Aurena Vs Enterprise Explorer

Hi Robin, I think they key is not to compare to EE, it is a completely different UX, go at it with an open mind and you might find it’s actual much more intuitive than EE. Having spent 12 years using first the old Centura Client and then EE and now Aurena, the shift is difficult, it is an evolving product and IFS are not finished with the development yet. Aurena opens up much more opportunities for user friendliness in the mobile workforce which is particularly relevant in our changing environment. IFS are investing heavily in Aurena so I’m sure they`d be happy to hear your comments, some of these I understand are in the pipeline. Another important point is that future functionality enhancements are not planned to be available in EE (there has been some exceptions) so when choosing the interface to introduce to your users this is really important, it will be much harder to switch users from EE to Aurena to make the most of enhanced functionality.

@PUMCCAPPER , But aurena is not user friendly.

My client not happy with Aurena.

Hi @PUMCCAPPER, It’s good to hear from you - hope your keeping well!

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Since IFS are removing EE from the next major release of IFS, we don't really have any choice but to embrace Aurena. I should probably have said in my original post that we’re running Apps 10 Update 9 at the moment, and will be installing update 10 in the very near future. Since Aurena is evolving with each update, it’s possible that some of my above listed points will be addressed via that update, and hopefully that pattern will continue with future updates too.

As you suggested, I will continue to approach Aurena with an open mind!

I agree with you that there are some sweet things missing, but I think there are also some new things that are great. I hope and think that it will get better as time passes. We use Aurena internally and I personally love that I can login, go to my self-service lobby, check my holiday balances and raise a leave request from my personal phone when I’m in the pub planning a spontaneous holiday (pre-covid at least...). You also have some new nice things like the Aurena Bot for time reporting etc. 

I’ve added some inline comments ([Anmise]:) as well. 

@anmise - Thank you for taking the time to give such a very detailed reply. You highlighted a few things i didn't know about so they will be a significant help...

Start pages [Anmise]: Honestly didn’t know they existed on Apps10. What are you missing when comparing with lobbies?

While lobbies are a great visualisation tool, they typically need a tech consultant to build them (i.e. someone with SQL knowledge). Start pages had the quite significant advantage of being easy for users to create and edit themselves. Users can create saved searches on any IFS screen, then add that saved search to their own start page. That search is then shown with a “count hits'' alongside it. I think empowering users to configure and update their home page in this way is great for increasing efficiency.

Doc macros [Anmise]: Macros are available in Aurena. 

We have two macros working perfectly in EE, but they don't seem to work at all in Aurena. One macro is coded to auto create a PDF view file whenever we check-in a Word or Excel doc. The 2nd macro is coded to trigger whenever we checkout a word or excel file, and inserts IFS data into the doc as DocProperties. This allows IFS data to be inserted into the doc via QuickParts (in Word), or a custom function (in Excel). For example, doc number, revision number, doc title, created by, etc.

Maybe the VB macro code needs some adjustment to make them work with Aurena?

Structured Docs [Anmise]: You don’t mean ‘Consists of’? That is still available. 

In EE, if you add doc’s to the Consist of tab, then click edit, the “Edit Document Structure” dialogue box is displayed which allows all doc’s in the structure to be checked our simultaneously. In Aurena, only the top level doc is checked out (i.e. the doc’s on the consist of tab seem to be ignored).

Sticky notes [Anmise]: Sticky notes have been deprecated and so far I haven’t heard of a replacement. RnD are aware of the fact that a lot of people like them, use them and miss them though, so fingers crossed.

Agreed - i very much liked the Sticky Note function in EE, and hope IFS introduces something similar in Aurena.

Selections [Anmise]: This is now the little heart icon called favorites

While the favorites function is useful, it’s not quite as powerful as selections. In EE, it’s possible to create multiple selections for a single dataset. For example, you might create a selection on the Inv Part screen called “My main parts”, then create another selection on the Inv Part screen called “My other parts”. In Aurena, you could set the “main parts” as favorites, but there’s no way to separately capture the 2nd set of “other parts”. Maybe this use case is not common however?

