PQ Systems CHARTrunner 2.5

Copyright © 1999-2007 PQ Systems, Inc.


Contents


Register Your CHARTrunner to Get Free Technical Support

PQ Systems provides one year of free technical support for CHARTrunner. If you have purchased CHARTrunner you must register your license information with PQ Systems in order to take advantage of your free technical support.

If you have internet access, you can register using your web browser at http://www.pqsystems.com/register.php, otherwise please complete and mail the registration card that was included with CHARTrunner.


What's New in CHARTrunner 2.5?

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What is CHARTrunner?

CHARTrunner generates SPC charts and performs statistical analysis using data that is collected, stored, and managed by other applications.

CHARTrunner eliminates the need for complex importing, time consuming exporting, and tedious data entry. That's because CHARTrunner does not store or modify data. Instead, it retrieves data from other sources and uses the data for SPC charting and statistical analysis. CHARTrunner clarifies data so that you can focus on quality improvement--not data management.

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Using CHARTrunner 2.5 with an Earlier Version of CHARTrunner

You should not install CHARTrunner 2.5 into the same folder where an earlier version of CHARTrunner (such as 2.0) is installed.

Multiple versions of CHARTrunner can be safely installed on the same computer thus allowing you to try out the new features of CHARTrunner 2.5.

CHARTrunner 2.5 understands how to read a prior-version chart or style definition. If a prior-version definition (1.7 or earlier) is edited and saved, it will be saved in 2.5 format, and the original definition file will be saved with a .BAK file extension in case you need to recover the prior-version definition file. For example, if you use CHARTrunner 2.5 to edit Chart1.crf (a chart definition that is in 1.7 format), then afterwards Chart1.crf will be in 2.5 format and Chart1.crf.bak will be the backup of the original 1.7 format chart definition.

If a 2.0 definition is edited by 2.5 and saved, it will be saved in 2.5 format, and the original definition file will not be saved with a .BAK file extension.

If a Trend line is created in a chart definition using 2.5, and the chart definition is subsequently edited by 2.0, the Trend line will be converted to an "Extra line" with a y-axis value of zero. Thus, you should avoid editing a 2.5 chart definition that contains a Trend line using CHARTrunner 2.0.

CHARTrunner 2.5 does not have the ability to save a chart or style definition in a prior-version format.

If you need to retain your prior-version chart definitions in the old format for use with the prior-version CHARTrunner, then you should copy your prior-version chart definitions to a different folder before editing them with CHARTrunner 2.5.

Using a 2.5 chart or style definition with a prior-version of CHARTrunner is not supported.

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Trend lines and Variable interval scaling

The new Trend extra line will not be displayed on a chart where Scale x-axis with variable interval based on x-axis label has been selected.

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CHARTrunner Software Developer's Kit

The CHARTrunner SPC charting engine may used to form a system integration solution for your quality charting needs.  The CHARTrunner Software Developer's Kit (SDK) contains documentation and sample code that demonstrate how to automate CHARTrunner and how to integrate it with other systems and applications. Click here for more information.

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CHARTrunner-XL Excel Add-In Utility Improvements

CHARTrunner-XL is an add-in for Microsoft Excel 2000 (or higher) that allows you to use CHARTrunner within Excel to define, display, and manage CHARTrunner charts using the data in the Excel workbook. When you use the CHARTrunner-XL Add-In, your chart definitions are stored in the Excel workbook along with the Excel data, so that you do not need to leave Excel to display CHARTrunner charts. In addition, the CHARTrunner-XL Add-In allows you to chart data that is arranged horizontally (subgroups that are stored in columns rather than rows), a feature that is not supported in the stand-alone version of CHARTrunner.

The CHARTrunner-XL Excel Add-In Utility that comes with CHARTrunner provides a quick method to enable or disable the CHARTrunner-XL Add-In in Excel.

