New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Subforms – Behavior Change for Unsupported Task Mode
Starting with this version, if an Online task that is running in a Subform control cannot be executed, the task and the host task will remain open. For example, when the Allow Empty Dataview property is set to No and the Create allowed mode task property is set to No, the task will behave as if the Allow Empty Dataview task property is set to Yes.
Requester Log – Number of Lines Threshold
The log key in the mgreq.ini file now supports an additional optional parameter named Number of Lines Threshold. This parameter allows you to change the total number of lines that will be stored in the log file. This setting applies only to the server-side log and not to the RIA log.
Android™ and iOS™
The Push Notification sample code is now integrated in the client.
Fixed Issues
• Various basic logging result file issues.
• Various DataViewToDataSource function related issues.
• 107793 – Incremental Locate on a local data source did not work after performing a sort in the task or if the Studio sort was defined in the task.
• 148195 – An error was displayed when the engine tried to relocate on the last parked record when the view was refreshed in an Offline program.
• 157636 – Magic xpa crashed when executing a Rich Client Offline program from a menu if the menu nesting level was greater than 3.
• 166547 – The Color and Font files in the Server cache were overwritten when dealing with multiple clients with different DPIs.
• 166745 – Subform initialization in Create mode showed the previous record values when the parent task mode was changed from Modify to Create, the Subform task mode was set to as 'As Parent', and the subform data source was a local data source.
• 172448 – The RIA Sever engine stopped working after duplicate requests were sent to the engine by the Trend Micro Web crawler.
• 174883 – A called program was immediately closed if it was opened from a newly created record.
• 175696 – An SQLite log file showed different context IDs for non-interactive tasks when the engine was running in the Background deployment mode.
Magic xpa 2.4b – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Allow Empty Dataview – Support Expression
The Allow Empty Dataview property now supports an expression, so you can condition whether a task will go into Create mode or remain in Query mode when no data exists.
Logging() Function – Single Context Logging
The Logging() function now supports an additional optional parameter to enable logging only on a specific context.
Rich Client – Additional Log Level
A new log level with the code of ‘B’ was added to the Broker, Requester, Client module and the server.
This level logs only HTTP request arrivals and departures. This level is meant to be used for troubleshooting of production (and also testing) systems, especially in the areas of communication and component handshaking
Rich Client – ClientDBDiscnt() Function
A new function was added in order to close the connection to the local database.
This is mostly required when copying the local database from the server using the ServerFileToClient() function.
Rich Client – ClientDBDel() Function
A new function was added in order to delete a data source from a local database.
This is mostly required when copying all the data of the data source from the server to the client.
Rich Client – DataviewToDataSource() Function
A new function was added in order to improve the performance of copying data between a server data source and a local data source and vice versa.
Note that this function is currently in beta status.
Refer to the Magic xpa Help for information on how to efficiently use the function.
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Rich Client – Folder and Wildcard Support in the ServerFileToClient() Function
The ServerFileToClient() function now supports transferring file names with wildcards (such as ‘c:\images\image*.jpg’) and folders (such as ‘c:\images’).
Implementing the ServerFileToClient() function on a collection of files or on a specific folder improves the flexibility of the code and the performance at runtime.
Rich Client – Run in Offline Even When Network Is Available
A new option was added to provide a way to start an application on the client without connecting to the server even if the network connection is available. This option enhances the startup performance since no connection to the server is made.
This new mode is enabled by setting the value of N for the ConnectOnStartup property available in the RIA execution properties.
Compatibility with Pervasive 11
Magic xpa was tested and is confirmed to be compatible with the Pervasive 11 database.
Next Window Event – Shortcut Change
The Ctrl+F6 shortcut for the Next Window event must now be defined in the Runtime Keyboard Mapping file in order for the shortcut to work. This definition is done automatically by the installation. However, if you use your own Runtime Keyboard Mapping file, then to switch between windows using the Ctrl+F6 shortcut, you need to add an additional entry in the keyboard mapping file for the Next Window event with the shortcut of Ctrl+F6.
Android™ and iOS™
The Android and iOS clients were enhanced and now support the following features:
• Performance improvements – The performance of different aspects of the clients was improved.
