OL Connect Release Notes 2023.1

License Update Required for Upgrade to OL Connect 2023.x

From OL Connect 2019.1 onwards, only customers with a current OL Care subscription will be able to update Connect.

Every Connect license now contains an end date that represents the last day of OL Care coverage for each customer. Upgrades and updates of Connect will be freely available up until that end date, but will not be available thereafter, unless the OL Care period is extended.

This new licensing model requires anyone upgrading from Connect versions earlier than 2019.1 to first update their OL Connect License.

A dialog box appears as part of the Connect upgrade process requesting you to do this.

It is heavily recommended that you first update the OL Update Manager, as newer versions of the Update Manager can update your OL License to the required version, then install Connect 2023.1.

For further details on how to upgrade the Update Client and update your Connect License see the Update Manager 1.5 - Upgrade Guide.

If issues arise, or if you need to renew your OL Care subscription, please contact your local Customer Care group.

Backup before Upgrading

It is recommended that you always backup your existing OL Connect preferences before upgrading to a new version. This will enable you to revert back to the previous version, in a worst case scenario in which the new version introduces issues with your existing production processes. Whilst the probability of such a worst case scenario is remote, it cannot hurt to take some simple precautions, just in case.

For instructions on how to do so, please see Backup existing OL Connect version.

Overview

This document provides an overview of the new features and enhancements in OL Connect 2023.1 and Workflow 2023.1, as well as some important installation information.

Installing OL Connect 2023.1 and Workflow 2023.1

• OL Connect is released as a 64 bit version only (with the exception of the Workflow, Fax, Search and Imaging modules).
• Full details on installing and licensing OL Connect and Workflow can be found in the online help, which can be accessed from the software and the installer.
• Note that both OL Connect and Workflow come with a 30 day trial license by default.

Connect and Workflow installers require Administrator rights

Please note that the OL Connect and Workflow installations can only be run by users who have Administrator rights.

Connect Templates Used in Workflow

For improved performance we recommend re-saving any Connect templates used in Workflow to the current version of Connect templates.

Reduced Memory Version (not recommended for production)

It is possible to install OL Connect on a machine with a minimum of 2 GB of RAM. The Connect Designer will automatically detect whether it has been installed on a machine with less than 4 GB of RAM and default to only using one internal Weaver and one internal merge engine on that system. The Server will also run using internal engines.

OL Connect 2023.1 Improvements

Welcome Screen improvements

A completely redesigned Welcome screen now allows you to perform the most common tasks from a single place.

The overhauled New section not only lets you create new documents but also download online resources.
Selecting an online resource shows a short description explaining its use case and detailing the techniques it uses. That information may even include links to how-to’s, blog posts or pages in the online Help.

The new Learn section shows our most recent blog posts and lists the most popular hands-on tutorials and how-to’s. It provides access to a central repository of OL Connect content, including sample files, example projects, tutorials and blog posts.

The blog posts provide information about new features, tips and techniques to increase productivity and the tutorials introduce basic features of OL Connect for those just getting started.

All this brings OL Connect related knowledge right to your doorstep.

MariaDB update

Updated the MariaDB which is installed with Connect to version 10.11.2. (89330)

Java update

Updated the Java platform which Connect runs on to Adoptium Temurin 17.0.6. (87357)

General Connect Improvements

• Better support for MS SQL Server backend databases. Retry code was added to work around deadlock issues. (87653)
• The database vendor and version are now included in the logs when the database connection is first made. (87325)
• Improved error messaging and localization. (88060)
• Fixed a session data memory leak issue in Connect Server. (88768)
• Old copies of the JavaSysMon native library (DLL) that were previously left behind after a Connect product had run, will now be cleaned-up at next product start-up. (89361)

Security improvements

• Connect dependencies have been updated to recent versions. (87357)
• Improved user account validation when testing credentials for Connect service, in Connect Installer. (88547)

Installer Improvements

• Installer language selection is now localized. (86625)
• We have altered the setup so that it is more robust. (86520)
  Changes include:
  • When a user enters “Username”, we make the assumption that the user really means “HOSTNAME\Username”
  • When a user enters “.\Username”, we make the assumption that the user really means “HOSTNAME\Username”

REST API Improvements

• The All-in-one (print) operation can now return produced xxxSetID(s). (83620)
• Added the ability to restrict searches to a discrete set of DataSets, ContentSets or JobSets. (88249)

