PMF Release 4.2 is now Generally Available.

The release builds on the PMF R4 foundation, adding these new capabilities:

• New Crosstab reports and Gadgets allow reporting across Measures, Dimensions and Time
  
• Ability to multi-select Measures on reports and Gadgets allows you to zoom in on only the Metrics you want to see from your Scorecard
  
• Full Dimensional context passed to Operational Report drilldowns
  
• Ability to convert Metrics between different Units of Measure (Quarts to Litres, etc.)
  
• Many more quality and user-experience improvements
  
• Six new Gadgets and six new pre-configured Operational Dashboard selections
  

As always, Performance Management Framework is available directly through your IBI representative; if you are currently licensed it's also now available from the IBI download site via techsupport.informationbuilders.com.

We are on PMF version 2.6 and I have two separate questions.
1) Can you migrate from 2.6 straight to 4.2 or will I have to migrate in steps - 2.6 to 3.1; 3.1 to 4.1; 4.1 to 4.2?
2) We would like to move the data files for PMF from SQL 2000 server to a SQL 2005 server; where do you make these changes - I see a_hostname.fex in which I changed to the SQL 2005 server name; but I didn't see where it affected the datafiles. Is there other places that need to be updated to make this change?

We're running WebFocus 7.1.3 and Developer Studio 7.1.3.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LaRev,

1. You do not need to upgrade the PMF application in steps, you can upgrade the application directly to 4.2. Only the data mart should be migrated in three steps (2.6 > 3.1, 3.1 > 4.1, 4.1 > 4.2), and these upgrade steps can be performed in a single session in SQL Query Analyzer using the provided SQL scripts. Make sure to back up your original mart first, so if you make a mistake you can recover.

2. Upgrading to SQL 2005 can be done after migrating your PMF mart to 4.2. You'll need to back up your upgraded mart, then move it to the SQL 2005 server using the restore function, making sure to select the "force restore" option on the restore dialog in SQL 2005. The only remaining step then is to change your WebFOCUS adaptor to a SQL 2005 adaptor and setting the default database to the name of your mart.

The whole upgrade process should proceed smoothly.

Do you suggest we upgrade WebFocus and Developer Studio also or can I run PMF 4.2 with Webfocus 7.1.3?

We strongly recommend you upgrade to WebFOCUS 7.6.4 or higher.
PMF 4.2 takes advantage of new features in WebFOCUS.