Tweaks and fixes

• Print rebate : show wording tax invoice on print out instead of receipt
• Print spares invoice : Allow freeforms of zero qty to be printed with highlighted text. For embedding notes into a spares invoice
• C9's internal copy of c9 only : embed information about upcoming pricing rationalisation
• Support storing attachments externals to c9, e.g. in a dropbox share folder or network drive. Doing so removes storage restrictions in c9. See more details below
• realtime reconcilation check. Everytime a GL posting is add/modified c9 will verify that its presentation on balance sheet is consistent with P&L. It will nag if it is not. This is useful for detecting in realtime reconciliation errors, e.g. using no cash collected or AR debit/credit txn will always trigger the nag. Also more subtle scenarios, such as selecting tax coding of CapEx but not using a balance sheet GL code for the capital purchase. Mirrors behaviour of reconciliation report but does it in realtime.
• Select transaction : sort date field is showing wrong value on all tabs. Fixed.
• Modify workshop invoices so the invoice number doesn't have commas in it. This aligns workshop inv with spares and units. Apparently vicpol don't like commas in workshop invoice numbers, it messes with their delicate, IT systems. That's some mighty fine police work there Lou.
• Low level v5 bugfix. Exotic txn lifecycle would fail. Now fixed.
  • Specific scenario: record warranty on a supplier. Then delete it.  Then redo the warranty but changing the date from original recording to an earlier date, and the specific supplier happens to have open bill txns which are dated on a date the occurs after the new warranty date and the supplier is flagged as auto allocate.
  • Root cause: materialized last alloc/last supply computation broken in above specific scenario, triggering a database constraint error

Track bigger files in c9

C9 allows you to attach images and files to things like job cards etc. The size limits are very stringent although because our cloud backup services cannot cope with the c9 database being used as a generic high volume cloud storage system.

To workaround this, this version of c9 includes changes which will allow you to store attachments on an external source, such as a network drive or a locally mapped DropBox folder. With such a system in play c9 will no longer nag about limits. Downside is you need to manage backups for network drive yourself. A good solution is to get a dropbox account and use the dropbox share folder. Example screengrabs.

Setup -> main setup screen -> networking 2 tab. Navigate CDN option to point to where your share drive / drop box mirrors to. You may want to create a sub directory to keep c9 stuff distinctly separate.

Now attachments you have on jobs etc will automatically save into the configured sync folder, which in above example is a dropbox folder which will then automatically backup to dropbox

Tweaks and Fixes

• Low level systems changes
  • C9 contains a memory leak and it has been there for ages. Toggling between different parts of c9, from workshop to spares and back eats up a little bit of memory which is never returned. Over time c9 will eventually run out of memory. Most people would not run into limit because it clears out when you logout of c9. But if you leave c9 logged in after a few weeks it will grind to a halt. Fixed in this version
  • On a very small % of computers, opening c9 can cause other programs on windows to either open or close unexpectedly. It relates to some work done 10+ years ago. when you open c9 you expect it to become the 'top' program on your screen but on either older windows or older javas it didn't work. There is an old cludge in c9 to workaround this but this cludge can cause behaviour in other programs. Discovering this cludge is no longer needed to ensure c9 pops as top program when you open it, so removed entirely, removing strange behaviour on some computers. (Fix: kill simulated mouse click on window header to force it to gain keyboard focus, tweak focus grab code a little bit too).
• Other changes
  • Bank rec tweak open balance
    • Make sure txn is tagged so adjusted balance is visible on txn posting in business -> activity.
    • allow manipulation of such txns in business -> activity. Previously could out with a 'cannot alter bankrechead' message
  • honda warranty export tweaks to work better with company contacts (include contact in firstname field)
  • import part images, skip over absurdly long image names which are problematic for KTM powerparts importing
  • refresh WA transfer form. Something weird going on with it in some PDF viewers. Suspect color model issue. But hopefully fixed now. New transfer form is rearranged slightly.

