Release Notice 2011 Jul

Changes made to CARS+ software from July 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

Changes are listed in ascending date order within each table below.

Finding your release number: The release number currently in use is displayed in the upper left corner of the login screen. If already logged in to CARS+, type “LOGIN” from the OPTION field of any menu to view the login screen and see the release number.

The format of the release number is either:

v12.9-YYMMDD (where YYMMDD represents the date in the format “year month day”.)

For example, April 14, 2010 is shown as: v12.9-100410

A date more recent than your release date is a new feature available in the latest release.

12.9-YYMMDDx (where the date is shown the same as the above followed by a letter.)

For example, December 12, 2009, letter T is shown as: 12.9-091209T

A feature with a letter that is later in the alphabet than your letter is a new feature available only in a later release.

To find all changes to a certain program, use your browser’s “find” or “search” feature with the appropriate synonym.

Enhancements: The majority of enhancements to CARS+ do not go into effect unless a setting is changed in the system. That is, the goal is to allow current users to continue using the system just as they are using it unless they decide to use the feature.

Changes: Sometimes changes are made that affect all users. For ease in reviewing this document, changes that directly affect the rental counter are noted in the "Affects Rental Counter" column.

IMPORTANT UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS

When upgrading from any release prior to 12.9-100411, the upgrade process must be done in two stages. Detailed instructions follow.

When upgrading from a version earlier than 12.9-090507:

Upgrade to 12.9-100411.
Manually run UPD53B and UPD59B.
Upgrade to tip.
Manually run UPD63B.

When upgrading from version 12.9-090507 through 12.9-091209 including all lettered versions:

Upgrade to 12.9-100411.
Manually run UPD59B only. DO NOT run UPD53B, it has already been run.
Upgrade to tip.
Manually run UPD63B.

When upgrading from 12.9-091211 through 12.9-100409

Upgrade to 12.9-100411. UPD59B should already have been run.
Upgrade to the tip.
Manually run UPD63B.

When upgrading from release 12.9-100414:

STOP. Contact Thermeon Customer Support for instructions.

When upgrading from release 12.9-100422 through 12.9-100724:

Upgrade to the tip.
It is not necessary to run UPD63B, it has already been run (see points 9 and 10 below).

When upgrading from release 12.9-100728 or later:

Upgrade to the tip.
Manually run UPD63B.

Serious harm will occur if UPD53B is run more than once for a date or date range. Be sure not to overlap dates when running this program.
No damage will occur if UPD59B is run for overlapping dates.
UPD63 was introduced as of release 12.9-100422. This program expands the record size of the RACHRG file from 300 to 500 bytes. This file is often one of the largest files in the database. If using Vision Version 3 format files, the size of this file should be checked prior to upgrading to this release or later. VV3 files have a maximum size of 2.2 GB. This file should be 1.2 GB or less (with zero deleted records) prior to the upgrade in order to have enough room for the expanded record size and to leave enough room for a reasonable period of growth before purging becomes necessary. If the file is larger than 1.2 GB, then one of the following must be done:

Convert the file to Vision Version 4 format, which has no size limit (multiple file segments are created). NOTE: The IQ Report Writer cannot read VV4 format files.
Purge the file of enough data to bring it under 1.2 GB prior to upgrading.

