SpendMap Version 14.50 includes more than 20 new features and capabilities, in addition to various minor fixes and performance improvements.
REMINDER: The list of new features in the Online Help (link above) covers both the Free and Paid versions of SpendMap. Some of the new features only apply to the web-based version (e.g. Email Approvals, Smartphone Support) and depending on when you installed your Free Version, some of the modules may not apply to you. To see which components you have in your free system, select the menu Help > About, within SpendMap.
If you have any questions, feel free to use our free Support Ticket System.
And just as a friendly reminder, we also offer a hosted/SaaS version of SpendMap that runs on our servers in the Cloud, and we take care of updates and other system maintenance for you. You can learn more about our paid products and services on this page.
Introduction/General
The update utility will bring forward all your data, history, settings, etc., so you will not lose any of your work in SpendMap.
However, the steps below will update one system at a time only. If you are using more than one system (e.g. the Evaluation, Live and/or Testing copies of SpendMap), you will need to run through these steps multiple times, once for each system that you would like to update.
FOR NETWORK/SERVER INSTALLATIONS: If you have a multi-user (network) installation, you only need to run the update once, either on one of the workstations or directly on the server, which will be faster. All other workstations will be updated automatically when they run SpendMap the first time after the upgrade, at which time SpendMap will pull the new system files down from the server to the individual workstations.
NEW PDF PRINTER DRIVER: This update includes a new PDF Printer Driver that SpendMap uses to create PDF files when e-mailing POs and other documents and when previewing reports to the screen. The update utility itself does not actually install the new printer driver. Rather, the new printer driver will be installed automatically when you run SpendMap the first time on each PC workstation after the upgrade. You will need to be logged onto your computer as an Administrator to allow SpendMap to install the new printer driver. This only applies the first time the system is run on each PC workstation – once the printer driver is installed, the users will not need Admin rights for their ongoing/daily use of the system.
Before you Begin
- Ensure that all users are logged out of SpendMap.
TIP: To see who is logged in, use PURCHASING > Utility > View Active Users. - Make a FULL backup of your SpendMap system. For details, please see “Backup and Restore Procedures” in the Getting Started Documentation that came with your free software.
Always backup before installing upgrades (to any software). If something goes wrong during the upgrade process (e.g. power failure, loss of network connection, etc.), you will need to restore and start again. - Ensure that your Windows and SpendMap user accounts have the required access/rights to complete the upgrade…
- You will need Administrator privileges in Windows to complete the installation.
- You will need to log into SpendMap with a user account that has an access level of 9 (as specified in the Access Level field, in the User Master File in SpendMap).
- Your Windows user account must have FULL access to the folder where SpendMap is installed. Your rights should include Add, Read, Change, Delete (or equivalents). If you’re not sure which folder SpendMap is installed in, please see #8 “Shared file location”, in Help > System Information.
Update Steps
TIP: Start by updating your Evaluation copy of SpendMap, rather than starting with your Live copy. You can review the new features in your Eval copy before applying the update to your Live environment.
- RIGHT-mouse click on the shortcut/icon that you use to run SpendMap, and select the menu to “Run as Administrator”, then log into the system until you get to the Main Menu.
- From the Main Menu of SpendMap, select the menu HELP > CHECK FOR UPDATES, and follow the on-screen instructions.
NOTE: Once the update process begins, various pop-up windows will be displayed briefly as files are extracted – this is normal. Do not close any of these windows – they will close automatically when complete. - After the upgrade procedure is complete, you will be notified that SpendMap must be run to complete the upgrade process. When you close the message, SpendMap will restart automatically (it might take a few seconds). Login as usual and SpendMap will complete the upgrade.
- To apply any patches that may have been posted since the full version upgrade was created, select HELP > CHECK FOR UPDATES one last time in SpendMap.
- REMINDER: If you have a network/server installation of SpendMap, you need to run SpendMap once as an Administrator on each PC so that the new PDF printer driver can be installed.
Once you are comfortable with how your Evaluation copy has been updated, you can update your other systems (e.g Live, Test).
NOTE: Some of the new features may be made available via new menu options – if your User Profile has an access level of 9, you will get all the new menu options automatically as part of the upgrade. However, users with access levels from 0-8 will NOT get the new menu options by default, so if those users need the new menus, you can add them using the following menu in SpendMap…
PURCHASING > User Setup > User definable menus and pop-up prompts > Add/Remove individual menus and pop-up prompts.
We hope you enjoy using the new version of SpendMap!
Please tell your friends and colleagues about our Free Purchase Order Software. Thanks!
Best regards,
The Free-Procurement Project team
Totally FREE software that automates Purchase Orders and a whole lot more