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.



Release 23.08

The August release continues on placing the emphasis on enhancing the stability and performance of Document Control. Nevertheless, the release also includes quality-of-life (QoL) improvements, like an option to load selected documents into Batch Import to update their metadata in one go [@172764], resizable modal dialogs [@176687], and making documents filters more accessible in Documents Register [@149686].

New functionality

  • Interface Documents now shall list who and when a given access to a document has been removed [@174575].
  • An Application "DCS Scheduler Jobs" has been introduced for system administrators to have an overview of scheduled DCS jobs [@175304].
  • Contract's DCC now can be listed into CC receivers for Correspondence [@148858].

Breaking changes

  • Changed Distribution Templates data model to allow to update template codes and introduce more functionally to it in the future [@179453].

The changes in core functionality

  • External users that are no longer members of a contract shall not be included in further actions if the users had been listed as correspondence receivers [@113680].
  • During an active delegation an actual Comments Responsible shall be demoted to Reviewer for delegation's period [@173843].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Email replacement tags for Documents list now shall contain Contractor Document ID column in them for emails that are sent for Contracts DCCs [@121777].
  • Author Responsible shall have actions for ongoing Internal Collaborations listed in the Home Page [@178824].
  • Selected documents shall remain selected when filtering for different documents in Contract Documents dialog [@174530].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.07

The July release places a significant emphasis on enhancing the stability and performance of Document Control. In addition to these improvements, the release also incorporates numerous quality-of-life (QoL) improvements, like Reminders to Contractors [@167832] and support for Internal Distribution action in Distribution Setup Inquiries [@144899].

New functionality

  • Introduced an option to include/exclude expired contracts in 3rd-Party Verification application [@171246].
  • Filters to "Show only Rejected" files, and "Show only Imported" files have been added into Contractor Submittals Import [@173279].

The changes in core functionality

  • Disabled concurrent engineering in Contract domain types [@163194].
  • Updated "Add Author" lookup to only contain team members that shall have access to a document [@160458].
  • Updated Review Status lookups to restrict data based on actual user's permissions [@171920].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Improved MDDM import by optimizing the process and minimizing the risk of table locking when multiple imports are being committed at the same time [@162414].
  • Various improvements have been made to enhance the process of handing over documents from the Project domain to Operations [@163348].
  • The performance of the list of assigned actions on the home page has been improved [@164309].
  • Modal dialogs containing large grids can now be resized [@171060].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.06

The June release brings a lot of changes and improvements to Document Control usability and its performance. Also, the release contains new features like creating correspondence based on another [@164788] and Documents Disposition follow-up [@169153].

New functionality

  • Any review status can now be set to be available for review mass finalization [@158083].
  • Added a status label to provide information about committed import [@167350].
  • Multi-select for Correspondence is now available for various tasks within the register [@148925].

The Changes in core functionality

  • Document IDs with period symbol for sequence numbering and sheet separators are now being supported [@158107].
  • Changed label "Deleted" to "Cancelled" to better represent the verification status in 3rd Party Verification [@168702].
  • Improved engineering tags list manipulations via batch import. Existing tags list will be replaced with proposed list in the batch import [@163743].
  • Phases are now configurable on domain level [@154169].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Improved handing of different sizes and orientations of PDF pages in Cover Page automatic verification in Contractor Submittals Import application [@169113].
  • Browser tab now shall display contextual information of opened details/process in its title [@165956].
  • Contact's DCCs shall now receive email notification when Redlines process gets approved. Introduced an option to download Redlines files from the documents register [@168866].
  • Optimized memory usage during review finalization [@168415].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.05

In the May release, a range of new features has been introduced, including support for Interface Documents in Site Modification domains [@164502], automatic optical character recognition-based verification of Cover Page contents in Contractor Submittals Import [@152202] and option in Site Modifications to re-scope document into the same project after handing over to Operations domain [@151915].

New functionality

  • Originator Company Code, related to Document Project Contract, shall be set when scoping document to Side Modification project [@119370].
  • Introduced a way to extend the list of available team members for setting confidentiality list for document/correspondence [@165304].
  • Additional fields have been introduced to replace various bookmarks in cover page templates [@166382].

The Changes in core functionality

  • Restricted access to data from certain columns in the Reviews Follow-up and Closed Reviews Follow-up applications. Data from those columns will now only be visible to internal users and review receivers [@152967].
  • A limitation to available team members has been introduced in correspondence' comments section, to limit the list to a proper party (external vs internal) [@159367].
  • Expired users shall no longer be added into distribution setup when populating distribution templates [@163389].
  • Internal Collaboration now shall be available only for internal documents and internal project revisions [@152091].

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Enabled multi-select feature in Referenced Documents and Correspondence grids in Documents Details application [@162021].
  • Added a validation check for email address format in DCS setup applications [@150891].
  • Changed UI for optional attributes in Documents Groups and Correspondence Types tabs to have an easy way to copy and paste the list from set to set in Configuration application [@161355].

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.04

The April release expands functionality of review resolutions (@156530): change log for response comments, option to export consolidated comments with resolutions into worksheet, and submit resolutions by uploading the file. Also, a new file type has been introduced that will contain the submitted resolutions.

New functionality

  • Option to add/replace cover page for contractors' submitted revisions files has been added into Contractor Submittals Import application (@96636).
  • Option to leave a reason for excluding a comment from response has been added into My Reviews application (@131016).
  • Functionality to copy and paste Contract Documents has been added in Contract Details application (@157969).

Breaking Change

  • Changed revision uniqueness constraint to allow to have the same revisions numbers in domains with concurrent engineering enabled (@158028). 

The Changes in core functionality

  • Multi-select for various tasks has been added into Documents Register (@148827) and Reviews Follow-up (@161062) applications.
  • Verifiers with new capability  "3rd Party Verification: resubmit verification comments" shall be able to resubmit comments and change status for submitted verification (@158404).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Files renaming is now tracked in File History in Shared Files (@151968).
  • Added Document Title column with a link to the document profile in Documents Upload application (@159707).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 23.03

The March release introduces a handful quality of life improvements: DCCs now shall be informed about failed scheduled imports(@155463), option to verify PDFs to find common problems, like pre-existing comments or disabled commenting (@147451). Also, now all previous revisions, approvals, reviews and other processes are available in document's profile (@113869).


New functionality

  • An option to define Review Consolidator deadline per contract has been added (@57599).
  • A tool to change deadline for multiple reviews at once has been added into Ongoing Reviews follow-up (@147646).
  • Option to override Distribution Setup when moving data between document profiles (@158414).

The Changes in core functionality

  • "Search in files" now uses Azure cognitive search when environment is using blob storage (@148837).
  • The Review Response Follow-up app now only shows current revision data by default (@141951).
  • Distributable files shall not be copied when scoping document from Operations to SM domain (@144781).
  • Site Modifications and Asset domains are now sharing the same set of Phases (@154123).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Added filter icon to the receivers header columns to filter out documents by specific actions (@155257).
  • Revision files shall be renamed with updated revision date in cases where "Rename original files" setting is on (@118645).
  • Improved application snappiness when making changes to the Distribution Matrix (@148730).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 23.02

The February release brings in updates to Documents Status - the application now will show a live data of previous and current periods (Monday to Sunday, by default) and cumulative data (@137330). We hope that the changes will help to get a better picture of the project. To get a better understanding of the data being displayed, check the updated documentation. 


New functionality

  • Introduced Correspondence Tray as an option to send multiple outgoing correspondence at once (@81095).
  • 3rd Party Verification is now fully supported in domains with concurrent engineering enabled (@146041).

The Changes in core functionality

  • Changed confidential documents availability in 3rd party verification applications (@136091).
  • Contract DCC will now be notified by email that review has been cancelled or uncancelled (@147989).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • All custom fields are available as limited editing attributes (@150401).
  • UI/UX facelift of Distribution Groups web application (@148695).
  • Multiple quality-of-life improvements for verification and import in Upload Tags and Upload Documents Tags applications (@91971).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 23.01

The main highlight of January release - custom symbols in review and redlining processes (@136296). Symbols can be set up per domain to better suit the needs. Once they are set up, they are available in review/redlining applications.

New functionality

  • An option to automatically share documents revisions has been added (@142215).
  • Introducing Internal Collaboration process on draft revisions (@115168).

The Changes in core functionality

  • Verification deadlines can now be changed for 3rd Party Verification (@87889).
  • WinForms are no longer being supported (@145917).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Deadlines for each reviewers are now being displayed in the reviews application (@145919).
  • An option to remove former Comments Responsible/Consolidator when replacing them in ongoing review has been added (@125109).
  • "Interfaces" tab has been added into document details to have an overview of all interfaces that document participates in (@135472).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.12

The December release introduces new features in Distribution Setup Inquiry application (@143430), option to update multiple notifications setups for Interface Documents at once (@133866), and offers extended logging on documents confidentiality list (@132934).
Furthermore, the release brings in a handful of performance improvements (@63457, @128079, @141400 and many more).


New functionality

  • An option to populate selected Document Type to all Document Groups has been added (@124763).
  • An option to delete original document profile after its data is moved has been added (@125006).

The Changes in core functionality

  • @60139 allows sending the same revision within several transmittals.
  • @130989 enables import of several revisions of the same document via Batch Import.
  • @142208 prevents from setting up Document Plan without project reference in Site Modification domains
  • @143309 changes "Created By" of revision and its files that were submitted for DCC validation - they will store contractor's login instead of DCC's.

