There is a lot of excitement about the Spring Release 2021, which is all about making your work easier with an enhanced user interface, using AI to streamline processes and improved tools to accelerate your productivity. The specific enhancements you will see with the Spring Release 2021 include:
1. Search, view and navigate faster with the new, intuitive Agiloft interface!
2. Pinpoint the results you need more quickly with new search.
3. Streamline your workflow with our MS Office integrations.
4. We now bring the full Adobe sign e-signature experience into the Agiloft platform.
5. Identify more clauses and critical facts – faster and more accurately – with our new and improved AI toolkit.
Enhancements
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New top navigation barPut all your most frequently visited tables at your fingertips with the new top nav bar, which places all your navigation items in a convenient toolbar across the top of the screen. With the nav bar, you can organize related tables and navigation items into groupings together, so they're all available on the toolbar while you're working in one part of the system. For example, Contract Managers can configure a Contract Management grouping that has everything they usually need, without cluttering the screen with items they only need occasionally.
The system interprets your old settings according to these rules:
Using the New Nav Bar
Next Steps
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New Quick Search pane and table viewQuick Search has moved to its own pane, where you can easily see and control the search filters being applied, and you can add or remove individual filters without needing to start over. Table views are now more responsive and flexible, allowing you to drag and drop columns in your preferred order, and saved searches are now featured right under the table name, where you can click to switch to another search. You can also click and drag to resize columns. To maximize screen space, action bars can now be right-aligned in line with other text instead of taking up a horizontal row at the top of the table.
When you turn on the new UI, action bars are automatically right-aligned. Users whose teams are not yet on the new UI continue to see left-aligned action bars, since the new alignment requires the new UI.
Using the New Table View
Configuration Options
Next Steps
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Global Search ImprovementsGlobal search has gotten much more powerful and flexible, with a new drop-down option to search a specific table, collated results by table when you search the whole KB, and the new Quick Search pane to further filter the records found by the search.
Recommendations
Train users on the new features and how to navigate between Top Results and the results in specific tables. |
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Extend Quick Search results with synonym dictionariesNew synonym dictionary support makes it easier for users to find all the records they're looking for, even when the records use different terms or phrases. For example, you could add "GDPR" as a synonym of "General Data Protection Regulation" to make sure all relevant contracts show up in search results for the acronym GDPR, or link "indemnification" with "limits of liability" so that users find all related records when they look for either term. For more details on setting up and using synonyms in your system, see Synonym Dictionaries. |
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Updated record formsAs part of the updates to the navigation menu, table view, and Quick Search, ESM Contract Management record forms have also been freshened up with a new look. There are only a few functional changes:
The updated forms also empower you to easily create an interactive graphical display for record status. To add one, simply go to Setup [Table], open the Layout tab, and click Graphical Status Display. In the wizard that opens, select the appropriate field for the table. The system uses the field values to automatically generate an interactive status bar that lists each value on its own tile. For more information, refer to Status Bars.
The Look and Feel wizard has also been updated with corresponding options for these updates, including Graphical Status Displays. |
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Roll out the new UI one team at a timeWhen you upgrade to Release 22, none of the new UI changes are applied automatically. Instead, you can manage the rollout of the UI changes to your users by enabling the updates for individual teams.
To enable the new UI for a specific team:
Overriding Personalized Navigation Menus
When you update a navigation menu to the top nav bar, the "Push to users" setting on the Apply tab determines whether the change is applied to users with personalized navigation menus.
Recommendations
If necessary, you can also apply the new nav bar without applying the rest of the UI changes. To do so, set the Navigation Menu Location to Top for the team, but don't set Use New GUI to Yes in the team's Look and Feel. |
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Added "overlap" search filters for Multi-choice fieldsQuick Search filters on Multi-choice fields now include overlap conditions to offer more intuitive filtering. Select "overlaps with items in" or "does not overlap with items in" to use the new filters. If you select "overlaps with items in," the criterion finds records where the field contains at least one of the values listed; if you select "does not overlap with items in," the criterion finds records where the field does not contain any of the values listed.
