Guide to Functionality Enhancements CMS 1.5.x – 1.6.11
Create and share reports by organization
Previously, the only way to save a report was to bookmark it. Unfortunately, this meant that there was no way to share reports with other users. When a user clicked on the reports tab it showed all of the reporting options in the left navigation pane.
Figure 1: The reports tab didn’t allow you to save reports
In CMS 1.6, users can create and share reports by organization. There is a new permission that is given to groups that allows them to do this. The saved reports are listed in a tree structure in the navigation pane on the left. To create a new report, all you have to do is click on the new report button or right-click on the tree structure and a dialog box pops up with all of the reporting options that were previously displayed on the left.
Figure 2: The new reports tab allows saving reports
Change weighting to display in percentages on all normal display screens
Relative weighting is used in CMS because if you manually typed in the weighting percentage it is very difficult to add new nodes and manually calculate the weightings of the new node's siblings. Unfortunately, this makes things more confusing for end users because a node's relative weighting must be viewed in the context of its siblings to determine its real value.
Figure 3: Relative weighting is shown The application now displays all weightings as percentages on all of the non-administrator screens.
Figure 4: Percentage weighting is shown
Change weighting modification to edit all siblings at once
In earlier versions of CMS, scorecard node weighting was edited along with the rest of the scorecard node.
Figure 5: Weighting being edited with scorecard node
Weighting manipulation now has its own dialog rather than being lumped into scorecard node modification. This allows all siblings' weighting to be modified on the same screen at the same time, which is faster and allows you to see all siblings when editing weighting. Each node’s percentage weighting is calculated in real time as you type in the relative weighting.
Figure 6: All sibling nodes’ weighting being edited at the same time
Create a help link
There is now a help link in the upper righthand corner. This brings up a dialog box that allows users to download various help documentation documents.
Figure 7: New help link in the upper right-hand corner
Ability to specify relative dates in report writer
Previously, users could only select specific dates in the report writer. This worked well for the short term, but saved reports had to be constantly modified to show the latest data.
Figure 8: Only specific calendar periods could be selected
CMS 1.6 includes the ability to write reports with relative calendar periods. This allows users to write a report once and then use it over time without modifying it to check their current performance.
Figure 9: Relative dates can now be selected in CMS 1.6
Ability to assign Owners and Updaters to specific nodes as they are created
Because owners and updaters are usually added all at once under administration, users sometimes forget to add owners and updaters to new scorecard nodes as the nodes are being created.
Figure 10: No easy way to export to add owners and updaters
There is now a “Save and Add Owners” button at the bottom of the dialog box.
Figure 11: New “Save and Add Owners” button
Show all tabs in "Change Tabs" dropdown
When the browser window isn't wide enough to show all of the tabs, it collapses the tabs and instead shows a "change tabs" tab. When clicked, this tab drops down a list of all tabs that the user can choose from. In the past, the bookmarks tab and the current tab weren't displayed in this list. In CMS 1.6, both the bookmarks and the currently selected tab are displayed, making the list much less confusing.
Figure 12: The old change tab menu
Figure 13: The new change tabs menu with all of the tabs listed
Break out data formatting configuration into own section under admin tab
Previously, there were many data formatting configuration options throughout the application configuration section under admin. In CMS 1.6, they are now all grouped together in their own area.
Figure 14: New data format section under application configuration
Report Writer: Sort by scorecard hierarchy ordering
Users have wanted to see the custom report results displayed with colors and values drawn out just like their scorecard structure, but the default sort order is by scorecard node id. There is now a “sort by scorecard hierarchy ordering” link in report writer.
Figure 15: Sort by scorecard ordering link
Print & Export from popup dialogs
Previously there was no way to export or print the contents of popup dialog boxes. There are now “send page to…” links on all popup boxes that contain scorecard node data.
Figure 16: “Send page to…” button in popup dialog box
Clean up scorecard node right-click menu
The old right click menu for scorecard nodes wasn’t as organized as it could have been. The new right click menu is much more clean and efficient, with common tasks grouped together.
Figure 17: an organized right click menu in 1.6
Add currency type to currency metrics
The application used to show currency based on the browser locale. This was fine if everyone using the application had American English as their default browser language, but if the user’s browser was configured differently, $50 could have shown up as $50 Euros. In CMS 1.6 all denominations are in dollars, regardless of the users’ browser configurations.
Figure 18: CMS 1.6 now shows all currency metrics in US dollars
Set decimal precision for each metric
Although previous versions of CMS allowed administrators to change the global metric precision, there was no way to set a metric’s precision individually. In CMS 1.6, local administrators can now specify how many digits of decimal precision will be displayed for each metric.
Figure 19: CMS 1.6 allows metrics to have different precisions
Hide period selector for bookmarked reports
Previously, the calendar selector was always displayed on the reports tab. This was confusing for reports where the calendar selector was not applicable, such as the Report Writer
Figure 20: Calendar selector on the Bookmarks tab In CMS 1.6, the calendar selector is only displayed on the Bookmarks tab when it makes sense for it to be there.
Figure 21: Calendar selector omitted from the Bookmarks tab
Differentiate organizations that have data
In CMS 1.6, users can easily tell which organization nodes have data available by looking at the organization node selector. Organization nodes that do not have data are shown with a gray icon. In this example, Franklin Laboratory, California MFG Plant, Minnesota Manufacturing Department and Minnesota Maintenance Department all have scorecards while UCSF, MNC-Temp, and GP-Temp do not.