• Package resource files – It is now possible to package resource files (such as images and local database) in the mobile installation packages (APK and IPA). In order to include files in the package, you need to place them in the Assets subfolder in your customized application. These files will be copied to the cache folder after installing and starting the application on your device. Refer to the Developing Mobile Applications concept paper for additional information.
• Improved native code samples – The native code samples (such as push notification and image resize) are now part of the Rich Internet Samples project. These programs have a public name of RNCxx.
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A PDF file explaining the required native code changes is available for each of these samples in the Android and iOS subfolders under the Rich Internet Samples project folder.
iOS Only
• Xcode 5 and iOS 7 support – The iOS client now support iOS 7.
When compiling the client, you should use Xcode version 5.0.
Android Only
• Device DPI override mechanism – The Magic client relies on the DPI information defined in the device in order to display the controls in the same size on all the devices.
There are some devices, such as the HP Slate 21, that return a wrong DPI value and, therefore, the controls do not look good on them.
You can now override the device DPI values and define the correct value. This can be done by changing the custom_dpi.xml file in the RIAModules\Android\Source\Res\Values folder.
• Native code samples
o New sample for Barcode scanning using the ZBar SDK
o New sample for Image compression and resize
o Updated sample for Push Notification
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Magic xpa 2.4 – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Rich Client – Offline and Client-Side Storage
Magic xpa now enables Rich Internet/Client applications (RIA) to work while not connected to a server, and to store database information locally, on the client. You can now build applications with both connected and offline capabilities for Windows desktop, iOS and Android devices. Offline applications allow users to continue and be productive in areas with intermittent, limited or unavailable internet connectivity. While working offline, data is stored locally on a local database, and periodically, when internet connectivity resumes, you can synchronize it back to the server.
Using Offline programs and local storage can also improve performance by locally caching commonly used data, such as the one used in selection programs, so the server does not need to be accessed in order to fetch the data.
To benefit fully from this new functionality, we recommend that you read the Developing Offline Applications concept paper available in the Magic xpa Help.
Note: For iOS devices, the offline and client-side storage capabilities are in beta status. All other functionality offered by the iOS client is production ready.
The desktop and Android clients are fully supported for use with the new offline and client-side storage capabilities.
Rich Client – Application Startup – Behavior Change
Since Magic xpa now supports offline capabilities, when executing a Rich Client application when the server is unavailable, the application will remain open and will not be automatically closed. If you want to close the application in such a scenario, you can add a handler in the Main Program on the Unavailable Server event and in this handler, raise the Exit System event.
Rich Client – Delete Task Mode in Non-Interactive Tasks
Non-interactive Rich Client tasks now support the Delete task mode. This mode is especially useful to delete records from a client-side storage data source.
Rich Client – Disable the Retry Dialog Box on Network Error
A new function named ClientSessionSet was added to provide control of the current session parameters.
Currently this function supports the EnableCommunicationDialogs key with the values of True and False. Setting the value to False will not show the retry dialog box upon network error.
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This behavior is useful when the application is written to handle a network error, such as using Offline programs and client-side storage.
Rich Client – HTTP Timeout – Behavior Change
A new Magic.ini setting named HTTPRequestTimeout was added to define the time that the RIA client will retry sending the request to the server.
This setting exists under the MAGIC_RIA section in the Magic.ini file and has a default value of 5 seconds.
The existing HTTP Timeout environment setting only controls the execution of the HTTPGet, HTTPPost and HTTPCall functions.
Due to this change, the ClientNetworkRecoveryInterval setting is now deprecated.
Rich Client – First HTTP Request Timeout
A new execution.properties setting named FirstHTTPRequestTimeout was added to define the time that the RIA client will try connecting to the server at startup (first request).
The default value is 2 seconds to allow fast loading of the application. For non-offline enabled applications running on slow networks, it is advised to set this key with a higher value, such as 5 seconds in order to minimize the effect of communication failures.
Rich Client – Links on Virtual Variables – Behavior Change
In Rich Client tasks, when a Virtual variable without an init expression is changed, its value is seen on all of the records. However, links based on the new value were not refreshed in all of the records. This has now been changed, so, when changing a Virtual variable, if it appears in a link, and the link is based only on Virtual variables that do not have an init expression, then the link fields and the success indication variable will be updated in all of the records as well.
Rich Client – Startup Splash Screen
The Rich Client application will now show a splash screen immediately when it is launched.
