Release Notes

Other enhancements and resolved issues in version 2024.2

November 2024

To explore the key features and changes in version 2024.2, see What's new in version 2024.2.

Improved UI/UX

  • The latest release completes the migration to the modern tech stack by upgrading all remaining areas to a responsive UI/UX. This transition ensures a cohesive and streamlined experience across the Web App. As a result, you and your users can look forward to significant enhancements in interface, performance, and usability in the following key areas:

    • Dashboards: Enjoy intuitive navigation and improved visualization of critical data

    • Calendars: Experience convenient scheduling and enhanced event management

      The Task Management Calendar, where you can view your teams' workload, has been renamed to Task Calendar for simplicity and clarity, making it easier to reference and use.

    • Selection forms: Benefit from a more efficient and user-friendly selection process, especially when working with hierarchical lists, such as Organizations or Locations

    • Workflow action forms: Stay focused thanks to consistent and streamlined experience

    • Related Objects tab: Navigate hierarchical structures of related objects leveraging the latest advancements in data visualization and view management

    • Multi-line text fields on object detail forms: Input and review multi-line texts with greater ease and comfort

  • Resolved an issue where "Create" workflow actions using the Full Form were not appearing in the Recent menu, improving visibility and tracking of recent activities.
System stability

  • Resolved an issue causing search queries with special characters, such as "@" or "?", to time out.

  • Addressed an issue that caused the Web App to crash with a "Server error in application" message when the Client Secret field was left blank for any SSO provider.

Forms

  • Enhanced user experience by enabling all fly-out forms, including workflow action forms, to close with the Esc key or by clicking outside of the form area.

  • Alloy Navigator now remembers the currently selected tab when you switch between records—whether by using the Back button, breadcrumbs, or Next / Previous arrows. For example, when managing license allocations for tracked software, navigating to the next Tracked Software record by clicking the Next arrow will keep you on the Allocation tab if that was your last selection, ensuring a consistent user experience.

  • We've redesigned the Activity form to enhance user experience and provide instant insights. The expanded Details field offers more space for editing, with the Time Spent and Category fields directly below. Key information is organized at the top for a clear, at-a-glance overview, making it easier to capture all essential details.

    Compare the old and the new log to see the difference.

  • Resolved an issue in the Web App where attempting to view or edit a Recurring Tickets job would display a blank screen if the job’s workflow form lacked configured sections or included a virtual field or an Activity field (such as Activity.Details).

  • Resolved an issue where importing workflow actions for Recurrent Tickets caused all existing Recurrent Ticket jobs to be deleted.

  • Resolved the "AxiosError: Request failed with status code 500" that occurred when searching for an organization with an apostrophe (') in its name within a drop-down list of 1000+ items. Apostrophes and other special characters no longer disrupt the search-as-you-type functionality.

  • Resolved an issue where the scrollbar in the Cards view of the Activity log was only available for tickets, making it difficult to access complete activity lists for other objects. Scrolling is now enabled for all objects in both Cards and Table view modes, ensuring easier navigation and access to full activity lists.

  • Resolved an issue with Duration fields (e.g., Time Spent) on action forms. Previously, when a mandatory Duration field had no default value, it displayed zeros (00 hours 00 minutes) instead of remaining empty. If users wanted to specify a zero value, they had to manually enter zeros again to proceed. An empty field will now show a blank value, clearly indicating to users that they need to enter a value to continue.

  • Resolved the "INSERT statement conflicted with the FOREIGN KEY constraint" error on attempts to create Service Catalog items when the All Services system category is selected in the category tree. This issue also affected Knowledge Base articles.

  • Fixed an issue where the Name field for a new Knowledge Base category would inherit the name of the most recently created category, potentially causing duplicate names and confusion. The Name field now starts empty as expected.

  • When creating a Knowledge Base category, the cursor now automatically moves to the Name field, eliminating the need to click before typing.

Calendars

  • My Calendar in the Web App no longer resets titles of calendar events that you have previously customized in the Desktop App.

Data views

  • You can now navigate data views using the arrow keys for easier browsing of records. As you move between items, the preview pane automatically updates to display the details of the focused record.

    Changing the focus, whether by arrow keys or mouse, will deselect any selected checkboxes in the view.

  • Fixed an issue with displaying subcategories in data views for Organizations where subcategories appeared without their parent categories, disrupting the hierarchy. Additionally, filtering by subcategories now returns the correct results, ensuring matching date is accurately displayed.

  • In the previous version, the quick search feature, used to filter data views via the filter box in the top right corner, sometimes returned no results, even when matching records existed. The issue occurred when a column had a null value in the first row, such as a computer with an empty asset tag. The issue has now been resolved.

  • Resolved the "GetViewForm: Object is not supported" error that occurred when clicking a manufacturer link in data views for assets. The error would reappear when attempting to close it. This issue also affected the Service Catalog.

  • Addressed an issue that prevented data view customizations on the Software tab of the Computer detail form from being saved.