As of release 12.9-100728, UPD63 is split into two programs. UPD63 will run automatically and will convert RACHRG records only for Open and Closed, but unposted RAs. Additionally, the follow-on program, UPD64 will only update the RACHRG file for the same RAs. After the automatic upgrade process has completed, the program UPD63B must be run manually. This will complete the conversion of the RACHRG file for closed and posted RAs as well as completing the UPD64 function for the same RAs. UPD63B may be run while users are actively logged in to the database, however closed and posted RAs that have not been converted by UPD63B will not display any charge detail and will appear to be out of balance. UPD63B can be run for a specific range of dates, and therefore may be run in segments in order to avoid conflicts with backups and the like. NOTE: No harm will be caused if date ranges are accidentally overlapped. Records will not be "double-converted".
NOTE: Significant modifications were made to UPD63, UPD63B and UPD64 on 10 August 2010 through 18 August 2010 to avoid skipping some records. Therefore, releases 12.9-100728 and 12.9-100813 should be avoided and release 12.9-100914 or later should be used (releases 12.9-100824 and 12.9-100827 were labeled "testing only"). The changes involve how these three programs interact with each other, therefore releases prior the "split" (prior to 12.9-100728) do not suffer the skipped records problem.
All UPDnnB programs may be run while users are actively on the system. The "non-B" versions of these programs run automatically and convert open and closed, unposted rental agreements and all reservations. The "B" versions convert all closed and posted rental agreements (the bulk of the data). Note that data from closed and posted rental agreements will not display correctly until all manual upgrade processes have been run. For upgrades requiring the two-step process, if time allows, it is recommended that both steps be performed completely, including all manual upgrade processes before allowing users back on the system. For extremely large databases, this may not be possible and it may be necessary to pause for several days at the 12.9-100411 release until all manual processes have been run.
NOTE: If it is necessary to pause at 12.9-100411 and if upgrading from 12.9-091209-S or later lettered release (releases published after April 11, 2010), it is possible that some modifications will temporarily be lost until the upgrade to the tip is completed. In particular, print programs should be reviewed to determine if changes will be lost. If so, contact Thermeon Customer support to see if it is possible to bring the changes from the 12.9-091209-xx release forward to the 12.9-100411 release.
UPD67 -- Releases beginning with 12.9-100813 include UPD67. This program will ask if the vehicle In Service Date field should be updated. This is an interactive program and will not proceed until the question is answered. The background for this is as follows:

Some clients wish to load vehicles into CARS+ in advance of their purchase. In this situation, the vehicles should not be considered part of the available fleet by the Planning Calendar until such time as they are expected to be put in service. As a result, a change was made to the Planning Calendar such that it will not consider any vehicle as part of the available fleet until the date specified by the In Service Date. Vehicles with this field blank will not be considered. For any vehicle with the In Service Date field blank, UPD67 will write the Purchase Date to the In Service Date. If this action is not desired, then the question prompted by UPD67 should be answered "N". In this event, some other method must be used to update vehicles with a blank In Service Date. This can be done either manually or by use of the XCLVEH program.

NOTE: As of the first release following 12.9-101014, UPD67 will no longer be an interactive program. It will run automatically as if the question had been answered "Y" (yes).

UPD59 and UPD59B -- On 26 October 2010 a problem was discovered with the UPD59 and UPD59B programs. The programs were patched and the patches have been installed on the cars+v12.9-100411 release available on the download site on 27 October, 2010. This updated version should be downloaded and used for all future upgrades requiring this release.
UPDHZ -- UPDHZ is a manually-run program first appearing in release 12.9-101107. It need only be run on Hertz systems that use the Hertz Res Log feature. It fixes a problem with the field positions in the file which causes the file name and other fields to be truncated.

The Issue # in the last column below is Thermeon’s internal tracking number.