• Tweaks and fixes
  • Unit line report : profit figure would not show negative (-) sign for negative profit lines. Now fixed
  • Auto/manual alloc settings. Always auto alloc depositor balances because of strict business rules around deposit management, manual alloc will almost always result in txn failure on usage of deposits. (withdrawals can never be unallocated).
  • Modify Deals screen : ppsr button floats in an awkard position when the window is maximized. Fixed.
  • Orderbook Bulk move function originally added to help manage KTM's weird stock ordering rules... tweaked so it will respond to attributes on either stock or master file. For dealers who manually manipulate / manage stkordcat attribute on stocked items in lieu of waiting for them to ever issue an updated price file.....
  • Split payment fixes
    • Modify existing txn which is split. Amount the split is incorrectly calculated as double the actual txn amount which messes with attempts to adjust splits. Now fixed.
  • Split payment ux tweaks /fixes
    • Due date on payment screen doesn't show last edited split due date
    • Split payment screen. On inputting a split figure, if on update a new line is added for residual, then highlight that new line. Track what has been explicitly edited and make it visually obvious so there is ever only one residual entry
  • Purchase unit : check if inputted invoice lives on a previously purchased invoice.
  • Deals : print part picklist , similar to same function in modify jobs.
  • Online giftcard tweakage
    • View web order : more clearly delineate giftcards purchaseed and giftcards used for payment
    • Reprint print a4 invoice with issued giftcards. The giftcards would display on preview but when spooled to printer would not print. Now fixed
    • View invoice, show $ figure and qty of barcodes issued if any
  • Modify job. If while modifying a job you click on view unit, changes you are working on would revert. Now fixed.
  • Add payment :  debtor payments incorrectly required a clerk key with credit/refund permission , when this permission is only needed for refunds / debt writedowns. Bug introduced on migration to 5.2.  Now fixed.
• Magician and importer integrations
  • KTM parts images : working again. Note KTM modified their website to throttle/rate limit traffic. As a result importer is now significantly slower and less reliable.
  • Ron Angel Magician , working again
  • Added magician query for GA Spares
  • Polaris has been removed entirely from c9. Their new dealer portal cannot be integrated into.

C9 now supports giftcards integrated into c9 enabled websites.

This allows users of your website to:

1. Purchase giftcards off the website
2. Use giftcards to pay for web purchases

Read more...

Includes DB changes. You need to log all terminals out during upgrade

Online Gift cards

This version of c9 includes changes to help facilitate usage of giftcards online. Both buying and selling. A followup post / email will be sent on how to get onboard with this and add it to your website. Specific scope of changes in c9 itself:

• Sync giftcards purchased online into c9 point of sale and add them to bill of goods on point of sale
• sync giftcards used as part of payment options online, and prep them to be used as payment on online orders
• 'safe' giftcard mode. Make sure giftcards are not consumed online same time they are used in store. Requires c9 POS to be online all the time when utilising giftcards. New option in setup to enable it. It is possible to use giftcards online without it and there will be no ongoing double spend problems, but enabling it can make UX a bit smoother by more actively detecting when a giftcard has been 'reserved' / 'consumed' online but not yet processed in c9.  The main point of this change will become more obvious in time, where future version of c9 will support sharing giftcards across multiple c9 instances (for dealerships how have more than one shop). In such scenarios, central authority on where giftcards are managed is more diffuse, and double spend problem is in fact a problem in this setup, so requires more aggressive controls in place to handle it. Inclusion on this version is mainly as a proof of concept to confirm feasibility of safe / accurate consumption of giftcards where consumer/acquirer is a different system from the holder/issuer of the giftcard.

