DecisionEdge Technical FAQ

General Technical Information – DecisionCharts and DecisionEdge Suite – DecisionEdge Designer

This is a technical FAQ. For answers to general questions, please see the DecisionEdge General FAQ

General Technical Information
Q: What is the DecisionEdge Support policy?
A: First, please review the materials on the DecisionEdge website for help with your questions. The DecisionEdge website features extensive documentation, support tips, and recorded demonstrations to help you be successful with DecisionEdge products.
Additional support depend on whether the customer has an active phone and email suppport agreement:
- Customers with an active phone and email support agreement can contact DecisionEdge Support using the DecisionEdge Support Form or by calling +1 (805) 277-1001 x702 or support@decisionedge.com.
- Customers who purchased the software but do not have an active support agreement can purchase an add-on agreement that will be synchronized with the original purchase date:
-- DecisionCharts 1 year phone and email support: $99
-- DecisionEdge Suite 1 year phone and email support: $149
Incident-based support is also available for a price of US$35 per incident.

Q: How do I download the latest DecisionEdge software?
A: Customers with an active maintenance agreement should click here: View Downloads.
Enter your email address (or the email address used by their company when they ordered the software) to retrieve the current DecisionEdge software.

Q: What's new in the latest software release?
A: See the Software Release Notes page for a revision history.

Q: Where can I find details about each chart and report included with the software?
A: The reports in the software are regularly updated, with new filters and parameters being added to provide users with enhanced functionality.
The DecisionEdge Image Gallery has snapshots of the bundled charts and reports.
But the best way to understand a chart or report is to simply open it and explore the filters (lightning toolbar button) and parameters (wrench and screwdriver toolbar button) Of course, if you have questions about specific charts or reports, please contact DecisionEdge for assistance.

Q: Which operating systems are supported by DecisionEdge?
A: DecisionEdge products are designed for Windows 2000 or Windows XP SP2 or higher. DecisionCharts for Microsoft Office Project and DecisionEdge Suite for Microsoft Office Project also support Windows Vista. It also requires Microsoft .NET 2.0 framework (which is installed automatically if needed).

Q: Can I run DecisionEdge in a Citrix environment?
A: DecisionEdge products for Microsoft Office Project and Earned Value Manager work fine in a Citrix environment.

Q: Which programming language are DecisionEdge products written in?
A: For optimal performance and efficiency, the core DecisionEdge components are written in Microsoft Visual C++.
The main dialog in DecisionCharts for Microsoft Office Project and DecisionEdge Suite for Microsoft Office Project is written in Visual Basic.

Q: When printing reports from DecisionEdge Suite, we are often printing up to 20 different reports from the same file by change filters.  If the user has a brief period of activity, the software will generate errors; appears that connection to the database is timing out.  Is this the correct assessment and can it be adjusted?
A: This issue is likely caused by a Jet database timeout setting, which can be controlled via the registry. 
The Microsoft page with info is: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/hp010321641033.aspx
The setting of interest is “ConnectionTimeout” which defaults to 600 seconds or 10 minutes.  They may want to bump this up to 1800 seconds or 30 minutes.  Based on our understanding, this registry entry is not created by default and users may have to create it, and set it to 1800, themselves.

Q: How do I rename or remove data sources from the Database Selection Dialog?
A: Please send a note to DecisionEdge Support about this issue. We will respond with detailed instructions.

DecisionCharts and DecisionEdge Suite Technical Information
Q: What are the technical requirements for DecisionCharts and DecisionEdge Suite?
A: These two products have the same technical requirements - you can read about them here:
- DecisionEdge Suite for Microsoft Office Project

Q: I tried to install DecisionCharts for Microsoft Office Project but I get an error about the missing package "Microsoft .Net 2.0 Framework". What's going on?
A: DecisionCharts for Microsoft Office Project requires the Microsoft .Net 2.0 Framework. Since most computers already have this software installed, we do not include it in the standard installation package (to keep the initial download size smaller). However, if your machine does not yet have this component, you should download the full version of DecisionCharts for Microsoft Office Project from this page:
http://www.decisionedge.com/support_downloads_msp.html

Q: I get an error during the install about missing packages: Microsoft Data Access Objects. What's going on?
A: DecisionEdge requires Microsoft Data Access Components 2.6 SP2 or higher.
Follow these step to resolve:
1) Download and install the MDAC 2.6 Service Pack 2 directly from Microsoft (direct link)
2) Reinstall the DecisionEdge software

Q: I get an error: "Run time error 711 - Invalid class string. Looking for object with ProgID:CVXGrid ChartPicker". What's going on?
A: For Windows XP:
Please ensure that you have Windows XP SP2 or later installed. This particular problem has been linked to machines running Windows XP SP1 or earlier. (Technically, the issue is that DecisionEdge needs Windows Installer 3.x, which first became available in XP SP2).
For Windows 2000:
Follow these steps:
1) Uninstall DecisionEdge software
2) Download and install the Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1 redistributable software from Microsoft (direct link)
3) Reinstall the DecisionEdge software

Q: I get get a "Run-time error 743: Unable to create or activate a new instance of CVXGrid.CharPicker". How can I fix?
A: Please perform the following steps:
1. Go to the installation directory, typically C:\Program Files\DecisionEdge.  If you have saved any customised charts in the MSProjectGraphs directory (you will be able to detect them by the date on the file -- they will be latest files in the directory), copy them to another location.
2. Use Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs to remove the previous version. 
3. If the installation directory still exists, manually delete any files left in that directory.
4. Double click the latest version of the DecisionEdge download file and select the Complete install option.
5. You will need to restablish any link(s) you had established to your customised charts directory.