Improvement to be mentioned

  • A warning will be shown to users when they will try to add a person into contracts members from different company than the contract (@139972).
  • File Properties dialog now contains an Information who and when created/updated the revision file (@64549)

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 22.11

The November release introduces new workflow - Distribution Setup Inquires (@123433). The workflow is an alternative to exporting data to excel, circling it outside of Pims and then importing it back. It allows to gather, validate and import input from users regarding distribution matrix.

New functionality

  • @61569 introduces a pop-up notification in Distribution Matrix that will appear if there is an ongoing review or approval after making changes to distribution setup.
  • Common reviewers can now submit their review with "Not Reviewed" status (@137010).

The Changes in core functionality

  • Confidential documents now are only available for users that exist in permissions table or have the capability see such documents (@103137).
  • Only project revisions will be allowed to be created in Site Modification domain (@22102).

Improvement to be mentioned

  • "Delete/Void documents" feature has been added into Batch Import web application (@135423).
  • Documents listed in 3rd Party Verification web application will have a link to their profiles (@121515).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

    

Release 22.10

The October release brings in a handful of QoL (quality of life) improvements - from copying and pasting rows in distribution setup of a document (@129068) or in additional notification setup for interface documents (@116006), to an option to schedule batch imports (@124058).


New functionality

  • Interface Documents setup in contract details now have "Source" tab to show the contact's usage in other interfaces (@128352).
  • Email notifications log is now available on web (@134070).
  • It's now possible to share documents & correspondence in batches via "Batch Sharing" application (@131286).
  • It's now possible to keep the files in SharePoint after they have been uploaded back to Pims (@130712).

The Changes in core functionality

  • Contractors now have a possibility to add documents references (@22395).
  • Only the users with right capabilities will be able to create new areas in Shared Files (@106562).

Improvement to be mentioned

  • Users will be able to parse and attach the MSG file with a single upload when registering email correspondence (@121293)
  • Documents list in Site Modification details now will contain a list of other projects that are using same documents (@124265).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.09

The release brings a better Distribution Template web application: we have updated look and feel of it (@121205), a simpler way to delete a template (@81779), a support for multi-select templates to update them or populate for documents (@125874) at once, and export of the templates to excel and pdf files.


New functionality

  • A "Phase" now can be set per Revision (@111006).
  • Distribution Matrix now supports URL filter (@131285).

The Changes in core functionality

  • FlexPaper is no longer a part of core product (@128127).
  • Documents profiles will be locked in Project domain once they are handed over to Operations domain (@119837).

Improvement to be mentioned

  • User demobilization now supports "Comments Consolidator" action type. (@127989).
  • The Dashboard configuration is now available in the application itself (@121273).
  • Batch Import data verification now supports customization (@79169).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 22.08

The August release introduces a highly requested feature - "read only" access to folder in Shared Files (@67148). Team members with such access will only be able to download the files and folders, subscribe, and check comments and file history.

New functionality

  • Batch Import now can be used to import Referenced Documents (@117921).
  • .DWG files can be converted to PDF using PDF Rendition from the document profile (@37923).

Changes in core functionality

  • Foxit v6 is no longer available for newly issued reviews(@125610).
  • Reviews that used FlexPaper now will only be accessible via Historic Review application (@122204).
  • A capability "Configuration: edit domainless fields" is now required to add, modify, or remove domainless DCS Configuration data (@112543).

Improvement to be mentioned

  • A badge indicating multiple current revisions has been added in the document profile. (@96306).
  • Creation of a new document now can be extended via customization (@100497).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.


Release 22.07

The July release is bringing in the missing yet long waited Win-forms features into Web environment: Review, Internal Distribution and Outgoing Transmittals trays (@118376), Documents Reminders (@117726), and other. Also, the release introduces a new handy feature - "Replace file" for current revisions files (@62504).

New functionality

  • Added an ability to export documents to an importable datasheet (@118800).
  •  "Asset Plants" web application has been introduced (@118053).
  • "Transformation Actions" has been added into Batch Import web application (@120026).

Improvement to be mentioned

  • Introduced an option to initiate a collaboration on main file of draft letter correspondence (@121018).
  • A badge "Confidential" has been added into the main registers of Correspondence and Documents for easier identification of confidential records (@85971).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.06

In June release there are some improvements and new features introduced. It’s now possible to transfer the metadata of a document to a new document profile (@94020). Documentation on the process can be found here.


New functionality

  • DCS quick setup is now available in Domains application (@101846).
  • Add, remove, replace, or copy receivers for multiple templates now can be done at once in Distribution Template (@117631).
  • Introduced an option to rollback only selected documents in Batch Import (@114865).
  • Introduced a possibility to have Site Modifications on different domains for the same Asset domain (@114444).

Improvement to be mentioned

  • Language description is now available next to a code of the language in file properties in Document profile (@54243).
  • Custom procedures are now available for distribution setup import (@120960).
  • It is now possible to have template files other than MS word and MS Excel (@117796).
  • Review Responsibles now can cancel their reviews (@20626).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.05

Main highlight of the release is a new application: User demobilization (@113147, @78340, @112230, @112284). It’s an app that’s been around for quite some time and was successfully used on various clients to become a part of the core product now. User Demobilization is a tool to easily remove (or replace) the user from various workflows within project(s).

More information about how to set up demobilization can be found in the documentation manual.

New functionality

  • Empty folders structure can now be uploaded using "Drag and Drop" in Shared Files (@109216).
  • System now supports overlapping delegations to a single person (@81983).
  • It is now possible to create a PDF rendition of native file that still is uploaded into SharePoint (@64503).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Dossiers app now supports any number of sections (@108321).
  • Response "Status" column shall also be available in the Review Response grid and comments sheet when the 'Enable Review Comments Disputing' setting is disabled (@36710).
  • The mapped files shall be deleted alongside with the documents DCC tries to remove from the import (@113582).
  • Notifications for a document shared with login are included in the Shared Documents Email Log (@108189).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.04

In April release there are some improvements and new features introduced. It’s now possible to manage 3rd-Party Verification statuses and files from the web application as shown below (@106090).
More information about how 3rd-Party Verification can be managed provided in the updated documentation manual.

Introduced new documentation article with a guideline about how new fresh DCS environment should be set up (requires to be logged in).
 

Changes to core functionality

External users can now participate in internal documents Approval process, dedicated capability needed (@100624). How external users access Approvals: Approval Follow-up application, directly in Approval page, links in notification emails and actions on home page. More information in the documentation article here.

New Functionality

  • Introduced possibility to Cancel own pending Interface Document Requests (@108351).
  • Enabled possibility to export charts from DCS Dashboard (@100558).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Referenced Documents and Correspondences can now be linked from another Domains (@93685).
  • Email templates having lists of Documents participating in Reviews will also include link to navigate directly to specific review (@103079).
  • Documents containing not resolved disputed response comments can be filtered using "My Actions" filter (in Documents page) and are also shown in the My Page Actions under Document Control section (@99742).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.03

In March release we are happy to present new Redlining process (@94835) in Pims R4 DCS which seems to be a hot topic around many of our clients.

Redlining process is explained in details in the dedicated documentation manual.

New Functionality

  • New "Approvals Follow-up" application is introduced for a better overview of Internal Documents Approvals (@106162).
  • Files used to import Distribution Setup in Distribution Matrix application are now stored and available for future reference (@103774).
  • Introduced possibility to define individual MDR Template to be used in Batch Import for every Domain (@101010).
  • Main Documents Register grid in Site Modifications domain is now configurable (@92358).

Improvements to be mentioned

  • Introduced possibility to revert Review Response Replies submitted by contractors by Review Responsible or Review Consolidator in Review applications (@80659).
  • Company Codes can be set as Obsolete in the Asset Setup page to hide from the lookups (@97962).
  • Changes made to fully support "Archived" domains restrictions from the framework (@102855).
  • Additional Email Notifications Tags are available to be used in the contents of the emails (@99570, @102121, @103139).

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.02

Main highlight of the release is possibility to upload and track expiration of Inspection Certificates from Engineering Tag Details page (@63669).
Related Expiration Date and Validity Period to be available in Document Details and Batch Import. Expiration Date is also visible in Documents page. More details available in Managing Certificates article.

Useful improvements

  • @100224 - Introduced Change Log dialog for Documents and Correspondence Details applications to be available for document controllers and users with elevated permissions.
  • @72314 - Comments Responsible shall be able to change their action for an ongoing review.
  • @87778 - Introduced possibility to set Resolution [Accepted/Rejected] and Resolution Comments for all review response comments replies, not only for Disputed. History of all review response comments replies is available in "Review Response Follow-up" page.
  • @95144 - Added multiselect to tables where information could be copy/pasted across domains/plants in configuration apps.
  • @97957 - Two new columns ("Total DFO Documents" and "Total Handed Over Documents") were added to the Site Modifications grid to show indicate current status of the project.

Changes to be mentioned

  • @91790 - Changed the Native Files Required attribute for documents from a "Yes/No" to three alternatives: "Not Applicable", "At Handover" and "During Project Execution".
  • @95537 - Documents of Inactive Phases shall not be visible in Documents page by default.
  • @94621 - DCS Dashboard page shall be available for users having 'DCS Internal User' role.

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 22.01

Main highlight of the release is introduce possibility to reserve a set of document in New Document wizard in web (@67968).