Copy and Paste [Anmise]: This is available now, however doesn’t work between environments. 

Thanks for pointing this out - I hadn't realised this had been added!

Keyboard shortcuts [Anmise]: There are a few, and I know they are working on adding ore. [.] is very useful if you haven’t seen it. It gives you a list of all available commands on a page to allow you to navigate or execute commands using the keyboard..

Thanks again - I didn't know about that one either so i’ll definitely use it in the future!

Open in new window (via Shift key) [Anmise]: This exists to some extent. CTRL+click on a hyperlink opens new tab and shift + click opens a new window. You can also duplicate a Chrome tab.

Another great tip - thanks Anmise!

Expand all on Product Structure Graphic screen [Anmise]: I think this is strictly a performance consideration. Hopefully it’ll be introduced.

Agreed. when working with a large Structure with many levels it is currently quite tedious to expand the applicable nodes to gain an overview of the full structure.

System info (context panel in EE) [Anmise]: This is replaced by debug console (click on username in upper right corner, debug and enable debug console).

Another great tip - thanks!

Output channels (context panel in EE) [Anmise]: Only Excel export supported as at today, as far as I know. I personally think that’s enough or at least a good prioritisation. 

Agreed. The ability to output to excel is definitely the top priority so it’s good that’s in place. The ability to export to HTML, or XML might be useful in some edge use cases, but is definitely a much lower priority.

(also, neither field help or page help seem to work, and Aurena search sometimes gives inconsistent/incomplete results)

Since the Menu options exist for both field help, and page help, I have to assume IFS intend to implement this sometime soon. It’s quite inconvenient to have to revert to EE every time we need to read the field help.

@anmise - Thank you for taking the time to give such a very detailed reply. You highlighted a few things i didn't know about so they will be a significant help...

Start pages [Anmise]: Honestly didn’t know they existed on Apps10. What are you missing when comparing with lobbies?

While lobbies are a great visualisation tool, they typically need a tech consultant to build them (i.e. someone with SQL knowledge). Start pages had the quite significant advantage of being easy for users to create and edit themselves. Users can create saved searches on any IFS screen, then add that saved search to their own start page. That search is then shown with a “count hits'' alongside it. I think empowering users to configure and update their home page in this way is great for increasing efficiency.

Doc macros [Anmise]: Macros are available in Aurena. 

We have two macros working perfectly in EE, but they don't seem to work at all in Aurena. One macro is coded to auto create a PDF view file whenever we check-in a Word or Excel doc. The 2nd macro is coded to trigger whenever we checkout a word or excel file, and inserts IFS data into the doc as DocProperties. This allows IFS data to be inserted into the doc via QuickParts (in Word), or a custom function (in Excel). For example, doc number, revision number, doc title, created by, etc.

Maybe the VB macro code needs some adjustment to make them work with Aurena?

Structured Docs [Anmise]: You don’t mean ‘Consists of’? That is still available. 

In EE, if you add doc’s to the Consist of tab, then click edit, the “Edit Document Structure” dialogue box is displayed which allows all doc’s in the structure to be checked our simultaneously. In Aurena, only the top level doc is checked out (i.e. the doc’s on the consist of tab seem to be ignored).

Sticky notes [Anmise]: Sticky notes have been deprecated and so far I haven’t heard of a replacement. RnD are aware of the fact that a lot of people like them, use them and miss them though, so fingers crossed.

Agreed - i very much liked the Sticky Note function in EE, and hope IFS introduces something similar in Aurena.

Selections [Anmise]: This is now the little heart icon called favorites

While the favorites function is useful, it’s not quite as powerful as selections. In EE, it’s possible to create multiple selections for a single dataset. For example, you might create a selection on the Inv Part screen called “My main parts”, then create another selection on the Inv Part screen called “My other parts”. In Aurena, you could set the “main parts” as favorites, but there’s no way to separately capture the 2nd set of “other parts”. Maybe this use case is not common however?

