News & Blogs

It's the new hire's third day. They open the incident screen for the first time: four tabs, a detail grid, 50 fields, and no clue which ones matter right now. They fill in what they recognize, skip what they don't, and hit save. The record looks fine. It isn't. A required detail is missing, a business rule quietly broke, and three weeks later someone must work out why that incident never triggered an action. As a developer you didn't do anything wrong. You trained your users how to use the application, and most days that holds. But training lives in people's heads, and heads forget, leave, and improvise. So instead of teaching users where to look, bring every field they need straight to them, one step at a time. Most of us already know that pattern by another name: a wizard. This post shows two ways to build a guided, multi-step process in the Software Factory, and how to pick the one that fits. Why guide the user at all?There are lots of reasons to guide your users. We've listed a few

The Software Factory has been available on Universal for several weeks. During this period, we have received substantial positive feedback, as well as constructive suggestions for further improvement. In addition, both developers and our internal teams have identified a number of issues. This article provides a structured overview of:Known issues specific to the Software Factory on Universal Ideas and opportunities to further improve the SF on UniversalLatest status update: 06/07/2026 Please note that this overview applies exclusively to the Software Factory running on the Universal UI.More on the Software Factory on the Universal UI: Keep in mindSystem requirements Moving to the Software Factory in Universal UI requires version 2026.1. This release introduces specific system requirements and includes several breaking changes. Read more in the release notes.   Keep your environment up to date To prevent running into issues that have already been fixed, ensure your applications are cons

To further improve the security and enhance user account management, we will soon introduce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all TCP users.What does this mean for you?Your authorization within TCP will not change. This setting will be enabled for you. After logging in using your password, you will be asked to register your TCP account within your preferred authenticator app.We expect to implement this change as part of the TCP upgrade scheduled for Tuesday, July 7. 

As you know, we usually release 3 Platform versions a year and a new Indicium and Universal UI every 4 weeks. What you might not know, is that internally we also release a new Platform version every 4 weeks. Effectively shipping a full-stack Platform increment every Sprint. These full-stack Platform versions are applied to the Thinkwise Cloud as well.Starting with version 2026.1.11, we intend to publicly release a full-stack Short-Term Support (STS) Platform version every 4 weeks, in addition to the 3 Long-Term Support (LTS) Platform releases. This comes with a few noticeable changes:Release Notes will be bundled in a single Product Update Universal UI Release Candidate will cease to exist (nightly versions of our Develop branch are available in TCP to test bugfixes before official release) All components are made available at the same time in TCPSimilar to support for the runtime components Indicium and Universal UI, only the latest STS Platform version is supported. Check the updated

Platform version 2026.2 introduces multi-RDBMS model support in the Software Factory. It is a significant step forward: for the first time, a single application model can target multiple database platforms simultaneously. We will utilize this feature ourselves to release IAM on Db2 and PostgreSQL in the near future. And customers can use this feature to deploy their application on different database platforms or to migrate to PostgreSQL for instance, for which Enrichments support is planned in a later release.To make this possible, the Software Factory data model itself has changed significantly. A set of core tables now stores RDBMS-specific columns in a separate detail table, following a consistent _query naming pattern. This likely breaks some of your dynamic code. If your model uses dynamic model code, SQL-assigned control procedures, or custom validations that reference any of these tables, you need to update those queries before generating your application on 2026.2. This post wa

Universal brought HTML rendering and multiline support to Scheduler activities and tooltips. Two additions that significantly improve the ability to format the Scheduler to your end users' liking. Think bold customer names, color-coded priorities, or descriptions that wrap instead of getting cut off. This blog is meant to show you what’s possible and inspire you to make the most out of your Scheduler’s graphics. There is no single right answer for what to show. Every Scheduler has different information that matters at a glance, and now you can put exactly that front and center.These changes works from Universal UI version 2026.1.15 and are backwards compatible with all supported Platform versions. Refer to our other blogs for detailed explanations of other features of the Scheduler. How it worksScheduler activities have always been a single line of text. This can now be changed. Set the control type of the domain used by your title/tooltip column to HTML or multiline, and the activity

