Difference between revisions of "Ad Manager Release Notes"

Revision as of 15:21, 29 October 2015

Pending release

• You can now limit the number of playlists being published to Content Manager to a specified time window.
• You can now disable the tuning of all player outputs upon the startup of the Content Manager publishing service.
• You can now configure multiple instances of the Content Manager synchronization services in order to handle multiple Ad Manager databases on the same machine.
• You can now attach images to digital locations.
• You can now attach documents to digital locations.
• You can now find digital locations by reservation criteria.
• You can now see the digital subcontract requirements (target, budget, locations) as columns in list views.
• You can now see tabs showing the digital locations and reservations in the Lease details window.
• Fixed an issue where playlists were not generated correctly for certain reservation weekday combinations.
• Fixed an issue where it was impossible to restart the Content Manager synchronization services if they happened to crash.
• Fixed an issue where the Content Manager publishing service would crash while publishing a media set reservation ad containing a media item that has been deleted from Content Manager.
• Fixed a potential runtime error in the log in dialog.
• Fixed an issue where posting values were not calculated correctly when using rates with an increment greater than one.

Version 5.7.3

• Fixed an issue where list pages would not refresh when adding items (e.g. dropping a file onto the Attachments list).
• Fixed an issue where the number of players used was displayed incorrectly in the About box.
• Fixed an issue where the text in the Name field of the Subcontract Design details window was not being automatically selected when the field got the keyboard focus.
• Fixed an issue where the application could crash when republishing from a list of synchronization issues.
• Fixed a time-out issue in the communication with Content Manager.
• Improved the usability of the Content Manager item browser tool.

Version 5.7.2

• Lists of Postings and Posting Tasks now load faster
• Changed Bill Allocation to occur on the Bill Definition, instead of a separate tool
• Added Bill Allocation for Digital (2) Subcontracts
• Users can now modify Visual Charting shading to hide posting schedules based on the shading definition.
• Track the Posting Task completion time, in addition to the date.
• Find un-approved Subcontract Designs, regardless of whether an approval was required.
• Subcontract Design start and end date fields and tracking added.
• Subcontract Designs now have User Fields
• Users can now sort the list of images in the Image Processing tool by folder or by name by clicking the column header.
• TAB OOH Ratings module:
  • Added CBSA lookup on the Site
  • Rename Eyes On to "TAB OOH Ratings"
  • Rename EOI 18+ on circulations to "Weekly Impressions 18+"
• Optimized publishing speed for large quantities of playlists. Digital (2)
• Added the Republish tool to a number of locations within Ad Manager where users may wish to republish. Digital (2)
• Assign a playlist as a Content Manager 10 to the owner workgroup if the publishing service logs on as a user that is part of a workgroup. (Digital 2)
• Publish information into the description field of a Content Manager playlist to make it easier to identify the corresponding player. (Digital 2)
• Posting tools now available for the conflicting postings in the conflicts page of the posting details window
• Expose object version to support synchronization in mobile apps
• Bug fix: Ensure all items are properly published following a failed attempt to publish playlist. Digital (2)
• Bug fix: Ensure proper playlist cleanup following a failed publishing of playlists. (Digital 2)
• Bug fix: Subcontract requirements page now saves values if you don't tab out of the field. (Digital 2)
• Bug fix: finding synchronization issues by date doesn't work unless the issues are from today (Digital 2)
• Bug fix: Context menu in the Items (Contracted) tab of the playlist details window not showing all the reservation tools. (Digital 2)
• Bug fix: Adding an area distribution to a new subcontract before selecting a market no longer shows an error. (Digital 2)
• Bug fix: An area now appears in the list of distribution factors after it has been removed from the list of selected factors. (Digital 2)

