ARGUS Developer v7.0 Product Release Notes Document Version 1.05 October 1st, 2015

Transcription

1 ARGUS Developer v7.0 Product Release Notes Document Version 1.05 October 1st, 2015 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

2 Error! Unknown document property name. Release Notes for ARGUS Developer v7.0 October 1st, 2015 Published by: ARGUS Software, Inc Post Oak Boulevard Suite 900 Houston, Texas Telephone (713) Facsimile (713) Information in these release notes is subject to change without notice and represents no commitment on the part of ARGUS Software. These release notes are copyright 2015, ARGUS Software. All rights reserved. These release notes are a confidential and proprietary trade secret of ARGUS Software and its licensors, made available only under a license containing obligations of confidentiality. Information in these release notes is subject to change without notice. "ARGUS Software" is a trademark of ARGUS Software, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective companies. 2 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

3 ARGUS Developer v7.0 ARGUS Developer System Requirements... 4 System Requirements... 4 Permissions... 5 Further documentation about this product... 6 Enhancements Introduced in Enhancements Introduced in Known Issues and Workarounds in ARGUS Developer Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 3

4 Error! Unknown document property name. ARGUS Developer System Requirements Before you Begin Before starting to install ARGUS Developer, please take a moment to make sure that you have fulfilled the following prerequisites. System Requirements The following represents minimal supported system requirements for use of ARGUS Developer v : Client & Workstation PC Requirements: Component Computer and Processor Memory Hard Disk Display Operating System Other Required 1.5 gigahertz (GHz) processor or higher 2 gigabyte (GB) RAM or higher 500 megabytes (MB) SVGA 1024x768 or higher resolution Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 (32-bit or 64-bit); Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit), Microsoft Windows 8 (32bit or 64bit) Installation of the Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 or higher Export to PDF requires an accompanying reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. Additional Some functions, such as Microsoft Excel Export and Import Requirement, require Microsoft Excel 2007 or higher. For the Excel Analysis Reports, require Microsoft Excel 2010 or higher. Application Server Requirements: Component Required Recommended Processor Dual processors rated faster than 2.5 gigahertz (GHz) RAM 4 gigabytes (GB) 8 GB Quad processors rated faster than 3.0 GHz Disk NTFS file-system formatted partition with at least 3GB of free space with the operating system (O/S) installed Operating System Windows Server 2008 Std x86 or x64 Windows Server 2012 R2 Std x64 Other Microsoft.NET Framework ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

5 Supported Database Environments (please note for user to be able to connect to SQL Server, they need to be set up as users by the SQL Server administrator): MS SQL SERVER 2008 MS SQL SERVER 2008 R2 MS SQL SERVER 2012 MS SQL SERVER 2014 MS SQL Compact v3.5 service pack 2 (subject to a database size limit of 4Gb which approximates to 500.wcfx files containing on average 5 phases based on a 5 year timescale) In addition, a shared installation of SQL SERVER Express equivalents of the above are also supported. However, the following limitations apply to SQL Express installed on a server: o o o 10 GB database Single core processing 1 GB RAM Permissions Whether ARGUS Developer is installed on a single PC or a server with many workstations, you will need the appropriate permissions to allow the installation of the software in compliance with your organisation s IT policies. The following are the levels of permissions required: Local Administrator access rights to the individual PC/workstation Network Administrator access rights to configure servers Database Administrator administers any database systems held on your servers Application Administrator- Controls the set-up and configuration of ARGUS Developer Administrator Type Action Local Network Database Application Network SQL Server install pre-requisite Local SQL Server install pre-requisite Install ARGUS Developer7 workstation Install ARGUS Developer7 network Database configuration utility Setting up ARGUS Developer v7 configuration Whilst ARGUS endeavours to correct known issues, software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In no event shall ARGUS be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this software. ARGUS recommends that clients check new versions in a test environment before releasing to their users. ARGUS will provide test licences to all clients under support who wish to upgrade to the new version. ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 5

6 Error! Unknown document property name. Further documentation about this product Further documentation including these Release Notes can be found in the ARGUS Developer>Region>[select relevant region] folder or downloadable from the ARGUS Software website: This includes the following documents: ARGUS Developer Release Notes version 7.0.pdf These Release Notes in PDF format. ARGUSDeveloperInstallGuide.pdf - The installation guide in PDF format. Import Actuals Data.pdf This guide details the file formats and process to Import actuals data into ARGUS Developer. Calculations Manual.pdf - This is a guide to the main calculation methods employed in ARGUS Developer. Quick Start Guides These handy guides show you the basics to get you started using the Project and Snapshot (if licence acquired) modules. User Guide - A printable version of the context sensitive help system is downloadable from the ARGUS Software website. 6 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