Copy and Paste [Anmise]: This is available now, however doesn’t work between environments. 

Thanks for pointing this out - I hadn't realised this had been added!

Keyboard shortcuts [Anmise]: There are a few, and I know they are working on adding ore. [.] is very useful if you haven’t seen it. It gives you a list of all available commands on a page to allow you to navigate or execute commands using the keyboard..

Thanks again - I didn't know about that one either so i’ll definitely use it in the future!

Open in new window (via Shift key) [Anmise]: This exists to some extent. CTRL+click on a hyperlink opens new tab and shift + click opens a new window. You can also duplicate a Chrome tab.

Another great tip - thanks Anmise!

Expand all on Product Structure Graphic screen [Anmise]: I think this is strictly a performance consideration. Hopefully it’ll be introduced.

Agreed. when working with a large Structure with many levels it is currently quite tedious to expand the applicable nodes to gain an overview of the full structure.

System info (context panel in EE) [Anmise]: This is replaced by debug console (click on username in upper right corner, debug and enable debug console).

Another great tip - thanks!

Output channels (context panel in EE) [Anmise]: Only Excel export supported as at today, as far as I know. I personally think that’s enough or at least a good prioritisation. 

Agreed. The ability to output to excel is definitely the top priority so it’s good that’s in place. The ability to export to HTMP, or XML might be useful in some edge use cases, but is definitely a much lower priority.

(also, neither field help or page help seem to work, and Aurena search sometimes gives inconsistent/incomplete results)

Since the Menu options exist for both field help, and page help, I have to assume IFS intend to implement this sometime soon. It’s quite inconvenient to have to revert to EE every time we need to read the field help.

• What is your own experience of transitioning from dedicated EE client to the web based Aurena client?

Currently we are in transition. Or at least trying to start. I’m having similar sentiments as @RobinH

In IEE, when an update/upgrade is done by IFS, the profiles, custom objects etc. all get across to the new version whereas in Aurena they don’t which I do understand due to differences in the two technologies. So currently I have so much to do in terms of configurations for a lot of pages to make sure the information the users saw and used in IEE are there in the Aurena client too.

True, Aurena has a lot to offer and we should be having an open mind about it. At the same time I feel the expectations of users to be able to use the information they used to work with is important too. Because from the business perspective these information is very important. Also IEE was quite versatile in providing simple shortcuts through custom objects and copying/duplicating records etc. It’s fair enough for users who have been used to these to expect similar in Aurena. It doesn’t really have to be the same way as in IEE. Just simple workarounds in Aurena would be sufficient.

So far the main challenges I have noticed are,

• trying to get some of our custom menus which have made our lives much easier working in Aurena (as in Aurena SQL blocks in custom menus don’t work)
• How to get the information put in Sticky Notes in IEE, shown across Aurena
• Getting aNew Employment assistant configuration set up similar to the one in IEE where you can include custom fields.

Another thing I have noticed is that the online documentation still explain things in IEE. As in how to do things in IEE. Shouldn’t the online documentation that a user opens up from Aurena direct to a documentation where it explains how things are done in Aurena client?

@ Anmise  - Thank you for taking the time to give such a very detailed reply. You highlighted a few things i didn't know about so they will be a significant help...

Start pages [Anmise]: Honestly didn’t know they existed on Apps10. What are you missing when comparing with lobbies?

While lobbies are a great visualisation tool, they typically need a tech consultant to build them (i.e. someone with SQL knowledge). Start pages had the quite significant advantage of being easy for users to create and edit themselves. Users can create saved searches on any IFS screen, then add that saved search to their own start page. That search is then shown with a “count hits'' alongside it. I think empowering users to configure and update their home page in this way is great for increasing efficiency.

Doc macros [Anmise]: Macros are available in Aurena. 

We have two macros working perfectly in EE, but they don't seem to work at all in Aurena. One macro is coded to auto create a PDF view file whenever we check-in a Word or Excel doc. The 2nd macro is coded to trigger whenever we checkout a word or excel file, and inserts IFS data into the doc as DocProperties. This allows IFS data to be inserted into the doc via QuickParts (in Word), or a custom function (in Excel). For example, doc number, revision number, doc title, created by, etc.