Version 5.7.1

• Ad Manager’s new digital module now works with Scala’s Enterprise Content Manager version
• Added a new module to allow users to:
  • share POP online
  • share Proposals online
  • view Posting Tasks online
• Added the work order task note as a column in list views
• Added the CBSA Market field in the Circulation tab of the Face details window
• You can now track location-specific media item approvals
• Fixed a bug that occurred when you specify that a loop should "play all" items from a for-sale segment, the player actually plays 1, instead of all
• Fixed a bug where the frameset name could be easily exceeded.
• Fixed a bug where the user would get a BOM Error 5 when copying, exporting or printing from a list view that contains deleted user field columns
• Updated the Japanese translation of Ad Manager

Version 5.7.0

• Ad Manager now offers a new digital media management module, which replaces (optionally) the existing digital media functionality. A few highlights of the new features:
  • You can now drive multiple Scala Content Manager servers from a single Ad Manager database.
  • Ad Manager now publishes its playlists to Content Manager in the background, continuously, in response to your scheduling activity.
  • Ad Manager retrieves playback statistics from Content Manager automatically, in the background.
  • You can now design the overall structure of your content loops as a sequence of segments (planning wheel), combining different categories of content - advertising and non-advertising.
  • You no longer need to feed the non-advertising content through Ad Manager - your loops could include segments that are not populated by Ad Manager.
  • You can now target specific times of the day in a completely flexible manner - no pre-defined fixed day-parts.
  • You can now schedule filler content to play when your advertising segments are under-booked.
• The Ad Manager documentation is now available online.
• When using Proximity Charting on a map, you can now schedule multiple faces at a time, instead of just one.
• In a Maintenance Work Order list view, in addition to Effort, you can now see Labour and Material information as well.
• You can now update the posting value options of multiple static subcontracts at a time.
• Fixed an issue where, when using the Split tool on static subcontracts, the posting value options would not get copied over to the newly created subcontracts.

Version 5.6.16

• You can now mark utility meter readings as "estimated".
• Fixed an issue where trying to drag in the "Virtual Faces" tab of the Site details window would result in a "type mismatch" error.
• Fixed an issue causing the reporting print dialog box to take too long to display for certain reports.
• Fixed an issue where creating a new database would fail on SQL Server 2012.
• Fixed an issue where the lease user fields were not available to select when customizing Site and Face list views.
• Fixed an issue where there was no way to enter a value for the "POP Due On" static subcontract field.

Version 5.6.15

• You can now import demographic data (provided by DM Squared) and use it to target your campaigns or see the demographic profile of the audience you’re reaching.
• You can now input the sales taxes you need to charge in different jurisdictions. You can also mark agencies as exempt from some or all sales taxes.
• Fixed an issue (introduced in version 5.6.14) where after upgrading the database all user-defined folders, filters and baskets in “Public Folders” would disappear.
• Fixed an issue with the “Image processing” tool where it would fail when processing posting images if a posting has conflicts.
• Fixed an issue with the the “Leases” and “Lessors” reports where their contact sub-reports would always be blank.
• Fixed an issue where creating a workspace item (folder, filter, or basket) with a duplicate name would produce a misleading error message.

Version 5.6.14

• Scala Ad Manager is now Dot2Dot Ad Manager.
• You’ll need a new serial number and license, issued by Dot2Dot Communications Inc., when you upgrade.
• When you define static media rates, you’re no longer limited to daily rates; you can now define the rate as an amount per period of a length specified by you.
• You now have more flexibility in choosing how the value of static media posting schedules is calculated; you can apply a discount to the rate card value, specify custom rates or enter custom amounts.
• Fixed the issues with rounding errors in static media posting value calculations.
• You can now allocate a currency amount to a selection of posting schedules (static media), equally or proportionally, using the desired precision, without worrying about rounding errors.
• You can now track Proof of Performance delivery dates for static media at the level of the subcontract design.
• You can now add attachments to digital media subcontracts and to players.
• You can now enter the addresses of your sales offices.
• You can now use Ad Manager in French (Canada).
• You can now select the language of Ad Manager’s user interface from the “Tools -> Options” window.
• Fixed an issue where “Tools -> XML Mapping Export” worked incorrectly when the computer’s regional settings specify a number format using a comma for the decimal point.