DATE	AFFECTS RENTAL COUNTER	MENU	SYNONYM	PROGRAM	DESCRIPTION	ISSUE #
07-07-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	Added a new field to control how mileage rates are applied to Upsell rentals	36278
07-07-11	yes	RA	OPEN	RA Open	Changed the way mileage rates are applied to upsell rentals based on the new field described above.	36278
07-07-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	Added a field to prevent backdating the Effective Dates on rates	37110
07-07-11		RATES	EDITRATE	Edit Rental Rules/Rates	The system can be configured to prevent back dating of Effective Dates on rates	37110
07-07-11		HIST	DMGENT	Damage Entry	Added fields for the location and employee who are tracking the claim (full-screen version only)	37149
07-07-11		HIST	DMGRPT	Damage Tracking Report	Added a field to limit the report by tracking employee. (full-screen version only)	37149
07-14-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	Added a new field that forces promos to be validated against the Special Docs file.	36965
07-14-11		RESMENU	RES	Reservations	For RV rentals, the drop charge can be selected as being invoiced with the tour voucher	34164
07-14-11		RATES	MRKRLS	Mark Rates as Purge-able	Changed the program so that the currently effective rate does not get flagged for purging	30349
07-14-11		FLEET	INV	Vehicle Inventory Control	Existing vehicles can be access by license plate (rego) number.	36903
07-14-11		ITCTRL	EDITIT	Edit IT Codes	Simple wholesalers can have zero % discount, the last season can be open ended	37183
08-09-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	New field that blocks re-use of vehicles assigned to open reservations.	37093
08-09-11		DISPATCH	RELEASE	Release a Vehicle	Added the ability to sell ppd fuel and add asset numbers of asset controlled options	36883
08-09-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	Added field to turn on/off invoicing Non-Rev drivers for parking tickets.	37014
08-09-11		HIST	TICKET	Ticket Processing Report	Change the data that ultimately is written to AROPEN when a ticket's Petty Cash record is posted.	37014
08-09-11		NR	EDITNR	Edit NRV Control Record	New control record that configures features in Edit Non-Revs	37069
08-09-11		NR	EDTNRV	Edit Non-Revs	The program was made sensitive to the above control file	37069
08-09-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	Added a field that defines if the renter's cell phone or work phone should appear on the Main Window of Reservations (the other appears on the E subwindow)	37049
08-09-11		RESMENU	RES	Reservations	1) Renter's cell phone can now appear on the Main Window, 2) reformatted the Main Window when in RV mode.	37049
08-09-11		CUSMNT	CHGTYP	Change Customer Type	Added ability to change the Credit Limit while changing Customer Type Code.	37243
08-09-11	yes	RESMENU	RES	Reservations	The pickup and return dates and times cannot be edited on reservations that are filled, cancelled, or noshowed.	37335
08-09-11		HIST	HSTRPT	Vehicle History Report	In RV Mode added generator hours	37294
08-09-11	yes	LOCCTRL	EDITLOC	Edit Locations	New choice of '7' for the 'Check-out Fuel" field. Forces entry of a fuel level when opening a RA.	37295
08-09-11		ARCTRL	EDTSPL	Edit Revenue Split Co	New control file that allows revenue splits to be turned off between selected Posting Companies	37113
08-09-11	yes	RESMENU	RES	Reservations	Blocked edits to existing vendor data unless user has menu access to Vendor File maintenance	37358
08-09-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Fields	Added fields to turn on longterm rental logic plus fields to define the max days for retail rentals, multi-month rentals and longterm rentals.	37010
08-09-11		SECURITY	EDITUAF	Edit User Access	Added override authority field for max days defined above.	37010
08-09-11	yes	RA	RAOPEN	RA Open	Added longterm rental logic	37010
08-09-11	yes	RA	EXTEND	Extend RA	Prevent extensions beyond max days	37010
08-09-11		MULT	RAMULT	Multi_Invoiced Rentals	Excluded longterm rentals	37010
08-09-11		MULT	LONGRA	Longterm Invoiced Rentals	Close and clone program for longterm rentals	37010
08-09-11		MULT	LONGRPT	Longterm Rentals Report	New report of closed longterm rentals	37010
08-09-11		MULT	LONGAUTH	Longterm RA Auth Error Report	New report of longterm rentals without sufficient credit card authorization.	37010
08-09-11	yes	LOCCTRL	EDITLOC	Edit Locations	Added field to require 2nd ID on all rentals opened at this location	37350
08-09-11		EDC	SCNCCA	CC Auth File Search	Search program to research auth attempts	37352
08-09-11		PETTYCSH	PTYCSH	Petty Cash Entry	Added Vehicle number to the screen Added a pop-up window for the GL account list. Use Shift/F7.	37392
