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What's new in version 10?

Owned by Matt Lynch
Last updated: 13 Jun 2022 by Estelle Holmes (Deactivated)
2 min read

Release Date: 21 October 2021

Summary

v.10.0.0 brings a lot of exciting new features and productivity enhancements.  For more information on the key changes, see the following sections.

Productivity enhancements

  1. You can now additionally filter the dashboard by project type and session, and the selection is sticky so that whenever you return to the dashboard, the settings are saved.

  2. 'Convert to/from schedule' has been updated so that it can now be triggered from structure view as well as the Editor view.

  3. We've improved default cursor placement when inserting new elements in the Editor which will minimise the need to take your hands off the keyboard as you draft.

  4. Edit portion of document allows you to open smaller portions of the document in the Editor; particularly handy if you are dealing with a large document as it brings performance improvements.

  5. Smart paste allows users to paste text from unstructured documents outside Lawmaker, into the Editor. This works for bills, SIs and also amendment instructions (including any quoted structures). See this page for more on how to use this function.

  6. UK Parliament users now have the ability to print a bill with the House Bill front cover.

Inline amendments and auto-application of amendments

You can create amendments inline.  We have started with 'leave out' and 'insert' type amendments.  The 'Inline Amendment Tools' right-hand panel provides extra tools to help with inline amendment drafting including:

  1. Help text explaining how to create the different types of amendment,

  2. 'View Traditional Amendments' button which will open a separate read-only tab listing all traditional format amendments, and

  3. 'Leave out' and 'Insert' buttons to assist in the creation of inline amendments

As you create inline amendments, they will appear on the 'Inline Amendments' right-hand panel.  This panel allows you to view all inline amendments in your document as well as other features such as:

  1. a button that will allow you to remove inline amendments from your document 

  2. a filter at the top of the list which allows you to filter the list of amendments by amendment type (e.g. leave out, insert)

You can select one or more amendments to apply to a bill.  This could be a newly created bill version or you can apply them to an existing working version. Any user can use this auto-application feature; amendments do not have to be derived from an inline amendment and they can be at any state. Lawmaker will list which amendments were successfully applied (on the 'Inline Amendments' right hand panel), but also any that couldn't be applied for any reason (on the 'Review' right hand panel).

Please note that inline and and auto-application of amendments are still a work-in-progress.  See Work in progress features for more information on known issues and limitations on these new features.

Miscellaneous updates

  1. Warning messages about duplicate IDs when pasting provisions and amendments.

  2. Further refinements to Document Compare to improve its robustness.

  3. You can now merge table cells vertically and horizontally

  4. The DNumber assignment algorithm has been revised so DNumbers are specific to your organisation and are shorter in length e.g. OPC1, HoC1, SP1

  5. Lists can now be inserted into quoted structures as well as elsewhere in the document (particularly useful to SI drafters quoting EU legislation that can often start with lists)

Support fixes

Various support fixes, including improved compliance with accessibility guidelines.