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Easily maximize modal windowsAll modal dialog windows now include a button to maximize or restore them. Click the maximize button to easily expand the modal to fill the available space, or click restore on a maximized modal to shrink it to its default size. Modals also now support resizing from all four corners. |
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Internet Explorer 11 supportInternet Explorer 11 (IE11) is still supported, but isn't compatible with some of the new UI elements introduced in this release. Notably, IE11 is not supported for the new Quick Search pane, or the updated table view that offers drag-and-drop columns adjustment.
If you need to use IE11, you can disable these new UI features until you can move to another browser. To do so, go to the Setup gear icon in the top-right corner > Look and Feel > Power User Interface, edit the current scheme, and set Use New GUI to No on the Global tab. |
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Modify signing order, attached documents, and more in Adobe Sign previewsThis idea came from you! Easily and clearly control your Adobe Sign agreements using new preview options, directly from your ESM Contract Management system. Preview now lets you review and edit the current recipient list, message contents, and ordered file list before sending. You can even add password protection, adjust the reminder schedule, and select a language for the recipients. These options now appear when you click Preview/Sign from an Adobe Sign agreement.
First, review the Recipients section to see exactly how your ESM Contract Management signing order translates in Adobe Sign. For example, if you dynamically set the signing order in ESM Contract Management, the system automatically cleans up the list so that Adobe Sign receives only the recipients who are actually assigned to this envelope. You can drag the items in the list into a different order, or click the number or email address to adjust as needed.
For more information about working with Adobe Sign agreements, see Manage Documents with Adobe Sign. |
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Re-enable Adobe Sign connections after upgradeThis release includes optimizations for Adobe Sign that require any existing integrations to be re-enabled after the upgrade. If you have Adobe Sign integrated with your system, perform these steps after the upgrade to re-enable it:
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Assign default DocuSign permission profile to new DocuSign usersYou can now set up new DocuSign users more efficiently by selecting a default DocuSign permission profile in your DocuSign configuration settings. The new Default DocuSign Group field pulls your permission profiles from DocuSign, and once you select one, that profile is automatically applied to any new DocuSign users you create.
To set a default permission profile, go to Setup > Integration > DocuSign Extension and select a profile from the Default DocuSign Group drop-down list.
Setting a permission profile for DocuSign does not apply any ESM Contract Management permissions.
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Updated list of DocuSign serversDocuSign integration now includes the DocuSign CA and NA4 servers. The server is tied to your enterprise license account, so unless you are moving DocuSign servers, you should not need to make changes in your system.
To select a different server or view the list of available servers, go to the Setup gear icon > Integration > DocuSign Extension and click Change Server. Select the new server, click Set Server, and click Save to complete the setup. |
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Introducing the ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant for OutlookThe ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant (ACA) for Microsoft Outlook integrates ESM Contract Management's capabilities with Microsoft Outlook. When installed, the ACA appears in Outlook on the far right-hand side of the Home ribbon as a large A icon. The ACA for Outlook can be used to:
For more information about the functionality of the ACA, visit Using the ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant for Outlook. At the top of the ACA, the "Search In" field holds a drop-down list. This drop-down includes all the tables that were configured to work with the ACA during setup. With a table selected, records appear in the ACA list below. You can use the search bar to run a simple text search for specific records. The fields used for searching are configured during setup.
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Updates to the ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant for Microsoft WordContinued improvements to the ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant make it easier to use, including faster login using SAML and OAuth and clearer phrasing with less technical jargon. The ACA also now offers an option to populate the Clause Library in ESM Contract Management directly from a contract document, which can speed up the initial implementation process.
For more information, refer to the ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant for Microsoft Word articles. |
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New Document Quality Evaluation algorithm for OCR actionsUse OCR actions to easily evaluate document quality before attempting to extract their content. This algorithm is designed to flag documents that are good candidates for AI, but it can also be used to flag documents that might need to be re-scanned or otherwise processed to make them readable. This evaluation is an option in the OCR action wizard. You then map the evaluation result to specific fields in the KB.