08-09-11		OPTIONS	EDTOPTCD	Edit Optional Items	Added field to default qty on an option to the number of passengers.	36061
08-09-11		RESMENU	RES	Reservations	Default option qty by the new flag described above	36061
08-09-11	yes	RA	OPEN	Incident Entry	Added Action Code 9	37256
08-09-11		PURGE	PURGEOPT	Purge Optional Items Rates	Created a purge program for the Optional Items Rate file.	37353
08-09-11		MAINT	WASH	Car Wash Entry	Added a field for Lot #	36893
08-09-11		SECURITY	EDITUAF	Edit User Access File	Added a field that blocks users from editing vendor information in RESUPD	37450
08-09-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Misc Control Fields	Added a field to send an advisory email to a manager whenever an RA is reopened.	37276
08-17-11	yes	RESMENU	RES	Reservations	Expanded the deposit amount field to 8 characters before the decimal	37379
08-17-11	yes	RA	OPEN CLOSE PTYCSH RCVPAY	RA Open RA Close Petty Cash Entry Receive RA Payments	Expanded the deposit and payment amount fields to 8 characters before the decimal	37379
08-19-11		FLCTRL	EDITCLS	Edit Class Codes	Added a new field that makes the warning level 1 percent in the planning calendar behave as level 2 when a res is book soon before it's pickup date.	37521
08-26-11		PETTYCSH	EDITPTY	Edit Petty Cash	Posted transactions can now be reprinted.	37014
08-26-11		MONTH	COMMISS	Vendor Commission Report	In RV Mode, can make options commissionable by G/L account number. Added the exchange rate for US/Canada currencies.	37515
08-26-11	yes	RESMENU	RES	Reservations	Activated the Distance field in the Delivery/Collections subwindow	36076
08-26-11		INCSALES	VEHOPT	Vehicle Optional Item Revenue	New report that summarizes optional item revenue by vehicle.	37550
08-26-11		INCSALES	RSREVA	Reservation Revenue Analysis	New report that summarizes optional item revenue by reservation.	37551
08-26-11		UTILIZE	DCREXP	Data Export for DCR	New program which creates a CSV file of fleet and RA counts similar to Average Utilization and Daily Operations reports.	37228
09-02-11		MONTH	DEPRPT	Deposit Reconciliation Report	Added a new selection by deposit location	37516
09-02-11		PLAN	CHGFUT	Change Class Availability	Added a second date to define a range of dates in which new units may be received.	37626
09-02-11		FLEET	INV	Vehicle Inventory Control	When setting the in-service-date, the program reduces any future fleet additions in the Future Adjustment file	37626
09-18-11		LOCCTRL	EDITLOC	Edit Locations	Added a new field that turns FOP Rounding on/off by location.	37671
09-18-11		OPTIONS	EDITMAT	Edit Percentage Matrix	Terminated Options no longer display	37675
09-18-11		PURGE	PURGEOPT	Purge Option Rates	Terminated Options are purged as well	37675
09-18-11		RATES	EDDRPR	Restricted Drop Charges	Added new file for temporary drop charges	37607
09-18-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Miscellaneous Control Flags	A field was added that will make vehicles on open Non-Rev tickets to report as "lost" on the Lost Vehicles Report	37662
09-28-11		MULT	MULTRA	Multiple Invoiced Rentals	When cloning an RA all 90 lines of RA notes are copied to the new RA	37766
09-28-11		MAINT	TICKET	Ticket Processing Report	The user's default location not the RA's open location is used for any payment record	37761
09-28-11		FLEET	VEHNTS	Edit Vehicle Notes	New program for editing the 30 character notes field on a vehicle	37729
09-28-11		RACTRL	EDITFEP	Edit Feature Edits Profiles	Added field for access to additional driver start date/time	37763
09-28-11	yes	RA	OPEN, BCHOPEN, EDITRA	RA Open, Batch Open, Edit Opening Fields	Restored the ability to edit additional driver start date/time outside Edit Opening Fields	37763
09-28-11		ACCT	EDITVCH2	Edit Wholesale Vouchers	New program developed to edit individual charges on a wholesale voucher	37644
09-28-11		ACCT	RW	A/R Detail Aging Report	Added ability for program to be run from the report driver	37688
09-28-11		AUDIT	VCHDAYS	Res Voucher Days Report	New report designed to audit tour vouchers created by outside interfaces.	37724
10-10-11	yes	RA	OPEN	RA Open	Added a warning message for Off-sell on walk-up rentals	37792
10-10-11		SETUP	EDITDISP	Configure Res Display	New configuration screen that allows a user to select data to appear on Res Display	37786
10-10-11		RESMENU	RESDISP	On-line Res Display	Is now sensitive to the above configuration program	37786
10-10-11	yes	RA	OPEN	RA Open	Changed the sequence of when the fuel pop-up window. It now comes up after requesting an estimate and before the estimated charges are displayed.	37488
10-10-11		PURGE	PURGELOG	Log Files Purge	Made the program callable by the Report Driver	37832
10-18-11		MAINT	PM	Preventative Maintenance Entry	A new abbreviated version of Vehicle History Update for entering PM records	33927
