We’ve been working on a new way to load data from your connectors. Datasheets are a new type of sheet that grow with your data — you no longer need to guess the size of your destination range. Making it quicker and easier to design and build projects. The datasheet option has been added to the Google Sheets and Excel Online connectors.

 

Connectors that use Datasheets can be synced with their data source at design time. The sync option will grab the latest data and allow you to use it when designing your project. So there is no need to enter dummy/mock data when Datasheets are used.

 

Get ‘arty’ with drop shadows.

 

When working with large numbers of published projects you could find yourself waiting for the page to load. No one ikes to wait so we’ve sorted this out. Your project manager should now load superfast!!

Account-based licensing and improved billing/subscription management
We’ve been hard at work improving some of our back end systems to bring you a better experience. After updating to 1.9, when you launch Squirrel you will be prompted to complete your account registration. Follow the steps on-screen and log in to Squirrel to carry on as normal.

We’ve added a new account management portal that allows you to:

• Easily manage your payment card details
• Access to billing history to download invoices
• Manage your profile online

 

We’ve added the ability to make help available from right there in the Squirrel Designer. Look out for in-app guides for new features and functionality.

 

The binding tooltip has been enhanced to jump you to the cell/range in your spreadsheet that the property is bound to. This should make it a lot easier to navigate around your projects and work out what is linked to what.

Important information relating to the Slider component

In 1.7 support for the ‘enable range’ option to turn a single slider into a dual slider has been temporarily removed. This capability will be re-introduced in a later version. If this is a requirement for you please let us know and stay on version 1.6 for the time being.

Also, in this release, we have fixed a number of issues that were causing issues with the sizing and alignment of sliders. The result of this is that when a project saved from an earlier version of Squirrel is opened in 1.7 positions of sliders may have changed slightly and may need to be manually repositioned.

Additionally in 1.7 support for “end values” has changed. In previous releases the “end value” option for a slider would add a text label outside the bounds on the slider to indicate the currently selected value, as in the image below:

As a result, 1.7 no longer has the option for the slider to display an integrated end value. If you need to display an end value for a slider this can be done by adding a separate text label and binding it to the same cell as the slider.

Projects which were created in previous versions of Squirrel will be automatically updated when opened in 1.7 to split the end value into a separate text label. You may need to make small adjustments to the position of this label to make the project look exactly as it appeared in the previous release.

Important information relating to the Value Input component

We have added the ability to style the numbers in the input field.
However, support for “labels” has changed. In previous releases, the “label” option for a value input would add a text label to the left of the main component.

However, similar to sliders (above), this caused issues for sizing and alignment of components. As a result 1.7 no longer has the option to add an integrated label. If you need to display a label for a slider this can be done by adding a separate text label and positioning it appropriately.

Projects which were created in previous versions of Squirrel will be automatically updated when opened in 1.7 to split any value input labels which were present into a separate text label. You may need to make small adjustments to the position of this label to make the project look exactly as it appeared in the previous release.

 

We’ve introduced the framework for add-on components and functions for Squirrel. You’ll see this in the designer in the form of both a new icon in the component library and a new function. For now, it’s just the plumbing required to make these things work, but watch this space as we further roll this capability out over the coming weeks and months.

Let us know If there is a particular component you would like to see as an add-on or if you are interested in joining our component developer program.

Undo/redo extended to bindings and the spreadsheet
Undo and redo (both from the edit menu options and the keystrokes ctrl-z, ctrl-y) have been extended to cover bindings and spreadsheet activity.

Note: all actions are managed in a single list. So whether actions take place on the canvas, in the property sheets or the spreadsheet they are all undone in turn in the reverse order to originally taking place.

Size matching actions available from the “align” toolbar
The “Make same width”, “Make same height” and “Make same size” actions are now available from the rightmost icon on the toolbar at the top of the property sheet as well as from the “Arrange” menu.

 

• Added styling and formatting for the Value Input (spinner)
• We’ve made it possible to change the orientation of the X-Axis labels on a bar chart.
• All charts (except pie charts) now have animation options to control if, when and for how long animation occurs. The options are available via a new ANIMATION sub-section of the GENERAL settings
• There’s a new option to “Update value real-time” on Text Input controls. Turning this on will cause the spreadsheet cell to be updated with each keystroke, not just when the whole entry is complete or the field loses focus. The setting is available in the DATA INSERTION section of the property sheet.