7 Enhancements Introduced in The following are enhancements, features, and modifications added in ARGUS Developer. Description Import/Export The following files formats or data sets can now be imported/exported: Type Platform Export Portfolio contains all project data including cost code information in the.adx format Export Cost Code export a cost code set in an xml format Export Template export a project as a template for future repeat use Export to version 6.5 export an ARGUS Developer v7.0 project to enable it to be read by version 6.5 Import Developer Portfolio import a portfolio.adx file Sensitivity Analysis - Export your sensitivity analysis results into Excel Sensitivity Analysis Enhancements Introduced in The following are enhancements, features, and modifications added for the new Snapshot module in ARGUS Developer. Snapshot Module [These enhancements will be only available if the user has acquired the additional Snapshot module. Please contact ARGUS Software for more details] Description Budget Cash Flow - is a powerful analysis tool to: Type Budgeting Compares the budget of all costs, revenues and financial (including Structured Finance) records against the latest forecast Enable to track the progress of development projects Ability to re-forecast your model to account for actual spending Calculate KPI s based on forecasts and actual costs and revenues from accounting systems KPI Budget Dashboard Compares the original budget KPI s to the current KPI s showing the fixed and percentage variance Spread Variance editor where actual spending varies from the forecast, redistribute or absorb the variances into future periods. 5 options option are available for re-modelling the variances: Add to the next distribution period Add to the last distribution period Spread evenly over the remaining distribution periods Spread proportionally over the remaining distribution periods Manually adjust the future forecasts View mode - controls which view of the Budget & Project Cash Flow is displayed: Budgeting Re-modelling User Interface ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 7

8 Description Error! Unknown document Type property name. Actual/Forecast this is the up to date view of your project model. It contains actuals that have been imported and the corresponding forecasts for future periods Original Budget this is the view of your project when the Original Budget was created. Revised Budget this is a view of your project when the Revised Budget was created. Current Forecast - this is a dynamic view of the Project Cash Flow (excluding actuals) Budget Reports Consolidate information across multiple portfolios and projects that contain imported actual transaction data in three new reports: Budget Summary Cash Flow Actual Transactions Log see details of what has been imported Cost Codes (chart of accounts) are the primary system data component when configured in ARGUS Developer allows it to work with a variety of external data sources Import Actuals Data - the ability to import actual transaction from an external Finance/Accounting systems: Configure a direct connection to your external system Import via.csv or.xml files ARGUS Developer now uses a database platform and supports SQL Server and SQL Compact Edition. SQL Compact Edition is ideally suited to single-user installations Existing ARGUS Developer models (.WCF,.WCFX) must be imported into the database, either on a one-by-one basis, or as a batch, before they can be used. A new File tab contains the Backstage for all file, database and configuration options. All things that you can do to a project are available here. Manage individual users and user groups to apply security using system permissions Snapshot specific sample files : To assist you with how some of the new features work, sample data files can be found in the ARGUS Software installation sub-folder Region > [my region] > Data Platform Platform Database File Formats Backstage Area Security Sample Data [myregion] Sample Cost Codes.xml : contains a set of cost codes that will allow the actuals from the sample.csv file be imported into the sample model (see Help files > Cost Codes) Lark Wood Pond [myregion] sample project.wcfx : an ARGUS Developer project file with sample cost codes already assigned to the items in the Project Cash Flow (see Snapshot Quick Start Guide) Lark Wood [myregion] Sample Actuals.csv : contains several months of sample actuals data that can be imported into your sample model (see Snapshot Quick Start Guide) 8 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