For more information about OCR actions, see OCR Action. |
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New Question Answering AI modelA new Artificial Intelligence model has been added to ESM Contract Management that supports querying a contract with a natural language question. The new AI model is called QUESTION-ANSWERING-AS. This AI model can extract data from a contract document depending on a question entered as an input to the model. The Question Answering model processes both binary and extractive questions. Binary refers to questions that require a yes or no answer, whereas extractive refers to questions that require contextual information. When asked a question, the model outputs an answer, confidence score, an answer type, and additionally relevant text information from the contract document. The following image is an example of a basic output you may get from asking the model "When does the agreement become effective?"
When you configure a Machine Learning action and choose the Question Answering model on the Models tab, different options appear on the Field Mapping tab. These options provide specialized ways to map the answer outputs generated by the QA model.
A tab called Question Answering is also added. This new tab is used to add questions that you would like to be automatically answered whenever the action runs. You can also use this tab to map the answers to these questions to specific fields. |
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Updated SEMANTIC-TEXTUAL-SIMILARITY model with multiple language capabilitiesThe SEMANTIC-TEXTUAL-SIMILARITY-AS model has been upgraded for use with multiple different languages. The new model is based on XLM-RoBERTa, which is compatible with 100 languages. |
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Run batch Machine Learning actions within Linked Record actionsWhen you create a Linked Record action in ESM Contract Management, and you include a Machine Learning action on the Actions tab, you can now select a new option called "Run action on multiple records at once (batch mode) when possible." This option is useful for analyzing or vetting extracted data on a large scale.
Once you've opened the Machine Learning action, navigate to the Parameters tab and update the Custom Parameters field. |
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Added token-based and entity-based totals for training metricsTraining metrics for NER now include token-based and entity-based metrics in score.txt. The metrics are now as follows:
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Create, edit, and store clauses in Microsoft Word .docx formatClauses can now be stored in Microsoft Word format as well as in HTML format. It is easier to create and edit the text, apply consistent and clean formatting, and pull clauses into print templates using .docx documents. By storing clauses in .docx format, you can make sure any bullets, numbering, or other formatting styles look right in Microsoft Word before you generate the print template, without worrying that the template will alter your work.
This also supports automatically tagging field variables and clauses with the ESM Contract Management Contract Assistant (ACA), and makes it easier for the ACA to create Contract Clause records for new clauses.
Control Clause Formatting in Print Templates
Style preferences, previously controlled only by the "Style preference for paragraphs in Printed Document" and "Use AltChunk while running a Print Action" global variables, can now be set for individual print templates. In the Word/PDF Print Template wizard, go to the style selection at the bottom and select an option from the drop-down list:
If you need even more granular control, you can apply AltChunk to individual clauses when you insert them in the print template, using the new "customaltchunk" parameter. When you insert a clause Word file using the new syntax, $field_from_other_table(clause,161,clause_ms_word_file), you can add the AltChunk parameter at the end to use AltChunk only for this specific clause: $field_from_other_table(clause,161,clause_ms_word_file, customaltchunk=true)
Start Using Word-format Clause Files
To start using this new feature:
This feature is also discussed in Embedding Tables and Fields from Tables and Troubleshooting Print Templates. |
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Installer improvementsThis version includes several improvements to the installer:
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Sync records in related tables in specified tables onlyImprove performance for external sync by limiting the inclusion of records in related tables. Now, if you select the "Include records in related tables" checkbox in a sync configuration, you can then edit individual table mappings and choose whether to sync records in related tables. By default, existing mappings are set to exclude records in related table to maximize performance.
For more general information about sync, see Synchronization. |
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New function to convert numerals to wordsUse the new "num2words" function in fields, formulas, print templates, and more to convert numerals into words. For example, you can use the function to render "12" as "twelve," "twelfth,","12th," or you can format it as currency. If you want to output words in another language, you can specify an alternate language code as the last parameter. The currency option requires you to specify a language to in order for the system to identify the appropriate currency.
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Option to ignore formatting changes in Document Comparison actionsCustomize how you track changes with a new option for Document Comparison actions. This new feature allows you to ignore differences in text and paragraph formatting when comparing documents. This produces less unnecessary markup, and makes it easier to identify the important differences between two documents.