Maybe the VB macro code needs some adjustment to make them work with Aurena?

Structured Docs [Anmise]: You don’t mean ‘Consists of’? That is still available. 

In EE, if you add doc’s to the Consist of tab, then click edit, the “Edit Document Structure” dialogue box is displayed which allows all doc’s in the structure to be checked our simultaneously. In Aurena, only the top level doc is checked out (i.e. the doc’s on the consist of tab seem to be ignored).

Sticky notes [Anmise]: Sticky notes have been deprecated and so far I haven’t heard of a replacement. RnD are aware of the fact that a lot of people like them, use them and miss them though, so fingers crossed.

Agreed - i very much liked the Sticky Note function in EE, and hope IFS introduces something similar in Aurena.

Selections [Anmise]: This is now the little heart icon called favorites

While the favorites function is useful, it’s not quite as powerful as selections. In EE, it’s possible to create multiple selections for a single dataset. For example, you might create a selection on the Inv Part screen called “My main parts”, then create another selection on the Inv Part screen called “My other parts”. In Aurena, you could set the “main parts” as favorites, but there’s no way to separately capture the 2nd set of “other parts”. Maybe this use case is not common however?

Copy and Paste [Anmise]: This is available now, however doesn’t work between environments. 

Thanks for pointing this out - I hadn't realised this had been added!

Keyboard shortcuts [Anmise]: There are a few, and I know they are working on adding ore. [.] is very useful if you haven’t seen it. It gives you a list of all available commands on a page to allow you to navigate or execute commands using the keyboard..

Thanks again - I didn't know about that one either so i’ll definitely use it in the future!

Open in new window (via Shift key) [Anmise]: This exists to some extent. CTRL+click on a hyperlink opens new tab and shift + click opens a new window. You can also duplicate a Chrome tab.

Another great tip - thanks Anmise!

Expand all on Product Structure Graphic screen [Anmise]: I think this is strictly a performance consideration. Hopefully it’ll be introduced.

Agreed. when working with a large Structure with many levels it is currently quite tedious to expand the applicable nodes to gain an overview of the full structure.

System info (context panel in EE) [Anmise]: This is replaced by debug console (click on username in upper right corner, debug and enable debug console).

Another great tip - thanks!

Output channels (context panel in EE) [Anmise]: Only Excel export supported as at today, as far as I know. I personally think that’s enough or at least a good prioritisation. 

Agreed. The ability to output to excel is definitely the top priority so it’s good that’s in place. The ability to export to HTMP, or XML might be useful in some edge use cases, but is definitely a much lower priority.

(also, neither field help or page help seem to work, and Aurena search sometimes gives inconsistent/incomplete results)

Since the Menu options exist for both field help, and page help, I have to assume IFS intend to implement this sometime soon. It’s quite inconvenient to have to revert to EE every time we need to read the field help.

No worries, and thank you for posting. In my mind it’s extremely important to know what parts users use and how they use the application!

 

tart pages [Anmise]: Honestly didn’t know they existed on Apps10. What are you missing when comparing with lobbies?

While lobbies are a great visualisation tool, they typically need a tech consultant to build them (i.e. someone with SQL knowledge). Start pages had the quite significant advantage of being easy for users to create and edit themselves. Users can create saved searches on any IFS screen, then add that saved search to their own start page. That search is then shown with a “count hits'' alongside it. I think empowering users to configure and update their home page in this way is great for increasing efficiency.
[anmise]: I see. Have you ever tried using  ‘My elements’ in lobbies? Users can define these themselves based on saved searches or quick reports. Maybe not as great, but could possibly get you a bit closer? 
 

In the example I’ve just created an empty lobby page called ‘My Aurena Lobby’.

Doc macros [Anmise]: Macros are available in Aurena. 