Version 5, Release 6.0.12

• You can now associate digital players to a maintenance structure, to assist with maintenance tracking.
• Significantly sped up the operation of the Schedule Media Changes feature.
• Fixed a problem where the Supplier-properties were not available for displays in list views or reports.

Version 5, Release 6

• Fixed a problem seen under Microsoft SQL Server 2008r2 where an error dialog stating "Incorrect syntax near 'TABBLOCKX'" could occur.

Version 5, Release 5.1.34

Note: Ad Manager 5.5.1.34 requires Content Manager 5.1.34 or newer!

• When you specify the default playlist (what to play when there's nothing else scheduled to play), Ad Manager now allows you to specify a default playlist for each frame in the slot structure with the ability to override that for individual day-parts and triggers.
• If a Player loses connectivity, and all the scheduled content expires (without the Player receiving any new updates), the Player will now display the appropriate default playlist, instead of going black.
• The Contracted Open Space reports now show the custom subcontracted value (prorated over the periods presented in the reports).
• The Ad Manager APIs can now be accessed from Java code, using the j-interop library.
• If Content Manager synchronizes players while Ad Manager is publishing an update, in rare cases this could cause media to play elsewhere than scheduled. This is now fixed.
• Fixed a problem when upgrading from the older Charting Pro software, where the automatic sequence numbers (for contracts, etc.) could get reset, resulting in out-of-order numbering.
• Fixed a problem where certain columns added by an extension module were not being offered in the column-picker.
• Fixed a problem where publishing playlists would fail with a "numeric overflow error", for players whose ID was greater than 32767.
• Fixed a problem where using a time-trigger with a recurrence of "once" could lead to an "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error during publishing.
• Fixed a "Key not in dictionary" error that could occur when selecting the default playlist.

Version 5, Release 5.1.20

• When looking at faces or player slots, there are new columns available to show the rate information that is in effect today, based on the rate schedule.
• When updating contracts, static subcontracts, sites, or faces, it is now possible to also update the posting card note at the same time.
• Updated the Category Sales Summary and Category/Advertiser Sales Summary report layouts to reflect the recent rate card improvements.
• If you invoke the Content Manager Connector from a non-interactive account (which could happen when using the Windows Task Scheduler), if the license file is not set up for that account, an error is now logged.

Version 5, Release 5.1.19

• Reports related to media items, e.g. proof-of-play reports, can now contain thumbnail images.
• The EYES ON Impressions fields support values up to one million.
• When a user schedules a media change for a reservation, the sequences of any pre-existing playlists will now be preserved.
• Fixed a problem where Ad Manager could incorrectly determine availability and overbooking, if you have defined slots for overlapping day-parts (e.g., "am", "pm", and "all-day"). Fixed the equivalent problem in the Digital Open Space tool.
• Fixed intermittent runtime error 80004005 that could occur upon closing Ad Manager in a terminal server environment.
• The multi-select Order as Required tool now will correctly order playlists that still have pending warnings.
• When applying a loop structure to a playlist, surplus items are evenly distributed among the various "<Any>" segments, and effectively-consecutive "<Any>" segments are merged so that adjacency-conflict rules can be applied.
• Fixed a problem where the Export Playlists to XML tool could lock up if an approved but empty media set was present in one of the playlists.

