We've talked a little bit in last month's newsletter about customers, and the changes coming there.  This month, we're previewing another new feature for version 4.7:  The ability to build reports to try and better suit what you need to see on them.  We're striving towards making this very flexible, to work for everyone, and to make it expandable to more easily add more in this area as updates continue.

Below is a sample screenshot of the report builder:

There are a lot of things going on in this screen, and we'll go over most of them, but for an example of the result generated with a fairly small database for the above is this:

The current plans at version 4.7 are for seven types of reports:  Inventory, items sold, customers, invoices, special orders, vendors, and discount cards.  These each have a list of columns you can show or not show, and you can customize the width of specific columns.  You can also set a list of filters, and up to three fields to sort on.  The fields you can include and can sort by are extensive, depending on the report, far beyond anything we have previously attempted to include owing to space.

We're going to be including a number of premade templates with all of these, but you can also save your report designs for later use, allowing you to create a report with the information you specifically need and rapidly make it.

The reports can be exported to word, pdf, and excel formats, or printed.

The most recent update to Windows is causing similar issues to the initial process of updating Windows to 10.  Updating causes different issues on different computers. Our strongest recommendation, as always, is to have a current backup off of the computer to prevent data loss in the event of something going horribly awry. However, some of the most common issues are covered below.

By far the most common issue people have after updating Windows 10 involves printer drivers no longer functioning.  A high percentage of customers have reported at least one printer, whether receipt, label, or report, having this issue. Generally, this can be handled by uninstalling and reinstalling the printer. Uninstall the printer by going to devices and printers, right clicking the problem printer, and hitting remove device. Power off the printer, or unplug it from the computer. Download the latest drivers from the printer manufacturer's website, and then plug it back up. This will resolve this issue in most cases.

Less common, but simpler, updating Windows 10 will sometimes break the licensing of your software. To fix this, when running the software select to register, then fill in your serial number and customer id, check the box that states you are reregistering, and fill in the reason of "Windows 10 update". Your serial number and customer id have been emailed to your email address on file with ExtremePOS, or included with your invoice receipt for the purchase of the software.

The third common issue is by far the most complex, and the one most likely to require contacting support. This one only impacts multistation setups, and occurs when the non-server stations are unable to connect to the server. There are a variety of reasons this can occur. A few things that you can check yourself are as follows:

First, go to control panel, then to network and sharing center. Make certain file and printer sharing are enabled. If you are using mirrored accounts or domain accounts, make certain you are logging in with the same account on each station. If you are using a guest account, make certain that password protected sharing is off and public folder sharing is on.  This is the more common problem with the Windows 10 Creator's Update.

Second, your firewall may be blocking the connection. Go into your firewall software on the server - which is often built into antivirus - and add exceptions for SQL Server and SQL Server Browser.

As a reminder, support for versions 2.9.15 and older of the software are sunsetting at the end of this year.  This means we won't be able to guarantee the ability to assist with issues that may arise, particularly as older versions of Windows also cycle out of support from Microsoft.  If you're interested in updating to the current version of the software, contact sales at (919) 387-7597x100 and we can get you a quote.

We will be closed Tuesday, July 4th for Independence Day.

The current version of the software, available for supported users, is 4.6.3.  If you want to get back on support, contact sales at (919) 387-7597 x100.