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Version 10 Now Available


Hello Community, We are very happy to announce that VDM v10 is now available for download! Version 10 Preview:



Key Features / Changes in v10

New Installation and Update Process v10 is now deployed using a Microsoft Installer package called an MSI. Prior to v10 we used a proprietary installation method. This new MSI enables admins to easily deploy and manage VDM installations and updates across the enterprise. All this power comes with a drawback, there is not a traditional “Auto Updater” method from v9 and earlier to v10. This means you will need to download and install VDM.msi from the link above or at the end of the post. After the MSI has been installed, all future updates and notifications will be available directly in VDM.


Insights This new reporting data warehouse feature is integrated into v10’s Scheduler and enables you to take data snapshots and store them with their native VDM control. This enables you to access your Grids, Charts, Finished Reports and Visualizations from any date and time. You can also easily design your own Insights layouts for faster and easier access to all your reports. Breaking Changes Two words that we have spent the last 10 years trying to avoid, “breaking changes”. In programmer speak this means “stuff” that was working in v9 and earlier will no longer work in v10, without a bit of effort on your part. Our team has been hard at work completely overhauling the report automation and scheduler process. In fact, the community’s needs have grown so much over the years we literally scrapped the Auto Scheduler and started over from scratch. One major change is we have separated the Job from the Schedule. We have also enabled Jobs to consist of multiple Views and Executions (parameter and export sets). This structural change is incompatible with existing v9 .vdmas files and will require going through a import / migration process.

Key Tips for Migrating v9 Auto Scheduler to v10


Tip #1: In v10 you schedule Jobs and not Executions. You may have 50 legacy .vdmas jobs that run every Monday morning at 7:00am. You may opt to migrate all 50 of those legacy .vdmas jobs into just one or a few v10 jobs.


Tip #2: You will have far fewer job files after your legacy .vdmas job migration, than before you started. I recently migrated a client with 1,576 legacy .vdmas jobs into just 30 jobs for v10. This is because each .vdmas job in v9 and earlier is really an “Execution” in v10. I would recommend you group similar legacy .vdmas files into a single v10 job. For example, you may have 250 “Performance Analysis” .vdmas jobs in v9. You can import all those legacy .vdmas jobs files into a single job in v10.

Tip #3: If you have hundreds or thousands of legacy .vdmas job files, you will want to see them all before you get started on your migration journey. You can get a full listing of all your legacy .vdmas job files by launching VDM and clicking “Enable Scheduler”. All your scheduled jobs will appear in the Details Grid, which can be exported to Excel. This is very useful for grouping jobs together by type, run dates, and run times during your migration.


Tip #4: After you migrate all your legacy .vdmas jobs, you will need to schedule them in the Calendar. You can create individual or recurring appointments just like you do in Outlook, and a single appointment can run one or many jobs.


Tip #5: You are not alone in your journey! If you have any challenges or questions, we will assist you every step of the way. Documentation

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