Useful improvements

  • @94653 - Introduced upgrade-safe possibility to have custom business logic of exporting distribution setup from Distribution Matrix page to Excel file.
  • @95140 - Added a support to drag and drop files for Draft revisions in Document Details page.
  • Some improvements to Shared Files page: Introduced possibility archive "Areas" in Shared Files (@67146). Details panel added into Shared Files page to show additional useful information related to a selected folder (@95833). Shared Files notification email introduced to be configured in Email Template page (@92937). Improved performance and UX of Shared Files search (@93159).

Some changes to be noted

  • @76440 - Document Responsible shall be notified on all 3rd-party verification events (together with other recipients).
Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 21.12

Main highlight of the release is introduced to have Parallel Approval workflow (@40248). Approval participants can now do their job all at the same time (verifiers first, then approvers).


We've introduced a variety of important changes and improvements during November sprint.

Useful improvements

  • @82509 - Correspondence files uploaded can now be automatically renamed, having CorrespondenceID as a part of the file name.
  • @77648 - Introduced upgrade-safe possibility to have custom business logic of adding receivers to new Reviews and Internal Distributions (overriding default logic or running in addition).
  • @77629 - Additional metadata attributes (instance-wide custom registers) available to be defined for Document profile: 4 text and 1 boolean fields.
  • @61537 - SharePoint collaboration links visible in Details panel of Documents page.
  • @85100 - Introduced possibility to configure interface documents notification receivers in Contract Details application. 
  • @76441 - Introduced possibility to revoke access to documents on Internal Distribution.
  • @90628 - Introducing possibility to include review participants when sending a document for Internal Distribution.
  • @83912 - Documents verification introduce before handover from Site Modification back to Operations.

Some changes to be noted

  • @63130 - Possibility to update Distribution Setup to 'other' users is now ruled by Role's capability.
  • @63134 - Suggested Review Class can be now updated by users having capability to do so.

Discontinued functionality

  • @61537 - Feature to "Copy Web URL for This Document" from Documents Register winform is discontinued as not used.
  • @85142 - obsolete setting "ContractorDocumentCreateHelperSP" removed from Configurations.

Security improvements

  • @89708, @85492 - DB-objects maintenance according to best practices - performance and security related changes.
  • @88335 - Another step for tighter security by sanitizing users input in web apps.
  • @84570 - Maintenance of older third party libraries.

New documentation article: Dashboard Details

For the full list of changes and updates check out the attached release notes.

Release 21.11

Important improvement in DCS introduced with the latest release is possibility to define specific sets of people in Distribution Setup for distinct Steps (@77656). This functionality is mostly important for our clients from Contractors-world and the ones using Pims DCS in Operations, for the rest of the clients there shall be no changes in a way Distribution Setup works.

Distinct Distribution Setup can be used for Reviews and Internal Distributions (not for Approvals).

Useful improvements 

We've also introduced variety of other important changes and improvements.

  • @88007 - It is now possible to set the preferred review type for internal documents (Simple or Parallel).
  • @80362 - Standard Filter Builder is used for setting filtering conditions in Navigation Views of Documents page for more flexible filtering options.
  • @81104 - Introduced configurable Language attribute into Correspondence app.
  • @81539 - Review Response Follow-up application is now accessible for contractors through Documents Register.
  • @81803 - Introduced new System Step "SDC" (Single Discipline Check)
  • @86100 - Introduced "Comment Originator" column into Review Response Follow-up application grid for internal users and externals (only when setting "Include Original Reviewer Name in the Review Comments Sheet" is turned on).

Security improvements

  • @59796 - Completed internal audit and maintenance to minimize the risk of metadata exposure.

For the full list of changes and updates check out the attached release notes.

Release 21.10

DCS SharePoint integration is now available utilizing Omega 365 SharePoint servers (@74450). That means a client doesn't need to manage and maintain the SharePoint infrastructure on the client side, but can utilize a service provided by Omega 365. The concept of the DCS SharePoint integration stays the same, but instead of files being stored on the client's SharePoint tenants, Omega 365 tenants are used.

The only thing that is different for end users comparing to using client's SharePoint is that the very first time accessing any file on SharePoint, user will have to accept invitation from Omega 365 to use SharePoint. More info (under SharePoint section).

Useful improvements 

  • @77666 - Approval actions shall be available in Distribution Matrix web app. More info
  • @72747 - Improved review type auto selection when initiating new reviews. Review type will be selected based on document and it's revision properties. To improve UX, users will not have to choose Review Type when initiating reviews.
  • @77633 - Introduced possibility to override Progress attribute individually per document profile.
  • @15568 - Introduced possibility to distribute internal documents for Review and for Internal Distribution when Approval process is completed successfully
  • @77768 - Introduced possibility to see original Review Comments authors in Response (both in PDF viewer and Response grid)
  • @83588 - Implemented quick access for reviewing external comments in Documents Details application for Contractor domains.
  • @82480 - A set of improvements to DCS Dashboards: new charts for IFA, ASB steps; Originator as new attribute breakdown; other minor updates and fixes.
  • @76165 - Added ability to set submitted dates manually in the Deliverables Follow-up web app

Some changes to be noted

  • @79043 - "Review Finalization PDF Report" field in configuration app and related report removed.

Security improvements

  • @83683 - Fixed potential attack risk in some of the applications

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes file.

Release 21.09

In September release together with a whole set of other small improvements we introduce the possibility to send a reminder to pending verifier or approver of an Approval process (@80228).


Useful improvements 

  • Added Resolution actions to the Document Control section in My Page (@65742)
  • Improvement for EPC companies: Internal document controller shall be able to upload a reply to 3rd party verification comments (@76207) More info
  • Added all missing System Steps (IDC, IFE, IFP) to be available in Search Setup as well as in Interface Documents and Deliverables Follow-up web apps (@72261)
  • Local verification procedures available when uploading Tags and Tags Docs (@79588)

Some changes to be noted

  • Dashboard Settings have been moved to the DCS Configuration app. They will now be set up when initializing the domain and can be copied from other domains (@79743)
  • Decommissioned Documents Submittals web app previously available from Shared Documents and Correspondence. Same features are now available in the main app.

New documentation articles are available:

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 21.08

Main highlight of the sprint is new tool to manage Email Notifications Templates in web (@78895)

Also to make it easier to understand different Review Types, we've removed "Mixed" type (@78354). From now on "Parallel" Review Type will include functionality to check out and comment non-PDF files.

Useful improvements 

  • @41867 - Introduced possibility to delete receivers from distribution setup using Delete action in distribution setup import
  • @10825 - Delegated Review receivers shall also receive files for information
  • @63350 - Files uploaded from Pims DCS to SharePoint can be named according to naming configuration
  • @77881 - Introduced Manufacturers Record Book and Native Files Required fields into Editable Attribute Fields in Documents Configuration.
  • @78775 - Introduced additional tag Comment for outgoing transmittal email notification template "EmailTemplateOutgoingTransmittal".

Some changes to be noted

  • @56794 - Only one draft revision allowed per DocumentID and Project
  • @38110 - Change in setting status "Ready to Handover" - If "As Built" step requires a review then document will not be marked as "Ready to Handover" until a review is initiated and completed with code "Accepted"
  • @78905 - Improved logic behind file checkout buttons in Draft Revision of Documents Details web app to not allow any internal user update files of any draft revision.

Security improvements

  • @64193 - Vulnerabilities fixed in several apps
  • @78748 - Improved handling of malicious URL parameters across various web apps
  • @77347 - DB-objects maintenance according to best practices.

Performance improvements 

  • @17135 - Improved performance of checking valid document IDs in Documents Tags
  • @75905 - Batch Import web application performance improvement
  • @76812 - Performance improvement of importing Distribution Setup from excel spreadsheet in Distribution Matrix app.
  • @78773 - Improved performance verifying contractor's submitted files for DCC validation.

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 21.07

Two new tools are being released this sprint: 

Web application for Documents Handover from Project to Operations domain (@16847)


Initial version of Tags and Tags-Documents Importing applications is also available (@72496). Some UI/UX improvements are soon to come for the applications.

Useful improvements 

  • @67939 - Change in business logic: Approval process shall not require Verifier action - only Approver is required.

Some changes to be noted

  • @71704 - Dedicated Client Acceptance Code is introduced in "Contractors-world" DCS.
  • @74514 - Documents from closed and cancelled projects have been excluded from Distribution Matrix web app.

Security improvements

  • @67332 - Improved security checks for external users.
  • @74476 - Changes to properly address potential hash extension attacks.
  • @75866 - Reference to vulnerable library has been removed from web templates. 
  • @71894 - DB-objects maintenance according to best practices.

Performance improvements 

  • @71215 - Improved performance of initiating reviews with active delegations.    
  • @66270 - Dashboard data generation process is improved.
  • @71871 - Improved performance of adding new document revision from web app. 
  • @76194 - Improved files badge loading speed in Batch Import web app.

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 21.06

Main priority for May sprint was to ensure best development and maintenance practices for the way DCS code is organized and handled (@64652). There were quite some changes to ensure lower coupling, cleaner and leaner solutions, enhanced code readability and maintainability, easier development collaboration, clean solutions for new clients and potential for easier and safer customizations. Check the referenced issue for more details. 
DCS Team has done extra efforts on changes verification and testing, however it is still recommended to have it checked in the testing environment before pushing to production.


Some improvements to Document Cover Page are now available. For example possibility to include QR code as a part of Cover Page (@67747). 

Also revisions grid functionality is improved - having separate bookmarks-tags. Cover Page functionality and setup is described in the relevant documentation articles.

