Automatic X-Invoice Processor - Changelog

• New: "Windows Service" options page - the service can now be set up directly from the program. A status display shows at a glance whether anything is actually being processed and, where relevant, names the cause - no service set up, service stopped, missing automatic startup, or a differing service account. Alongside it are the buttons Set up, Start, Stop, Correct, and Remove; each does its job with a single administrator confirmation. During setup, the program also grants the Windows right "Log on as a service" and configures automatic startup and recovery after a crash. The command prompt route of course remains available. The "External processor" operating mode has moved here from the Processing page.
• New: Incorrectly configured services are detected and can be repaired. If a manually created service pointed to the wrong program file, the service start used to hang without explanation while the program merely reported that no service was set up. Such services are now found, named, and - on request - put right with "Correct". If the program interface is accidentally registered as a service itself, it now exits with a clear message in the diagnostics log instead of letting the service start block.
• Improved: Uninstalling now also removes configured processing services. Previously, a registered service was left behind after the program was removed, failing on every start and potentially interfering with a fresh installation. During an update, the service remains in place as before.
• Improved: Provisional files are cleaned up more reliably. If the program is interrupted while saving (power failure, forced shutdown), a provisional file may be left behind in the target folder. Such leftovers are now removed automatically and selectively.
• Improved: No more overly long paths when saving. The provisional file created briefly while saving used to inherit the length of the target file name. In deeply nested folders this could produce paths that other programs - such as File Explorer or backup tools - could no longer open. The name now has a fixed, short length.
• Documentation: New help chapter on the "Windows Service" page; the guide "Set up as a Windows service" and its video tutorial have been updated to the new approach.

• New: Operation as a Windows service - now fully supported. The new option "Background processor is managed externally" (Options → Processing) hands processing over to a Windows service - ideal for servers and continuous operation without a logged-in user. When you enable it, the program detects a configured service and offers to start it right away - including automatic start with Windows and recovery after a crash; a single administrator confirmation is all it takes. A new step-by-step guide with a video tutorial walks you through the setup.
• New: Self-healing processing in service and console operation. A supervisor process now monitors the actual worker process there (Task Manager therefore shows two AXPProcessor processes - this is by design). If a file gets permanently stuck, only the worker process is replaced; processing continues without intervention, and the affected file is logged as an error.
• New: Malfunction notification when processing stalls. On request, the program automatically sends an email if no processing has taken place for a while (Options → Processing → Malfunction notification) - recommended for unattended continuous operation and also effective in service mode. Independently of the email, every detected malfunction appears in the error log and the Windows Event Viewer.
• New: Email notifications for processing errors and for files without invoice data. Both program-wide notifications can now be enabled in the options - each with its own recipient list (Options → Processing).
• Improved: Significantly faster program start with large file histories. The background processor now builds its duplicate index directly from database columns - with very large histories, startup takes seconds instead of minutes. A daily maintenance run additionally keeps the database compact.
• Improved: Excel report with real date values. Date columns in the Excel report are now real date/time values instead of text - correctly sortable and filterable in Excel.
• Many optimizations

• Fixed: When shutting down Windows, a message appeared stating that AXPProcessor.exe could not be closed. The background process now responds to the Windows shutdown and exits cleanly right away, so shutting down is no longer delayed.
• Improved: New "Save extract as CSV" tasks now use the UTF-8 with BOM encoding by default. Previously, ANSI was preset. UTF-8 with BOM is reliably detected by Excel when opening the file with a double-click (no broken special characters) and is plain UTF-8 for downstream systems. Existing tasks keep their configured encoding.
• Improved: Descriptive CSV column names for date components. The sub-fields of the invoice date, due date, and billing period were previously labeled only "Complete", "Year", "Month", or "Day" in the field list and as CSV column headers - they now carry their date group, e.g., "Invoice date -> Year".

• Fixed: After re-monitoring a folder, invoice files received in the meantime were processed. If a folder was removed from monitoring (the associated profile deactivated or deleted, or the folder removed from the profile) and monitored again later, the files received in the meantime were considered new and were processed. Such folders are now read in again like newly added folders (the existing files are only registered, not processed); only files arriving afterwards are processed. If needed, the existing files can be processed via catch-up processing.
• Fixed: After canceling a processing run, the skipped files were processed on the next check run after all. The "Cancel processing" button now stops permanently: after a confirmation prompt, the file currently being processed is completed, and the skipped files are treated as known, so the next check run does not process them again. If needed, they can be processed via catch-up processing.
• Improved: A profile deactivated during a running processing run is now skipped immediately. Previously, deactivating a profile only took effect on the next check run. Now a profile that is deactivated or deleted during a run immediately stops processing further files; the remaining profiles continue normally. Activating or adding a profile still only takes effect on the next run.
• Improved: The status display now only shows actual processing. Previously, the progress in the status bar counted through all files of the monitored folders on every check run, including files processed long ago. Now only new files that actually need processing appear - when idle, the status bar stays quiet, and the progress numbers reflect the real work.
• Improved: The pause between files now only applies after actually processed files. The configurable pause (Options → Processing) is meant as a grace period for downstream systems. Previously, the check run also paused after already known, skipped files - with large monitored folders, this could add up considerably.
• Improved: The log search automatically activates the tab containing the hits. If only one of the tabs (e.g., "Successful", "Errors", "No match") contains results for a search, that tab is now shown automatically instead of you having to find the right tab yourself.

Automatic X-Invoice Processor 2 is a completely redeveloped major version built on a modern technical foundation. Version 2 installs alongside version 1; on first start, the settings and profiles of an existing version 1 installation are taken over automatically.

• Redesigned user interface - clearly arranged profile and log views, light and dark color scheme (optionally following the Windows setting automatically)
• New task "Save to database" - write invoice data (optionally including invoice items) directly to a SQL Server database, with duplicate checking
• New task "DATEV export" - provide incoming and outgoing invoices as DATEV posting batches (EXTF format), including account assignment via mapping tables
• More powerful filters - multiple criteria can be combined per profile; a filter preview instantly shows which invoices would be matched
• Result preview in the profile editor - shows, based on a sample invoice, what would happen when the profile is applied (e.g., resolved target paths) before saving
• Lookup tables and global placeholders - map values such as vendor names to, e.g., account numbers or abbreviations and use them in paths, file names, and exports
• Extended invoice fields and placeholders - including preceding invoices, SEPA mandate reference, article numbers and units of the invoice items, and Peppol addresses
• Automatic backup of the application data with a restore function built into the program
• Content-based duplicate detection (optional) - invoices that were already processed are recognized even if the same invoice is exported again as a new file
• Revised PDF rendering of XML invoices for the "Save as PDF file" task
• Clear file type concept per profile - selectable processing mode: XML files, PDF files, or XML invoices extracted from PDF files
• New program help and guides - comprehensive program help (F1), step-by-step guides accessible directly from the program, and a "Set up demo" feature with sample profiles and sample invoices