ApexSQL Defrag release notes

Enhancements:

• Application telemetry now collects anonymous data on the use and performance of applications and application component
• ApexSQL Updater is added for configuring advanced updating settings of all installed ApexSQL products

Fixes:

• "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error is encountered when saving policy template
• Central repository database connection file is deleted when upgrading to a new major version

Changes:

• Agent configuration step has been moved to the initial application launch

Fixes:

• Central Repository Database file is not deleted when application is uninstalled
• Vertical scroll bar in “Deletescript.sql” editor is missing
• "The system cannot find the file specified" error is encountered when Databases dropdown button is clicked while (local) option in Servers is selected
• "Object reference not set to an instance of an object” error is encountered when trying to access a nonexistent SQL Server instance
• SQL Server can be added when SQL Server authentication is used while incorrect password is provided

Fixes:

• SQL Servers are not shown in the Server panel, even though indexes are visible in the main grid
• Index fragmentation is not shown in the main grid for any selected SQL Server and/or its databases
• The previous version of the application is not uninstalled when updating to a newer version
• "Please wait..." message is shown indefinitely on the screen after the Central repository connection is established after the clean installation
• Deleting alerts in the Alerts tab takes too long when the row count exceeds 10,000
• Fragmentation window is not shown when switching from Policies/Activities/Alerts tabs to Home tab and selecting a database from the Server list
• Deleted items remain in the Activities tab until the main grid is manually refreshed
• Deleting items from expanded activity job in the Activities tab deletes the whole activity

Changes:

• Software Transaction Agreement is added as a new step in the installation wizard and updated in accordance with https://www.quest.com/legal/sta.aspx

Fixes:

• No data is shown for SQL Server 2005 Express edition in the Indexes grid pane

Enhancements:

• Active Directory support for:
  • Password authentication
  • Integrated authentication

Changes:

• The application now requires Microsoft .NET framework 4.7.2

Enhancements:

• SQL Server 2019 CTP 2.0 support
• New error handling and send logs functionality
• Improved application installer with a dark theme
• New application icon

Fixes:

• "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error is encountered when Statistics button is clicked in Reports tab for a newly added server
• "ApexSQL Defrag Agent has stopped working" error is encountered on Windows Server operating systems when ApexSQL Defrag Agent service is installed directly from the setup file
• "Select correct interval" message is shown when random database of a newly added server is selected in server panel in Home tab
• Server panel status is stuck to "Refreshing" after an offline server is removed from the panel
• Application error message is not shown when ApexSQL Defrag Agent stops working

Fixes:

• “ApexSQL Defrag has stopped working” error is encountered on application startup if ApexSQL Defrag Agent isn’t already installed

Enhancements:

• Index fill factor management
• Scheduler can generate weekly and monthly schedules for the defragmentation policies
• Server resources verification can be started on demand when defining policies
• Operation sequence can be defined for policies
• Custom maintenance scripts can be included in policies
• Limit the number of CPU cores used for the policy execution
• Delay policy execution on locked server objects
• Export the list of registered server objects
• Index size prediction is available for index size reports
• All reports can be exported to CSV and XML formats
• Index rebuild and index reorganize operations can be paused or resumed on demand

Fixes:

• "ApexSQL Defrag agent has stopped working" error is encountered when the application is updated manually from version 2017.04 to 2018.01
• "Downloading data" message is displayed in status bar after the update is performed from version 2017.04 to 2018.01
• New firewall exception is added each time the application is installed
• New servers cannot be added to the server pane in Home tab after the trial period expires
• Changes are not saved for the edited policies when new databases are added as policy targets
• Resources form cannot be closed with (Esc) key
• Templates form cannot be closed with (Esc) key
• ApexSQL Defrag agent service log files are not included in email attachment when Send logs button is clicked

Known limitations:

• Offline status of a database is not displayed in the server tree view

Fixes:

• "Server not found" error is encountered when the policies that process indexes on SQL Server 2012 and earlier versions are executed

Known limitations:

• Offline status of a database is not displayed in the server tree view

Enhancements:

• High DPI and 4K resolution support
• Applied concepts of Visual Language Dictionary for Visual Studio for iconography, imagery, colors, menus, fonts, formatting and other GUI elements
• Continuous agent health check
• Policies can be configured to independently run reorganize and/or rebuild jobs

Fixes:

• "There are no duplicate indexes in current analyze result" error is encountered when there are no servers added in the server pane
• Blank Duplicate indexes form opens after the message "There are no duplicate indexes in current analyze result" is encountered
• Horizontal column size increases when Refresh button is clicked in Activities tab and activities grid contains no data
• "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error is encountered when expanded activities grid is exported as HTML document
• Exported Activities history HTML report does not have the same grouping as Activities grid
• Agent status taskbar icon is not updated when agent service stops working
• No warning or error message is encountered when defragmentation job is run while agent service is stopped
• "Cannot refresh databases" error is encountered when agent service is inactive
• Email notifications cannot be set if port number is not specified
• Wrong values are displayed in the Ended column in Activities tab for all defragmentation jobs that are not completed
• Wrong values are displayed in Activity details grid when a task that belongs to expanded policy is selected
• "Invalid name character in 'Start type'. The '' character, hexadecimal value 0x20, cannot be included in a name" error is encountered in Activites tab for all manually input values
• "Cannot refresh duplicate indexes" error is encountered when duplicate index scan is run against offline databases
• ESC keyboard shortcut does not close Duplicate indexes form
• ESC keyboard shortcut does not close Get updates form
• Two context menus are opened on double right click on fragmentation grid

Changes:

• Server pane has been removed from Policies tab, Activities tab, and Alerts
• The application now requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.1
• New light, blue and dark themes are now available

Known limitations:

• Offline status of a database is not displayed in the server tree view

Enhancements:

• Fragmentation grid filters are available in fragmentation tab ribbon
• Fragmentation filters are available for the tree view
• Index statistics reports for page density, fragments count and size ratio of index compared to the other indexes in the grid are available
• Statistics reports are available for tables, databases and servers
• Statistic reports are available for top 10 most fragmented clustered and non-clustered indexes
• Customization options for exported reports are added to Reports tab ribbon
• Report data retrieval is up to 500% faster
• Agent health check before application start is implemented
• Option to start ApexSQL Defrag agent is now available
• SQL query for getting index statistics in fragmentation grid is up to 8000% faster

Fixes:

• "Communication with agent failed" message is encountered when grid is refreshed while reorganize job is running
• "Communication with agent failed" message is encountered when the agent is not running and any option in the Policies grid context menu is selected
• "Communication with agent failed" message is encountered when the agent is not running and policy with a schedule is created
• "Do you want to remove all servers?" message is encountered when Remove button is clicked in the ribbon, but no servers are added
• "Failed to open default email client" message is encountered when log files are sent from Resources tab
• "The username or password is incorrect" message is encountered in agent installation wizard when username contains one or more space characters
• Agent status button in the task bar does not work
• Column names in Activities grid are not the same as the grid in exported files
• Connection options dialogue does not close when escape button is pressed
• Connection options form can be reduced in size to an unusable state
• CPU usage value is displayed in Resource check form instead of values for page density
• Deep analyze operation lasts too long
• Drop down menus for column grid filters can be reduced to an unusable state
• Event notifications are appearing on screen when application is minimized
• Product icon is missing from taskbar thumbnail
• Search for duplicate indexes continues even when the connection with agent is lost
• Server related options are available even if no server is added
• User created policy templates are deleted on attempt to delete any default template policy
• User created policy templates are edited on attempt to edit any default policy template
• User created policy templates configured by editing a default template cannot be deleted
• User created policy templates configured by editing a default template cannot be edited

Changes:

• Default policy template names are updated
• Bottom panel with buttons is removed
• All buttons that were located in the bottom panel are now available as tabs
• Interchangeable tab is removed

Enhancements:

• Support for SQL Server 2017 CTP 2
• Limited, sampled and detailed index scanning modes are available in the fragmentation view
• Fast and deep index analysis are available in the Fragmentation tab in the Analyze drop-down menu
• Predefined policies and policy templates are available in the Policy tab in the Create drop-down menu
• Pending jobs can be cancelled in the Activities tab
• A separate Alerts section is added in the bottom bar
• Filter, group and export alerts
• Filter activities by status, action type and initialization type

Fixes:

• Indexes tree view explorer icons are not updated on fragmentation changes
• The application Agent service cannot start when the central repository database is setup on a default SQL Server instance
• Blank activities history report file can be exported and saved
• Date-time stamp is missing in the default name for exported activities history and exported reports
• Missing validation for email address while creating policies when notifications are enabled
• “ApexSQL Defrag Agent version is not compatible with this version of ApexSQL Defrag” message is encountered when the application is updated
• No save as dialog is shown when saving the index duplicates delete script
• Connection options default values differ from the values defined on initial use
• Indexes tree view explorer and Fragmentation grid view can be resized to unusable state
• Customer service link in the Evaluation window opens an empty browser page
• The application slows down periodically after the Send Logs button is pressed
• Contact us link in the Resources tab opens an empty browser page
• “System.ArgumentException” error is encountered on startup when the application is closed while index analysis is still in progress
• Rebuild indexes operation can be started without selected indexes
• “An index with the same key has already been added” error is encountered on application startup after updating the application Agent service
• Grid view columns can be deleted by dragging and dropping outside of the application window
• “Path does not exist” error is encountered when a report for the specified server is exported