The CHARTrunner-XL Excel Add-In Utility that came with CHARTrunner 1.7.49 (and lower) or 2.0.70 (and lower) did not properly install a different version of the CHARTrunner-XL Add-In into Excel. For example, if version 1.7 of the CHARTrunner-XL Add-In is currently known to Excel, then running the 2.5 version of the CHARTrunner-XL Excel Add-In Utility did not succeed in telling Excel to start using the version 2.5 CHARTrunner-XL Add-In. Likewise, if version 2.5 of the CHARTrunner-XL Add-In is currently known to Excel, then running the 1.7 version of the CHARTrunner-XL Excel Add-In Utility did not succeed in telling Excel to start using the version 1.7 CHARTrunner-XL Add-In. This problem has been corrected.

When you run the CHARTrunner-XL Excel Add-In Utility it will default to updating the highest version of  Excel that is installed on the computer. If you have multiple versions of Excel installed on the computer, you will be able to select which version you want to update. The supported versions of Excel are: Excel 2000 = 9, Excel 2002 or XP = 10, and Excel 2003 = 11.

More information is available in this Knowledge Base article.

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Installation Warning That Your Computer Needs JET 4.0 or MDAC 2.5

CHARTrunner requires that the JET 4.0 database engine and Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.5 or higher be installed in order to work properly.

During the CHARTrunner installation, you will receive a warning if either JET 4.0 or MDAC 2.5 or higher was not found on your computer.

Microsoft includes MDAC and JET 4.0 as part of the operating system in Windows ME and higher. Versions of Windows prior to Windows ME (e.g. 95, 98, and NT) may have a version of MDAC and/or JET 4.0 that was installed in conjunction with another software application. If not, then MDAC and/or JET 4.0 will need to be installed.

When installing MDAC you should take care to install the version that is localized for your country or language. It is recommended that you get the proper localized MDAC distribution from Microsoft. The various MDAC versions are available from Microsoft at http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/mdac/.

The English version of MDAC 2.5 SP2 (mdac_typ.exe) can be found in the \Support\MDAC\ folder of the Quality Suite CDROM, and it can be downloaded here. The install contains JET 4.0 in addition to the MDAC 2.5 SP2 components and is the same version of MDAC that comes with Windows 2000 Service Pack 2. MDAC 2.5 SP2 can be installed on Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0.

This PQ Knowledge Base article discusses the various versions of MDAC.

A prerequisite for installing MDAC on Windows 95 is that DCOM be installed on your computer. If your computer is running Windows 95 then you may need to first install DCOM in order to subsequently install MDAC. DCOM (dcom95.exe) can be found in the \Support\DCOM\ folder of the Quality Suite CDROM. Click here for more information if you do not have a Quality Suite CDROM.

If you need to install JET 4.0, please refer to the following Microsoft article for information on how to download and install the most recent version of the JET 4.0 Service Pack for your operating system and language:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239114

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Fixes and Improvements

The list of fixes and improvements for all PQ products is available at http://www.pqsystems.com/ProductHistory.php.

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Contacting PQ Systems

CHARTrunner Web Site:

http://www.chartrunner.com

PQ Systems Web Site:

http://www.pqsystems.com

PQ Systems Corporate Headquarters

Sales: 

800.777.3020 or Sales@pqsystems.com

Fax:

937.885.2252

Mail:

PQ Systems, Inc.
10468 Miamisburg-Springboro Pike
Miamisburg, OH  45342
United States

PQ Systems Australia

Sales:

03.9770.1960 or Sales@pqsystems.com.au

Fax:

03.9770.1995

Mail:

PQ Systems Pty., Ltd.
Suite 5
395 Nepean Highway
Frankston, Victoria 3199
Australia

Web:

http://www.pqsystems.com.au

PQ Systems Europe

Sales:

01704 871465 or Sales@pqsys.demon.co.uk

Fax:

01704 875189

Mail:

PQ Systems Europe, Ltd.
Ryeground House
Ryeground Lane
Freshfield, Formby
Merseyside L37 7EQ
England

Web:

http://www.pqsystems.co.uk