OL Connect 2023.1 Designer Improvements

Job and Output Presets improvements

Job and output presets handling is changed from storing them in Connect Designer’s workspace, to dealing with them as regular files that sit in a folder under your control. This way, job and output presets can be managed alongside templates and data mappers that belong to the same project or customer. (88926)

The Print and Proof Print dialog have been simplified to make them less cluttered, and simpler to use. They now provide plentiful ways for selecting, opening, editing and saving job output presets. (88903)

Added job and output preset items to the File>New wizard, so you can create presets in the same way as templates and data mappers. (88618)

Job and output presets can now be opened for editing directly from the “Project files“ view. (88615)

Presets are now handled as regular files in “Send to Workflow“, “Send to Server“, or “Package“ options. (88922)

Barcode Improvements

• Barcode properties can now be added at the time of barcode insertion, rather than afterwards in the Barcode properties dialog. The barcode insertion dialog is now split over three tabs, Insert, Properties and Output. (87729)
  
  
• The guardbars and human readable message are now always enabled for new barcodes, with the human readable text present at the bottom of the barcode. This is the case for all new UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN8 and EAN13 barcodes. (45352)
  
  
• Updated the barcode properties dialog for the GS1 Datamatrix Barcode properties, showing the correct properties for the barcode. (67410)
  
  
  

• Improved the validation of the Application Indicator property for QR codes. The Application Indicator is only used for the QR code, when FNC is set to Second, otherwise it's disabled. (85682)

• When a barcode is added to a section that has Handlebars expressions enabled the Designer will now add a Handlebars expression instead of creating a script. (87735)
  
  

Windows Scaling improved

Improved support of high DPI monitors in the Designer. Users with high DPI monitors typically use the Windows scaling feature which we have improved support for. (88412/89295)
Other fixes include:

• Dragging a data field onto the editor while holding the CTRL-key would insert the box in the wrong location. (86740)
• The helpers for dragging and resizing absolute positioned boxes were shown in the wrong location. (88406)
• The rulers on screen were set to the wrong size. Also dragging of guides would not follow the mouse correctly. (88428)

Improved handling of missing images

Several improvements were made. (87678)
These include:

• The data-broken-image attribute is added to the <img> element to specify that the image could not be found.
  This can be used in the selectors in scripts and CSS to apply custom styling or to insert a fallback image.

• Provide Alternative text (<img src="" alt="">) via the Attributes panel. When specified, this text will be rendered in the output in case the image cannot be found.

• No longer show a red cross for broken images in print output. We only show a red cross in design or preview mode in the Designer, and we only do this if the alt attribute is not present.

Improved Microsoft Word importation

When creating a new template based on a Word document, mail merge placeholders are replaced by handlebars expressions or @-placeholders depending on the Evaluate handlebars expressions setting on the active section. For example «foo» will now be replaced by {{foo}}. (89117)

Improved Versioning

Several improvements were made to Versioning. (88627)
Specific improvements include:

• Improved Project view. The option to “Reveal in File Explorer” has been introduced for the selected item in a versioning project. (88611)
• Numerous useability options are now available in the project file’s context menu. (88643)
• Standardize icons in Project Menu. (88632)

General Designer Improvements

• Introduced simple way to see what data file is currently in use and to swap to another. (77490)
  
  
• Removed warning about missing <br> after replacing source and switching back to Design mode. (78852)
• In some scenarios the src attribute of an <img> element could be converted to an absolute path. This has been fixed. (82049)
• Fixed an issue with the positioning of proportionally scaled SVG barcodes. (88380)
• Added a column to the text script wizard and the text helper wizard to make it easier to add a line break to a script entry. (88509)
  
  
• Selecting text in an absolute positioned box is now contained to the box itself. (87477)
• The defaults for widows and orphans for tables now set to 1 so that small tables with tall rows are automatically paginated. (89076)
• Added new Text Alignment option of Default html which disables the text alignment options in the Dynamic Table Wizard. This allows you to style the text alignment of the columns yourself. (87214)
  
  
• A new Type tab has been added to the Box Formatting dialog. This allows you to apply text formatting styles on the text within a box. (87718)
  
