SpotlightXL and Spotlight for Office Client Requirements

SpotlightXL and Spotlight for Office require that you have .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime on your computer.

Microsoft .NET 4.7.2 and TLS 1.2 Requirement Beginning February 1, 2019

Planful supports only TLS 1.2. All customers who are using either Spotlight or Dynamic Planning must do two steps:

• Upgrade to .NET Framework 4.7.2.

• Upgrade to the latest Spotlight Add-in.

By upgrading to Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2, you also get TLS 1.2. Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol is an industry standard designed to protect the privacy of information communicated over the Internet.

End users with ClickOnce, which provides automatic installation of the latest client software, must have Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 installed.

Users who manually install the January 2019 or later client software must have Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 installed.

MS Office Users:

If you are using Spotlight for Office (SpotlightXL, PPT, Word) or just SpotlightXL and you do not have .NET Framework 4.7.2 installed, then you are affected by this change. We recommend to update the .NET Framework to 4.7.2 as early as possible. All users who do not have .NET Framework 4.7.2 installed will not be able to access the Spotlight Add-Ins.

If you do not have .NET Framework 4.7.2, then you will see a message on the menu ribbon:

.NET Framework needs to be upgraded. We recommend to do it at the earliest.

Browser Users:

If you use any of the modern browsers to log in to Planful (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, IE 10 and above), you will NOT be affected by this change. All the modern browsers already support TLS 1.2. If you are using lower versions of IE and use TLS 1.0 or TLS 1.1, please upgrade to TLS 1.2 by upgrading your .NET Framework.

Upgrading to .NET Framework 4.7.2:

If you see the message that .NET Framework needs to be upgraded, then you need to upgrade the .NET Framework to 4.7.2. To upgrade the .NET Framework to 4.7.2, you need to have Admin rights on your PC, otherwise you can ask your IT team to upgrade it.

If .NET Framework 4.7.2 is already installed, then you do not need to do anything and there will not be any impact for you to access the application.

Where to Download .NET Framework 4.7.2:

https://www.microsoft.com/net/download/dotnet-framework-runtime

How to Determine Which .NET Framework is Installed:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/migration-guide/how-to-determine-which-versions-are-installed

For Additional Information, Refer to the Links Below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/secauthn/transport-layer-security-protocol

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3140245/update-to-enable-tls-1.1-and-tls-1.2-as-a-default-secure-protocols-in-winhttp-in-windows

SpotlightXL Add-In: IE browser Deprecation; Introduction of WebView2 Control

The Spotlight Add-In has been using the .Net Webbrowser control for the user login and Dynamic commentary; the IE browser has been in use at the runtime. With the deprecation of the IE browser support from Microsoft, we are providing users with WebView2 control which is based on the Microsoft Edge Chromium browser. It requires WebView2 runtime for the apps using it.

We have introduced a tenant level flag "NewWebBrowserControl" which will enable us to track WebView2 data installed on the customer's system and will analyze which users from the tenants have WebView2 installed in their machine. Admins can enable this flag for all the users in the system. Once the tenant flag is enabled, the SpotlightXL office Add-In will capture the flag details to check the WebView2 installation status on each user's system. You will be able to login via WebView2 control once the server details are captured. In case you face any issue while logging in from WebView2 control, you will have the option to Login via IE.

Where to Download WebView2:

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=2124703

Below are the use-cases that are most likely to occur after the server details are captured post initial login:

1. When the Tenant level flag is ON and the user has WebView2 installed in the user’s system:

• User login will directly be done via WebView2 control. The login experience and the user interface will remain the same.
• You will be able to SSO login with WebView2.
• Last login URL details will be displayed in the URL dropdown. The last logged-in URL will open in webview2 as well.
• Last login details will be captured in the Login page but will not be carried across different browsers controls in case the user switches between IE and WebView2.

2. When the Tenant Level Flag is ON, WebView2 is Not Installed OR Tenant Level Flag is OFF; Webview2 Installed / Not Installed in user’s system:

•  Users will be logged in via IE. The user interface will remain the same.
• While logging in to the SpotlightXL, you will see a notification requesting you to install WebView2. This will also contain a link to the WebView2 help documentation.
• Once WebView2 is installed in the user’s system, login details will be captured and will allow you to login directly via WebView2 from the next login.

In Practice: To enable Tenant Flag

1.  Open SpotlightXL, go to your profile, and click Manage Your Account.

2. Select Application Settings, scroll down and set the 'EnableNewBrowserControl' to Yes.

In Practice: To use WebView2 control

1. In SpotlightXL, when the Tenant level flag is ON and the WebView2 runtime is installed in the system, Click Login.

2. You will be navigated to the Login page in the Microsoft Edge Chromium browser.

Visual Studio

If Visual Studio is not detected, you are prompted to install it.

Click to enlarge

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See also Installation Best Practices.