Release Notes

REA 9.16.2

Released June 17, 2010

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 2.1. Upgrading the database is required. The upgraded database will continue to work with REA versions back to 9.16.0.

New Features

• A new "notes" view is available for history attached to a record. This lets you view all of the notes for that record's history at once.
• Added new fields to properties: owner occupied, market, submarket, stories.
• Added new fields to spaces: sublease, occupancy.

Bug Fixes

• Phone number entry boxes formatted the phone number incorrectly in Windows 7 in countries not using the North American numbering scheme.
• Merging companies did not merge the data in the phone, fax, or email fields.
• Reports could not use space fields for tenants whose spaces were not linked to a property.
• Wrong user permission controlled editing popup tables. Should have been "edit popup tables" rather than "edit field definitions".
• Errors when using the "tag all" command to tag large numbers of records.
• Synchronizing changes in contact records from Outlook back to REA would sometimes lose the contact's address for contacts originally imported from other programs.

Other Changes

• Synchronizing with Outlook now has its own permission setting, separate from importing and exporting data.
• Corrected formatting of Canadian postal codes in ZIP code lookup.
• Renamed menu item Report > Custom Reports to Report > Run Report.
• The "Edit Notes" dialog is now available for notes on history and event records.
• The font used in "notes" boxes is now configurable.
• "Notes" columns can now be viewed in F5 lists. Useful to those who use F5 lists for exporting to Word or Excel.
• Rearranged and added buttons to the main tool bar.
• Global replace is now available on spaces.
• You can now create a space and move a tenant into it at the same time from the contacts or companies form.
• Changed the interface for filtering records on the "Events", "History", and "Links" panels.

REA 9.16.1

Released January 4, 2010

Bug Fixes

• Alarms did not display on some systems.
• Some fields missing from Realhound imported data.

REA 9.16.0

Released December 9, 2009

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 2.0. Upgrading the database is required. There is no backward compatibility. All REA users must upgrade to the new version of this product.

License Key Change

This release requires a new license key. All users with current support agreements can obtain new licenses from REA. When you upgrade the database, your current license key will be replaced with a temporary key that is valid for 30 days. You must obtain a new license key before the temporary one expires. (Use the Database Manager or Tools > Administration > Registration in the REA application.)

Starting with this version, you can not install and use a version of REA that was released after your support agreement expired. To use newer versions, you must renew your support agreement and obtain a new license key.

Note: Your license to use REA never expires. You can always download, install, and use any version of REA that was released while your support agreement was valid.

Another Note: It is no longer possible to back up a database from one server and use it on another with the same license key as the original. Users who wish to use the same database on two different systems should contact REA Technical Support to see if they are eligible for special terms on a second license key.

New Features

• REA can now do mail merges with companies, properties, and spaces as well as contacts. The fields for a merge document can now be selected by the user, either system-wide (using Tools > Administration > Global Settings) or for an individual document.
• Events can now truly have teams as participants. If you make a team a participant in an event (including a recurring event) and later add or remove team members, the event is automatically updated. Particularly useful for things like holidays, which can now have <everyone> as a participant.
• REA can now import a Realhound 7 database. Also, file import (renamed File/Database Import) can now import from a Microsoft Access database--useful for touching up your imported Realhound data.
• Since many users prefer to use companies rather than contacts as owners, tenants, and so on, companies now have "type" flags (investor, tenant, agent, vendor, personal, prospect) and "do not" flags (do not call, do not fax, do not mail, do not email).
• File attachments to data records and history are now stored in subfolders by date, to improve file system performance and make browsing your attachment folder in Windows Explorer easier. There is a Database Manager command to rearrange your existing attachments in subfolders.

Other Changes

• ZIP code lookup has been improved, and can now look up either a city and state if you know (most of) the ZIP code, or a ZIP code if you know the state and (part of) the city..
• By popular request, in Time Management when the "view notes in grid" option is turned off, REA reverts to the old behavior of color-coding the entire row in the grid instead of just the "event type" column.
• There is a new option in the login settings for REA, Outlook Link, and Office Link to automatically start a VPN or dial-up connection if the database server is not available.
• New Combine() and Join() functions in file/database import make combining multiple data values into one field easier.
• Added a few more database views for use in reports.

REA 9.15.1

Released December 1, 2009

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 1.73. Upgrading the database is optional but recommended. The upgraded database will continue to work with REA version 9.15.

Bug Fixes

• Some irregularities in Outlook sync related to addresses and categories.
• Setting Outlook sync options for the first time did not mark the configuration as updated, so synchronization could not be performed until you closed the Outlook sync dialog and started it again.
• Flat file import maps created with earlier versions of REA could not be loaded in 9.15.0.
• Trying to query certain property fields failed.

Other Changes

• Companies, properties, and spaces forms now initialize the contact on the call timer.
• Changing the recurrence pattern for a recurring event will not delete any old instances of the event that have been marked finished.
• Allow mapping addresses using Microsoft Bing Maps.

REA 9.15.0

Released October 19, 2009

Database Version

This release includes a database upgrade to schema version 1.72. Upgrading the database is required. There is no backward compatibility. All REA users must upgrade to the new version of the product.

Companies As Contacts

The largest change in this release is the ability to use a company in most places where a contact was required in previous version: as the owner, agent, or site contact for a property, as the tenant in a space, as any of the contacts for a sale comp or lease comp, or as the investor or agent for a 1031 exchange. In addition, when a company is the tenant in a space, the one-space-one-tenant restriction is removed. A company can be listed as the tenant in any number of spaces.

The reports supplied with REA have been updated to support this feature. Many reports have also been updated to add new features.

Other New Features

• In OutlookLink you can now choose whether emails should be linked to Cc: or Bcc: recipients. Previously emails were always linked to all recipients.
• When moving a tenant into an occupied space, REA will now offer to move the existing tenant out for you instead of requiring you to do it manually. When moving in a contact who is already a tenant in another space, REA can now automatically move the tenant out of his/her previous space, again instead of requiring you to do it manually.
• Global replace is now available on sale comp and lease comp records. (This leave spaces as the only record type not supporting global replace.)

Bug Fixes

• Occasional error messages when changing the company associated with a contact.
• Queries for "date >= value" incorrectly performed the comparison as "date > value" instead.

Other Changes

• Moving a contact into a space now marks the contact as a tenant, and updates the "Modified by" and "Date modified" fields.
• Changed the context (right-click) menu of the spaces grid on the properties form to allow going directly to the selected space record, or the space's tenant.
• On most grids (time management, and the detail grids on other major forms), column widths and positions are now automatically saved and restored when you close and open a form.

Release notes for older versions