 

Data Mover
Trigger a data mover when a spreadsheet cell changes (previously it was only possible when a cell was set to a particular value)

PDF export
We’ve added support for removing and changing password protection on generated PDF’s these include:

• Password to open
• Password to edit
• Allowing editing
• Allowing copying

 

To make working with the Squirrel spreadsheet easier we’ve been fine-tuning added a number of enhancements and new features including:

• Improved Rebind workflow (get straight to the bind screen to rebind or clear the input field and confirm to remove)
• Added support for Page Up, Page Down and Ctrl+Home navigation keystrokes in the spreadsheet
• Delete sheet warning

 

You can now copy (ctrl+c) data from the spreadsheet to the clipboard during debug.
Copied values can then be pasted (ctrl+v) into the spreadsheet in design view (useful for grabbing sample data from a connector).
 

 

Typing in the formula bar now pops up a list of matching functions.Use the cursor keys or a single click to select an item in the dropdown to see a description

With the required function highlighted you can double click or press “tab” or “return” to insert it and display the syntax/arguments. No more popping back into excel to remind yourself how to structure a VLOOKUP!!
 

 

QaaWS (SAP Business Objects)
This new connector lets you retrieve data from your SAP BusinessObjects system using “Query as a web Service” (QaaWS).
 
 

We’ve added templates!! To help you get started with a project we have added a number of templates for common solutions/apps. We’ll be adding to our catalogue of templates over time. Got an idea for one? get in touch.

 

An all-new start page experience. From here you can access recent files, browse a list of available templates, select from popular pre-canned sizes for your project or app. Get easy access to help and tutorials and discover what’s new in Squirrel365.

 

Important

For the initial release of Squirrel 1.6 exported projects will only work when they are accessed via a web server. This means that unlike previous version it will not be possible to run a Squirrel project exported from 1.6 by double clicking on “index.html” of a project stored on a file store. We plan to release an update in the near future which will restore this capability.

 

We’ve added 2 new components; Data Table and Hotspot.

Data Table lets you pull the formatting from your spreadsheet through into the table component on the canvas. That means cell-based formatting!!

Hotpsot is an invisible component that allows your project to respond to “mouse over” and “mouse out” events. This means your project can now respond as the user drags their mouse across the screen, perhaps to provide a pop-up help bubble or to change a related aspect of the project elsewhere on the screen.

We’ve also made significant improvements to the line component which now easily allows horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines to be added to a project.

 

• added the ability to optionally turn off the tooltip on a slider
• added number formatting for the slider
• added an “ALL” option to a multi-select listbox
• stopped containers from blocking mouse interaction with components underneath them.

 

It is very frustrating when Squirrel encounters an issue which means that you have to restart the designer potentially losing work you have done on your project. To counter this we have fixed over 30 issues which lead to this situation and in addition, we have added an autosave feature which will recover your project if the designer needs to be restarted. No action is required on your part, if the designer does need to restart then after it does you will be prompted with a message asking you if you want to recover the latest version of your project.

 

We have added support for a couple of new spreadsheet functions, namely, IFERROR, IFS and LOG and overhauled spreadsheet date handling. Additionally, we have made enhancements and fixes to a number of others, including:

TODAY, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND, DATE

OFFSET

VLOOKUP

IFERROR, ISERR, ISNA, IFNA

SUMIFS

LEN

MID

 

To make working in the Squirrel spreadsheet more natural and closer in operation to other spreadsheets we have added a number of enhancements which should make things flow more smoothly, including:

• Cursor keys can be used to create formulas
• Cursor keys are now active when binding cells in the spreadsheet
• Hitting the return key now actions a bind operation
• Cut and paste of cells and insertion and deletion of rows and columns updates dependent formulas and component bindings
• Ctrl-r and ctrl-d will respectively copy the first cell across or down a selected range
• Holding down the control key modifies the cursor keys to move the selected cell to the beginning or end of the next block of data (this also works whilst holding down the shift key to extend the selected range)

 

To help save you time in the designer we have added the following enhancements to streamline your workflow:

• ability to select multiple objects in the canvas using click and drag
• ability to size a component as you place it on the canvas
• shift-click and ctrl-click selects multiple components in the object browser
• multiple objects can be moved together in the object browser
• holding shift when dragging objects on the canvas constrains their movement to horizontally or vertically
• holding shift when re-sizing a component on the canvas maintains the ratio of height and width
• menu items on the “Arrange” menu to move components backwards and forwards on the canvas.

 

Prior to 1.6 the fullscreen scaling option when applied to exported project meant that the project would anly scale if the browser window was larger than the original project canvas size. From 1.6 onwards scaling will also happen when the browser window is smaller than the original project