Known Problems: MainBoss Advanced 3.3

Error message while generating PM work orders: The added or subtracted value results in an un-representable DateTime. There are no additional details on the error message. The batch generation fails, and the editor form is left with the Generate button still enabled.

This problem is caused by a defective Maintenance Batch Detail record created by the 2.9 import. This will occur if a schedule in the 2.9 database was date-based at the time the data was exported for conversion, but was at some time in the past meter-based.

The problem is correctable, but the difficult part is finding the invalid Detail record. If you have a small number of unit maintenance plans, you can search and make corrections as follows:

1. Start MainBoss and go to Unit Maintenance Plans.
2. In the area below the list of unit maintenance plans, click on the Scheduling History tab.
3. Specify the following filter for the Scheduling History area: 'Disposition' 'is equal to' 'Manual Scheduling Basis'
4. Specify the following filter for the main table viewer: 'Disposition' 'is equal to' 'Manual Scheduling Basis'
5. In the bottom of the window, make sure the form is showing "All" records. (If it's only showing "Active" records, double-click the word "Active".)
6. For each unit maintenance plan shown, do the following:
   • Select the last (most recent) detail record. (It will have a 'Green clock' icon.)
   • One of the fields to the right of the History list is "Schedule Reading". See if there is a value in the "Schedule Reading" field (typically it will look like the yyyymmdd digits of a date). If there is such a value, the unit maintenance plan record needs to be corrected.
   • To correct the plan, first take note of the "Schedule Date" value. Click on the "New Select Scheduling Basis" button. In the resulting window, set "New Scheduling Basis" to the same "Schedule Date" as the defective record. Save the record and close the form. You should now see the new record you created below the other(s) in the History list.
7. Repeat this for each unit maintenance plan record in the main table viewer list.
8. Once you've gone through the list, you can get rid of the filters that you set and go back from "All" to "Active". It should now be possible to generate PM work orders.

This problem will be fixed in two ways in the next update of MainBoss Advanced. The process for importing MainBoss Basic databases will be corrected so that the problem doesn't arise in future. Also, if the PM generation error occurs on an existing MainBoss Advanced database, the error message will have details that will help you identify the task and schedule of the incorrect unit maintenance plan; this will make it much easier for you to find which plan is causing the problem and thereby correct it (as described above).

If you have a large number of unit maintenance plans, send your database to MainBoss support and we will correct the problem for you.

Filters not applied when going from table viewer to print-out: Suppose you are using a filter to look at Work Orders (e.g. you are only looking at work orders with a given priority). If you click the Print button, the resulting report ignores the filter you were using (e.g. you see work orders of all priorities).

You can, of course, set the filters for the report to match the filters you were using when looking at the table. However, we believe it would be better if the table viewer's filter carried over to the report in this situation. Such a facility may be implemented in a future release.

A similar problem happens with the Active filter on work orders. In a table viewer, the Active filter only applies to closed or void work orders; it never filters out open work orders, no matter how old they are. In a report, however, the Active filter is applied to all work orders, whether or not they're open. This may mean that you can see a work order in the table viewer, but when you try to print out that work order, the resulting report shows nothing. To get around this problem, go to the Advanced section of the report window and checkmark Suppress Active Filter restrictions. You can then print "old" work orders that show up in the table viewer but not in the report.

The same sort of problem occurs with requests and purchase orders.

Screen Size: When MainBoss starts up, it checks your monitor screen's resolution. From that point on, MainBoss sizes its windows to fit that resolution. If you change your monitor's resolution while using MainBoss, MainBoss's windows will not change to match the new resolution. This may have various effects, e.g. information disappearing off the bottom of the screen with no easy way to get it back. However, if you maximize any window (by clicking the maximize button in the window's upper right-hand corner), the maximization will be correct because that's handled by Windows rather than MainBoss.

If you run into window sizing problems because of this, just quit MainBoss and start it up again. MainBoss will then take note of the new screen resolution and size windows appropriately.

Note that the minimum supported resolution is 1024 by 768. Ideally, we recommend 1280 by 1024 or better.

Expense Categories in Demands: In work order demands, there's a field for specifying an expense category. The drop-down menu and the "..." for that field make it possible to create a new expense category; however, if you use these facilities to make a new expense category it doesn't get you anywhere.

To understand why, remember that the expense categories available for a work order are dictated by the current expense model. If you create a new expense category, that category won't be part of the expense model already chosen for the work order. Therefore, you won't be able to use the category you just created.

Instead of the current behavior, MainBoss should make it possible to add a new expense mapping to the current expense model. This would make another expense category available for use on the work order; this is usually what you want, as opposed to a brand new expense category.

Trying to Add a User when You Don't Have SQL Server Administrator Privileges: If you have the MainBoss Administration security role, you can use Administration | Users to try to add a new user to MainBoss. However, you must also have SQL Server Administration permissions for the operation to succeed. If you don't have these permissions, you'll get the error message

User does not have permission to perform this action.
The statement has been terminated.

There are several ways to fix the problem.

• You can obtain SQL Server Administrator permissions, at least for the time required to set up the new user. (If your IT department doesn't want to give you such privileges, you might persuade them to give you the privileges just long enough to create the new user record, then to take away the privileges again.)
• You could go to the Defaults for User section of Administration | Users and remove the "MainBoss manages SQL security" checkmark. (To remove the checkmark, click the "Edit Defaults" button and remove the checkmark in the resulting window.) If you do this, MainBoss will not attempt to set SQL Server permissions for any new people you add to the Users list; your IT department will have to manually add SQL Server permissions for each new person (following the instructions in the MainBoss Installation and Administration Guide).

Permissions to do Physical Counts: If a storeroom assignment doesn't have a preferred pricing record, the ItemFulfillment security role is not enough on its own to record physical counts—the "New Physical Count" button will be enabled, but you won't be able to save any information you enter. When you try to save, you'll see the error message DataBaseName.dbo.AccountingTransaction'; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails. The statement has been terminated..

The reason for this problem is that physical counts require the recording of price information, and ItemFulfillment doesn't give you permission to view prices; if there isn't a preferred pricing record, MainBoss can't determine an appropriate price for the inventory. In order to record physical counts you need either ItemView, Item or AccountingView in additional to ItemFulfillment.

Report Viewer Problems: Several problems have arisen because of bugs in Microsoft's Report Viewer.

• If you try to print out a single one-page work order, Report Viewer prints an extra blank page. (This doesn't occur if you print out more than one work order, or if the work order is longer than a single page.)
• In printed work orders, Report Viewer has problems if the "Work Description" field is longer than a page. When Report Viewer gets to the field, it will start a new page, print the heading "Work Description", and then print the work description on another new page. Other reports may have similar problems caused by fields longer than a page.

Deleting Assignees Doesn't Stop Notifications: If an assignee to a request, work order or purchase order has received at least one notification message, notifications will continue to be sent to that person even if he or she is removed from the list of assignments.

For known problems in MainBoss Advanced 3.2, Update 2, click here.