MySource Matrix Developer

MySource Matrix Developer Newsletter Issue 52
Friday 2nd December 2005

covers versions 3.4.7 stable, 3.6.2 stable, 3.7.0 development

News

New Stable Release On Monday

A new stable version of MySource Matrix will be released for the 3.6 branch on Monday. Version 3.6.3 will be a bug fix only release. No release for the 3.4 branch is required this month as no bug fixes have been committed to it.

New Pear Package Required

The new MySource Matrix bulk email module requires the PEAR Mail_Queue package. All servers running the new bulk email module will require this package to be installed. It would also not hurt to make this part of standard server installs in case the bulk email module is installed in the future.

New Features

Bulk Email Management

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The bulk email package is now ready for use. Any asset can be sent as the content of a bulk email (designs and paint layouts can be used). This content can either be generated on the fly for every single bulk email recipient, or can be generated once and sent to everyone. The latter method is useful for large mail outs due to reduced load on the web server.

Using either method, keywords can be placed in the content or subject header which allow you to print out the recipients' details. Bulk mailing can also be threshold based so that x emails are sent per hour and times can be excluded in order to reduce server load during peak times. System Administrators have the ability to enforce these threshold settings for all jobs in the system and can also view the progress of any queued or running jobs from a single interface.

Asset Listing Levels

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The asset listing page now has the ability to list assets from specified levels in the tree. If you are not listing direct links only then you can specify a minimum and maximum level to list assets from. Both the min and max values can be left empty to indicate no boundary.

For example, you can list assets 2+ levels down in the tree rather than listing all assets by setting the minimum level to 2 and leaving the maximum level empty. Similarly, you can list all level 2 and 3 assets by setting the minimum level to 2 and the maximum to 3.

Future Lineage To Delete All Links

Added to: 3.7.0 development

During the configuration of a future linage cron job, users may now optionally select to delete not just one, but all existing links for the given asset.

Set Future Lineage Trigger Action

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new trigger action has been added to set a future lineage for an asset. The user can specify all the basic options that are available for future lineage cron jobs except that no specific link may be selected for deletion. However, they may choose to delete all existing links for the asset.

DB Data Source Customised Fields

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The query builder in the DB data source now gives users the ability to enter customised fields for selection. This is useful if you want to use any DB specific functions in your selects, such as formatting dates. Note that the SQL inserted in custom fields is not verified by query builder - you need to get it right yourself.

Accumulative Data Source Graphs

Added to: 3.7.0 development

The data source graph asset can now specify an accumulative option to sum the y-axis value throughout the range of the x-axis. This useful for graphing changes over time when you only have the change per time unit.

Keyword To Place Redirect Code

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new keyword, , has been added to the redirect page. This keyword defines where the JavaScript code to do the redirect should appear. This can be used to satisfy any HTML validation requirements in a paint layout. If the keyword is omitted, the JavaScript redirect code will appear at the bottom of the page.

Reset Password Page

Added to: 3.7.0 development

A new type of page asset has been created to allow a user to reset their password. The various screens are configurable using bodycopies, like the account manager. When the user resets their password, a confirmation email is sent with a confirmation link. When the user verifies that they want their password changed (by clicking the link), they enter their new password and are logged in.

Planned Development

Content Tagging

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: already in development
Estimated end date : 9th December 2005

Related Content Listing

To be added to : 3.7.0 development
Estimated start date: 12th December 2005
Estimated end date : 23rd December 2005

Upgrading

3.7.0 Development

Run step_02.php: yes
Run step_03.php: yes
Run compile_locale.php: yes

Additional queries:

DELETE from sq_ast_lnk_tree WHERE linkid = 0;

DROP TABLE sq_thes_term;
DROP TABLE sq_thes_lnk_tree;
DROP SEQUENCE sq_thes_term_seq;