  
• The collapsed and expanded state of folders in the resources view is saved with the template. When the template is opened (on a different machine) the resources view is restored. (87738)
• Handlebar templates can now use the following data variables: (87687)
  • - @first: this variable is true when the current record is the first of a data set.
  • - @last: this variable is true when the current record is the last of a data set.
  • - @index: this variable contains the zero-based index of the record within its data set.
• Fixed issue with opening CSS files that contain extremely long strings. (87251)
• Fixed an issue in script wizards with the Field drop-down becoming unresponsive after selecting a runtime parameter. (88171)
• We no longer log an error when the resource function is used to check the existence of an HTML snippet (or any other non-image file). (87958)
• TextHelpers now have a Data scope which affects the fields that are available in the field column in the entries table. The Data scope allows text helpers to be used in detail tables with the same scope. (88282)
• Designer now remembers the state of resource panel in Templates. (88596)
• Fixed an issue with field names containing periods in text script wizards. (88825)
• Fixed an inconsistency with script profiling results. (88887)
• You can now turn a static table into a dynamic table through the Attributes panel. (88907)
• The defaults for widows and orphans for tables are now set to allow small tables with tall rows to be automatically paginated. (89076)
• In Handlebars mode, field names containing special characters are now escaped when they are dragged to the main editor. (89096)
• Support was added for Handlebars partials in the main (HTML) content editor.
  For technical reasons the implementation slightly differs from the partials in Handlebars snippets and uses the plus (+) sign instead of the greater than (>) sign ({{+snippets/officelocation.hbs}} or {{+officelocation}}). (89301)

OL Connect 2023.1 DataMapper Improvements

Improved Data Model filter

Improvements include (87773)

• The Data Model panel now has the same appearance as the filter options shown in the Scripts panel and the Resources panel.
• The filter now operates on either field or table names as well as field values.

JSON Improvements

• Add Repeat action now automatically sets the name of the data table to the name of the property so that you don't need to manually change this from 'detail' to the name of the property. (87705)
• Implemented support for JSON key nodes with spaces. (88571)

File Extraction Improvements

• Extra tooling added to LincPDF to assist in identifying issues with conversions from PCL to PDF. (86810)
• Handling of PDF files with incorrect TrueType font data has been improved. This improves data mapping of certain PCL files that are converted to PDF using the Connect LincPDF tool. (86936)
• Improved handling of AFP input files that rely on external resources. (88099)
• Fixed an issue with data extraction from PDF files that feature an unusual Unicode font encoding. (88560)
• Fixed an exception with PostScript input on machines with more than 8 cores. (88603)
• Extend Fontmap format and look for user-supplied Fontmap files in PDF resources folder. (88997)

General DataMapper Improvements

• Improved Save option in DataMapper JavaScript dialog. (80018)
• The Validate all records option has been enhanced to display a table of all operations performed and the time spent in each step. This allows you to identify the steps that consume the most time and that could therefore be candidates for optimization. (86657)
  
  
• Changed the behavior of the File Browse dialog in DataMapper wizards, so they now default to the last selected location. (88164)
• Improved scaling of tables when using high Windows DPI settings. (88410)
• Implemented check for infinite loop in DataMapper script engine. Any script with an infinite loop is canceled after the time set in Preferences->DataMapper->Timeout option. (88421)
  
  
• Boundaries control width are now properly framed when changing to On Text boundary. (88527)
• Fixed issue with MySQL connections from script engine. (88622)
• Support non-UTF-8 font names in PDF files by extrapolating the encoding from the font's CIDSystemInfo if the font name is not valid UTF-8. (89035)

OL Connect 2023.1 Output Improvements

Added Support for Banner Pages

You can now incorporate banner pages to print jobs. (88372)


You can also add custom information to the banners, to better support print production processes. (88475)

General Output Improvements

• Relaxed the validation rules when using a file mask to allow embedded JavaScript. (74168)
• Fixed "image optimization" triggering an exception when encountering Separation- or DeviceN-color images in background PDFs. (87701)
• The formatting of operation duration values in a print summary will no longer cause a job to potentially fail when a duration value is reported as being negative. (87999)
• Fix crashes on DeviceN colorspaces with NChannel information on some but not all of the color components. (88640)

Print Output Improvements

• Enabled transparency for PPML output, so content is no longer flattened. (87148)
• Support has been added to allow external sorting in job creation based on the document sheet count. (89121)
• Added support for IPDS/AFP MICR Printing on Ricoh Continuous-Feed printers.(89176)

Email Output Improvements

• Fixed an issue where the style element containing media queries or font face definition could end up in the body of an email instead of the head. (83002)

Known Issues

As of OL Connect 2018.1 the Known Issues have moved from the Release Notes to the Connect online Help.

They can be found here Known Issues.