10-18-11		MAINT	SCODES	Edit Service Codes	Added major PM Hold Code logic	33927
10-18-11				System Wide	The names of all log files have been changed	37821
10-18-11		MAINT	TICKET	Ticket Processing Report	Added the ability to charge an alternate credit card	37824
10-24-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Misc Control Fields	Added a field to require LDW on all rentals	37603
10-24-11		DAILY	DUE	Vehicle Due Back Report	The default values on the user interface screen can be altered via a GVT	37792
10-24-11		RA	OPEN	RA Open	Changed access to multi-month billing fields on existing RAs	37936
11-15-11		ITCTRL	EDITIT	Edit IT Records	Added a field for % markup on out-of-voucher rate from the voucher net rate	37970
11-15-11		SECURITY	EDITUAF	Edit User Access File	Added a new choice for the Fleet Access Mode field. To allow user to access pages 1 and 2, enter a '2' in this field.	38063
11-15-11		LOCCTRL	EDITHRS	Edit Hours of Operation	Allowed holidays to be set up by country of operation.	35137
11-15-11		LOCCTRL	EDITLOC	Edit Locations	Added a field for the location's time zone. When changing locations via Change Environment, the user's Time Zone changes as well.	37973
11-15-11		RA	CLOSE	Close RA	Credit card expire date > than 20 years in the future is rejected	37955
11-15-11				Display Notes	New system Bulletin Board to display notes to users on sign in	37673
11-15-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Misc Control Fields	Added a field to prevent rentals to any repeat customer with a balance due	37614
11-15-11		OPTIONS	EDTOPTRT	Edit Option Rates	Options can be flagged for sale on tour vouchers only or as out of voucher options on tour rentals	37970
11-15-11		OPTIONS	EDTOPTRT	Edit Option Rates	Changed the way options are priced in local currency when in a system defined for multiple currencies	38090
11-15-11		RESMENU	RER	Res Edit Report	Added a selection by CDPID number range	35925
11-15-11				Webres	Added support for e-commerce processing of res deposits	36450
11-15-11				System Wide	Programs that are designed to only be run by one user at a time (such as posting) display the Employee and station number of any other user running the program at the same time	38006
11-15-11					The following reports have been changed so that options can be preselected in the Report Driver: Revenue Analysis, Extra Revenue Report 1, Extra Revenue Report 2 and Employee Performance Report	35945
11-29-11		RESMENU			A version of RESUPD has been created for RV rentals that is free of all data validation checks	38139
12-10-11	yes	RA	CLOSE	RA Close	The key stroke Shift-F5 can be configured to call the Optional Items Sales pop-up in the Main Window	38236
12-10-11		RESMENU	RESYLD	Res Yield Report	Added a second proration question on user interface screen	38216
12-10-11	yes	IE	BCHINC	Batch Incident Entry	A new Incident Action has been created to "forgive" excess hours	38237
12-10-11	yes	IE	BCHINC	Batch Incident Entry	Up to 10 incidents can be entered against an RA before storing the transaction	38237
12-10-11		DAILY	DUE	Vehicles Due in Report	Option to include returning reservations as well	36645
12-10-11		RACTRL	EDITMISC	Edit Misc Control Fields	Added field to assess a penalty on rentals where the renter returns the vehicle earlier than expected.	38187
12-10-11	yes	RA	OPEN	RA OPEN	Early penalty is applied if the return on the RA is less than the res	38187
12-10-11	yes	RA	CLOSE	RA Close	Early Penalty is applied if the return is earlier than what was scheduled at open.	38187
12-10-11		RA	PTYCSH	Petty Cash Entry	Added 2 additional reference fields that post to the AR Open Item file	37898
12-10-11		MONTH	OPTIONS	Edit Optional Items	Added a value to report as Revenue which excludes the option from the Accrual Report	38206
12-20-11		LOCCTRL	EDITLOC	Edit Locations	Posting Codes can be assigned to Locations	38313
12-20-11		RA	MAKAVL	Make Available	The program can be configured to allow a user to change the status of any vehicle at any location	38188

HERTZ-SPECIFIC FEATURES

DATE	AFFECTS RENTAL COUNTER	MENU	SYNONYM	PROGRAM	DESCRIPTION	ISSUE #
09-18-11		HERTZ		Edit Hertz Res Merge 4 Options	Added a field that will cause request confirmations to be rejected by RZMRG4 if a Request is not already on file.	37577
10-18-11		HERTZ	FILNET	Update RA Filenet Field	Reads a file from Filenet indicating the RAs that have been sent	37455
10-18-11		HERTZ	FLNRPT	Filenet Report	Report of RAs that have NOT been sent to Filenet	37455
10-24-11		HERTZ	EDTRZ4	Edit Hertz Res Merge 4 Options	Added a field that will cause use of rate templates to be noted on the Interface Report	37816
TBA		VEHCTRL	EDTCLR	Edit Color Codes	Added a second Color Code to be used by CARRENT	38065