Newforma

Virtualization of Newforma Project Center servers

2008-03-17T17:05:15-05:00

In a separate thread someone asked about deploying Newforma servers in a virtual environment. We get questions on this topic all the time. We also get a lot of support calls from customers that have performance related problems as a result of running in virtual environments. I’m only aware of a couple of customers that have successfully deployed the Newforma Project Center server in a production environment. So, I thought a poll on this topic might be appropriate. If you have had success, please respond to this topic. I’m sure many people would love to learn your secrets!

Note, the Newforma Info Exchange server works well in virtual environments. Its performance demands are typically modest.

Timeline Reporting

2012-02-02T12:00:39-05:00

Is there a way to create a report of multiple timelines? I was hoping to run a report each week showing all upcoming items.

Any ideas on how this could be done?

Newforma Revit Add-in - Action Item => Identify for Element ?

2012-01-17T14:49:34-05:00

Is it possible to create an action item for an element in a linked model? As an architect, I need to coordinate all models together and it would be nice if I could do this so a consulting engineer can go directly to the element via the element ID and check out the issues.

Managing security within a project - some holes?

2012-01-18T20:25:08-05:00

My requirement is for some users on projects (which may or may not be confidential projects) to be able to transfer files which are confidential within the scope of the project. Such as a project principle might want to transfer or receive materials that include billing or other sensitive information, to specific client/team members. Also we would want to maintain this data within the project as it pertains specifically to the project.

There seems to be no way to accomplish this with the current set of functions in 8th edition:
• I can protect the directory and files from access and search via windows security.
• Non privileged users cannot transfer the files because windows security prevents access
• The outside recipients can be restricted using permission sets.
But:
• Once a file is transferred, either out or in, the transmittal, submittal, those related records allow access to the files to anyone on the project or who has access to the project, REGARDLESS of the security on the file where it was stored or how the file was received.
• Restricting access by eliminating access to a function like info exchange does not provide enough granularity – we have users who need to use a function, but shouldn’t necessarily see all the data associated with that function.

That means there is no way to transfer the subset of project information which is sensitive, without moving it outside the project, or limiting who has access to the project (which is not really feasible as almost every project has some mix of user levels)?

So I would say that there is a big gap in security that needs to be addressed. And it needs a centralized interface, as security related configuration is set separately in several places. Groups or Roles would be a possible mechanism for managing security. A way to assess or test who has access to what is also needed. Currently you can only assess the overall security if you go to these individual settings.

What’s bad right now is that users don’t necessarily know that information has moved from secured to unsecured, unless they specifically know about this weakness. Ususually its discovered after the fact

I saw some discussion of this from 2008, but I guess it didn’t go very far?

Right now I can only see solving this with a separate project, made confidential to restrict user access, then move the sensitive info to that location. That’s painful. Any other ideas?

Newforma Ninth Edition is Dropping Support for the Revit® Add-In with Revit 2011

2011-12-23T11:09:49-05:00

Newforma Ninth Edition’s Revit® Add-in will not load into Revit 2011. Both Revit 2012 and the Newforma Ninth Edition Revit® Add-in are built on .NET 4.0. Revit 2011 was built on .NET 3.5 which is incompatible with the .NET 4.0 Revit® Add-in. As Revit 2012 has been available since March of 2011, it is believed that most Revit projects are now on Revit 2012.

Both the Newforma Eighth Edition and the Newforma Ninth Edition Revit® Add-In are compatible with Revit 2012.

Note: Newforma Ninth Edition Revit Add-in is scheduled to ship the 1st half of 2012.

Newforma Ninth Edition is dropping support for the Outlook 2003 Add-in

2011-12-23T11:07:43-05:00

Newforma Project Center Eighth Edition will be Newforma’s last major release to include support for the Outlook 2003 Add-In toolbar. In subsequent product releases, the Newforma Outlook Add-In will only function in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010. Filing project email using Outlook 2003 will still be possible using drag and drop and/or project email addressing.

Exchange 2003 is supported provided the Outlook clients connected to Exchange 2003 are Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010,

Frequently asked questions:

Q: Will the Add-in work in Outlook 2003 in Seventh and Eighth Edition?
A: Yes. The add-in will cease functioning in the release following Eighth Edition.

Q: Can I still file email with Outlook 2003?
A: Yes, you can use Drag and Drop and project email addressing.

Q: Will I still be able to search email filed from Outlook 2003 from within Newforma Project Center?
A: Yes. In fact all Office 2003 documents (Email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) will still be searchable in our next major release.

Q: Why are you dropping support for the Add-in in Outlook 2003?
A: Microsoft is dropping support for Outlook 2003 development in the current shipping version of their development tools, which we use to build Newforma Project Center

If you have any additional questions or concerns please feel free to contact your Newforma account manager.

Newforma is dropping support for Sixth Edition and prior Editions as of March 31st 2012

2011-12-23T11:01:19-05:00

Newforma’s stated support policy is to support the current shipping version and one version prior of Newforma Project Center. With the release of Eighth Edition Newforma formally supports Seventh and Eighth Edition. We are no longer supporting Fifth Edition and earlier editions as of September 30, 2011. We will no longer be in a position to offer support for Sixth Edition after March 31st, 2012. Your subscription includes access to our latest release and both Seventh and Eighth Edition support Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.

Frequently asked questions:

Q: What does “formally dropping support” mean?
A: This means we will not longer accept any support cases from customers on versions which are “formally dropped”.

Q: Can I continue to use my version of Newforma Project Center after you drop support for that version?
A: Yes, you can continue to use the version but you cannot reach out to us for technical support.

If you have any additional questions or concerns please feel free to contact your Newforma account manager.

Opening to a specific project

2011-12-09T14:41:31-05:00

This tip came from one of our office power users and I think its worth sharing. This particular person only works on one project 99.99% of the time and wanted to save a few mouse clicks by opening Newforma directly to the project home screen.

Step 1: right-click the a project activity and choose ‘copy link to project email to clipboard’.

Step 2: paste the link and strip off everything at the end starting with


&activitycenter;=....

Step 3: create a new desktop shortcut to this URL. Voila… you can now open the project with this shortcut.

Step 4 (optional): If you want to pin this to your windows 7 start bar you will have to copy the Newforma program shortcut and append this new link as an argument. The new shortcut might look something like this:

"C:Program Files (x86)NewformaEighth EditionProject CenterProjectCenter.exe" "newforma:ProjectCenter.Goto?server=BOO...." 

P.S. This example is from 8th Edition.

RFI Transmittal Issue

2011-11-15T13:25:11-05:00

Since our upgrde to V8 - the Transmittals that accompany our response to RFI’s no longer include the answer. It is part of the accompanying email message, but does not appear in the attached pdf of the transmittal - which is what most of our clients print out for their record.

Is this changed from previous functionality or did I miss a setting somewhere to toggle this on/off?

Thanks,
Dean

Auto Email Filing and Office 365

2011-11-28T22:16:28-05:00

Newforma has had a few inquiries regarding Office 365 and our support of automated email filing and project email addressing in conjunction with Office 365.

Although emails can be filed manually and via other methods, automated email filing and project email addressing is not currently supported. We plan on supporting automated email filing and project email addressing with the next major release of Newforma Project Center (1st half of 2012).