Today saw version 6.1.4 of Time Clock MTS uploaded to our website. As usual upgrade installers can be downloaded from here or you can see some detailed instructions showing you how to upgrade your software here.
This release includes some serious improvements in report generation speed, reduction in access to the back-end database (Network Edition or Network PLUS Edition), and some minor bug fixes. Detailed release notes can be found below.
Improved Data Access Speed
Major reduction of number of queries made to the back-end data file, this was done by either caching certain data (such as employment types and holidays) or by preventing needless queries for employment types, bulletin assignments, bulletins, and holidays. In addition several cross table queries have been implemented to reduce the number of queries used. This includes getting job details and time notes when a time object is selected from the database rather than getting it later. Areas of particular improvement are the Edit Times screen, the Data Export process, and updating of employee details on the Employee List screen.
Report Time Punch Cache Implemented
To help speed up the time taken to create reports a new in-memory cache system has been created. This stores employee time punches in memory for later use during report generation instead of querying the database repeatedly for the same information. In some cases this has lead to a reduction in queries of up to 80% and report generation speeds appear to be anywhere from 2 to 5 times faster than previously. Currently this is implemented for the Payroll Summary Report, the Punchcard Report, the Working Hours Report, and the Data Export System. If no problems with the caching system are found it will be rolled out to all other reports in the next version.
Other Enhancements
Deactivated employees no longer appear on the Missing Days Report. The “Total” heading on the Daily Job Time Report has been changed to “Total Cost”. The file location of the connected data file is now displayed on the Help->About screen.
Fixes
Reports that allow filtering out of zero activity employees now have better filtering. For example, employees who are deactivated no longer display, and employees whose hire data is AFTER the report date are no longer displayed. A fix was made to available sick and vacation time when the accrual start date was overridden at the employee level. Windows version detection (used for debugging and error reporting) has been moved to a .NET component and now actually works.