Version 5, Release 5.1.17

• Fixed a problem where a user whose role is Ad Manager - Financial Leasing - Denied could still see lease details.
• Fixed a problem where if you customize a list view, then the properties of the "owner object" were unavailable. Now fixed.
• Report templates displaying financial data no longer use the dollar-sign, which would be wrong when using other currencies.
• When using the Image Processing tool to load images in bulk, for postings you can specify if the image is the Closeup or the Approach image. For faces or sites images, you can specify if the image is the Primary Image or the Map Image.
• For static charting, the CBSA EOI weekly value for the 18+ demographic group can be stored and used. When charting, a total "daily" EOI is calculated and can be used as the scheduling target (the same as if GRP or DEC was used). The EOI 18+ value can be used to search and locate faces and sites.
  • CBSA (Core Based Statistical Area) is defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, a metropolitan area(s) within larger markets (e.g. DMAs) containing a substantial population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of economic and social integration with that core. CBSA's are a standard geography for buying and selling media.
  • EOIs - EYES ON Impressions are the total number of times people passing an OOH display are likely to notice the ad for either 12 hours (un-illuminated: 6:00 am to 6:00 pm), 18 hours (illuminated: 6:00 am to 12 midnight) or 24 hours. Unless specified as In-Market, EOIs include all persons who notice the unit, regardless of the origin of their trips. EOIs are reported in weekly increments.
• Fixed a problem where the Lease Payment Schedule default list views contained an invalid column which would cause attempts to export data to fail with an error message. You may still have to customize or reset any existing (saved) Lease Payment Schedule list views to make sure the invalid column — shown as "???" - is removed.
• Fixed a problem where Ad Manager could crash when attempting to print certain reports.

Version 5, Release 5.1.6

• The Maintenance (Site) property page of the Ad Manager Face Finder was listed twice. Now fixed.
• The Playlist Details window now shows to total loop length (in addition the the length of each entry, which was already shown).
• When auto-charting, any candidates that are skipped should have remained in the candidate list, but were being removed. Now fixed.
• Digital proof-of-play reports can now show the times and weekdays that a media item is scheduled to play.
• When duplicating a site, you can now easily give the new site its own face numbers. The new face numbers will be based on the old face numbers, updated in a "search-and-replace" style based on the pattern you specify.
• When assigning designs, the board size is shown in the Assign Face dialog, to help in selecting the correct design.
• When customizing the view for the list of digital subcontracts, you can now add Subcontract (Digital) Notes as a column.
• Fixed a problem where the first image in the list could not be previewed in the Image Processing tool.
• Under Digital Subcontracts > Requirements, the Other Criteria were not being saved correctly. Now fixed.
• Removed the Save and New button from the Subcontract > Flights page, where it did not belong.
• When working with images of faces, if you delete a newly-added image it could lead to an error message when saving the face. Now fixed.
• Fixed a problem where the E-Ad Manager module would not work unless the Static Media module had been enabled.
• In the Image Processing tool, if you type or paste a full path into the Folder field, the image list wasn't getting filled with the images in that path. This is now fixed.
• In the Image Processing tool, fixed a problem where the Face(s) option was incorrectly ghosted, and fixed on "Object doesn't support this property or method" error dialog when searching on Face number.

