ServiceDesk 4.5.21 Update 05/16/11

The form that manages our UnitInfoSheets (Shift-F12) has long had facility for editing the dropdown lists of item Types, Makes and Selling Dealer.  In other words, you may add new listings, change existing ones, or delete existing ones.  Typically, that last operation requires a little more than just requesting deletion, because often the item you want to delete already has underlying data sheets claiming it as their applicable Type, Make or Dealer.  The system can't permit you to simply delete it, because then any such "sheets" would be missing their references.  So, the system formerly put you through a clumsy dialog, instructing you to pick the substitute listing that any such prior dependencies would be switched to.  This release fixes the "clumsiness" in that dialog, making the process much more obvious, and with fewer intruding message boxes:

First dialog after deletion requestGraphic as appears after hitting OK

We recently encountered a client who had a very weird problem in his network that severely impacted ServiceDesk performance. 

In terms of symptoms, throughout the day users would frequently see the infamous "pink screen" (the one that announces ServiceDesk is waiting to access a file).  And, there were often significant other pauses in performance.  Bottom line, with these issues, is that one or more stations in the network were lagging for significant periods as they opened and closed files.  To help isolate which stations were causing the issue (at least as applicable to the condition as was occurring in this client's network), we developed a diagnostic tool.  It proved to be so definitively helpful, we decided to improve it's interface, and incorporate it directly into ServiceDesk:

Selection for new tool is in "Diagnostics" branch off MainMenuActual tool is very simple (please note the "About this test" button; it opens a small document that explains details)

If you're running with multiple stations and think there's even a chance you may be subject to a similar network issue, we suggest you run this test at each station -- and, in particular, read the document as available via its "About this test" button. 

Mary at Landers' Appliance said their operation needed more fine-tuned control on password protections within the SD-Dealer program (prior design had all password requests demanding the Master password).  Within ServiceDesk's "Security" form (Shift-F11), you may find three new listings:

The effect of what you do with those, of course, is felt within the Dealer program itself, and you'll need to update it as well (Ver. 1.0.37) to experience the improvement there.