Whether you are managing project planning, production scheduling, or resource allocation, the Scheduler component offers a clear and visual way to display Activities and Resources along a timeline.With the transition from the Windows/Web GUI to the Universal UI, the extender-based Resource Scheduler required modernization. Since extenders are no longer supported in the Universal UI, we have integrated the Resource Scheduler’s functionality directly into the Thinkwise Platform, resulting in a more robust and maintainable solution.This blog will guide you through the key differences between the legacy Resource Scheduler and the formalized Scheduler, and provide practical steps to ensure a smooth transition.Scheduler setupThis blog focuses on the transition from the Resource Scheduler to the formalized Scheduler. For detailed information on setting up a Scheduler, please refer to the two blogs below, which go deeper into data modelling and interactivity. Running the Windows GUI and Univer

Every company that supports customers handles tickets, and every ticket opens the same way. Someone reads it, works out what it is about, checks that nothing is missing, and moves it along. That groundwork is important but repetitive, and repetitive work is the best kind to hand to a computer.AI makes that possible in a way traditional tooling never could. A ticket is unstructured text, and unstructured text resists rules and algorithms. AI reads it comfortably. It turns free-form input into structured data, which opens the door to features that were never practical before.In this blog we put that to work. The system we build detects the language a ticket was written in, translates it so your support staff can read it, writes a short summary so anyone can grasp it at a glance, and checks that the ticket is complete before a person ever picks it up. Each of those steps runs on its own, in the background, the moment a ticket arrives.Translation is the part that stands out. Support no lon

Save the date: Thinkwise Summit 2026. On Wednesday 30 September 2026, customers, partners and the broader Thinkwise community come together for a day of insight, inspiration and networking, at a new venue: NBC in Utrecht. What can you expect? Customer sessions: Hear directly from organisations like yours how they work with Thinkwise, the choices they've made, and what they've learned along the way.  Platform updates: Get up to speed on the latest developments and a look at what's coming next. Networking: Spend the day with Thinkwise fellow users, partners, and the broader Thinkwise community.Programme details will follow in the months ahead. Register now and we'll keep you posted.Register now 

Monday morning. A server update is scheduled for the weekend. A dozen purchase invoices sit in the approval queue. A critical integration just went down and someone needs to fix it right now. Each of these moments calls for a message, but they do not share the same audience, urgency, or tone. Blasting a push notification when the coffee machine is out is as unhelpful as quietly adding a badge to a subject when production has stopped.A modern business application is not a storage box that waits for users to come and look something up. It runs the process: it routes work, prompts decisions, and chases the right person at the right time. Notifications are how the application reaches out. Picked well, they keep workflows moving and cut waiting time out of every step. Picked poorly, they add noise that users learn to tune out.The Thinkwise Platform offers a range of notification options, each suited to a particular combination of reach, priority, and purpose. This blog walks through those o

When you run into an issue with one of our products or services, the Ticket Management System (TMS) in the Thinkwise Community Portal is where you raise it. Over the past quarter, we focused on making that experience smoother and simpler.The screen layout has been refreshed for a better overall UI/UX. Badges across the different screens now only show open actions assigned to you, so it is immediately clear where your attention is needed. New tasks help you move a ticket through its statuses with fewer clicks.The most meaningful changes are in the ticket types and ticket statuses. Both have been simplified and reduced to the essentials.Ticket statusesWe have updated our ticket statuses, we now have the following statuses:New To assess (Thinkwise) To process (Thinkwise) Clarify completeness (Customer) Clarify processing (Customer) Accept solution (Customer) Accept cancellation (Customer) On the backlog (Thinkwise) ClosedThe full workflow is shown below:My ticketsThe My tickets overview s

