In 1999, HMS released one of the first browser-based products of any kind.  As part of the release of TimeControl 4 at that time, we had to find a way to perform several functions including reporting and linking to certain project management tools like Microsoft Project using OLE (Object Linking and Embedding).  We accomplished this with a technique called ActiveX controls.  These were downloaded objects that lived inside Internet Explorer and allows us to deliver all kinds of functionality in a way that looked and felt very much like the Windows executable version of TimeControl 3.

In all these years since 1999, we have maintained support for some 32bit ActiveX controls even as much of the functionality they performed has been superseded by other functions.  The only remaining ActiveX’s in TimeControl now are the old 32bit excel-like reporting engine and the OLE links.

With TimeControl version 7, we started referring to these functions as Legacy Functions and moved all the documentation for them into its own section of the Reference Guide.  If you’re a TimeControl user or administrator and are wondering what on earth we’re talking about, there’s no need to worry.  Most TimeControl clients of today have never seen or accessed the TimeControl Legacy Functionality.

In TimeControl version 8.4 we will, at last, be sun-setting the Legacy functionality.  It has simply become impossible to support.  The ActiveX’s work only with Internet Explorer which is no longer supported by Microsoft.  The controls are 32-bit even though virtually all Windows environments are 64-bit.  And, perhaps most importantly, all the functionality that is currently in the Legacy functions have been superseded by more modern functionality in TimeControl.

For those using TimeControl Online or TimeControl Industrial Online, the only change will be the absence of the Legacy tab in the menu security.  All TimeControl Online clients have had the legacy functionality turned off by default.  For those using TimeControl or TimeControl Industrial on-premise, any upgrades of 8.4 and later will have the Legacy functionality removed.

There may be some who want to preserve the reporting views that were created ages ago in the TimeControl Legacy report writer.  This is already accommodated in TimeControl as any legacy report views are automatically converted into Drill-Down Analyzer views.

For any on-premise TimeControl clients who may still have some use of the Legacy functionality and want to know how to transition out of it, please contact the Tech Support department at support@hms.ca.

It was a good run with some incredibly stable code and functionality.  But it’s time, at last, to move on.