There were many minor fixes and updates during the sprint, check the full list of updates in the attached file.

Release 21.05

Main focus for the whole DCS product team during April sprint was on ensuring best development and maintenance practices are used, default DCS roles have appropriate capabilities, also deprecated and testing functionality is not part of the product (@37935, @38449, @64961, @65574, @59520). Part of the clean-up and refactoring work is still ongoing and will be introduced in future releases. 

We are glad to announce new possibility to add document cover page based on a Word template in Document Profile web application (@58429).


Some useful improvements 

  • @56048 - Files can be uploaded to finalized revisions using Batch Import if "Allow Uploading Files to Finalized Revisions" option is enabled.
  • @62084 - Introduced configurable column "DocumentLink" (with a link to document profile) in Documents application.

We've been working on restructuring the DCS documentation lately and it's now available on the documentation site. Check it out and let us know what you think.

For the full list of changes and updates check out the attached release notes.

Release 21.04

Main highlight of the release is the introduced possibility to create PDF rendition of native files in Documents Details (@20535).

Revision Authors (and users with elevated permissions like Document Controllers) can generate a PDF rendition - create a PDF copy of Microsoft Office-based file(s) (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Useful improvements 

  • @21410 - Introduced possibility to define default distribution setup for all project's contracts in Site Modifications (or concurrent engineering).
  • @21038 - Introducing possibility of configurable document download in Documents app.
  • @62015 - Improved Distribution Matrix web app to handle Projects' distribution setup properly.
  • @58548 - Scoping to Site Modification directly from other site modification project is now possible.
  • @58551 - Improvement to Site Modifications - possibility to scope Asset documents into SM projects via Batch Import.
  • @16782 - Introduced possibility to define a reason for cancellation of a review.
  • @57298 - Ongoing Internal Approval can be edited from the Document Details web app.

Some changes to be noted

  • @64075 - Approval status in Documents Details shall navigate to Approval app instead of opening status dialog.
  • @58540 - Dashboard calculation improvement: Average number of revisions shall only count revisions with steps of 100% completion.
  • @57344 - DCS Dashboard - DFO Deliverables chart changed to show "To Be Handed Over" and "Actual Handed Over" lines.
  • @15995 - Domain setting "Allow Contractors' Revisions" allows/restricts to use Contractor's revision when submitting files in Upload Documents app.

Performance improvements

  • @61857 - Improved performance of the main grid in Tags Documents Web App.
  • @62537 - Performance improvement of data insert/delete to/from Revisions Files table.
  • @57141 - Dashboard: improved performance of calculating dashboard data.

Many more fixes and improvements took place in the sprint, check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 21.03

There are several smaller changes and features introduced in this release. One of them is possibility to define more than one Contract DCC Email (@57589).

Some useful new features

  • @11615 - Revisions shall have option to have different prefixes per steps.
  • @57693 - Support for extended logging is implemented for DCS Contracts metadata (including separate DCC Emails table).

Some changes to be noted

  • @57309 - Changes in Site Modifications shall be available to users with dedicated capability to control handovers, scopes, documents cancellation and conflicts.

Security and performance is in focus

  • @57968 - Performance improvement and other DB-objects maintenance according to best practices.
  • @58000 - Improved handover process performance in Site Modification.
  • @56740 - Batch import: improved stability and performance of data commit.

Many other UI improvements and minor fixes are also released. Check out the complete list of all the changes in attached release notes.

Release 21.02

This release is rich in new features we are glad to introduce. Main highlight of the release is possibility to send internal documents for SharePoint Review (@36727). This new review type allows utilizing standard Office commenting and change-tracking functionalities (both in web and desktop applications) to review the file and collaborate on making changes to the contents of the file to produce the base for the next revision as the outcome of the review.


Some useful new features

  • @23290, @57172 - Possibility to define File Type when Batch Importing files in web
  • @53840 - 3rd-Party Verification improvement: possibility to submit a reply file when the files are verified by 3rd-party
  • @22648 - Update for Contractors' world - Internally produced documents can be sent for 3rd-Party Verification
  • @36448 - Improvements to Shared Files: users now are able to subscribe to a folder to get notifications; Possibility to search for files
  • @36999 - Possibility to configure a Stamp that is put on PDF file when Review is finalized
  • @42305 - Document voiding and superseding functionality is now available in web (Documents Details application)
  • @41793 - New feature in Interface Documents - possibility to not expose documents in the "Request documents" dialog and provide access directly instead
  • @55672 - Improvement for 3rd-Party Verifiers: possibility to define Acceptance code per Document in the same batch
  • @56610 - 3rd-Party Verification Distribution Setup is now available Document's Detail web app

Some changes to be noted

  • @56883 - No new FlowPaper reviews will be allowed after applying 20.02 release
  • @55988 - Review Types now have configurable name and description
  • @54637 - Introducing the Domain-level setting to enable having attachments in the notification emails
Security and quality is in focus:

  • @54085 - Completed internal security audit of DCS vie
  • @56905 - DCS Health Checks fixes

Tons of other UI improvements and minor fixes are also there. Check out the complete list of all the changes in the attached release notes.

Release 21.01

In release 21.01 we are introducing two new applications: Shared Files and 3rd Party Verification Follow-up.

Shared Files (@10858) is the app that's been around for quite some time and was successfully used on various clients to become a part of the core product now. Shared Files is a repository (à la DropBox) for uncontrolled files to be used personally or to share with others.


3rd Party Verification Follow-up (@40393) is a new application created for the operating company's users with elevated permissions to be able to issue contractor's documents for 3rd Party Verification (instead or on behalf of contractor). Documents will be available in this applications when "To be sent for 3rd Party Verification" attribute is marked true for the document profile. When one or several documents are sent from the application, they follow the same path as when sent originally by the contractor. Status of the verification and comments files are available in the follow-up application.


Apart from that there is a bunch of minor bug-fixes and improvements in the release. For example, @53753 - Possibility to register Plants is introduced in Asset Setup web application.

Audit of DCS security in DB objects (@41974) is still ongoing.

N.B. FlowPaper (FlexPaper) PDF reviewing tool in now being deprecated from the product to be replaced by more powerful and stable Foxit. Starting from the next release FlowPaper won't be available as a tool for newly issued reviews and to be completely removed from the product later this year.

Complete list of all the changes and fixes is available in the attached release notes.

Release 20.12

We are glad to announce two new applications available in release 20.12: DCS Dashboard application and Contractors-oriented Client's Review Response application.

DCS Dashboard application (@39457) contains a set of charts and grids visualizing the status and progress of the project from different perspectives on one page.

Client's Review Response application (@36357) is another handy tool for Contractors using Pims DCS - allows to see client's review response comments on the PDF files, collaborate internally on preparing replies and generate the resulting PDF/Excel Reply files.

Some useful new features

  • @36692 - Revision Files properties are now available to be seen and updated in web.

Some changes to be noted

  • @37811 - Third party control "TinyMCE" used in Correspondence is now changed to be loaded from af-Bundles.
  • @40120 - Introduced new value for contract type: Construction, used in "Contractor's world". "Issued for construction" date is set when issuing document of contract type 'construction' from Deliverables Follow-up web app.
  • @40721 - Minor change in "My Filters" concept: Internal Users shall get items only with their involvement under Common -> "My Filters" in documents navigation web app.
  • @21686 - Documents issued for auto-distribution shall not be deleted from Tray if revision files are missing (will be automatically distributed when files added).
  • @40360 - Documents CustomDate1, CustomDate2, MoMDate, MeetingDate have been changed to be used as date data fields. 
  • @40302 - Change: MaxFileSize setting in Contracts is removed from UI as it is not recommended to be used in general - attaching files in emails might be unsecure. Should be only used after proper evaluation. Default value will still be 0MB. 
Security and quality is in focus:

  • @38640 - Maintenance of Appframe/DCS security in DB objects. 
  • @39575 - Minimizing the risk of XSS vulnerabilities in various apps.
Complete list of all the changes and fixes is available in the attached release notes.

Release 20.11


In 20.11 release we are excited to announce Pims DCS support for "Contractors world", empowering EPC/EPCM contractors to use Pims DCS for all the most important internal workflows.

New "Deliverables Follow-up" application provides the required information to have an overview of the documents to be delivered to a client and/or other external parties like construction sites. One can submit documents to a client and upload client review response back to Pims. Related Issues: @21274, @37990, @21118; documentation coming soon: @39317.

Some useful new features

  • @14502 - Introduced new "Review Response Follow-up" application available for Internal Users from Documents Register (under "Review Follow-up" toolbar).
  • @23581 - Added two new Document meta-data fields: Field and Well.

Some changes to be noted

  • @21073 - Change: Review Response PDF files will be named to contain "...ReviewComments.pdf" instead of "...Markup.pdf".
  • @37590 - Change: Review Response spreadsheet file shall have the Contractor Revision (when available) in file name instead of Pims Revision.
  • @37096 - Changed procedure for distribution setup population when creating documents. Most specific distribution template is selected (all Distribution Types are populated by same template).
  • @37357 - Implemented additional automatic checks of files generated during review finalization process to ensure files are not corrupted.
  • @36022 - Updated Aspose.PDF to 20.9 in DCS.

Security and quality is in focus:

  • @36689 - Maintenance of Appframe/DCS security in DB objects.
  • @38690, @38638 - Potential for XSS injection minimized across different applications.
  • @37716 - SharePoint integration accessibility improvement (Document Details Web App) - to be available to specific roles only.

