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Maintenance Update 09 30 2003

Calculator update notes for 9-30-2003.

Financial Calculator Update 9/30/2003

The quarterly update for 09/30/2003 is a relatively small update. Most of the updated items are optional changes.

If you have not updated your calculators in a while you should definitely refresh your existing HTML calculator pages. All updates are cumulative, so if you start fresh with this update you will have all previous calculator updates as well. If you would like, you can review our 6/30/2003 update: 6/30/2003 Update. (The 6/30/2003 update includes all changes included in previous updates, you do not need to download any other updates to have the most current versions of all of the calculator components.)

Update instructions:

  1. Download the latest version of your calculators from your download site, found on your update e-mail notice.
  2. Execute the Calc.exe file from your download. This is a self-extracting zip file. (Or unzip the Calc.zip file if you are using a non-windows platform.)
  3. When prompted for a directory, you may use the default of "java" or enter your own. It is recommended that you extract the update to a new directory and then move the required files to your production environment. One directory will be created. It will have three subdirectories.
  4. Replace the contents of your current KJEgui, KJEgraph and KJEcalculation directories with the new version.
  5. Replace your current dinkytown.jar file with the new version.
  6. Replace all files with the extension "class" with the new version.
  7. Make required changes to any HTML documents as describe in this document or replace all of your existing HTML documents and re-apply your web-site custom changes.

Update for custom formatted delivery*:

*Custom formatted delivery is a special option that you can add to your maintenance update service. With this option we can apply an HTML template to your calculator pages and their reports before the update is sent to you. You will then receive your calculator pages with all of your site formatting in place, without any rework to include changes that have been made to the HTML documents. If you are interested in using custom formatted delivery, please contact us at (612) 331-2291, or for more information.

  1. Download the latest version of your calculators from your download site, found on your update e-mail notice.
  2. Execute the Calc.exe file from your download. This is a self-extracting zip file. (Or unzip the Calc.zip file if you are using a non-windows platform.)
  3. When prompted for a directory, you may use the default of "java" or enter your own. It is recommended that you extract the update to a new directory and then move the required files to your production environment. One directory will be created. It will have three subdirectories.
  4. Replace the contents of your current "java" directory (including the KJEgui, KJEgraph and KJEcalculation directories) with the new version.

All pages will be custom formatted to your site, no further integration or modification of the calculators is required. Please note, if your custom delivery uses Active Server Pages (ASP), Java™ Server Pages (JSP) or Cold Fusion (CFM) the respective ASP, JSP or CFM pages will be in place of your HTML documents.

To clear your Browser's cache:

When you test the new version of the calculators, make sure that the browser you are using uses the new files instead of any it may have in its cache. You may need to clear the browser's cache manually to ensure the new versions are loaded.

Internet Explorer:

Chose "Internet Options" under the "Tools" menu and on the "General" tab click on the "Delete Files…" button.

Netscape:

Chose "Prefrences…" under the "Edit" menu. Click on the "Advanced" category and then "Cache" option which appears under it. Click the "Clear Memory Cache" button, then click the "Clear Disk Cache" button.)

Master Changes (HTML Modification required, affects all calculators)

  1. None

Master Changes (no HTML changes required, affects all calculators)

  1. None

Updates that require modifications to HTML documents

  1. Canadian Mortgage Qualifier: CAMortgageQualifier.html. CMHC rates have been updated. Please make sure to update the definitions section of this calculator to reflect the new rates.

  2. Canadian Rent vs. Buy: CAMortgageRentvsBuy.html. CMHC rates have been updated. Please make sure to update the definitions section of this calculator to reflect the new rates.

  3. OPTIONAL: Beneficiary RMD Calculator: RetireBeneficiary.class has new functionality to allow you to specify if the beneficiary was the spouse of the original account owner. This allows for lower RMDs with the assumption that the spouse assumes the account as their own. The definitions of the calculator have been updated to include these changes. In addition, sliders have been added to the calculator if you include the following parameter:

    <PARAM name="MSG_SHOW_SPOUSE_OWNER" value="TRUE">
    <PARAM name="USE_SLIDERS" value="TRUE">

  4. OPTIONAL. Biweekly.html: Bi-weekly mortgage calculator has new parameter to hide the payment type entry field. This eliminates the option for a user to selected "Accelerated weekly payments". Use the following parameter to hide the payment option field and force all users to use "Accelerated bi-weekly payments":

    <PARAM name="SHOW_PAYMENT_TYPES" value="false">

  5. OPTIONAL: All U.S. mortgage calculators with selection lists for the term have been updated to allow you to pass the maximum term to be allowed. The default maximum remains 30, but you can change this to as high as 50 or as low as 10.

    To implement this change, include the following parameter, with the value as the maximum number of years for the term:

    <PARAM name="TERM_MAXIMUM" value="40">

  6. OPTIONAL: All U.S. mortgage calculators with selection lists for the term have been updated to allow to indicate that you would like all years to be displayed. The default remains every five years, but by including the following parameter set to "true" you can display every year 1 through 30 (or your chosen maximum) instead of every five years.

    <PARAM name="TERM_SHOW_ALL" value="true">

Updates that require do not require to HTML documents

  1. Mortgage Calculators: All mortgage calculators with a drop down list for the term (in years) now include a mortgage term selection of 12 years. This addition reflects a change in the mortgage industry making a 12 year mortgage more widely available.

  2. Retirement Shortfall Calculator: RetireShortCalc.class, RetireShort.class has been modified to adjust the expenses at retirement with inflation if you check the box "Adjusted Expenses for inflation". The previous method was to only adjust the expenses after retirement, not up to retirement.

  3. Mortgage Qualifier: MortgageQualifier.class MortgageQualiferCalc.class On the report the number of points paid was rounding to the nearest whole number, this has been updated to allow 3 decimal places.

  4. Social Security Calculator: SocialSecurity.class was modified to add sliders for all of the inputs. The graph now defaults to a smaller graph with the explanation of benefits to the right. To reinstate the larger graph include the parameter:

    <PARAM name="BIG_GRAPH" value="TRUE">

  5. Auto Loan Calculator: AutoLoan.class was modified to make some of the terms and titles more clear. The following changes were made:
    1. Changed "Auto loan payment is $xxx per month" to "Auto payment is $xxx per month".
    2. Changed "Monthly payment for the loan" to "Monthly payment".
    3. Changed "Principal Balances for a $xxx loan" to "Principal Balances for $xxx in automobile financing".
    4. Changed "Loan Amount" to "Amount Financed".