Enhancements:

• Online rebuild of indexes available in the SQL Server Enterprise edition added to the Fragmentation tab
• Support for SQL Server vNext CTP1
• Reports generate up to 1,500% faster
• Scan for duplicate indexes from the Fragmentation tab
• Analyze command from the Fragmentation tab now searches for and shows unused, redundant, and indexes with large keys
• ”Show indexes with minimum pages above” option added in the Options dialog
• Edit server connection button added in the main ribbon of the Home tab
• Refresh servers button added in the main ribbon of the Home tab
• Selecting indexes with (Shift+Click) is now available

Fixes:

• “Repository error occurred” error is encountered when repair of the central repository database is attempted through the Central repository wizard if the central repository database is corrupted
• The application agent service is not automatically updated when a new application version is installed
• The application does not preserve maximized window state between sessions
• “System.TimeoutException” error is encountered after executing any command before the previously executed command action is complete
• Check indexes from the Fragmentation grid context menu selects wrong indexes when Check by fragmentation command is used
• Email address can be added when a new policy is created even when no SMTP account is set up
• Email configuration dialog is not closed via (Esc) key or when the Cancel button is pressed
• Incorrectly formatted report is created when exporting grouped reports from the Reports tab
• The value for every day schedule in the Schedule column of the Policies grid is incorrect
• There is no notification if central repository database already exists when the Configuration wizard is run
• Multiple application setup instances can be run
• “Duplicate key row” error is encountered when the changes in the Options dialog are saved
• “Do you want to remove all servers?” question is encountered when the Remove servers button is pressed even when no servers are previously added
• Schedule time in the New policy wizard uses current time as the default schedule start time
• Policy target selection window in the New policy wizard shows no results
• Policy target server explorer in the New policy wizard shows a different status than the server explorer in the Add server window
• Scheduled tasks trigger one hour earlier
• Schedule column in the Policy grid does not sort policies by AM/PM
• "@" character is automatically added inline when an email address is added in new policy wizard
• Custom AutoFilter window appears in the Fragmentation grid on mouse right click
• “Object reference not set to an instance of an object” error is encountered on Collapse command in the tree view context menu for an already collapsed server node
• Reports get distorted when resized to full screen
• Fragmentation percentage graph in Reports tab doesn’t reach the end of graph
• Date format didn’t follow regional settings when Run once policies are created

Changes:

• The application agent service installation now suggests the current user as default
• Automatic check for updates is now enabled by default

Enhancements:

• Added icon overlays in server explorer to highlight fragmentation issues
• Added options to select/deselect all indexes and toggle display with low, medium, or high fragmentation
• Added options to set fragmentation levels and colors
• Improved policy wizard
• Improved usability in grids and context menus
• Improved charts

Fixes:

• Wrong decimal place for Fragmentation % values in Activities
• Error is displayed when clicking on OK button in Options after the first install
• Clicking on the whitespace activates the Run ApexSQL Defrag checkbox in Setup wizard
• Clicking on the whitespace activates the Create desktop icon checkbox in Setup wizard
• Export to CSV and XML export all activities, not just the selected ones
• To large textboxes for schedule time and type
• To large boxes for Reorganize and Rebuild index thresholds
• Inconsistent heading for Fragmentation % chart in Reports
• Right clicking on the column heading in the Activities grid displays two context menus
• Wrong position of Refresh button for the remote servers
• Unable to execute file in temporary directory. Setup aborted, when downloading and installing ApexSQL Defrag

Fixes:

• New application icon

Features:

• Supports SQL Server 2005 and higher
• Analyze index fragmentation on local and remote SQL Server instances
• Rebuild and reorganize fragmented indexes
• Set fragmentation scan density
• Set the fragmentation thresholds for reorganize and rebuild jobs
• Create and manage customizable policies
• Set CPU load threshold and memory load threshold for defragmentation jobs
• Set the schedule for defragmentation jobs
• Set the Email notifications for succeeded/failed jobs
• Monitor all defragmentation jobs and policies from a central location
• Group the results by any column from the grid
• Filter the grid results
• Export the activities to CSV or XML
• Create fragmentation reports on index fragmentation and index memory usage
• Get reports for specified timeframe
• Export reports to PDF, HTML, or image file