Q: I get an error: "ActiveX component can't create object" when trying to start the software. What's going on?
A: DecisionEdge software requires a number of underlying components. This error can appear if one of these foundation files is not installed or registered correctly. This particular error has been traced to the file dao360.dll.

To fix, please try these steps:
1) For DAO, a standard Windows XP SP2 setup should have the 3.6 version. Confirm that dao360.dll exists on the machine through a general search of the C drive or by looking in “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DAO”. To determine the version, right click on the file, select properties, and then go to the “Version” tab.

2) If the file exists, perhaps it is not registered correctly. Please try manually registering it
- Go to the Start menu, choose Run, and then type “cmd” (this will open a DOS prompt)
- Highlight and copy the following - cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DAO
- Right-click the command window, paste the text and enter to change the directory to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\DAO
- Highlight and copy the following - regsvr32 dao360.dll
- Right-click the command window, paste the text and enter
- OK the confirmation saying the file was registered and close the command window.

3) Run the DecisionEdge software again.

If registering the dao360.dll file does not work, please try the same steps with the MSCOMCTL.OCX & mscomct2.ocx files in the C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder.

Q: How do I add a company logo to my charts?
A: It is easy to add an image, such as a corporate logo, to charts.
Watch this online tutorial: “Adding a Company Logo to a Chart or Report” to learn how.


Q: Microsoft Office Project: How do I create a combined resource graph?
A: A combined resource graph brings together information about multiple resources into one graph. Each bar in the graph consists of the sum of all selected resources. In just a few steps, you can create a combined resource graph using the standard charts in DecisionCharts for Microsoft Office Project. Watch this online tutorial: "Creating a Combined Resources Graph" to learn how.


Q: Microsoft Office Project: After uninstalling DecisionCharts, I still have DecisionCharts entries in the Microsoft Office Project menus. How do I remove them?
A: All DecisionCharts entries are normally removed during the uninstall process. If you encounter this issue, just read this document: "Removing DecisionCharts Entries from the Microsoft Office Project Menus" to learn how to remove the entries in four quick steps. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Q: How do I hide some of the lines and bars on a chart?
A: Each of the lines and bars on a chart is called a Series.
Follow these steps to turn off a series:
1) Right click on the chart and choose "Edit Display..." - The Edit Display dialog will open.
2) Click on the "Series" tab - All the series in the chart will be listed.
3) Highlight the series you want to hide, then click the Edit button.
4) On the Edit Series Display dialog, UNCHECK the Graph and Table options and click the OK button.

5) Repeat this process with any other series you want to hide, then click OK to exit to the chart.
The chart will redraw without the hidden series...

Q: How can I change the number of periods shown on the timescale?
A:
1) Open a chart
2) Right click on the chart and select “Edit Display”
3) Change the “Number Visible” in the Axis options section.
(This controls the number of time periods to show on the X-axis)

4) Click OK.
5) Be sure to save the chart if you would like to keep this new setting.


Q: When printing reports from DecisionEdge Suite, we are often printing up to 20 different reports from the same file by change filters.  If the user has a brief period of activity, the software will generate errors; appears that connection to the database is timing out.  Is this the correct assessment and can it be adjusted?
A: This issue is likely caused by a Jet database timeout setting, which can be controlled via the registry. 
The Microsoft page with info is: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/hp010321641033.aspx
The setting of interest is “ConnectionTimeout” which defaults to 600 seconds or 10 minutes.  They may want to bump this up to 1800 seconds or 30 minutes.  Based on our understanding, this registry entry is not created by default and users may have to create it, and set it to 1800, themselves.

Q: How can I see which database fields are being used by a chart or report?
A: Using just the DecisionEdge Suite, there is not really a simple way for you to see the columns and tables used by each chart or report.
The DecisionEdge Designer is the most straightforward way to see this information.

However, even without the Designer, you can understand more by viewing the chart or report file directly.
Each chart file (.cvx) is an XML file that can be viewed using an XML viewer/editor.
For example, you can download the free Microsoft XML Notepad from this page:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/xml/default.aspx
Then open the chart or report file (.cvx file) with the notepad.

If you drill into the DBQueries.ColumnNames section, you will see the names of the different fields used in that particular chart or report:

DecisionEdge Designer Technical Information
Q: What are the technical requirements for DecisionEdge Designer?
A: Please click here for more information: DecisionEdge Designer.

Q: Do I need a copy of DecisionEdge Designer to modify existing charts and reports?
A: No, existing charts and reports can be modified in DecisionCharts and the DecisionEdge Suite. The DecisionEdge Designer is used to create entirely new charts and reports, or to make major changes (e.g. adding new data elements or filters) to existing charts.

Q: How do I get started creating charts and reports for Microsoft Office Project?
A: First, download the sample Microsoft Office Project database (click here for the file - MasterMSProjectDB.zip 7.32mb) and then connect to it following the instructions in the Getting Started Guide (Setup Example 4 on page 23). You will then be able to see all the Microsoft Office Project tables and fields in the Designer, a key step towards creating your own custom charts and reports.