To use this new option, create or edit a Document Comparison action, go to the Data Source tab, and select the new checkbox.
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Automatically execute actions after successful external syncsExternal sync now offers an easy way to automate actions after sync completes successfully. To add a post-sync action, create or edit a sync configuration, go to the Field Mapping tab, and select an action from the Post Action drop-down list. The action runs automatically at the end of each successful sync, with the context of the records changed by the sync.
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Direct File Edit now shows current editorWhen you attempt to directly edit a file that is currently being edited by another user, and concurrent editing isn't enabled, you now see the name of the other user in the message that appears. This way, you can tell that your permissions are correctly configured, and another user is the reason editing is blocked. Previously, it wasn't clear from the message why the "Edit and Checkout" button didn't appear, which made it more difficult to troubleshoot editing permissions.
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EUI Look and Feel editor now includes radio buttons and checkboxesThe End User Interface Look and Feel editor now includes controls for the appearance of radio buttons and checkboxes. To set a custom display for these, edit an End User Interface Look and Feel schema, go to the Forms tab, and select Custom Display in the Checkboxes and Radio Buttons section. |
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Floating licenses now released upon closing ESM Contract Management This idea came from you! Floating licenses are now released automatically when a user closes their last ESM Contract Management browser window or tab. The system now treats this as if the user had manually logged out, which prevents licenses from being taken up needlessly. The system also releases locks on any records the user had open before closing the last ESM Contract Management browser window or tab. |
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JS Exceptions security variable moved to Security wizardThe security_setup_js_exceptions global variable has been relocated to the General tab of the Security wizard (Setup gear icon > System > Security) for ease of access, and to continue to concentrate security-related system settings in one location. This variable is used to control security against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. |
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Easily monitor slow SQL queries with a new admin console functionA new monitoring tool in the admin console makes it easy to monitor SQL queries. To use it, go to Debugging > Debugging and click Show database statistics. This tool shows the 100 slowest-running queries, where the average time is more than 10 milliseconds. Use this list to identify potential areas to optimize, such as inefficient searches or missing indexes.
You can show database statistics for all KBs on the server, or run it on a selected KB.
For more debugging tools, see Debugging in the Admin Console.
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Untrusted URLs now shown in grayURLs that are outside your system's trusted domains are now disabled and shown in gray, instead of shown as an active blue hyperlink with strikethrough formatting. With this formatting, the URL is easier to read, and users are less likely to mistake it for a hyperlink or try to open it.
For information about setting the trusted zones for your system, see Security. |
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Improved queueing for asynchronous rulesWhen rules run in the background, they now wait a specified amount of time for a free slot in a thread pool before they return to the queue. This optimizes rules for mass operations on records. By default, the specified wait period is 500 milliseconds, controlled by new global variable Timeout: Wait to Run Rule in Background.
For more information, see Global Variables List. |
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New variable limits recursive rule automationNew global variable "Maximum allowed recursion depth for rules" now asserts a limit on how many recursive changes can be made based on a single trigger point, to prevent automations from repeating too many times or getting stuck in a loop. For example, if a user edits a record, and that triggers a rule, and the rule runs a record update that triggers another rule, this variable controls how many subsequent triggers are followed before the system stops processing.
By default, this variable is set to 10, which allows most automation to proceed as intended, while stopping unintentional recursive actions at a reasonable point.
For more information, see Global Variables List. |
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MySQL is upgraded to version 8.0MySQL has been upgraded to version 8.0.23. It improves overall system performance, especially in cases where many KBs are hosted on one ESM Contract Management instance, and provides significantly faster processing for column operations. |
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Wildfly upgradedWildfly has been upgraded to version 19.1.0. |
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Ngnix updates help prevent service failuresUpdates to Nginx now prevent the service from failing when it stops and starts in Windows. Nginx is now represented as EwNginx by the nssm.exe file.
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JVM parameters optimization for installerThe ESM Contract Management server application now uses a better tuned JVM stack size. This prevents exceptions caused in rare cases of asynchronous rules initiated from nested linked actions. |
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