Release Notes

REA 9.13

Released July 7, 2008

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 1.69. This upgrade is required. It will:

• Add new fields to several tables;
• Replace marketing reports and some property reports with improved versions.

The upgraded database will continue to work with older versions of REA back to version 9.8.

Integrated MapPoint Mapping

This version integrates Microsoft MapPoint with REA. The MapPoint/REA window, displayed within REA, can automatically locate and map addresses for the major REA record types. It can search for records with addresses in a given geographic area. Most major features of MapPoint, such as route planning, are available within REA.

To use MapPoint integration, you must have a copy of Microsoft MapPoint purchased separately. It has been tested with MapPoint 2006; we haven't tried older versions. Both the North American and European versions of MapPoint (or both simultaneously) are supported.

Other Changes

• Improved the speed of Outlook synchronization.

Bugs Fixed

• Email merge used the "do not mail" field rather than "do not email" to remove contacts from the recipient list.
• Error in Database Manager when backing up a database on a system where the default SQL Server collation is not SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

REA 9.12.2

Released June 6, 2008

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 1.68. This upgrade is required. It will:

• Add new fields to several tables;
• Replace some reporting views;
• Replace many reports with improved versions.

The upgraded database will continue to work with older versions of REA back to version 9.8.

New Features

• Marketing reports have been redesigned and improved. The Marketing Report dialog has been changed to accomodate the new reports, and you can now save and reload dialog settings for reports that you rerun regularly.
• Many other reports have been redesigned. Most reports now allow you to change their titles when you generate them.
• You can now attach a picture to a record by dragging and dropping it to the Picture panel, or by copying it to the clipboard and using the Add from Clipboard option on the Picture panel's right-click menu.
• You can attach other documents by dragging and dropping from Windows Explorer or the desktop to the Attachments panel, or by copying and pasting using the Attachment panel's right-click Add from Clipboard option.
• The "Listing" panel on a property or sale comp now has an "Auto-calc" check box. When unchecked, you can manually enter any of the fields (like GSI, cap rate, price per acre) that would normally be calculated for you.

Bugs Fixed

• Errors in Database Manager when selecting "User Accounts" or after restoring a backup on a system where the default SQL Server collation is not SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS.

REA 9.12.1

Released March 7, 2008

This is a bug-fix release to correct a problem with Outlook synchronization.

REA 9.12

Released March 4, 2008

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 1.67. Upgrading the database is optional, but doing so will:

• Improve report performance;
• Add several new reports;
• Replace some defective reports.

The upgraded database will continue to work with older versions of REA back to version 9.8.

Account Lockout on Windows Server 2003

Some users have experienced problems with account lockout when running reports using SQL Server 2005 on Windows Server 2003. Typical problems include a "Login failed" error message when trying to run any report, and user being occasionally unable to log in to REA using a valid login and password.

This is due to an interaction between SQL Server 2005, Windows Server 2003, and the REA Report Engine (really the Crystal Reports runtime). SQL Server 2005 introduced a new feature permitting Windows Server 2003 administrators to have SQL Server accounts automatically locked out after repeated failed login attempts. Unfortunately, the Crystal Reports runtime, when loading a report, makes a large number of invalid login attempts for no really good reason. This can trigger account lockout for whatever user last optimized the report.

In this release we've tried to work around the problem by turning off policy checking for SQL Server logins in REA. This workaround has no effect on your Windows Server password policy for Windows logins. It may have implications for the security of your SQL Server database, but things are no worse than they were under SQL Server 2000.

• New user accounts created in REA (Tools | System Administration | User Management) will have policy checking turned off.
• To turn off policy checking for existing accounts, use the REA Database Manager and select the User Accounts tool. Accounts needing updating will be noted, and can be fixed using the Fix It button.

Microsoft Office Integration

This version of REA extends our Microsoft Office integration:

• You can create REA history records and attach documents to them from within Microsoft Word and Excel.
• In Microsoft Outlook, you can create REA history records for single or multiple email messages. This is in addition to the already-existing capability of creating email history records automatically as email is sent and received.

Other Changes

• Changed the way Quick Letter creates a history record, making it compatible with the new Office integration features. The same goes for other letters and emails added to the Write menu by users.
• Added "Load Query" option to the Query pulldown in edit forms, F5 lists, and Time Management.
• The calendar now uses different reports for Print and Print Preview depending on the current view: "Calendar Monthly" for the monthly view, "Calendar Weekly" for the weekly view, and "Calendar Daily" for the daily view. If the corresponding report does not exist, it will use "Calendar Events".
• Document templates can now be in Office 2007 .docx and .docm formats.

Bugs Fixed

• Errors when synchronizing contacts and events with Microsoft Outlook caused by opening too many MAPI handles simultaneously. These caused various problems including error messages such as "Your server administrator has limited the number of items you can open simultaneously", and contacts being removed from your "Outlook" group in REA on synchronization, even though they were still present in Outlook.

Release notes for older versions