Complete list of all the changes and fixes is available in the attached release notes.

Pims DCS for Contractors is getting more new and exciting stuff in the next release. Stay tuned.

Release 20.10

All Pims DCS web applications were updated to new Bootstrap version as a part of the Pims R4 upgrade (@23236).

Security and clean-up is in focus for release 20.10 and upcoming sprints, check for more details in the Implementation recommendations guide (requires authentication).

Documentation moved to the new platform (docs.omega365.com) with more of the content being updated (@23639).

Some changes to be noted

  • @21561 - Change to annotations handling in Review web app (Foxit v7) - annotations shall be stored in browser cache, thus preserving the data and reducing the amount of requests to DB (1 request / 3 sec).
  • @22863 - Review web app (Foxit v7) is updated for better support of huge files (500+ MB)
  • @36417 - System Domain Type shall be used for apps in the menu. Currently only evaluated when switching Domain from toolbar within the app.

For more details, please check the attached release notes

Release 20.09

Starting from release 20.09, Pims DCS must be updated by using AF Updater. Change Packages are not prepared and verified any more. 

In the 20.09 release we introduce SharePoint integration for Pims DCS (@22020). SharePoint Integration can be used for editing internal document's Office files instead of standard check-out/check-in in Documents Details. Check out the promo video on the Omega 365 YouTube channel. 

Main highlights of the release are the following

  • Introduced the possibility to define document-files mapping using MDR spreadsheet file in Batch Import web application (@21296) 
  • Review batch-features (submit, finalize, remove/replace receivers) moved out to a dedicated Reviews Follow-up application (@21198) 
  • Many of DCS web applications were updated in the context of UI unification project - Left align page layouts across all modules (@19462)

Some useful new features

  • @21057 - Review Response files shown directly in Document Details and Documents Register details panel. 
  • @20558 - Approval process shall support project revisions (available in SM domains) 
  • @19343 - Additional tabs (Template, 3rd Party Verifiers and Default Confidentiality List) have been added into contract-details web app.

Some changes to be noted

  • @17722 - UI improvement of files being displayed in revision sections; minor UI changes to Upload Documents web app. 
  • @21812 - Electronically signed documents shall be allowed for commenting in Review (Foxit v7) web app 
  • @22509 - Review web app (Foxit v7) shall no longer hide pre-existing non-supported annotations types like digital signatures 
  • @22215 - Technical change: .NET version upgraded 
  • @20548 - Minor changes to review response Reply process 
  • @17275 - Changed sharing functionality in win and web forms so user would be able to share documents with additional logins in case they are already shared with logins and not allow to share documents with logins if they are already shared with the whole contract. In addition if document is shared with whole contract system will not allow this document to be additionally shared with logins from this contract. 
  • @16209 - "Automatically distribute submittals" setting is disabled if it is overridden by Domain level "Auto-populate Review Tray when Current Revision is Added' setting.

For more details, please check the attached release notes

We are working hard on new and exciting stuff, stay tuned. 

Release 20.08

Main highlights of the release are the following

  • Possibility to remove/replace review receiver in multiple ongoing reviews added in Document Register web app as shown on the picture above (@19171).
  • Appendix files uploaded to Pims are not automatically renamed to keep potential information in original file name (@20481).
  • Type "Original" is now the default value for all files in upload documents web app (@20953).

Some useful new features

  • Introducing the long awaited "Add Receiver(s)" functionality in the Edit Review dialog (@10939).
  • 3rd party verification history is now available in document profile web app (@19220).
  • Contractors shall be able to change Contractor Document ID attribute in Documents Details web application (@20965).
  • Distributed load solution implemented for downloading excessive amounts of documents with files (@11160).
  • Introduced Actions Log into Interface Documents application (@11555).
  • Added new fields with descriptions into correspondence navigation views (@21205).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.07

Release 20.07 is all about minor fixes, improvements and performance tuning.

Some useful new features

  • Added data filtering possibility in the Review response comments excel sheet (@11032).
  • 'Comments' field is now available to be added to the grid in Documents web app.
  • Navigation Panels got description to be used together with IDs (@16088).
  • Correspondence ID preview in the wizard (@16609).
  • Documents can be removed from SM scope by uploading revision with 'voided' step (@16942).
  • In Upload Documents web app 'Reply' type will be preselected when uploaded file contains 'ReviewComments' in the name (@17622).

Performance tuning and improvements (@12642, @16266, @17816, @17953, @19127, @19383, @20237, @10530). Web apps are updated to handle potential vulnerabilities (@19545, @19656, @19906).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.06

Main highlights of the release are the following

  • All development and demo environments are now on SQL Server 2016.
  • Introduced files upload functionality in Batch Import web app (@13903).
  • Lots of minor updates and fixes - check attached release notes for details.

Some useful new features

  • Two custom free-text fields added to documents register and are available for data import through batch import (@15567).
  • Added Actual and Planned dates in the grid of Interface Documents web app (@14393).

Performance in various apps and processes improved (@17107, @17038).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.05

Main highlights of the release are the following

  • It is now possible to have a "stamp" on the finalized review PDF file with review status code and date information - can be enabled per Domain (@11853).
  • Files with review comments replies will now be always saved in Revisions Files (type "Review Comments Reply") (@14313).
  • We have started introducing cross application links for easier navigation, for example from document profile to related contract detail app (@14316).

Some useful new features

  • Email notification feature introduced in Interface Documents for newly available documents and new revisions (@12289).
  • Updated UI in document profile to make draft revision more "visible" and easier accessible as a reaction to the request from contractors-world (@15931).
  • Added a dialog to the "Download Review Comments" functionality in Documents web app with an option to download files for all reviews or only reviews with comments (@15597).
  • Added ability to immediately send a rejection email notification from Contractor Submittals Import web app (@15880).
  • New Review web app now has a dedicated "Full Screen" button for easier switch of view (@15873).

Minor changes to be noted

  • Changed how engineering tags are shown in documents apps - semicolon is used to separate engineering tags and description is removed (@14458).
  • When bulk downloading files in Interface Documents, files inside archive are renamed according to following structure: "[DocID]_[Revision]_[FileName]" (@15864).

Performance in various apps and processes improved (@15604, @14114, @16252, @16183). We are now finishing and testing new feature to import files together with metadata in Batch Import web app.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.04

Release 20.04 is an absolute record of items processed during one sprint - 140 issues closed, 105 of which go to release! That means more than a hundred of improvements are there in core product now, making life easier and even more stable.

Main focus of the sprint was on making new review app (using Foxit v7) robust by minimizing the risk of glitches (@11840, @13881).

Main highlights of the release are the following

  • Good news for contractors - Uploading Review Comments Replies is simplified in Documents Upload webapp.
  • We've got rid of the button "Upload Review Comments Reply..." on top and will always have replies submitted from the grid with "Reply" File Type - this allows multiple files to be processed in one go. Comments are parsed from both XLS and PDF files.
  • Statuses on PDF comments can be used to provide status of replies (@12086, @12765, @10520).

Long awaited update for review app (Foxit v6) - seamless commenting approach, meaning you can start making comments online then download PDF, continue commenting on your offline device and later sync comments back to Pims or vice versa (@10531).

Correspondence updates - now we have optional possibility to include the content of the correspondence and attachments into email notification being sent out (@10965)

On lockdown, but still full speed.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.03

Main highlights of the release are the following

  • We've introduced extended logging for three new tables Revisions, RevisionsFiles and CorrespondenceFiles (@10578), so you can be sure every data change is thoroughly tracked.
  • New feature in web Correspondence - possibility to send internal correspondence to internal contracts (@10795)

New simplified and updated Review application with newest version of Foxit PDF web-viewer is now released! New Foxit PDF viewer and markup editor is easier and much more comfortable to use. We've put much efforts into making Review app lean yet powerful, including seamless online-offline marking up experience (@10411). Give it a try and let us know what you think. Don't forget to check for the latest hot-fixes to grab the latest updates.

Some important bug-fixes and changes to mention

  • @11735 - Fix for Internal Distribution Tray to be properly cleaned and allow redistributing.
  • @10515 - Interface Documents notifications shall have links to the application with filter applied for easier access.
  • @10529 - New optional metadata field available for Documents.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.02

Release 20.02 comes with many minor stuff fixed and updated. We are one step away from introducing the updated version of the Review page utilizing Foxit Web PDF tool version 7, so keep tuned.

Meanwhile there were some improvements related to the handling of dates in cross-platform usage (both win and web) of Pims DCS across completely different time zones (#49998, #51189). New validation check introduced to contractors uploading app to check if previous review response was returned to contractor (applicable when "Inform originator immediately after review was finalized" is turned off on Contract level) (#52199).

We have received very positive feedback on Extended Logging feature from the implementations, so getting it up to date (#51677); we'll introduce optional extended logging for some of the other critical tables in release 20.03.

Some other updates worth mentioning

  • #52143, #50717 - updating the application layout and introducing latest grid in "Upload Documents" web application to match the rest of the applications.
  • #52125 - Implemented Delegation actions logging into a separate table for further reference and actions.
  • #51951 - DCS Configuration - Fixed the option "Only Current Tab" while copying from the "Web Applications" tab.
  • #51722 - Improving performance of saving a note in the Response grid having more than 100 responses.
  • #52002, #52019 - Updates to the visibility and data availability for contractors when sending Documents for External Review.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 20.01

New Year - new improvements and features are introduced in Release 20.01.