You're in a design session and someone proposes combining master data from two sources on the fly. A function, a view, a subquery. It sounds clean. Always fresh, no redundancy, single source of truth.But if that combined result gets used in dozens of queries and calculations every single day, while the underlying data barely changes, you're paying a derivation cost thousands of times over for the exact same answer every time.This article is about one specific scenario where denormalization (storing data in a combined, redundant table) is actually the better choice. It's not a universal rule. It's a trade-off, and I'll tell you exactly when it's worth making.The scenarioRecently I ran into a situation where master data came from two sources: an external ERP system and an internal list. The proposed solution was an inline TVF that combined these two sources, joined against in queries and calculations throughout the application.Clean enough on paper. But that combined result would be deri

Imagine the Software Factory like an actual factory: a big building filled with workbenches scattered across the entire room. Everything you need to build robust applications is available. But where do you start? You’ll have to figure that out yourself, meaning that (especially as a starting developer) you may sometimes find yourself moving around the factory, trying to locate the workbench you need.So how can we guide users through all these workbenches more effectively? It starts by looking at the Software Factory not only from a technical perspective, but through the eyes of the user. Understanding where people get stuck, what they are trying to accomplish, and how the platform can better support them along the way.In practice, this comes down to a few principles:Automate repetitive tasks where possible Guide users to the right functionality instead of relying on manual discovery Reduce the number of decisions users need to make Encourage best practices by default There are differen

A new team member joins your organization. You open their employee record and see a collapsible section labeled Contract. To check their working hours, you expand the section, scroll through the details, find the right fields, and read the values. Now imagine that same section label simply reads Contract – hours: 40.00. No expanding, no scrolling.That is what parameterized translations do. They let you embed data values directly into labels, section headers, and task parameters. The result: a more information-dense interface that gives your users the context they need at a glance.It looks like a small feature. It is not. The ability to surface the right data in the right place, without adding extra columns or expression fields, changes how users interact with your application. In this post, we walk through six practical scenarios to show you what is possible.How it worksThe configuration is surprisingly simple. In a translation field, you reference another column from the same subject

The Thinkwise platform supports a wide range of deployment options, from on-premise servers to fully cloud-native infrastructure. To help you plan and execute a successful cloud transition, we have published comprehensive transition to the cloud documentation on our docs.Even if you have no active plans to move your application, we do recommend to replace unsupported features, thereby increasing the portability of your Thinkwise applications. More than a hosting changeTransitioning to the cloud is not just about moving servers. It is a strategic decision that unlocks real business advantages.Scalability and cost efficiency. Cloud infrastructure can scale with demand. Your infrastructure capacity grows during peak usage and shrinks when things quiet down, with costs matching actual consumption. No more purchasing, maintaining, or replacing physical servers.High availability. Replication across multiple data centers keeps your application running even when one location fails. Automated b

We invite you and your colleagues to the third edition of our successful Developer Event. A day where you'll exchange inspiring developer stories with more than 250 community members and discover the full potential of the Thinkwise platform. Date: 1st of April 2026Doors open: 09:00Schedule: 10:00 – 17:00Location: InnStyle, Herenweg 55, 3602 AN Maarssen What can you expect?Technical deep dives: Learn from experts how they apply specific features and topics in their applications. Community showcases: Get inspired by real-world stories and innovative solutions shared by community members. Roadmap: An update on the roadmap for the Thinkwise Platform.Please note that this event will be in Dutch. Register now

The Thinkwise Platform is a powerful tool for developing and maintaining business applications. To help you get the most out of the platform, we offer a variety of learning and support resources.See the following list to help you get started:Follow e-learning courses and training at the Thinkwise Academy to increase your development expertise. The available e-learning courses cover important topics such as the Software Factory, IAM, Actwise, SQL & Data Modeling, and more. Read applied examples in several blog posts right here on the Thinkwise Community. Note that blog posts may be version-sensitive, so be sure to check the blog content and the recent release notes for any changes. Watch demonstrations, talks, and more on our YouTube channel. Attend a Knowledge Session where we share insights and best practices on using the Thinkwise Platform. You can rewatch previous Knowledge Sessions at the Thinkwise Academy.If you do not have access to the Thinkwise Academy, contact your account

