CMDBuild Newsletter nr. 73

Last April 12th we have released CMDBuild 3.0, at the end of a complex project started at the beginning of 2017 and which required a total of 12 man-years of work.

From the implementation point of view, it is actually a new product: the user interface has been rewritten 100%, the server code 90%.

You can find here a detailed description of the new features now available.

From the functional point of view, we have kept the logics already present and we wanted to extend in a particular way the possibility of configuring logics and personalized behaviours through contextual menus, form triggers, custom widgets, custom pages, runtime controls on the data being edited.

We are now working at the CMDBuild 3.1 version, which will be released at the beginning of July; please refer to the next news for more information.

At the end of July two further events are scheduled: we will release both the new CMDBuild READY2USE 2.0 version, for IT Governance, and the new openMAINT 2.0 version, for Facility Management. You can find here below further information about this.

Then, at the end of the year, the CMDBuild 3.2 version will be released, which will incorporate new features that for reasons of time have not found place in the 3.0 and 3.1 releases, and we will recover some other functionalities present in version 2.5 and temporarily not implemented (in particular the dashboards).

The new CMDBuild 3.1 version will be available at the beginning of July, with several new features and some bug fixes.

CMDBuild 3.1 will include in particular:

• new management system for data import / export functionalities, strongly enhanced compared to version 2.5 (you can find more information about this in following news);
• synchronization between the filter applied to the list of data cards of a class and the corresponding elements displayed on the map (GIS);
• extension of the "Show if" function (possibility of dynamically hiding / displaying an attribute in the editing of a data sheet) being now also possible to make an attribute editable or not;
• new function to configure via JavaScript the automatic filling in of an attribute based on the value of other attributes during card editing;
• possibility of displaying the relationships of a domain as an additional fieldset of the data card (new “inline” metadata for the “domains” in the Administration Module);
• possibility of displaying the attached files as an additional fieldset of the data sheet (new “inline” metadata for the “classes” in the Administration Module);
• new menu item "Custom components" in the Administration Module for managing custom components that can be used in context menus, widgets, etc.;
• recovery of the process start-up task in the Task Manager of the Administration Module;
• possibility of uploading the customer's logo which is placed alongside the CMDBuild one;
• bug fixes.

A new system for managing data import / export functions for a "class" or "domain" will be available in CMDBuild 3.1, much more advanced than the implementation of the previous version in CMDBuild 2.5.

The most important difference concerns the import mode, which does not simply add all the lines to each load, but operates in "merge" mode, modifying the lines already present (recognized by a unique key), inserting the new ones and deleting the missing ones (logical deletion or modification of the application status).

The import / export operation can then be carried out both in interactive mode by user interface (using the contextual menu mechanism) and in batch mode.

In the interactive case, possible errors are shown in the user interface and can be sent by email or the log can be downloaded; in the batch case, errors are sent by email. In both cases, once the errors have been corrected, the file can be reloaded without the need for changes since the rows already imported will be ignored.

The new implementation supports files in "CSV", "XLS", "XLSX" format and exports numeric and data type columns with the correct formatting for the chosen format.

To be able to manage relatively complex operations in a simplified way, the new system will be based on the configuration of special templates in the Administration Module and their application in the Data Management Module.

For each specific class / domain, one or more import / export templates can be configured, with specific access permissions and containing all the information needed to automate the operation: class / domain name, attribute mapping, type of operation, export filter -if any-, unique key and import deletion mode, header line in the file, files and task for batch mode, etc.

Before the end of July, we will release the new version of CMDBuild Ready2Use 2.0 and openMAINT 2.0.

Both applications will be based on the new CMDBuild 3.0 “core”, from which they will inherit the new graphics and will use the new Tecnoteca RIVER workflow engine.

In both applications we will also begin to introduce new solutions to enrich the user interface: context menus, online help, checks on entered data, status and action highlighting in processes, etc.