  • We've been looking closely into minimizing potential risk from known web-related vulnerabilities (#51381 - Minimizing the risk of Cross-Site Request Forgery; #51634 - DCS Documents to be Issued for Review web app: removed XSS (Cross Site Scripting) vulnerability.).

Some useful new features

  • "Edit Review" dialog can now be accessed from the Review app (as shown in the picture above) as well as from Document Details app (#51491).
  • New web report "Review Statistics by Person" is introduced - showing accumulated numbers on users' reviews performance by period in time (#51052).
  • Introduced possibility to add multiple contract's mail addresses for a sending email notifications as CC (#50869).
  • While adding new reviewer into the review you can choose to have new receiver be included into Distribution Setup (by default) or skip adding to the Distribution Setup and have receiver in one review only (#50950).
  • Introduced possibility to import Project PO Number using web/win Batch Import (#48905).
  • In the Interface Documents there is a new possibility for the contractor to provide access to some of own documents to the other contractor in the interface without a request from the other side (#51483).

Important bug-fix for 3rd-party Foxit web tool used in Review process: markups having some special characters were not always saved correctly, please find more details in the issue #51652.

One of the important changes is that Domain Type (Asset, Project, SiteModification) is now explicitly set in DCS Configuration to simplify logic behind (#51323).

We are now working hard on introducing updated and simplified Review app with the newest Foxit web-pdf tool to be released very soon. Keep tuned to find out when it's ready.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.12

The sprint 19.12 was all about improving the general quality of Pims DCS - fixing minor glitches all across the module and improving the main processes was the main focus.

There were quite some changes in the following winforms or web applications:

  • Batch Import
  • Configuration
  • Contractor Submittals Import
  • Correspondence and Details
  • Distribution Matrix
  • Document Review
  • Documents Register
  • Documents Upload
  • Interface Documents
  • New Document wizard
  • Project Status
  • Site Modifications Documents
  • Transmittals
  • Navigation views, mega-menu, delegation and email notification processes

One little useful thingy now available in Review app - Copy selected text and Printing the file directly from the app (see the picture attached).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.11

Pims DC Release 19.11 contains a lot of bug fixes and improvements.

Some of the most useful improvements from the latest release

  • #50923 - possibility to remove reviewer from Distribution Setup when removing from Review in web (button removed from the dialog, now it's available from the context menu per each row - see the screenshot above)
  • #50715 - Documents Details web app will now have delete functionality for users having delete permissions on Documents.
  • #50927 - Shared Documents and Correspondence app got files to be shown directly in the list view.
  • #37913 - long waited feature in Correspondence: added possibility to share correspondence files, when sharing the correspondence itself.
  • #51016 - DCS Contracts app (both win and web) now has new metadata field "Comments" for easier management of contracts.
  • #49915, #50722 - Pims Task for creating reviews was updated with more information to be logged for further analysis if unexpected situations arise.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.10

New functionality introduced in Pims DCS - Interface Documents (#50617)

Interface Documents is used to share documents between two interface parties. The two interface parties can ask and give access to view each other's documents. When an interface party uploads new revisions to the Company, the revisions will also be available to the other interface party. This will remove extra work and ensure that interface parties will always have access to the current document revision. Detailed workflow below:

Documentation / guidelines are soon to come.

Some of the items worth mentioning

  • Demobilization functionality is being prepared to be introduced (#49748).
  • Reports app launcher updated (#50859 ).

Useful items to pay attention to

  • Web Batch Import app will now provide possibility to preview changes before and after actual import (#50491).
  • Site Modifications part got a bunch of updates and improvements: introduced reports, review follow-up, filtering voided and superseded documents, filtering closed/cancelled projects, documents confidentiality, documents plans per project (#50751).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.9

Main focus of the Release 19.9 was on making existing solutions even more stable and improving the performance of massive operations like importing distribution setup(#50296, #50300)

New little thingy making life easier that was requested quite long ago and waiting for it's time to be introduced - contractor's response to review comments can be reverted by document controllers if required as shown in the picture post picture (#32046)

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.8

August release (19.8) is the biggest ever by the amount of processed issues (91 processed requests for improvements, changes and bug-fixes)!

Most of the focus was on improving main web applications for Document Controllers to make it simple yet powerful enough for most of DC actions to be available on web.

Main DC's apps updated

New way of responding to review comments for contractors - by utilizing inbuilt PDF response mechanism (49183). Now comments responses can be left directly in the response PDF and uploaded back to Pims by utilizing regular Documents Upload app.

Improvement in review completion notification process (49602) - once review is finalized, email notification can be sent directly to responsible person at contractor's side, skipping additional step of contractor's DCC being involved (notification is still sent as CC to contractor's DCC). We have a dedicated field called "Notify on Reviewed" on Document's level now, which is available to be updated from both Documents Details or via batch import.

Introducing external review workflow revamp for "contractor-world" side (49591). Whole workflow of sending new revision files for external review with support for: document profile workflow status, email notifications, deadline dates and general overview (both win and web).

Some more updates to highlight

  • Import Distribution Setup shall also handle user Login, not only PersonID (49836).
  • Sent correspondence can be updated by users having "Manage All Correspondence" capability (39445).
  • Advanced actions (like in adding reviewers, sending reminders) is now available to all users having "Review: alter ongoing" capability (49793).

For the rest of UI/UX, performance improvements and bug-fixes check release notes attached.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.7

July release is second biggest by the amount of issues processed – 63 improvements, changes and fixes.

Several items making life easier

  • Additional action type is added to the general action list on “My Page”: correspondence comments reply request pending (49594).
  • Expired users are highlighted in relevant apps and winforms (e.g. Distribution Setup as shown on the screenshot above) (49420).
  • “View My Comments Only” option was added to Review app to show only own comments (49393).

Other issues to mention

  • Export only PDF files to offline archive (49100).
  • Improvements and fixes in Importing Distribution Setup in web (49588).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.6

June release includes a bunch of minor fixes and improvements.

Two bigger changes to mention

  • Correspondence metadata setup is no longer dependent on the plant and has a separate setup section for correspondence attributes (as shown on the screenshot attached) (42050).
  • Documents can now have projects form different plants (49053).

One of the improvements in the new release - ability to mark appendix files to be uploaded from web "Upload Documents" app (49049). Appendix files have clear UI indication in all relevant web applications.

Document Controllers working in multiple display environment setup with different screen dpi's might be happy to know that winform shrink glitch was fixed (44917).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.5

Some highlights in May release 19.5

  • Possibility to distribute memory hungry modules to other servers and support for importing offline review annotations by using XFDF files (48315).
  • Correspondence performance improved – loading correspondence details and creating new correspondence now works way quicker (47685).
  • Introduced possibility of having different online review markups page (FlowPaper) for historical records, after switching to use Foxit markup tool (48830)

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.4

April release has two main highlights - Possibility to execute Site Modification projects in separate domains and new web-apps:

  • Focus on Operations phase. Site Modification projects can now be handled in separate Domains, possibility to initiate conflicts resolutions before handing over of final revisions to Asset domain, possibility for contractors to provide any revisions numbers, no need to include project code anymore (47541).
  • More of DC tools are now available in web (MDR and Distribution Setup Imports, Contracts and more) (47251).

Smaller things making life easier

  • Preview of PDF files in web-viewer without a need of downloading (48301).
  • “Search in Files” is now also available in Documents Grid View (47559).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.3

March release contains mainly minor fixes and improvements.

Most notable improvement

  • Allows comment responsible finalize reviews for a set of documents by using review status prepared by Consolidator (called Leader in that screenshot) (48190).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.2

February release is small - only minor fixes and improvements.

Most notable being

  • Added PO Number to Documents Projects which will be auto-filled and saved in Project Revisions tables. Possible to filter in Project Status and visible in Doc.Details pages (46112).
  • Web Correspondence: added possibility to register new correspondence of types Letter, Report, MoM (47596).

The team is busy working on important new functionality for making Pims DC more efficient in Operations phase - Site Modifications in a separate domain, including conflicts resolutions and handover back to Asset domain. These results might become available for current and new customers already in spring 2019.

In parallel we continue to work closely on improving the new online commenting tool - Foxit and creating more DCC tools on web.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 19.1

Most notable updates this month

  • Offline Archive now does not require SSIS installation. Also the feature is now available in Documents web page (43822).
  • New web page "Configuration" (46251).
  • Review page: Online annotating will be available for CR when using Foxit after uploading pdf file with markups (45944).
  • New dialog window with email content when trying to open Appframe email in "Emails" tab, in web "Transmittals Details" page (47106).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.12

Everyone can decide what is more interesting by looking at the detailed report attached, however I would mention few things:

  • Addition of several new fields into grids and configuration lists.
  • Transformation of review statuses per contract (#36429).
  • Automation of Plant selection in Correspondence (#45794).

In future we plan to make separate attribute registers for Correspondence so that it is not required to think about plants there at all.

From the picture above you can notice we have started working on several configuration applications on web, which were only available in win-client before. The concept there is to allow document controllers to do more of their daily tasks in browser, reducing the win-client necessity to administrators. In future more setup applications will be added like Distribution Groups, and features for DCs, like the Batch Import and/or a dedicated simplified application for MDR imports and Submittals Imports page

In addition there is a whole new Pims Information Exchange (PIE) sub-module being developed by a separate team, which will allow synchronization of data in between the central Cloud server and multiple on-premise instances for scenarios with poor Internet connection in remote locations.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.11

This release is of a record size and volume - over 70 different improvements, updates and fixes.