Since the end of 2024 we have been communicating on our official Lifecycle Policy page that the Windows GUI (2-tier) would no longer be supported with Platform releases in 2026. In addition, we have been warning about the end of the Windows GUI (2-tier) in all 2025 Platform release notes, in multiple Community blogs, as well as on the 2025 Developer Event. In a new series of blogs we aim to clarify why transitioning to the Universal UI benefits you as a customer, from the angles of security, functionality and usability. This time from the angle of Security-by-Design.How to transition to the Universal UI is already covered in below blog and dedicated Documentation:  Security-by-DesignRecent news items once again highlight the importance of Security-by-Design. The hype of Vibe coding solutions from a blank canvas throws us back in time by essentially spitting out an overload of spaghetti code and introducing governance & security issues. At the same time, established solutions like S

For the first time, Thinkwise supports an open source database with the introduction of PostgreSQL support. PostgreSQL is one of the most popular open source, enterprise-grade, relational database technologies worldwide. It is also not owned by a major tech company, but by the Postgres Global Development Group.With Indicium built on .NET technology, Universal on React, and now PostgreSQL available as a database option, organizations can build their Thinkwise Application environment on open source technologies. For independent software vendors developing products using the Thinkwise platform, or for government organizations with strict sovereignty requirements, this level of independence is valuable. It ensures that critical IT infrastructure remains under your control.The financial implications are also worth noting. As an open source solution, PostgreSQL eliminates database licensing fees. For organizations deploying databases on substantial server infrastructure, this can result in m

Select a version from the dropdown menuVersioning is now available for our Thinkwise Documentation. You can switch between different versions of the documentation using the version dropdown located at the top left of the page. This allows you to access documentation that corresponds to the specific version of the Thinkwise Platform you are using, ensuring that you have the most relevant and accurate information at your fingertips.Happy developing!  Do you have any questions or suggestions? Let us know in the Thinkwise Community! 

Creating Custom Components in Universal: A Step-by-Step Guide The Universal GUI in the Thinkwise Platform offers a versatile environment for developing custom components to enhance your application’s functionality. Our platform delivers a lot of standard ‘LEGO’ components, but sometimes you just need a block that is unique to your organisation. This guide will walk you through configuring the Software Factory (SF), setting up the Internet Information Services (IIS) directory, and configuring a custom component, along with event message settings.Universal has a dark and a light theme setting. This blog will show you how to follow that theme in a custom component.Let's get started!Custom components run with the same authentication session as Universal, so calls to Indicium inherit the user's credentials automatically.When calling external services or endpoints, treat all outgoing data with care: apply modern security standards, send only what is strictly necessary, and never transmit sen

The Thinkwise platform offers a comprehensive suite of built-in features that cover most application development needs. However, there are occasions when you need to extend your application with functionality that falls outside the platform's standard offerings. With version 2025.3, Thinkwise introduced a more structured approach to implementing custom components, opening up new possibilities for enriching your applications.Custom components enable you to integrate specialized views and tools that align perfectly with your business requirements. For example implementing a calendar view for activity management, embedding business process modelers for workflow visualization, or displaying interactive 3D product models for your catalogue. These additions can transform a functional application into one that precisely matches your operational needs.This blog builds upon our initial guide on custom component set up in Thinkwise applications, which you can find here:What You'll LearnIn this b

"You need to select the correct meta source." "When you run creation, it is important to first generate a model definition if you have made any changes." "It is important to synchronize to IAM to make your application model available to the runtime environment." Does this sound unfamiliar to you? If you're just starting out with the Thinkwise platform, chances are you have encountered phrases like these and wondered what they mean. Our platform is a powerful tool for application development, and learning the language is a key part of mastering it.To make that learning curve a little smoother, we have compiled a Glossary of Terms. In this glossary, we define and explain key terms and concepts used throughout our documentation and platform. With the glossary at your disposal, you can speed up your learning process and get back to what matters most: building great applications.The glossary is a living document. As the platform evolves, we will continue to expand and refine it over time. W