Original publication date: May, 2007

Softshare WebCATS Build 419 is Available

Released on May 1, build 419 of WebCATS has something for everyone. On the business end of things, 419 gives the newly-announced DLA and SBA reporting definitions their due (which means that you’ll want to be running 419 before generating your next DLA 1806 or entering any new EDMIS-compliant data). But purely for your enjoyment, 419 also features a powerful custom report module along with other pleasing odds and ends that users have been asking for.

When you're ready to upgrade, contact Softshare with your preferred date and time for the upgrade. We'll try to accommodate your schedule as best we can. The upgrade procedure entails approximately 1-2 hours of down time and all WinCATS users will need to upgrade their version of WinCATS once the database upgrade is complete.

What’s New in WebCATS!

Below, we’ve compiled a list of the top six enhancements to WebCATS. For a complete list of enhancements and fixes, view the WebCATS build notes. 

DLA-Specific Updates
A new version of the DLA 1806 Worksheet has been added to Softshare ‘CATS. This new worksheet is titled "DLA 1806 Worksheet (2007)" and has been enhanced with two new calculations:

• Based upon new requirements released by DLA, line 21 (Jobs Created) now uses $50,000 as the standard annual salary for one position to calculate the number of jobs created. Previously, the figure was $42,500.
• A new subcategory has been added to line 7 (Active Client Count). Titled “Active Bid Match Clients,” this subcategory provides a count of all bid matching clients that were active at some point during the reporting period. While this calculation is not required by DLA, it is beneficial for many centers to know how many clients were actively bid matching during the reporting period.

SBA-Specific Updates
Based on the new definitions released by SBA, build 419 includes the following modifications:

• WebCATS now considers start-up businesses to be any business that has been in operation for less than 12 months.
• WebCATS requires that all SBA-funded initial counseling session records meet the following minimum time requirements before they can be successfully added to the database or exported to EDMIS:
  • Face-to-face sessions: 60 minutes of contact time
  • Online & phone sessions: 30 minutes total of contact and/or preparation time
• WebCATS requires that all SBA-funded conference records meet the following time/attendee minimum requirements before they can be successfully added to the database:
  • Courses, seminars, & teleconferences: 60 minutes and 2 attendees
  • Online courses: 30 minutes and 1 attendee

Note: SBA has not yet decided whether or not these new definitions will go into effect retroactively. It is an issue they are currently debating. We will keep you posted.
 
Custom Reports
WebCATS has more than 100 built-in reports. And even though they offer many options and do a great job of helping you organize your data, we realize that your “perfect” report might look a little different than the one that is available. Maybe you wish that a particular report could be sorted just a little bit differently or include that one extra field—and then it would be EXACTLY what you need.

Guess what? That perfect report that’s been at the top of your wish list is no longer elusive! Build 419’s custom report module lets you build almost any report imaginable. Whether you want to make minor changes to an existing WebCATS report or create a brand new report that doesn’t resemble anything seen before, it’s up to you to decide what data fields to include and the order in which they display, as shown here. You can also customize every aspect of the report layout including record sortings, column names, and even font formatting, as shown here.

Custom reports can be deleted or shared with others from the new Custom Report Management window (Tools|Manage Custom Reports).

Special Treatment of Your Favorite Reports
WebCATS now allows you to create listings of favorite reports. These listings can include built-in reports, custom reports, or both. From the "My Favorites" report tab, available for most record types, users can create their own personal listing of favorite reports, making these reports readily accessible for easy selection.

Administrators can also create a listing of favorite network reports from WinCATS’ global configuration settings. This listing is available across the entire program, and displays under the "Network Favorites" tab.

Duplicate Checking Enhancements
In the last build of WebCATS, we included automatic duplicate checking for new client and contact records so that nobody would have to remember to look for duplicates before saving a new record. And while this new feature was an instant hit with some of you, for others, it was a nuisance because of the delay time associated with the loading of the Possible Duplicate window.

To decrease the delay time that some of you were experiencing, we tightened the minimum matching requirements in place for the duplicate contact search in build 419. Previously, a contact was considered a possible duplicate if the first letter of the contact's first name and the first letter of the contact’s last name matched the new contact name. Now, a contact has to share the first three letters of their last name (and the first letter of their first name) with the new contact in order to be considered a possible duplicate.

We hope that this makes duplicate checking more responsive and accurate so that your program can take advantage of this helpful feature, but if the more restrictive matching requirements don’t solve your center’s delay times, you can opt to disable automatic duplicate checking from WinCATS’ global configurations.

Subset Enhancements
Three enhancements have been made to WebCATS’ subset feature:

• When creating a subset, you may now include records from any combination of centers in the subset's results. Previously, you could include either your own center or all centers in the subset, but not a combination of centers.
• A Field Search field has been added to the top of all subset criteria screens to help you quickly find a field you want to include in your subset. This may prove particularly helpful on the client subset criteria screen because it has a large number of fields. As you begin typing in the field name, WebCATS will continuously adjust the display so that only fields that match the characters you are entering remain.
• A checkbox titled Make subset available to all centers? has been added to the Manage Subsets window (Tools|Manage Subsets). This new checkbox allows you to make newly created and saved subsets available to other centers.

What’s New in WinCATS!

Although not discussed in detail here, WinCATS build 122 will be installed as part of your upgrade to WebCATS build 419. System administrators or those of you who frequently use WinCATS for data entry and reporting purposes should check out the build notes for WinCATS 122. This new build includes several new global configuration settings, but it also loses several data entry and reporting capabilities. The removal of these capabilities is part of Softshare’s long-term goal to make WinCATS the administrative-only component of Softshare ‘CATS, as discussed in the November 2005 issue of Softshare Times.

© 2012 Softshare, Inc. All rights reserved. This article is part of an archive of Softshare newsletter articles dating back several years. Some of the screenshots, procedures, or information contained within this article may no longer be 100% accurate or relevant, as Softshare's software and services are very fluid. Thank you for your understanding.