9 Known Issues and Workarounds in ARGUS Developer 7.0 Item Description Workaround , VAT on Revenue collected as part of sales proceeds calculates as positive receipt rather than cost Reserve Account Balance is negative at the end of the cash flow When selecting the Repay Balance functionality on a Timed Repayment Line in the Finance Cash Flow, an outstanding balance still remains. Hotkeys are not enabled for the Portfolio & Project browsers in the Backstage Area TPeriodSplitDCFCycleCalculator: Period must be a greater than 0 error exception message is displayed When the display settings in Windows (7 & 8) is set to a DPI higher than 'Smaller', the text in a number of screen & editors do not change Multi User access displays EOleException Query Timeout error As this VAT tax is a pass through, and Developer does not currently tie the receipts of tax collections to the eventual tax payments, it is suggested that the amounts be entered as 0.01 as a placeholder Try restricting the distribution of profit from the reserve account until the final project cash requirement Manually enter a value into the Timed Repayment Line to ensure outstanding balance is 0 Use buttons or right-click context menus to perform actions Ensure when editing Cash Flow View Cycle, the Months in cycle is set to be greater than 0 Leave DPI setting on the smallest setting and re-boot the computer to ensure the setting is applied The record is likely being updated by another user at the same time. Avoid simultaneous editing. (A more descriptive message will be supplied in place of the error in future versions.) Default file type for Import Developer Project is incorrect Application Ribbon bar button disabled when importing any WCFX file Able to create an Original budget with cost code value NONE. Manually select WCFX instead of XML as the file type when importing projects. After importing, save, close, and reopen the project before being able to create an original budget. Set cost code values on all line items before creating an original budget. UK users only Following the Stamp Duty reforms announced in the UK Government s 2014 Autumn Statement to Parliament, the supplied Stamp Duty scheme template (see Help > Acquisition Costs > Stamp Duty) in ARGUS Developer has been updated to reflect these reforms. They came into effect for residential properties on 4 th December ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 9

10 In addition, the Scottish Parliament has been granted the power to set Error! their Unknown rates for document Land & Buildings property name. Transaction Tax. The proposed new rates are due to come into effect on 1 st April For further details, follow the link: 10 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

11 Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Item Release Description Area After closing the application, the session remains active in the Task Manager and continues to consume CPU and memory resources In the Spread Variance editor, the amounts in the Actual Forecast b/f and Redistribution lines are not updated as expected when the editor is closed, then reopened. System Budgeting Changes to Spread Variance Lines with no variance are no longer displayed in the Heading drop down list Manual Adjustment cells are read only: o For lines whose timing is calculated by the application e.g. Rental Income o In closed periods o When there is no Actual Forecast (c/f) in the same period o When lines cannot be edited from the Project Cash Flow Lines that have auto-distribution or manual adjustment applied: o Become manually timed lines o Periods containing an actuals or correction value are locked on the Actuals/Forecast (c/f) line o Periods containing manual adjustments are locked on the Actuals/Forecast (c/f) line Status label (bottom left): o Indicates if the spread needs to be fully spread (the variance must result in 0) Indicates if spreading is not possible because the timing is calculated by the application Where both an actuals and corrections exist in the same period, the net effect cannot be less than 0 in the Actuals/Forecast (c/f) line Once changes are saved, the Actuals/Forecast (c/f) line is updated to match the actuals in the closed periods Additional validation on: o Upper/lower limits for editable cells o Full spread for calculated lines ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 11

12 Error! Unknown document property name. Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Item Release Description Area Improvements in performance have been made in the following areas: 7.0 Starting the application Backstage tabs Navigation through workspace and phase tabs Data Checker Opening and saving projects to and from the database Cost Codes User interface Structured Finance Cash Flow Project Cash Flow Budget Cash Flow Creating original and revised budgets Importing projects and portfolios Report Snapshot builder for SQL Server Key performance indicators Opening the Users screen from the Backstage > Control Panel when using Active Directory * Standard/Budget Reports Updating Project snapshots Closing the Preferences dialog General: When using more than one screen, confirmation dialogs are not displayed on the same screen as ARGUS Developer Project Open: Duplicate File is locked Opening Rent Cover: Rent Cover calculation adding rather than deducting ground lease costs. Importing data: Application appears to go into an unresponsive state once a file has been imported Importing: Importing a.wcfx file sets the imported project to read only within the database. Importing: Cannot find single record in CSAddress error seen on importing.wcfx file Budget : In a multi-user environment, the report snapshot cannot be created after a deadlock error Calculations Importing Importing Importing *Managing Windows Active Directory 12 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

13 If your Windows Active directory has a large number of users, the following will facilitate the setting up of users in ARGUS Developer. Create a specific Windows Active directory group e.g. ADUserGroup, to hold all the users that will be using ARGUS Developer Before setting up Users in ARGUS Developer, open the devdir.ini file (using a tool such as Notepad). This is located in the ProgramData>ARGUS Software>ARGUS Developer folder Add the following lines to the devdir.ini file [ActiveDirectory] SecurityGroup=ADUSerGroup (this is the name of the group you have created) Save & close the file then open ARGUS Developer. When you setup Users, you will only be presented with the list of usernames for that specific group e.g. ADUserGroup. ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 13

