Dispatch 5 release notes and discussion

[AndrewC]

Dispatch 5 BETA Release
5.0.0.732


Warning: This is a major BETA update and contains breaking changes and removed features for users of Dispatch 4. It will also contain bugs. Please read all these notes before installing the update. A feature that you rely on for your day to day business might be significantly altered or missing in this BETA update.

Important changes are documented in the Retired Features and Known Issues sections. We will be releasing frequent fixes and features for this BETA update during its life time and encourage you to participate in the trial on your test or staging server to be a part of shaping the final version of Dispatch 5.

New Features

• User interface is rewritten - This marks the debut of our new design language for Gpsgate Server 5. The current UI is a re-implemented version of the Dispatch 4 UI with a new twist on a card style view for the main Dispatch panel. The underlying UI tech has been completely rewritten and the interface will be updated frequently during the beta and after release as our design team continues their work on transforming the entire GpsGate Server interface.
• More flexible workflows - Operators now have more control over creating, modifying and dispatching jobs. Drag and drop job and route functionality makes distributing jobs quick and we have less strict rules over what can be done at each stage of the Job life cycle to allow you to work the way you need.
• Route optimisation improvements - Route optimisation now is much faster and has more accurate results. It also allows various distance optimisation scenarios including pinning the start and end stop, or factoring in returning to the depot at the end of the route. We have enabled this feature with a maximum of 100 jobs for the beta but will be extending the limit as we progress through testing.
• Dispatch Android and iOS apps - We now have native apps for Dispatch for the two major mobile platforms. Download the app from Google Play or the App Store, scan a QR code generated by your Dispatch operators and have live access to your jobs on the go with integrated turn-by-turn navigation to jobs.
• Dispatch JSON API - We have a new API available for Dispatch that does not use the SOAP protocol. This API has the same core features but is accessed using HTTP GET or POST with a JSON payload. The functionality of the API remains the same as the SOAP one.
• Server side redesign - The server side of Dispatch now uses the GpsGate 5 reactive design principles and uses push technology to communicate with the user interface. This should lead to a much more responsive experience for the user, even when handling large quantities of jobs.
• Dispatch Analytics panel - See graphs of meaningful data on the state of your days jobs. Work toward turning all your dials green to ensure that your fleet's work is done on time.

We have lots more new features planned so keep an eye on our forum and blog for more information about GpsGate Dispatch 5.

Please check out our blog on Dispatch beta 5 for a detailed breakdown of our new UI and features.


Retired Features

• GpsGate Dispatch SOAP API - This has been retired in favour of the GpsGate Dispatch JSON API. The calls available in the JSON API have the same features as those available in the SOAP API. If you have an integration with the GpsGate Dispatch SOAP API today, you should be able to port your application to the new JSON API with very minimal changes. Switch your networking implementation from SOAP to JSON and almost all of your logic can remain the same. Please contact us with any bugs, issues or missing features you find.
• GpsGate Dispatch Fleet plugin - The Dispatch Worker UI has been removed from GpsGate Fleet. This has been replaced with our new Dispatch app for Android and iOS. This leaves the Windows platform temporarily with no available Dispatch Worker mobile interface. We will be sharing more information about this in an upcoming release.
• Garmin TAPI device support - This platform by Garmin is deprecated and devices are no longer manufactured or sold. We recommend that all Garmin TAPI customers check out the new Garmin Fleet 660 and 670 models which are based on Android, are fully integrated with GpsGate Server and provide all TAPI functionality and more.

Known Issues

• GpsGate Dispatch Worker mobile interface is currently only available for Android and iOS - more details on this will be shared in the coming weeks.
• Route Optimisation with more than 100 jobs in the route - due to return before beta phase ends.
• Automatic, easy to schedule route dispatching - due to return before beta phase ends.
• Batch operations inside Routes - due to return before beta phase ends.
• Batch operations on the main Dispatch panel - due to return before beta phase ends.
• Garmin integration - This is currently also in a beta phase. Garmin FMI devices are in beta level support but Garmin TAPI devices are now no longer supported.

Please contact us with any bug reports or feedback you have.

[Beau_M]

With the new version and the removal of the web-based dispatch feature, is there going to be any way to modify the dispatch screen anymore? We had placed a custom line of code in job.tpl.html to link the site name for each job to another web page, but now that it is going to an app this doesn't seem possible. We also have several custom apps that run over the top of GpsGate that do not load in the dispatch app. It also breaks routing on IOS if you are running in guided mode as you now must have the dispatch app loaded in-front. Is there a possibility of keeping the old web based dispatch as well?

[limyo]

Dear Support team,

Dispatch 5 release is more better features.
Even though I have some suggest:
1- Shipment (Dispatch): should have Shipment #, SO#, Route (Job) should have departure place, please see attached sample screen.
2- Shipping (Dispatch) Schedules display as table similar to Airport flight schedule, this information will help logistic team easy manage vehicles and transportation. Please see attached sample picture

I hope you will consider these features.

Thanks
Best regards

Yo Lim

[slester]

Here comes the first update for the beta of Dispatch 5 plugin.

First, a bunch of fixes:

Fix sql scripts for MS SQL install of the plugin.
The plugin was failing to install on a MSSQL based GpsGate server.

Fix custom fields being available across applications.
The custom fields are no longer being read cross application-wide. Only the current application's custom fields are now shown to the user.

Fix route issue when route is on multiple days.
You can now create routes with jobs on multiple days, and they are not going to be partially deleted anymore when dispatched or when the user is changed.

Fix custom field edit/create view list being reset by new vehicle data coming from server.
The form no longer resets when data comes from the server.

Fix carousel boundaries whilst dragging and dropping.
You can now move a job or a route around without any issues occurring in the view.

