New Features

New Features in Webdesk 4.64

This page summarizes the key new functions and technical enhancements of version 4.64. Adjustments required during an upgrade are described in Breaking Changes 4.64.

Webdesk

• Revised login screen with current branding, product name, and logo, as well as improved usability on mobile devices.
• Dark mode follows the browser or operating system by default. It can be enabled via PoOptions.allowDarkMode.
• New, more customizable dashboard with explicitly supported dashboard templates. Dashboards can be created from templates and saved and administered as templates.
• AI assistant as a permanently available side panel with context-sensitive support and a persistent conversation history.
• The ExecuteAndStoreReports job can upload generated reports directly to an SFTP server.
• The dbConnector can completely empty the target table before inserting.
• The SeparatorFileConnector supports UTF-8 files with BOM.

Time & Attendance

• Team Attendance is a revised version of the previous attendance board.
• Multiple employments are supported throughout. Each employment can have its own TA master record and its own TA ID. Selection and editing are possible in the person editor, correction client, absence client, and in journals.
• The correction client supports multiple TA systems. Time reasons, permissions, and accounts can be used across systems via a universal configuration.
• The start of time tracking can be moved into the future with user confirmation.
• The annual calendar supports creating requests, a rough calculation of vacation usage, and an evaluation box for statistics over a selected period.
• The inspector view in the annual calendar has been modernized and adapted for mobile devices.
• A REST interface is available for synchronizing time tracking bookings entered retroactively while offline.
• The time tracking API provides a REST interface for managing and validating booking-specific fields for special absences.
• HRX contract types can be used as a template for the TA field configuration of a person. For this, additional fields and the HRX-TA synchronization must be set up per client.
• BETA: TV rule management – The internal time evaluation module supports daily programs, weekly programs, rules, and error reasons. A first integration is available in the correction and absence client.

Project Time Tracking

• A REST interface is available for synchronizing project time bookings entered retroactively while offline.
• Favorites indicate when they can no longer be booked to.
• The project chooser displays a clear message when no bookable projects are available.
• The action for editing project time can display a preliminary, estimated total for the current day.

Travel Expense Tracking

• The Receipts tab can be hidden via the travel type configuration.

HR Expert

• The new dashlet Anniversaries displays upcoming anniversaries in 5-year steps as well as birthdays.
• Report parameters can be implemented with a checkbox-based selection.
• Contract types are directly accessible to administrators in the HR administration menu and can be used as a template for TA activation.

Kiosk

• The project list is page-based.
• All top-level projects of a client can be added to a kiosk configuration in bulk.
• A single top-level project can be added to all kiosk configurations of the client at once.

System and Administration

• Webdesk and the IF6020 TA connector require Java 17.
• Depending on the operating mode, the following --add-opens parameters may be required at startup:
  • --add-opens java.base/jdk.internal.loader=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/jdk.internal.module=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/jdk.internal.reflect=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.lang.module=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens jdk.crypto.ec/sun.security.ec.point=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens jdk.dynalink/jdk.dynalink.linker.support=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/sun.util.calendar=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.util.concurrent.locks=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.lang.reflect=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.io=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.rmi/sun.rmi.transport=ALL-UNNAMED
  • --add-opens java.base/java.net=ALL-UNNAMED
• Optionally, a Redis-Caffeine implementation is available for the Hibernate cache: webdesk.hibernate.cache.provider=redis-caffeine.
• For MySQL, the version-dependent Hibernate dialect must be set manually, for example MySQL57Dialect for MySQL 5.7 or MySQL8Dialect for MySQL 8.
• The technical base components have been updated, including Hibernate 5.6, Hibernate Search 6.2, Spring 5.3, Node.js 20, Bootstrap 5.3, and Quartz 2.4.
• JavaScript execution has been extended. The JavaScript console and the CustomJavaScriptJob can be run with the configured script engine, including GraalJS.

IF6020 TA Connector and Multiple Employments

• When a TA person record is created, stpersnr is populated with the TA ID instead of the Webdesk employee ID. If no TA ID is available, a unique substitute ID is used.
• The actual employee ID, the active flag of the employment, and the PersonUID are stored in three configurable info fields: TaPersonDAO.employeeIdField, TaPersonDAO.effectiveEmploymentMarkerField with J or N, and TaPersonDAO.nameOfFieldStoringPersonUid.
• The TA ID is maintained in HrPersonEmployment and is brought up to date during synchronization and upgrades. For existing data, migration and administrative back-filling of the PersonUIDs are available.
• IF6020-specific service and bean names have been standardized with the prefix Ta6020. Scripts, validations, and custom integrations must use the new names. The specific adjustments are listed in Breaking Changes 4.64.

Further Information

Further details can be found in the Release Notes 4.64.0, the Release Notes 4.64.31, and the Breaking Changes 4.64.