Version 5, Release 5.1

• Ad Manager now runs under Windows 7 under a limited-user account.
• Ad Manager is now available in Japanese.
• When exporting a map (Tools > Save Map > Image Preview), Ad Manager now supplies a file-type extension.
• In the Subcontract Design and Subcontract Media Item screens, you can now record and track when artwork was ordered, and from whom.
• In a digital subcontract, you can now use Tools > Schedule Media Changes on a selection of reservations to schedule intermittent or recurring media changes.
• You can now use Ad Manager to manage content for an event trigger even if the frame it belongs to is not managed by Ad Manager.
• For static charting, you can now track rate adjustments at the posting level, and track posting values even if rate cards are not used.
• For digital charting, you can now track rate adjustments at the reservation level, and track reservation values even if rate cards are not used.
• Added new report layouts: Subcontract Media List and Subcontract Media Detailed List.
• You can now use Tools > Image Processing to easily import large numbers of photos, for example proof-of-performance photos, into Ad Manager.
• Updated the Campaign and Standard Summary reports to use the new value and rate card value fields.
• Fixed a problem with adding lookup items on the fly where Ad Manager would crash if you switched to a different property page after typing a new, previously undefined name into a drop-down list field, e.g. the Advertiser field in the Contract details window.
• Fixed a case where creating a new incident in the Maintenance module could crash.
• Fixed a problem where opening a recently created log from the Incident Details page could lead to a runtime error.
• Fixed a problem in the XML Mapping Exporter, where the Latitude column was incorrectly labeled.
• Fixed a problem on the SAMI Positions page where the "DEC(Opp)" column was showing the wrong data.
• Fixed a problem in the Map tool where trying to add a face to a subcontract could lead to an "Error 13: Type mismatch" dialog box.
• Fixed a problem where you could not type time into a few of the time-fields in Ad Manager.
• Fixed a problem when making an agency-contact report, where the contact names would not be displayed.
• Fixed a problem when entering new player exceptions, where the time you entered into the form could jump back to midnight.
• The DEC(summary) and DEC(total) fields now show whole numbers. (Previously, they showed several decimal places, which had no meaning.) The GRP(summary) and GRP(total) fields now show two decimal places.
• Fixed a run-time error that could occur when saving a revenue allocation's dollar amount.
• Improved the tooltips on the Digital Open Space Viewer to show reserved / available percentages with a more reasonable number of digits of precision.
• Fixed a problem where the default playlist would not be published if there were no playlists to publish for a player.
• Fixed a problem where a new posting task could change the previously recorded "taken down on" date.
• Fixed a 'Data access' error that could occur when opening the Posting Tasks tab of a Design Activity window.
• When using start- and end-times to trim a video clip, the resulting duration of video clip is now shown, rather than the original duration.
• Fixed a problem where attempting the Complete... operation for a task could cause a Run-time error dialog.
• Fixed a problem in the popup calendar where the next-month / previous-month buttons did not work if the selected date was for example the 31st and you tried to move into a shorter month.
• Fixed a case where using the drop-down calendar could result in the wrong date being selected, if the month started on a Sunday.
• Fixed a problem where the Playlist Entry report could report a "Subscript out of range" runtime error.
• When you open an existing incident log entry, the log note is now displayed as read-only.
• When you resolve a task for an incident, the status is now refreshed in the incident window.
• Fixed some cases where a user with read-only rights was still allowed to do certain things, such as edit the status of a maintenance task, reset a reservation's published status, move faces to a different site, or change the default indoor map for a face or player.
• When viewing a list of reservations, the Tools > Reset Published Status command is now enabled only when some reservations are selected.
• In filter dialogs, the list of property pages was not always alphabetical. This is now fixed.

Version 5, Release 5.0.8

• You can now multi-select several Subcontract Designs, and run the Update tool to modify attributes of several Subcontract Designs at once.
• Budget and rate card values are captured by the Sales History > Capture process, and are available in Contract Version lists, and reflected in the Contract Summary.
• The Design - Details form now includes a list of all Subcontracts that are linked to that design. You can double-click a Subcontract to open it.
• The Media Set - Details form now includes a list of all Subcontracts that are linked to that media set. You can double-click a Subcontract to open it.
• Added support for proximity charting of digital, and fixed problems in proximity charting for static, both in the mapping tool.
• In the mapping tool, there are new menu options View > Go to Contract and View > Go to Subcontract, when appropriate.
• When importing photos, the images are now automatically down-scaled when needed, as specified on the new Images option page in Tools > Options. Choices include Original size, Large (1600 pixels), Medium (1024 pixels), Small (800 pixels), and Very small (640 pixels).
• When importing photos, additional formats such as TIFF and PNG are now supported.
• The Production Notes field is now visible and editable on the Static Subcontract form's Production tab.
• Attachments for faces, sites, contracts, subcontracts, designs, and leases were not being shown. Now fixed.
• Fixed a layout problem in Tools > Options... on the Demographics page, where the Demographic Properties title was clipped.
• Fixed a problem where trying to save a new or updated virtual face configuration, would appear to complete, but actually did nothing.
• Fixed a crash that could occur if you tried to modify the name of number of a Structure.
• Fixed a rare bug in static charting where the list of candidates may refresh incorrectly when rate card values are calculated.
• Fixed a bug where updating a field of the Site object fails if a Face of that site is open in a dialog at that time.