We have two macros working perfectly in EE, but they don't seem to work at all in Aurena. One macro is coded to auto create a PDF view file whenever we check-in a Word or Excel doc. The 2nd macro is coded to trigger whenever we checkout a word or excel file, and inserts IFS data into the doc as DocProperties. This allows IFS data to be inserted into the doc via QuickParts (in Word), or a custom function (in Excel). For example, doc number, revision number, doc title, created by, etc.

Maybe the VB macro code needs some adjustment to make them work with Aurena?

[anmise]: I’m no Macro expert unfortunately, but it might require some tweaking. Do you have Aurena Agent installed? It’s available on the add-ons page and you can read more about it here: https://docs.ifs.com/techdocs/foundation1/020_installation/400_installation_options/040_aurena_agent/default.htm

Structured Docs [Anmise]: You don’t mean ‘Consists of’? That is still available. 

In EE, if you add doc’s to the Consist of tab, then click edit, the “Edit Document Structure” dialogue box is displayed which allows all doc’s in the structure to be checked our simultaneously. In Aurena, only the top level doc is checked out (i.e. the doc’s on the consist of tab seem to be ignored).

[anmise]: @Mathias Dahl , any inputs here?



Another thing that might help is the Aurena user guide that recently got published. It has some good tips and tricks.

https://docs.ifs.com/documents/Aurena_User_Guide.pdf

@RobinHunter

A lot of good input above. I will comment separately on some of the points regarding Docman.

About document macros. Yes, they are available in Aurena and yes they require the Aurena Agent to work.

There are still pages where the functionality is not yet the same as in IEE and there are also one small but important difference in how the macro code should be written. The goal is to implement the same functionality but there might be some small differences.

One of the most important parts of macro writing is to know where the file has been checked out. Going forward, this should be the main way to get hold of the local file name and path, using the LOCAL_FILE_1 macro attribute:

  GetLocalFileName = ClientScriptValues.Item("LOCAL_FILE_1").Value

To abstract the details, I often place such details in small helper functions, like this one (it makes things easier to change/maintain):

  Public Function GetLocalFileName

    GetLocalFileName = ClientScriptValues.Item("LOCAL_FILE_1").Value

  End Function

Then it can be used like his, here for opening a Word document:

  Public Sub OpenWord(bVisible)

    On Error Resume Next

    Err.Clear

    Set oWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")

    oWord.Visible = bVisible

    Set oDoc = oWord.Documents.Open(GetLocalFileName())

  End Sub

The second thing which might affect you is that macros are not yet enabled/running in all scenarios. We are working on a patch for one scenario right now, where the macro was not running when you checked in an existing file from the Attachments / Documents section. Check-In macros were only running in the Document Revision page. I think this is what might affect at least one of your macros. Possibly the way to fetch the file name affects you as well.

If you encounter more differences, please let us know, and preferably using the normal support channels.

Now for the next topic...
 

@RobinHunter 

As for document structures, or "structure documents" as we call them, we have yet to implement support for checking in, editing, and viewing the complete document structure. It simply has to do with priorities and how much we think customers use this functionality. May I ask for what/how you are using it?

Thanks!
 

@RobinHunter ,

I was using your post to do my research on IEE vs Aurena.  While playing with Aurena, I found that you can do selection (save searches) in Aurena.  Is this what you want?

Just a quick note on item 7. Go-To-Colum; while not quite the same, you can simply use your browser’s search function typically [Ctrl]+[F], since the column labels are just text on a web page.

“Selections” and “Saved Searches” are two different things. Selections are static lists in IFS EE which will contain the same records, unless you manually add or remove items from it. Saved searches will always return exactly those records that fulfill the criteria at the time the search is performed. They’re used for different things. Ping @ceciliafu 

We decided to implement Favorites instead of Selections in IFS Aurena for a couple of reasons:

• “Favorites” is a simple concept that everyone knows and recognizes, no need to learn a new concept. “Selections” in IFS EE are more versatile, but requires some learning.
• With “Favorites” we could also show the concept “everywhere” without adding much complexity to the UI. In IFS EE “Selections” are buried a couple of steps down the context menu, so discoverability is low. 