Figure 22: Organization node selector in CMS 1.6.1
Allow executive view to be default scorecard page
In CMS 1.6, the default scorecard page can be set to the executive view.
Figure 23: New Default Scorecard Page option available in Application Configuration
Prevent deletion of images that are in use
CMS 1.6 prevents the deletion of images that are already in use in the application. In this example, the “65RRC / 166 MSE Strategy Map” background image cannot be deleted because it is in use by the 65RRC / 166 MSE Strategy Map and also because this image has been set as the image used on the Home Dashboard. Figure 24: Cannot Delete Image dialog box
Remove "Scores Over Time" and "Metric Values Over Time" titles from trend indicator popups
On the executive view there are popups that show the trend of metric values and scorecard node scores over time. Previously, these popups had redundant titles (e.g. “Scores Over Time”).
Figure 25: Scores Over Time accessed from the executive view
In CMS 1.6.1, the titles of the charts have been changed to the scorecard node’s name. This is more informative than the old, redundant titles.
Figure 26: Scores Over Time in CMS 1.6.1
Asynchronous deletions
Previously, the system would hang while a delete was processing. Now, the delete is performed in the background so the user can continue working. Now a confirmation box is displayed instantly when a user chooses to delete an item.
Figure 27: Delete Request Confirmation dialog box
Configuration Option for username display and sorting
For CMS 1.6.2, two new Data Format configuration options are available that handle the way users’ names are displayed and how they may be sorted in the application. The display format option sets how the application displays users’ names wherever they appear within the application. The sort order option determines how users’ names are sorted in CMS. For example, in Figure 28, the option is set to “Last Name,” which means users’ names are sorted in alphabetical order based on user’s last names. The default option is by “Last Name”
Figure 28: User name display format and sort order options in CMS 1.6.11
Make all exports compatible with Office 2007, and not require an Internet connection
Not only are the Microsoft Office exports from CMS compliant with Office 2007, but you can also view images in the exports (i.e. strategy maps) without an Internet connection. Additionally, you have the ability to export to an Adobe Acrobat file.
Figure 29: Exports are now compatible with Office 2007 and also export to PDF
Add 508 compliance for data entry and retrieval
Data entry through the Update My Metrics form, as well as data retrieval via the Report Writer, is now 508 compliant.
Figure 30: Scorecard Node colors written in text
Scorecard | Metrics: Change label of goal column
The Scorecard -> Metrics screen used to have a column titled “Goal.” The “Goal” for a metric, however, can vary from month to month. For this reason, the column now has a title that describes the period for which the goal is stated. Figure 31: The new title specifies that the stated goal in this report is accurate for July 2008.
Add “Titles” for users
“Titles” (e.g. Mr., Mrs., military rank, etc.) can now be added for users and will display with their name in CMS.
Figure 32: User titles display on the screen with the user’s name
Exports: repeat column headers
When exporting a report to MS Word, the column titles used to only appear on the first page of the document. These titles now appear on all pages of output for not only MS Office exports, but also Adobe Acrobat.
Figure 33: MS Word export of Scorecard->Metrics screen.
Remove organization name from executive view when viewing the same organization
On the Executive View, the associated organization node name used to appear next to every scorecard node name, however, this was slightly redundant. It is only necessary to display the organization node name for scorecard nodes that reside in a different organization (e.g. linked nodes). Figure 34: Organization node name appears for linked nodes only on this screen.
Standardize name for downloads
An enhancement that may seem transparent to the user…image names on the Scorecard Navigation, as well as the Strategy Maps tab were previously based off the object that you were viewing. For example, a strategy map named “Army Material Command Strategy Map” would have built a strategy map using an image name similar to Army_Material_Command_Strategy_Map.png. However, some computer systems do not like to return images with reserved words for computer systems (i.e. “Command”) in their title. Thus, this enhancement was necessary to circumvent that issue.
Enhance security for DB-to-DB metric value imports
CMS has the ability to accept data from remote databases. Enhanced security is now available on the Database Connections screen, when you edit an existing database connection for an Import Only database. A specific metric updater can be “associated” with a particular Import Only database, so that any data that comes through this connection must first go through the permissions of the associated user. If the associated user has “update” permissions for the intended metric, then the import will successfully process. If the user does not have the correct permissions, then the import fails. This is an optional constraint that is put into place to ensure that Import Only databases are only updating metrics that they are expected to be updating.
Drag and Drop for strategy maps
Although everything else in the application is moved around with drag and drop, strategy maps were not and had to be arranged by right-clicking and selecting “move up” or “move down.” They are now drag and drop like everything else in the application.
Add very strong encryption to the application
There are several areas in the application where we store encrypted passwords, including database and email server connection information. CMS previously encrypted this information using the encryption libraries built into Java. CMS now uses very strong encryption for these passwords through an external DLL for FIPS 140-2 certified AES 256 encryption.
Require software activation
Part of the installation process now requires the software to be activated. The server generates a question key, and Spider Strategies generates an answer key.
Default aggregation types
Most metrics have sum as a default aggregation type, but percentage metrics should have average. CMS now changes the aggregation type to match the data type by default, which should help reduce mistakes when creating metrics.
Audit user login
Previous versions of CMS wrote audit information to a table in the application database whenever scorecard structure was modified. CMS 1.6 now also writes audit information about every user login so that use of the application can be tracked.