Other changes

• Pay slips : gross figure previously would subtract voluntary super. Now fixed to not do this.
• Unit sales : for sales on account with a deposit print balance owing figure on them, so to not confuse finance companies too much
• Loose mode units: a couple of dealers run c9 in a mode where floor units can be quickly added during sale. This mode conflicts with recent changes to protect against simultaneous selling/modification of units. Now fixed to support these dealers.
• Reworked deals screen for finished / cancelled deals to display a view deal screen. Accessing commonly request things from here:
  • Print deal/ print resulting invoice
  • view customer details
  • View deposit history
  • (New) view deal attachments
• deals : option to attach images etc to deals
• merge parts on pickup : merge freight to charge figures
• Payment methods: this code has been heavily reworked as part of processing importing of giftcards used online. Some subtle variations, for example it is generally better at memorizing selected payment methods, including giftcards and banks, when you come out and come back in to redo a payment.
• Txn allocation : if you delete or wind down a txn c9 is supposed to automatically juggle allocations of adjunct txns. Under some narrow circumstances this doesn't always happen. v4 c9 used a very brute force/greedy check everything approach, v5 is a bit more refined and only allocates where needed. But some scenarios were overlooked. Now fixed. The underlying logic has been heavily rewritten as part of this: a little more efficient/faster ( doesn't open/edit sibling txns, but can manipulate allocations of linked journal entries without loading entire posting).
• Txn adjust aging tool. Could crash with an error in some circumstances with fairly complex aging adjustment requirements ( ConcurrentModificationException ).  Too technical and obscure to explain why and how, so just a note to say it is fixed here.

A new pricefile for KTM/HQV and GAS is about to drop onto c9 repo.

The file isn't an officially provided file, but is a frankenstein file created by mashing together 4 different sources of data. (Previously provided files, file from SAP, a separate supers file from the factory, and EPC diagrams sourced from 3 key c9 clients).

Install with caution, any errors or complaints : contact KTM and press them to provide a price file that actually works. Isn't rocket surgery this stuff.

Polaris have a new IT system.

Their currently provided price file is not suitable for importing. It lacks part descriptions, it lacks supercessions and it encodes pricing in a very awkward way.

We have managed to mash together a rough as guts price file as a temporary workaround. It mashes descriptions from online EPC and supers from prior files. It is imperfect but you might find it to be better than nothing. Use at your own risk.

Price file is now in c9 repo. If you cannot access Polaris in repo contact us.

Includes database changes. You need to log all terminals out during upgrade

Tweaks and fixes

• Refinement to recently added sell giftcard on point of sale. If discount is set and it happens to be > max discount, c9 will whinge even though discounts do not apply to giftcards. Now fixed
• Unit sales bugs. unit sale sometimes needs to manipulate / create multiple journal postings. e.g. one for sale and one for rebates on sold units. under some exotic and difficult to replicate circumstances, journals posted could get muddled with unit lines posting onto the rebate line. Some repairs:
  • Firstly aggressively test during unit sale creation for any signs of mixup of journals. Fail sale if anything like this happens
  • Secondly: fix a specific example discovered: manipulation of an uncollected rebate during sale
• View transactions tweak, specifically to help with determining which job(s) an invoiced sublet belongs to
  • Display job no in ext ref field for invoiced sublets linked to a single sublet only
  • add a 'details' button to dive into unlderlying txns details
  • On view details, break a sublet down to its attached job(s)
  • In browse Open P/Os : display sublet # so can be manually cross referenced with view transactions screen

New features

• Ability to sell giftcards while in point of sale, mixed in with parts. Just f7 to access adding a gift card to sale. This work is part of a project to integrate giftcards into online websites (selling and using). Originally planned for 5.3 after, but bringing it forward. Giftcards in spares POS is first step to prove out a key part of the overall idea.

Tweaks  and fixes

• print deals. For deals tagged as quotes print 'QUOTE' in top right instead of 'DEAL'
• C9 setup screen would lockup under some exotic cases, now fixed ( regeneration of general ledger chart names from instrument names could cause a lockup, because changes would happen without commiting changes to database, causing blocking on DB)
• Merge other invoices nag : default to NO. This function seems to get overused leaving long messy trails of interconnected invoices, so discourage its use unless the operator positively wants to do this
• Receive spares : allow received invoices to be future dated. Nag but allow user to press on if they want.
• Supplier return via point of sale
  • Force operator to pick either invoice now, or invoice later. Previously would default to invoice now, which generally is not desirable default.  Instead of forcing a default this version compels operator to pick an option
  • If invoice now is selected make sure order number field is not blank.

Bugfix with 5.2.28 and newly added adjust aging feature. Aging adjustment would not allow you to go ahead under some fairly common scenarios, now fixed. (Achieve required balance by using unallocated -ve txns in periods without explicit target balance goals).