First off, let me say that clearly Aurena is the future, and when it’s working properly and is feature complete, it will be excellent.  I am a year into a large, complex implementation of IFS, first sites going live in summer.  We decided when we started to embrace Aurena, rather than start with IE and then upgrade to a brand new interface that’s significantly different, too much change for my organization. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have made that choice. The current production version of Aurena (not IFS Cloud that is releasing in the next week or so) has many bugs, and is not feature complete. Lots of features you are used to in IE are not yet ported, and in particular many administrative tools you still have to use IE. You will also find that consultants are not very familiar with IE and themselves are surprised by the missing functionality and not well informed, they are discovering it with you.  There is also no training documentation available and the integrated help is very limited.  You can get a good idea of the features that are missing by reading the roadmap for IFS Cloud, available on this site. I am eagerly awaiting the release of IFS Cloud and will be upgrading to it as soon as it’s stable and we thoroughly test it, to fill in the many gaps in the current release.  If you’re considering an upgrade, I strongly recommend waiting for IFS Cloud.  We have never regretted our choice of IFS as our new ERP and partner, we love the company, interface and functionality, but just a word of caution on the current version from a new customer that’s spent 30,000 person hours so far implementing it with a lot of frustration and surprises. Bring on IFS Cloud, it can’t come fast enough!

@Mathias Dahl Thank you for your detailed replies!

Doc Macros: I have been using Edge to access Aurena, and have not yet had a chance to try Chrome with Aurena Agent and associated chrome extensions installed, but I’ll experiment with that in due course.

Document Structures: Over the years, I’ve seen several potential use cases for Structured documents (although not all of them were actually deployed as part of the IFS solution)…

We explored the use of Document Structures to group multi language versions of an “installation instruction” documents. The company sold their products all over the world and therefore created these documents in multiple languages. By linking all the docs into a structure (e.g. English, French, German, Italian, etc) it would allow them to be managed as a set. When a product was revised there was a need to update all the installation instruction doc’s to reflect that change, so the ability to check them all out and in at once was explored. (Ultimately, I don’t think this solution was deployed as it became clear that batch editing was very much an edge case for the company, and it was far more common for the doc’s to be revised independently to one another).

We also explored this structure function for software which saves it’s work as a collection of files rather than just one file (e.g. media work where a project file is saved separately to the various media elements (images, audio, video, etc) used in that project.

Finally, a company I worked with intended to use structured documents to compile a “Design File” consisting of several different document types (design drawings, calculations, Bill of material doc, test reports, etc). These design files were ultimately submitted to an external body for review/accreditation. The ability to check out / check in all documents related to a given “Design File” was seen as a quite significant advantage.

I do appreciate however that the use cases for this functionality are not commonplace, so understand your point about priorities in the development work.

@ceciliafu Thanks for your input! As @Fredrik pointed out, saved searches are somewhat different to selections in EE, but it is true that an Aurena saved search can achieve something similar (using my previous example, I could create a saved search to show only “My main parts”, and a 2nd search to show “My other parts”) so that might be a workable alternative.

@Anders Blom Using Control-F isn’t quite as “slick” as the dedicated “go-to-column” function in EE, but I agree that it’s an acceptable workaround – thanks for the tip!

@PriceWarren Thanks for your input. It sounds like your situation is very similar to my own. The Aurena interface is still pretty new and will only get better (especially if we users keep sending our bug reports and development ideas to IFS so they can fix them) and I’m sure the learning curve for the consultants will shallow as they spend more time working with the new platform.

@RobinHunter, thanks for the example use cases for structure documents/document structures. It’s very useful for us to know. Only with your help can we make a truly great product! :)

Hi

Our customers reqest problem that Copy Selected Rows and Paste Rows functionality does not copy values for custom field elements. Verified on IFS10UPD10.

Is there any plan to correct this gap in future release?

And also GUI Settings are unavailable. I realize that many of then are not used anymore in Aurena but Output Chanel(export to excel) is still supported.