CMDBuild READY2USE 2.0 will then include:

• control dashboards for Service Desk operators;
• advanced management of SLAs for the control of Service Desk processes;
• new Problem Management workflow;
• extension of the Asset Management process (asset movement) which will also be integrated with the Request Fulfilment process;
• new connector with Amazon AWS to retrieve updated information on the server configurations used;
• other minor improvements: hardware catalogue management, refactoring of QR labels printing, view with use and expiration of licenses, revision of some reports.

openMAINT 2.0 will include:

• refactoring of the data model to have it closer to the CMDBuild READY2USE one and facilitate the porting of some features between the two applications;
• control dashboards for operators who receive fault reports;
• advanced management of SLAs for the control of breakdown maintenance processes;
• revision of the workorder flow for preventive maintenance, with checklist management and automatic updating in the database of the condition of the assets involved;
• new reports dedicated to preventive maintenance (control dashboards, graphical reports, etc.).

awesomeWare Co. is an information management consulting and software development company. We are carrying out many consulting projects in cooperation with domestic and international professional institutions in the areas of construction and operation of nuclear power plants, management of radioactive waste, nuclear education systems and nuclear knowledge management.

South Korea operates a Radioactive waste management system and regularly reports its management status to the public. However, it has been a long time since the management system was developed, and it is difficult for waste managers to immediately provide the data regulators want.

Our CMDBuild customization aims to meet customers’ needs of managing radioactive waste. It is very important to manage lifecycle information of the waste from the waste generation, registration, packaging, transport, storage, reprocessing, repackaging and disposal. Waste managers should be able to track the history of waste at any time and accurately analyse the current amount of waste.

Since our customers already have waste management client system, we have to develop a new client system and integrate it with the existing client system. We decide to use CMDBuild data manager interface as a database modeler and system manager. And also, it will be used as a normal user’s business system when we customize front-end web user interface. And we developed a WPF Client application using CMDBuild Web-service and then integrating the WPF application with the existing applications. Waste manager group uses the new client system because it is easy to input and output data, supports complex data analysis, and generates graphs and reports in real time.

Data communication was implemented through the SOAP provided by CMDBuild and some items have been implemented with direct access to CMDBuild databases. Main functions include registering waste that allows monitoring the process of waste, applying for waste containers, requesting waste management and history feature, etc. Besides, class modelling and domain modelling capabilities provide us with unlimited possibilities.

There are so many laws and regulations involved in the management of radioactive waste. The procedures and methods for managing waste should be carried out in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Based on our experience in conducting research on the configuration management system of nuclear power plants, we performed data modelling for requirements management and developed requirements management functionality.

Relationship diagram of CMDBuild helps to visualize waste management process data which is big interest to our customers who want to find related waste drum, storage facility and people. But there were some issues that need to be developed, for example, many other items related to the waste makes difficult to see the graph with too much time. To resolve this, it requires some constraints in place for the performance of drawing graphs. And we develop custom relationship diagram for WPF application.

Finally, our CMDBuild based waste management system is able to trace the entire lifecycle information of radioactive waste. Our testing target facility was the waste source where the original waste generated which shall be submitted to the management requesting process in order to characterize the waste using many technical processes. After those processes, all related wastes are taken into a waste container to comply with mandatory requirements that must be followed. Wastes packed in a container then transported to the disposal site in a designated truck according to the transportation application. This whole process allows administrators to track the overall history of waste and determine the state of waste at a certain point in time. The dashboard and report functions of CMDBuild allow real-time monitoring of waste management status and real-time generation of various kinds of reports. Waste managers now have the ability to provide timely and accurate data without having to manually process the work to generate the data required by regulators.

The various features and flexibility of CMDBuild provided a foundation for implementing customer requirements in a short period of time. It was very impressive and we would like to thank Tecnoteca for their excellent products and support.

Kyungik Anders AN, Business development director, YOUL SYSTEMS Inc. & awesomeWare (Korea)

A webinar will be held on July 11^th, at 4:00 PM CEST when we will present the main news of the next CMDBuild 3.1 version.

We will also provide updates on the progress and news of CMDBuild READY2USE 2.0 and openMAINT 2.0, which will be released a couple of weeks after the webinar.

At the end of the presentation it will be possible to ask questions via the chat tool and get answers from Tecnoteca technicians.

The webinar will be held in English language.

Participation is free, registration is required via this form.

The planned CMDBuild 3.0 Presentation Workshop was held last April 16^thin Rome, at the Frentani Congress Center.

With the support of some slides, we talked about the philosophy and basic logic of CMDBuild, about the CMDBuild READY2USE and openMAINT “vertical solutions”, and about the CMDBuild 3.0 novelties.

The new software application was then presented, both the Administration Module and the Data Management Module, exploring all the details of the new version.

The presentation was enriched by many questions and interventions by the many participants.

The slides presented during the workflow are available here (in Italian).