14 Error! Unknown document property name. Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Item Release Description Area Database connection: If a user creates a connection to SQL Server using SQL Server authentication in the database wizard, on logging on to AD an error message "Could not verify the password is seen" is displayed Export Portfolio: Option to Export Portfolio from the Export Data Wizard is not available when the user does not have a Snapshot license Budget Cash Flow Report: Previously imported actuals for prior periods are not being displayed Cost Codes: All Worksheet Cost Code Items are categorised as Expenditure by default. There is no function to change the category which results in all Revenue & Finance items being displayed as Expenditure on the budget Summary Report Budget Summary Report: Expenditure items are displaying costs as positives when they should be negatives Portfolio browser: When an Original Budget has been set, the cost code mapping can be changed when the portfolio is edited Import Portfolio : Unable to assign cost codes to any project in a portfolio when a new mapping is selected for the portfolio Budget Summary Report: Forecast to Complete and Completion Total amounts do not match what is displayed in the Budget Cash Flow Import Developer Projects: When a Developer project is imported with Add to New Portfolio, an error Cannot find single record CSS Development Portfolio is displayed and the import fails Installation Import/Export Backstage Import/Export Import/Export Snapshot users only Following the installation of , to ensure that items 89394, 86813, & are applied to the Budget Reports, the ARGUS Developer system administrator will need to go to the Backstage area, select Control Panel then under System Maintenance apply Refresh All Projects to refresh the report data for all projects. This action only needs to be performed once per database schema. 14 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

15 Cost Code Mapping After changing the Worksheet Section for a cost code, the Straight Mapping command does not map the newly changed cost code. To map the changed cost code, select the Source and Worksheet codes manually then click the Map button in the links panel. ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 15

16 Error! Unknown document property name. Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Item Release Description Area Letting Agent Fees: Unable to switch off letting cost on renewal of lease User Interface Operated Assets Room Occupancy Profile: Cannot edit the Profile name after clicking the Delete button Budget Cash Flow: Copy Row & Copy Cell functions are disabled when the Cash Flow Context menu is selected Project Cash Flow: Interest Totals button is disabled on Cash Flow context ribbon tab Closing: "Devwin.exe has stopped working" error is displayed on closing the application, Devwin.exe process is still running even after closing the application Print Preview: Adding watermarks to a report leads to very large fonts being displayed on the report Operated Assets User Interface User Interface User Interface Backstage Information: Cannot sort the information by date or version User Interface Project Cash Flow: Access violation occurs when copying & pasting a cost code to other rows in the Project Cash Flow Budget Reports: Projects that do not have a budget created are included in the Budget Reports Cost Codes: A two level cost code format displays a trailing dash on the dropdown list when assigning a cost code in the Project Cash Flow User Interface Formatting Cost Codes: If the Cost Code description is updated, it is not updated if that Cost Code has been assigned to a row in the Project Cash Flow Cost Codes Revised Budget: Delete Revised Budget deletes all imported actuals Budgeting Timescale & Phasing: Imported actuals are moved by a corresponding number of months, forwards or backwards when the Project Start Date is changed Timescale & Phasing Cost Codes: Editing state for Cost Codes displays text as unreadable Formatting Budget Cash Flow: Creating an original budget when the Finance Phase Group is unchecked displays the error message Cannot determine the first linked phase Installation: Unable to do a network installation to a mapped network drive when doing an Upgrade to ARGUS Developer 7.0 from an earlier version Budgeting Installation 16 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

17 Item Release Description Area Allocate Actuals: Unable to Allocate Actuals if a source cost code format of one level has been used Cost Codes: A newly added cost code item cannot be mapped when the cost code set it belongs to is already in use Project Template: When the currency is edited for a template, it does not persist. When a new project is started using the template, the currency reverts to the original setting Original Budget: Once an Original Budget is created, the Finance Type can be changed Export Data: A project that is exported does not have its changes saved to the database if another project is subsequently imported Structured Finance: Equity Multiple calculation does not take into account any Timed Contributions Cost Codes Cost Codes Templates Budgeting Import/Export Calculation Importing Actuals Data: Actuals data can be imported into a closed period Import/Export Budget Cash Flow: Unit information is not being saved to the Original Budget when the project is re-loaded Export Portfolio: Unable to export a portfolio if the user does not have a Snapshot licence Budgeting Import/Export ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 17