Fix job local/universal times issue for date assigning.
The date assigned to a job is now always the good one, meaning the current day you are working on in the Panel.

Fix edit job button being hidden by vertical scrollbar in route form.
The new design of the route form has the edit button visible at all times.

Fix not being able to print a job list for a worker.
You can now print the job list by clicking the Print button on the job list view.

Fix UINT issue with MySQL.NET driver.
Unsigned integers are not supported by the MySQL.NET library drivers, we removed them.

Fix Roundtrip database connection pool
There no more risk for the database access by Dispatch 5 to dry out the connection pool on very busy servers.

Improved security. Upgrade recommended.

Imports now support custom fields values in any order.
The custom fields values can now be in any order when you import them.

It's now possible to drag and drop jobs and routes from one worker to another.
Thanks to this feature, you can now drag and drop your jobs and routes between workers. This lets you assign/reassign them in a more natural way.

Header of dispatch and organize panel is now fixed at the top.
The headers of the Dispatch/Organize panels is now fixed at the very top. The information is now displayed at all times.


Our Design Team's work on GpsGate 5 progresses:

New "Add job" and "Add Route" in the dispatch panel header.
The buttons for job and route creation have returned to the panel header, so adding new ones is easier.

Route form is now easier to use when you have a large amount of jobs thanks to the new accordion design.
We've rethought the design of the route form. The accordion design makes it much easier to use with a large number of jobs in the route.

The settings tab in apps evolves to something more informative.
The settings tab in the apps now display some information (username, app version, build number, server address) in addition to the logout button about the app you are using.

[slester]

Here comes the second update for the beta of Dispatch 5.

What did we fix?

Event rules can be saved.
You can now save Event rules with script expression with dispatch 5 installed.

Fix Jayrock error.
In certain case saving was not possible due to a Jayrock reference error. Now working.

Fix carousel showing only one card.
The carousel will now always display the right amount of job cards.

Fix job notification issue when dispatched.
A notification will be sent when dispatching a job to a worker.

Fix database issue with route saving.
Route saving is now working properly.

On the improvement side

Improved security.
We improved the security of the plugin. Updating is important.

Improved performance.
The speed of the rest api has been improved.

Please contact us with any bug reports or feedback you have.

[slester]

Here comes the third release for Dispatch 5 beta

Even more fixes

Fix scripting for Dispatch related calls
You can now use all the script calls related to Dispatch.

Fix override of ActivatedTime when completing a job
The Activation time now keeps its original value when a job is completed.

Fix "add job to route" behavior
When creating a route, if state is set as assigned, it's not possible to add jobs to route with the map right click context menu anymore.

Fix "Selected" state UI for routes
When a route card is selected, a thin black border is now displayed around it.

For more Dispatch content, you can check the blog and the forum.

Sign up to our beta feedback group here.

The GpsGate Dispatch team

[ebrothers]

Hello everybody

We are have a problem in the new beta version 5.

If we change the status (planned,assiggned, activated) of the job, the job will be go away and we don't can't find again.
The second problem there we have, we can't find closed Jobs or can reactivated this.

Can you help me to solve this Problem?

[slester]

Hello everybody, here comes the next release for Dispatch 5. Many performance and stability improvements.

New naming for job states:
We slightly changed the naming to make it more logical.

Unassigned = White job card
Assigned = Light grey card
Dispatched = Yellow card
Active = Orange card
Completed = Green card

Performance improvement:
Job loading is now faster on the VehicleTracker reload.

Translation improvement:
New keys were added for better language support.

CSV import improvement:
Importing a large amount of jobs is now faster.

Fix route dispatch/undispatch:
This operation now works for routes spanning multiple days.

Fix route drag and drop:
You can now move a route that spans multiple days.

[jaket]

Has this been fixed yet?

Hello everybody

We are have a problem in the new beta version 5.

If we change the status (planned,assiggned, activated) of the job, the job will be go away and we don't can't find again.
The second problem there we have, we can't find closed Jobs or can reactivated this.

Can you help me to solve this Problem?

[mohdfarook2k]

This is the disadvantage of Dispatch 5 release. Hope Gpsgate will release calendar schedule like something below, so that user can view and manage all the closed and open jobs.

[bigman0510]

Im having the problem with the Visual C++ redistributable, what am i missing?

[AndrewC]

Please try recycling the IIS application pool and retrying.

Could you let us know which version of IIS you are using?

[dre613]

Hey there,

I understand this is still in beta, just wondering if anyone else is experiencing issues with
timeouts when either creating a route or when dragging an unassigned job to a worker.

another problem is route optimization getting stuck, never finishing.

Also wondering if route menu can allow us to assign already created jobs.
When creating a route, we are currently unable to select unassigned jobs to add to route. One must create a job and cannot assign an already created job.

attached some pics of errors

Hangs.png (80.58 KiB) Viewed 9946 times

Timeout.png (178.37 KiB) Viewed 9946 times

[AndrewC]

Hi,

For the issue with some operations causing timeouts, we hope to have an update available soon that will make things more reliable.

In order for the Optimize feature to work you will need to make sure that you have a valid GpsGate Services API key saved in your server. We shall be hiding the feature in the UI in the future if this is not correctly configured to prevent confusion.

http://gpsgate.com/blogComment/dispatch_route_optimisation

[dre613]

Yes, I did put in the API key and tested it and it said OK but that feature still hangs.

One question regarding auto feeding jobs to the dispatch plugin. How can we access the api to add jobs?
I didn't see any documentation on that.

Would love to have this plugin updated to fix the timeout error.
We're hoping to test dispatch and implement it in a month or so.
Is the reporting feature available?
What timeline do you expect this plugin to be fully operational?

Thank you