  • In the previous version, the Responded before / late and Resolved before / late hints at the top of data views for Incidents sometimes displayed values for some previously selected incidents, requiring a refresh to correct. This issue has now been resolved, and the hints now show the correct values for the current ticket.

  • Resolved an issue with selecting dates from a date-picker calendar while configuring data views. Previously, selected dates were not applied immediately, causing confusion. Dates now apply correctly upon selection, providing a smoother user experience.

  • Resolved the "Invalid column name Tag_Names" error that occurred when adding the Tags column to data views for Locations.

  • Resolved an issue where checkboxes in the column filter would unexpectedly reset when new data was added or existing data modified.

  • Resolved an issue with the column filter in the selection form on the Related Objects tab, where attempts to update the filter were not applied. This left the object selection view filtered by the old filter, even after multiple attempts. Saving the view with an updated filter now correctly applies the changes.

  • Resolved an issue with the column filter in data views, where users were unable to select their desired value when the list exceeded 100 options, and the value was outside the displayed range. Now, typing in the search box correctly narrows the list, allowing users to select desired values.

Reports

  • The new "Service Desk Largest Objects" report helps users identify which objects consume the most space in the database, making it particularly useful when hosted on Microsoft SQL Server Express. By pinpointing these large objects, users can take action to free up space and implement strategies to prevent similar issues from arising in the future.

  • Resolved an issue with the SLA Compliance report, which incorrectly calculated the number of tickets resolved within the SLA. The report previously showed zero tickets resolved within the SLA, despite the customer resolving the majority of tickets on time. The report now displays accurate statistics.

  • Resolved the "Invalid column name 'Associated_CI_Class_ID'" error that occurred when attempting to print details from the Purchase Order or Asset form. You can now generate these detail reports without errors.

Default workflow

  • Resolved an issue where collaborators were not receiving notification emails when added during ticket creation, despite the Notify Collaborators on Ticket Creation setting being enabled in Workflow Configuration. The default workflow has been updated to ensure notifications are sent as expected. This fix also applies to Projects and Project Tasks.

Self Service Portal

  • Resolved an issue where duplicate Person records could be created during sign-in with a domain account, if no matching SSP customer account existed. This rare issue occurred when a repeated sign-in attempt coincided with the Person record creation process.

  • Resolved an issue where multi-select lists with many selected items were cut off at the bottom. The field size has been adjusted to ensure all selections are visible, even when they span multiple lines.

  • Resolved an issue where the "You do not have enough permissions to view this item" error message appeared unexpectedly when attempting to submit a ticket or perform some other actions after a period of inactivity, despite having all the necessary permissions. The error was incorrectly triggered when the user session expired, and this is now handled correctly.

  • Resolved an issue where users couldn't filter requesters by last name in Service Requests. The search-as-you-type feature previously failed to match words after a space, since last names follow first names in such lists. The feature now works as expected for all multi-word lists in the Self Service Portal.

  • Optimized the implementation and strengthened the security of internal API requests for the native Alloy Self-Service mobile app.

  • Resolved an issue with processing dates from year 1970 and earlier. Initially reported with birth dates, this issue affected Date virtual fields across all workflow forms. All dates that users pick on workflow forms are now processed and displayed correctly.

  • When accessed from a mobile browser, the Self Service Portal now automatically adjusts the interface and navigation structure, providing mobile users with access to features designed for a desktop browser experience. This is particularly beneficial for those who cannot or prefer not to install the Alloy Self-Service mobile app on their mobile devices.

Integrations and the API

  • Due to the retirement of incoming webhooks in Microsoft Teams, we've updated the documentation on setting up notifications from Alloy Navigator to Teams. The article now explains how to configure a Power Automate workflow for this purpose.

  • The Knowledge Base Import Tool, also known as KB importer, was updated for compatibility with the latest versions of Alloy Navigator and published (version 1.0.2). The previous version did not work correctly with Alloy Navigator 2024.

    The import tool is available for download through the Alloy Support Portal.

  • Fixed an issue in the API that caused the "Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'in'" error in the Alloy Navigator mobile app when searching.
Workflow management

  • Resolved an issue where using images larger than 100 KB as icons for workflow steps caused the exported XML file to be invalid. While this issue has been fixed, we still recommend using smaller images to optimize performance.

  • Resolved an issue preventing access to the Service Request workflow and causing the "'Yes' is not a valid integer value" error. While the workflow action functioned correctly, it was not possible to modify it using the Settings App. This issue was caused by a data type inconsistency in which the same field had different data types on the Form and Programming tabs of the workflow editor. The fix ensures that such inconsistencies no longer block access to the programming, allowing users to easily correct and adjust the workflow.

Network Inventory module

  • AlloyScan, our new in-cloud network inventory solution, is gaining momentum. If you use AlloyScan as the source of audit data, you can now jump from device records in Alloy Navigator to their audit snapshots in AlloyScan, without needing additional authentication. This provides immediate access to full audit data per device, enabling you to make informed decisions and stay focused.

  • Internal improvements have been made to enhance the speed, stability, and manageability of auditing networked devices (SNMP devices).