18 Error! Unknown document property name. Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Item Release Description Area Projects Delete Projects: Deleting a project which has been opened, deletes the first project in the portfolio instead Pro-forma/Appraisal Summary: When escalation/growth is applied to Sales values, the Adjustment & Net Sale columns are not displayed on the Proforma/Appraisal Summary User Interface 18 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company

19 Fixed Defects in ARGUS Developer Item Release Description Area Operated Assets: Start date displayed in the Rates & Occupancy tables does not agree with selected income flow start date when accessed via the main toolbar Cash Flow Options: Changes to the Number of Calculation Iterations field were not being saved and applied Summary Report: Total Area and formatting of Imperial/Metric units were incorrect on the Summary/Pro-forma Report when merged phases selected Summary Report: Currency symbol is displayed on some fields and not on others Summary Report: does not have a blank line to separate Sales totals from the Purchaser's Costs/Sales Fees Summary Report: Heading Additional Revenue appears on the Summary Report when no additional revenue has been entered Capitalised Rent Structured Finance Summary Report: Underlining of the Construction Totals is incorrectly placed Net Operating Income Report: Report analysis years do not correspond to the years defined by the Project timescale Summary Report: Page does not refresh figures (Equity IRR%) when the option "Include Interest and Finance Fees in IRR Calculations" is turned on/off Calculation Summary Report: Cost type "Revenue reducing cost" does not appear Finance Cash Flow: When tax is applied, the Summary By Source view does not calculate the After Tax Equity IRR Sensitivity Analysis: Data shown as "N/A" within the Analysis Results tab is displaying a value instead when generating a report Calculation Sensitivity Analysis Additional Related: Line item entered in 'Acres' shows up in pro forma as pf2 Formatting Detailed Cash Flow Report: will not print in portrait Element Cost Summary Report: Total Construction Estimate Line is not displayed Additional Revenue: manual adjustments to data distribution automatically revert to Phase Start timing Sensitivity Analysis: Sensitivity fields not being loaded into Setup tab Leasing Commission Profile: If checked, Renewal Rate on First Renewal Only calculates ALL renewals. If unchecked, Renewal Rate on First Renewal Only calculates only the first renewal Add New Finance Structure: When creating new a Finance Structure, the Mortgage is active by default it should be inactive User Interface Sensitivity Analysis Capitalised Rent Structured Finance ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company 19

20 Error! Unknown document property name. Item Release Description Area Export Reports: Stream write error occurs when trying to export reports to.rtf format in a Citrix environment Enhanced Excel Analysis: Error exporting file to Excel Copy Finance Structure: Date and settings are not correctly copied Geared IRR: When Interest Cost assumptions have been excluded, they are still included in the calculation of Geared IRR Analysis Structured Finance Calculation Finance Cash Flow: Class "TreXMLDeveloperData" cannot read Element "Developer data" error message displayed when re-allocating cash in the Finance Cash Flow Enhanced Excel Analysis: 'Discrepancies exist in Key Profit KPIs in this workbook; please see top of DataCheck worksheet for details.' being displayed even if there no discrepancies during the exporting of data Structured Finance Analysis Project Cash Flow: Cannot copy & paste from Excel into Project Cash Flow User Interface Structured Finance IRRs: Maximum Number of iterations reached error message displayed even if the IRR has been calculated Balancing Account: The Fixed Contribution is displaying values when it should be 0 New Source of Funds: Creating a new Source of Funds from Sources tab does not appear for selection on Profit Distribution tab Mortgages Income Selection: The areas selected are not maintained when navigating to other areas of the application Funding Source Cash Flow Report: Access Violation error occurs when Previewing Funding Source Cash Flow report Finance Cash Flow: Construction loan is not paid down when mortgage proceeds are applied Mortgages: Month to Repay Mortgage column not retaining user input when reloading data file Licence Maintenance: 4 Combi licences allowed to be activated but ARGUS Developer only recognises 3 Timescale & Phasing: Integer Overflow error when changing the number of months in Timing & Phasing editor Stamp Duty Configuration Template: Cannot add or modify Stamp Duty schemes Sensitivity Analysis: Analysis Results are not displayed when selecting Operated Asset models Structured Finance Structured Finance Structured Finance Structured Finance Structured Finance Structured Finance Platform User Interface User Interface Sensitivity Analysis 20 ARGUS Software An Altus Group Company