The biggest update is the introduction of new web PDF viewer and mark-up tool "Foxit", made by a world's leading provider of PDF solutions "Foxit Software". You can test it on Dev already now and it will be available on Demo servers as default PDF review tool next month. We have a constructive dialog with the vendor regarding any glitches in the control and the library, so we hope that together with them we will be able to provide quality services to our customers who would choose to utilize this new tool (configurable option).

Other notable changes include

  • New version of FlowPaper splitter tool: fixes issue when FlowPaper not showing text within drawing (45093).
  • Review admins will be able to change review type on open reviews in Document Register form (45359).
  • Now possible to define review calendar (ref. working days and holidays) per contract (35631).
  • Revisions can now be uploaded as a resolution for conflicts of concurrent projects revisions - new file type "Resolution" (44389).
  • Review type will now be set to "Simple" by default when sending internally produced documents for review (45229).
  • Allowing contractors to update document titles in web (Documents Details page) for document belonging to their company (34199).
  • Possibility to convert files to PDF in Document Register form without Approval (37527).

As well as: new fields in Batch Import, new replacement tags in ID notification emails, many additional fields in Export Setup and other performance and stability improvements/fixes.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.10

Most notable changes this month

  • Better implementation of content search feature in web, faster search and no more limitation of 2100 results (44088).
  • Added new ReviewClass which allows to not automatically distribute newly uploaded document revisions to review receivers and internal distribution receivers (44527).
  • Added possibility to supersede documents in Batch Import (44555).
  • New version of FlowPaper splitter tool: fixes issue when FlowPaper does not show text within the document (45093).
  • "Update Review Class on filtered documents" feature has been added to Distribution Matrix web page (44528).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.9

Not everyone was on summer vacations in August, we also have done some work improving DCS. Most notable developments are regarding concurrent engineering, specifically handling Site Modification projects in an Operations phase.

Other notable improvements include

  • Improved robustness of the Documents Uploads page.
  • Easier configuration of projects in Distribution Templates.
  • Multiple improvements in the Batch Imports form.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.8

Most notable updates this month

  • Added ability to set many projects current revisions as asset current revisions also identifying conflicts (43804).
  • Recreated Tags Search form to show full Documents-Tags list in the domain with a possibility to search on attributes from both sides (43940).
  • Revived DCS-specific Reports web page (43271).
  • Granted access for contractors to view the Project Status web page (43701).
  • Improved performance of reserving document IDs in Documents Register (43736).

There are many other improvements, fixes and changes focusing on making Pims DC a better, more stable and configurable product.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.7

This release brings many exciting improvements to the Pims DC module. Some of these were requested by our existing customers and some we have learned from our participation in tenders with other leading global players in the energy sector.

Most notable features

  • Support for new optional SystemActionType "Review Consolidator" which can prepare a response for CR to just finalize (43468).
  • New review type "Simple", for internal documents (having no response), allowing the author (set as CR) to collect comments on a draft, before issuing for approval (43583).
  • Support for dossiers (structured lists of documents that are expected, but not necessarily existing yet) with a possibility to import structure and export documents (43466).
  • Navigation Views concept: an alternative feature to navigate in Documents web app using a folder-like structure of filters managed by users (43467).
  • Possibility to export documents into an Offline Archive that is searchable and contains hyperlinks to files (43591).
  • Possibility to remove receivers from Distribution Setup via Batch Import when users are missing in Excel sheet and the corresponding check boxes are marked (43451).
  • Allowing to configure more fields in Documents Search Setup; improved loading speed of the Documents web page (43290).
  • Documents Handover feature from Project to Asset (43582).
  • Change in Delegations, allowing multiple persons to delegate their actions for the same period to the same person (43690).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.6

Most notable changes in this release

  • New process allowing contractors to submit non-existing documents via XLS (like MDR) for optional DCC validation using Batch Imports, eliminating the need for DC to register such transmittals manually (43262).
  • Distribution Templates are now available on Web. Normal users can add/remove themselves to/from existing distribution templates (42466).
  • Documents Register: revisions files can now be renamed by superusers (42970).
  • DCS Contracts now can be marked as inactive (42919).
  • Improved short date formatting when user's device is configured with UTC-x time offset (43274).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.5

Moving further along the way of making the grids on web more useful, we have added optional details panels to the Grid Views of Documents and Correspondence registers (42462)

Performance of Pims DC module was tested with millions of documents and hundreds of simultaneous requests via the web server. Test results are documented and available for customers upon request.

As usual, please review "Change" items carefully to make sure that they don't clash with your processes. Some of such changes include data manipulations that should be tested out in a pilot version before launching to production.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.4

One of the goals of Pims Unification project is to utilize a common universal notifications system. Workflows modules already have used something similar so we have generalized the concept to allow other modules to join and added the DC module (42133).

Main feature is a possibility to choose notifications frequency per module among: Immediate / Daily / Weekly / No Emails. Almost all notification emails that are currently being sent by the system from Pims DC might not be sent immediately based on each user's preference configuration. There will be an indication in the header bar of the web-client when new notifications are pending, and if unread until the next configured interval, a digest email with a list of new unread DC notifications will be sent to users who prefer not to receive immediate notification emails. This feature will allow active Pims DC users to work efficiently without having hundreds of notification emails bombarding their inboxes.

Besides this exciting change, there is as usual a number of other improvements, changes and fixes

  • New web applications: Projects Status that should be useful in a multi-project setup, like concurrent engineering 42201) and Transmittals Wizards for the old-school practitioners (42653).
  • Allowing DC more control over the sent correspondence (42459).
  • New mandatory fields possibilities in doc wizards (42101).
  • Performance improvements (42639).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.3

This time we were so busy implementing the ambitious changes in the product that we even had to skip the February release - number of objects altered during this period is around 1500!

Most massive change is making all DC web pages "stateless", meaning that Current Domain will not have to be changed in web browser when clicking on hyperlinks from emails or following hyperlinks to another domain from My Page (42282). The change-domain feature is still available, like before, for reasons of changing focus when working with multiple projects, however now one will be able to have several tabs open in different domains - all it takes is a different "?Domain=" value in the URL.

MDR Review web application is removed (41311) - the feature of planning reviews (suggesting Review Class) is merged into the Distribution Matrix web app. More improvements is done to this app to make the work of configuring Distribution Setup more effective.

A little new feature for CR in review process on web was added - ability to delete own text/markups comments from Response but still keeping it in My Comments available for future reference (36983).

A change to the implementation in custom domain-specific captions of generic fields (e.g. DocsCustomText1, CorrCustomText1) was required due to a change in Appframe (42547). Translations will not apply everywhere automatically, we will consider performance impact before implementing in each case.

Newer version of the 3rd-party library Aspose.Pdf v17.1 is implemented, bringing a set of fixes and improvements in the features related to creating and modifying PDF files in Pims DC (41946).

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 18.1

We say goodbye to the year 2017 and so do we to the Sequential review type. According to our investigation on the most active DC customers this type is not used at all or is used negligibly little. All the benefits of this type are inherited by the Mixed mode which also does not have drawbacks of the former one. So R.I.P Sequential review (42025)

On the creative side, it is worth mentioning that several other Pims modules joined the new styling standard on web.

In win-world the visual representation of the Correspondence Thread got revamped with an interactive DevExpress Diagram control which allows to wrap ones head around a complicated communication history by moving the items around and being able to export charts to use externally (41327).

Documents with leading or trailing whitespaces will no longer be valid due to confusion it might create looking identical to humans but being different for computers (41896) so before applying this change package it is advised to check/fix any possible such cases.

Added permissions for DC Superuser role members to modify translations captions and clear web server cache afterwards so that changes apply to web pages without having to ask Pims support to refresh (41764).

You might have noticed last month that Documents and Correspondence registers on web have changed default view to Grid. This rigidity was improved a bit by making those apps to remember user's last choice on the machine, so now your preference is sustained. Also on mobile phones - list view will be default.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.12

December release brings a revolution in style for all DC web applications. This is a first step of Pims Web Unification Project where the purpose is to provide a consistent look&feel, navigation and some common general concepts to web applications of all Pims modules and related Omega products.

Landing page now will be shared with "dashboards" of other modules where the user has access to show a global overview of outstanding actions and notifications. "Retractable" menu replaces the Right-panel, leaving more space to the content of your web apps.

All registers like Documents, Correspondence, Transmittals, Shared Docs and Corrs, are now reflecting the "desktop first" concept having new configurable Grids as default view (but don't worry, the List views are also available and the apps are still mobile-friendly).

On the product side of the release there is also quite a number of improvements as detailed in the Release Notes report.

Most notable of them

  • All DC tables are now storing date values as UTC all over and showing values based on time settings of users devices (41643).
  • Domain-specific captions for custom fields became available (41677).
  • More granular capabilities: "Recipients available for distributions" is split into 2 separate ones (41692).
  • More robust interaction with office applications used for convertions to PDF (41626).
  • Improved performance of "3rd Party Verification" web page (41713).

Omega Issue Tracker became even more "transparent" and now it is possible to see what DC issues are being worked on during the month and the progress on each of the active ones. This might help Pims Support developers to easier report status of specific issues to their customers.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.11

The release this month appears to be quite technical - most important updates are under the hood and not easily visible.