Version 5, Release 5

• After updating Ad Manager, there no longer is a separate database updater application. If a user with database-administration privileges logs in to the new Ad Manager, the database will be updated. Otherwise, the user is told to contact an administrator.
• Media Items now have Length and Length Override properties. The Name property was removed because it was redundant. The Media Item must now be associated with one from Content Manager to get length value. If the length cannot be determined in Content Manager the user must specify the media item length.
• Media Items now have a Folder property, specifying their folder within the Content Manager media library.
• Added a media set length property which is calculated based on the length of media items in the media set.
• Added Media Set property First Published On which is displayed and can be used to find Media Sets which are published.
• Added a media item update tool which refreshes the properties of selected media items from Content Manager. The tool is available for an individual media item, currently open media set or selection of media sets. It refreshes the thumbnail and the duration properties of the media item.
• The Check Playlists tool has been enhanced to let you search for reservations that exceed the intended length. The tool uses new filter properties on reservations to allow the user to identify media items that exceed their allowed reservation length.
• Added a Duplicate Media Set tool which is available from the main Ad Manager form when displaying a list of Media Set objects or when viewing the detail page for a Media Set object.
• In the Options dialog, under Content Manager, you can now specify the default playlist that should play when no media items are otherwise scheduled.
• When using maps, you can now map digital subcontracts, show available player slots for the subcontract, accept player slots, or release reservations.
• When using maps, you can export data in KML or GeoRSS XML format, which can be imported into other mapping tools, e.g. Google Maps.
• Outages of digital players (exceptions) can now be recorded. you can now search for reservations affected by exceptions. The Subcontract form will show any outages (exceptions), and the Exceptions form will show the affected Subcontracts.
• Rate cards can be created for player slots. You can specify standard, discount, premium, and minimum rates. Ad Manager will compute the value of a reservation using the rates you specify.
• Rate cards for static media can now be recorded. You can specify standard, discount, premium, and minimum rates. Ad Manager will compute the value of a posting (reservation) using the rates you specify.
• A new tool, View Digital Open Space, lets you see what ad space is available on your network. You can see the booking level of your digital network.
• When you Customize Current View for Reservations or Subcontracts, you can now select columns that show scheduled and actual (proof-of-play based) counts.
• Added new reports for digital networks.
• You can now search for Reservations or Subcontracts based on actual (proof-of-play) counts, e.g. find ones that are over- or under-delivering.
• The currency symbol used when displaying money amounts is now a central setting in Ad Manager. (Before, the symbol displayed depended on an individual user's Windows Regional Settings, which could be wrong.)
• Player screen counts set in Content Manager are carried over into Ad Manager when Ad Manager ingests the player data.
• For video files, you can now specify a Start Time and End Time.
• Support for international text within Ad Manager. All user-interface elements can now store and display international text.
• The default list views for play lists, player play lists, and reservation play lists now include a column for the frame name.
• The default list views for media set reservations and subcontract media item reservations now include the player/output columns.
• Photos and other documents added through Document Management now automatically record the date the photo was taken.
• Added the Demographic Targeting features which allow the user to create custom data filters which can be assigned to players or faces. The scheduling engine does not use these properties as of yet.
• The sales person record now supports additional useful fields, including email address and phone numbers.
• Under Work Orders, Go to Task now works.
• Fixed an error that would be displayed when trying to Contract Version details.
• The Save and New option did not work, so it has been removed from the menu and tool bar.
• Fixed a crash when selecting Play this many in the Method section.
• On the subcontract dialogs, Display Counts are now correctly named Slot Counts.
• The Tools > Assign Slot Structure... menu-item was mislabeled as "Area". This is now fixed.
• Fixed a problem where you could not delete a Slot from a Slot Structure when it was assigned a Subcontract.
• Fixed a crash in Maps that could occur adding an area when using proximity mapping.
• Fixed a problem in the Slot Structure Details page. If you created a new Slot and click in the Day Parts section without any frame and daypart data, it could crash. Now fixed.
• Fixed a problem where trying to upload an invalid image as an attachment could lead to a crash.
• Fixed a problem in the Find Leases dialog which resulted in an "invalid procedure call or argument" error when filtering on any of the Finalized, Exported, or Paid options.
• Fixed an "Error 94 - invalid use of null" when opening the summary page of a static subcontract with no postings.