Version 1.29.5094 onwards

  • Black Dog has an existing feature where despite the user scrolling downwards as far as allowed by the
    vertical scrollbar controlling the display of information, the very bottom line may sometimes only be partially visible, or not visible at all. This only happens if the first row visible in the display comprises several lines.
    To date the available workaround has been to click with the mouse on the bottom row visible, and this usually results in the listing scrolling so that all rows are visible. For additional comfort, context menu options have now been added which allow the user to navigate directly to the last (and first) rows: right-click on any display
    grid and select option Go to ...

  • Multiple email addresses can now be entered for a client with a single email marked as the default for that client.

  • Windows 8.1 no longer supports the 3rd party mechanism used by Black Dog to create PDF copies of some printed material such as account statements. Unfortunately in replacing this with an updated version, the Black Dog executable is no longer compatible with the 3rd party software used to date, even on those PCs running an earlier version of Windows. Thus there are two issues that users need to be aware of:
    1) PCs will be unable to create printed output such as invoices until the correct 3rd party software has been installed – full instructions will be emailed to all sites;
    2) the appearance of account statements will have changed and may need amendment

  • When creating account statements via a screen action on the client list or debtor administration screens a copy of the account statement is now automatically saved to the clients’ notes and documents screen. Additionally it is now possible to suppress the actual printing, and in future updates it will be possible to set these to be automatically emailed or sent by DocMail.

  • A default Pet Alert can now be configured which will be used for all newly created pets. This can act as a useful aide memoire for any activities that have to be carried out for all new pets. Once carried out the alert for the pet can be modified appropriately by the user.

  • Email and SMS templates can be added to the list of options available when creating a new client letter (the route used for creating consent forms).

  • Drug prices can now be linked to a reminder type in a similar fashion to service fees. The relevant setting can be found at the bottom of the Dispensing and Clinical Notes tab of the drug details screen.

  • By default estimates are automatically deleted once expired – the expiry period is configurable but is set to 93 days by default. If the newly introduced global flag “PreserveEstimatesOnExpiry” is set then this automatic deletion is suppressed. When importing an expired estimate, the user is warned that this is the case and that the imported prices should be reviewed carefully as they may differ substantially from the current price list.

  • The system now supports Fixed and regular prices for clients in a comparable way to the existing facility for fixed prices and regular treatments for animals.
    These are displayed on an additional tab on the client details screen and are not displayed anywhere else. They can be used to record special prices for clients that can be applied to any
    animal registered to the client: fixed prices are exactly as the name suggests, special prices that are fixed and are not automatically updated in any way, whilst regular
    prices simply match the existing price list. To invoice simply right-click the required entry and select option Invoice

  • The facility allowing direct emailing of clients has been extended to include contacts

  • An issue has been found in Acrobat Reader which has potentially been responsible for unexpected Black Dog crashes. Black Dog uses Acrobat Reader hosted by Internet Explorer to display PDF files
    within the Black Dog application window. Periodically the underlying operating system software carries out a process of garbage collection in which it attempts to reclaim any resources no longer used.
    This happens at unpredictable times and on some installations it has been found, that if Acrobat Reader is no longer being used by Black Dog (because any displayed PDF files have all been closed) then the
    garbage collection process attempts to unload Acrobat Reader and in doing so causes a crash. In order to protect against this, Black Dog can be configured to permanently display a PDF file so ensuring that Acrobat Reader
    can never be unloaded

  • For each pet a referring contact can be set on the pet details screen. This allows the user to
    link the pet to a specified contact.
    This will be of limited use for 1st opinion
    practices but more relevant to referral sites.

  • Communication preference settings have been added to the client details screen. Due to space constraints this has
    required the introduction of Addresses … and Status … tabs immediately below the Client Alert
    field.

  • The client status lists displayed on the left below the navigation panel can now be customised in various ways. Additionally they are now subject to
    colour warnings. If an entry remains in the list for longer than a configurable threshold period, the background colour of the list will
    turn yellow; if double the threshold period, orange; and if triple, then red.

  • Direct emailing faciliites have been added. This allows emails to be sent from any Black Dog client (or can be restricted to certain PCs only) with the text of the email automatically stored on the relevant ‘notes & documents’ screen. Basic functionality is now working so anybody that would like to make use of this facility should contact Black Dog Software with details of an SMTP server including port, encryption settings, username and password, and reply-to email address.
    Note also that Black Dog will not be handling any incoming email as this would require provision of anti-spam and anti-virus facilities which is simply not sensible. Thus users need to make seperate (or continue with existing) arrangements (eg. using webmail or a client such as Mozilla Thunderbird) for receiving email.

  • When Black Dog is displaying multiple images from a Black Dog image folder (extension bdif on the ‘notes and documents’ screen), users can now move to the next image by double-clicking the current image.

  • Service fees can be excluded from a given PC on a per category basis. This can be useful if wanting to use different prices for a branch or visiting vet (with laptop) from those applying at the main site.

  • Under a contact it is now possible to list additional people with an individual landline, mobile, and email address as well as an arbitrary note. Due to space constraints this has
    required the introduction of Contact Details, People and Default Payment Information tabs.

  • Additional facilities have been added to allow practices to track the insurance status of pets. The Pet Details screen now includes an insurance expiry date, and various configurable options for user warnings relating to the recorded insurance status
    of the current pet.

  • Context menu options now exist on a client’s account history screen to credit and credit and re-invoice to another client.

  • A context menu option on the drug list screen now allows generation of an on-screen current stock value.

For further information re. version numbers etc. see the earlier post.