  • Usage of alternative methods when connection to Exchange server is not available (41290).
  • Allowing to configure multi-select fields as mandatory attributes in Correspondence (41302).
  • Improved performance of Draft Correspondence app (41281).

More visible changes are regarding formatting of time in Correspondence (41153) - local PC time zone will be used, and not the Appframe setting as it used to be, this will be implemented in other DC applications (Win and Web) in future releases. Documents Status page has been redesigned to give a more understandable overview of documents delivery and review processes.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.10

This release brings many interesting new features as well as many improvements.

Most notable developments

  • Change in how Classification Categories are marked confidential and how CAL is populated (40376).
  • Making permissions management system on contracts more granular (38272).
  • Support for registering Contracts Documents aka Appendixes (37915).
  • Support for automatic distribution of newly uploaded revisions for approval (40804).
  • Visual Thread representation in Corr. Register win app (40418).
  • Enabled Attachment files on Transmittals (41024).
  • Allowing to send reviewed draft revisions for approval (40962).
  • Improved saving of notes positions in Flowpaper (38826).
  • New-web application for delegations (39888).

All DC web apps are now converted to new-web framework, old apps are not going to be supported further by the product team.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.9

This release is not very big and exciting due to summer vacations period, it contains mostly fixes and small improvements.

Most notable updates

  • New custom fields in Correspondence and Documents (as usual, also migrating data from the least used fields that will be removed (38678, 40069).
  • Making permissions management system on contracts more granular (38272)
  • New capability to manage 3rd-Party Verification files (40268)
  • Setting to disable the whole TPV process (40288)
  • Cleaner layout of Review History tab in Documents Register (40346)

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.8

Most notable improvements added to the product in this release

  • Delegations return feature; after deactivating a delegation or upon expiration the delegated and still open tasks will be automatically returned to originator (40289).
  • New delegation actions for Correspondence Reply Responsible and Primary Receiver; now it is also possible to delegate tasks inside correspondence (37876)
  • URL links containing domain parameter; now it is very easy to copy a link from the browser address bar (in Doc/Corr Search, Review) and to share it with colleagues through any communication channel without having to use the Share Link dialog (38419)
  • Contract members with 'Notify' setting in contract will be automatically added into 'CC' when creating new correspondence; now it will be clearly visible for who will receive a correspondence notification (39714)

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.7

In June Pims DC team has converted a lot of web applications to the new web framework: Transmittals, Submittals, Shared Items, Shared Document Submittals, a whole bunch of 3rd Party Verification apps and the new merged Distribution Matrix + MDR Review web app.

Many improvements to the product were done, with most notable being the long-awaited configurable web grids, content search in Correspondence and possibility to delegate actions in Approvals. Another design improvement for even better usability in the New Letter page, based on feedback from customers who implemented the previous version.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.6

In May Pims DC module got boosted with quite many improvements and fixes requested by our customers, as well as several web applications were recreated using the new framework e.g. Document Review, Document Approvals, Register Correspondence and Documents Uploads. Correspondence Draft page for Letters was further improved to be even more intuitive with regards to common use case scenarios - now it is possible to send a Letter with PDF attachment according to project template without ever downloading a file (if signature is not required). MDR Review grid got redesigned with column filters, configurable Web Search filters and a configurable editable list of distribution receivers.

Items marked with type "Change" are also improvements, however those might require extra attention from the customers extensively using the product, since the logic related to those features will start behaving differently than it used to be.

Nothing dangerous should be expected from such changes - we are dedicated to providing a safe upgrades path for our customers, however it might be smart for an accepting responsible person to evaluate the current usage of features that have changed and possibly give warnings to users.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.5

The new release, as usually, brings a lot of fixes and improvements, both in Pims DC and in the technology underneath.

Main thread of this release is the availability of Beta versions of Correspondence applications set: Correspondence Search, Details and Draft web pages cleanly rewritten using the new Appframe web framework.

Along the way many improvements were made, both visual/styling and functional. For example the new feature that allows Pims web users to collaborate on a letter text before generating the mandatory letter file from template and sending it.

For customers who did not yet switch to new Documents Search web page and have to stick to using the application based on the stored procedure, there is a significant improvement in the compilation times and cache sizes of that procedure, so that even on servers with high loads users don't have to wait for the compilation to occur.

Many of the improvements we do on web are being implemented only in new versions of the apps, so you should really consider switching to those apps in your instances.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.4

In March Pims DC maintenance team has closed out quite many issues/suggestions alongside with still focusing on rewriting web applications according to the new platform - we are happy to announce availability of Documents Details web app for beta testing.

Documents Register form has been revisited with regards to performance in domains with huge amounts of documents, improving speed of features used by DCC on a daily basis. Also improved capacity of the system to handle big files, when merging them together into a distributable PDF file.

There were a couple of small design changes introduced in this release that make external contract members to be considered a more integral part of the team, e.g. they will be able to see review responses even though they are not employed in neither the originator, nor the reviewing company, but are involved in the contract.

Correspondence sub-module got a number of new optional fields allowing to relate records to asset as well as supporting multi-values for many of those fields.

Several new features requested for Correspondence web apps lately are only being implemented in the new version of Correspondence web applications which are still under development, but we hope to release them very soon.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.3

In this release we have paid a lot of attention to the stability and performance of the system.

Documents Register win-form was heavily optimized for performance with huge numbers of documents, both loading/filtering and applying actions. All fields in the Info tab of this form became optional, so it will be easy to narrow down the list of used fields for different projects. Three of these fields became configurable, meaning that the names could be changed by the customer without a need for customization. Also made Correspondence Register more configurable allowing to exclude From/To Company codes if not used.

Several fixes related to issues with different cultures of users PCs should make the system more robust in the global environment.

This release includes important fixes to FlowPaper component (web markups tool used in the Review process) with regards to displaying point/area annotations in wrong place when zooming extensively. Also several small issues were fixed by the vendor.

Slight logic change regarding external users being contract members - they will get more rights as members, independently of the company on their Person record.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.2

This month we have continued to work on rewriting web applications for better maintainability and performance while also focusing on issues reported from customer implementations.

New web documents wizard is already available for beta-testing.

Quite a few improvements were introduced mainly related to extending configuration options and making them safer. Also further improving the new web beta-apps that we introduced in last release.

Systems developers supporting customers should be aware of the important technical change involved in applying Appframe updates this month - a change of DevExpress version.

Pims DC change pack includes updated versions of all affected winforms and assemblies. Most Pims modules have also been updates and are available, however custom forms/libraries should be updated before applying the change to production to avoid downtime.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 17.1

Another monthly update of Pims DC module is available, as always including fixes, improvements and new features implementations.

A more detailed list is available in the attached Release Notes (most notable: 36898, 37193, 37603, 36797, 36439)

Late 2016 we have started to look on improving maintainability of our product applications, especially the web part. With this in mind we have started to redesign the existing web applications one-by-one using the new, more standardized and responsive Appframe web version, trying to reintroduce all the most important features required by users in a manner that prioritizes performance as well as simplicity of support and customization.

This release features two beta-applications (MDR Review and Documents Search) letting users familiarize themselves with the new design while still having the old applications functional "just-in-case".

Most improvements in these new applications are behind the scenes and not very obvious to users, but are definitely valuable for IT specialists hosting and supporting these products. Users will notice that some actions will have to be performed a bit differently than before so it is important to understand that these new apps represent a complicated balance between being lean, fast, easy to support and feature-complete, satisfying requirements of most typical users of Pims DC.

Omega is dedicated to delivering high-quality, performing, maintainable and future-proof products and we plan to bring more redesigned apps in the coming releases.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 16.12

In November Pims DC module got beefed-up with quite some fixes and improvements.

It is now possible to share documents and correspondence with users and contracts via web apps. Added possibility to use new fields as Mandatory and inside Word templates. Several improvements in Review, Distribution and Shared Items applications.

Performance was improved in several places and we are working hard to further improve the performance and maintainability of web applications.

Most improvements were done to web applications since web-client remains extremely popular among users and we receive massive amount of improvement suggestions from customers running Pims DC. Nevertheless win-client remains an important tool for document controllers and power users, also the main source for module's configuration.

For more details, please check attached release notes

Release 16.11

During October Pims DC maintenance team has mostly focused on fixes and improvements related to Correspondence web part of the module.

  • Now all internal users will be able to see all non-confidential correspondence and shared items (just like they can see all non-confidential documents), independently of contracts memberships.
  • We have implemented proper support for MoM/Report corr. types that were not actively used before.
  • Updated several features related to contract-wide access for all internal users.
  • Allowed more granular configuration of primary receivers per corr. type.
  • Introduced a system to number/differentiate correspondence files.

Third party component, used for web PDF preview and commenting FlowPaper (formerly named FlexPaper) updated to version 2.5.1.

For more details, please check attached release notes and here

Release 16.10

In September we have continued to focus on improving stability and performance of the module along with fixing some small bugs and developing improvements desired by several of our customers.

Main attention of developments stays on web part, where we seek to facilitate processes required by common, non-administrative users such as reviews, approvals, producing internal documents and distributions.

The newly introduced web Correspondence process was adjusted according to feedback from customers planning to start using it very soon, also many new suggestions to improve this further were registered.

Several improvements done in Batch Import, Distribution Template and the process of concurrent engineering.

Draft revisions of internally produced documents can now be sent for review. This will support the process of collecting comments before approval better than before.

This release includes new version of the web markups tool (FlowPaper) and of course new Appframe updates.

For more details, please check attachedrelease notesrelease notes

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