For the Studio – You can change the splash screen by changing the startup.png file in the RIAModules\Desktop\Resources folder.
For Runtime – A new setting was added to the Rich Client Deployment Builder in which you can select the splash image.
Note that only PNG files are supported.
Rich Client – Keyboard Buffering
A new special setting named SpecialKeyboardBuffering buffers keystrokes that cannot be processed immediately and sends them to the control when available. This is relevant for Rich Client tasks and only when you are parked on a modifiable Edit control.
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Rich Client – Compatibility with Previous Versions’ Clients
Due to the changes made to support Offline programs, desktop and mobile clients from a previous version of Magic xpa will not work with the Magic xpa 2.4 server.
To use this version’s server, you must upgrade your clients to the same version.
Online – Migration from Version 1.9 Enhancements
The migration process from version 1.9 will now do the following for Online tasks:
• Attach controls to the column that they are placed on if the controls are not attached to that column.
• Place the Label control text as the column title text and remove the Label control for Label controls that are placed below a table header section.
Font Orientation Support
Font orientation is now supported for Label controls and the column headers in Online and RIA programs running on a Windows desktop.
End User Functionality Component Enhancement
The End User Functionality component used for user range, locate and sort now supports multiple columns with the same name.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) Support
The following functions were added to return the current UTC date and time: UTCDate, UTCTime and UTCmTime.
Calling Magic xpi 4.x Programs
It is possible to call Magic xpi 4.x programs using a Call Remote operation to a Magic xpi server.
The Magic xpi server should be defined with type = Magic xpi and server address = SpaceName=MAGIC_SPACE&LookupGroupName=<name>&LookupLocators=<host:[port]>.
Rich Client – Running a Program/Project from the Studio Directly on Android
A new option named Execution on Android was added to the Debug menu. When this option is toggled, the execution of a Rich Client program or the project will be done on an Android device or emulator.
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To use this feature, you need to follow the instructions detailed in the Execution on Android topic available in the Magic xpa Help.
Android™ and iOS™
The Android and iOS clients were enhanced and now support the following features:
• Connection Settings dialog box in the Generic Client – behavior change
In previous versions, the generic client opened the Connection Settings dialog box whenever the value entered was not accessible.
This was changed and now whenever the value entered is not accessible or the server is unavailable, the client will try to run the application without accessing the server (Offline).
If you want to change the value, you can do the following:
o On iOS – Change the value in the iOS device’s built-in Settings screen.
o On Android – Change the value in the Android device’s built-in Accounts screen. Note that the account detail screen also shows syncing capabilities. These capabilities are not supported and will not affect the application.
• URL Retrieval Timeout
A new execution.properties setting named URLRetrievalTimeout was added to define the time that the RIA client will try retrieving the file defined in the URL key in the execution.properties file.
The default value is 2 seconds to allow fast loading of the application. For applications running on slow networks, it is advised to set this key with a higher value, such as 5 seconds in order to minimize the effect of communication failures.
• Tab Order
The Tab Order property is now supported.
• Push Notification
A sample program and a step-by-step guide for how to implement push notification in your application was added to the Magic xpa Help.
To implement push notification in your application follow the instructions detailed in the Android Push Notification Sample and iOS Push Notification Sample help topics.
Android Only
• Minimum Android platform version for compilation
The minimum Android platform version for compilation (defined in the Target property of the settings.properties file) was changed from 11 to 15.
• Theme support
The Android client will now appear according to the Android OS theme. This means that applications running on Android 3 will appear with the Holo theme and applications running on Android 4 will use the OS default theme.
You can reverse this change and have the old appearance by deleting the values-v11 and values-v14 folders from the RIAModules\Android\Source\MgxpaRC\res folder in the installation folder.
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You can change the themes by modifying the themes.xml file in the values, values-v11 and values-v14 folders from the RIAModules\Android\Source\MgxpaRC\res folder in the installation folder.
• Scale to Fill image style
Images set with the Scale to Fill image style will now be shown centered to the form or control.
• Default alignment in Edit controls
You can now define that the content of an Edit control will be aligned using Android default alignment rules. For example, you can set that English text will be aligned to the left and Hebrew text to the right.
This can be done by setting the DefaultAlignment value to Y in the Edit control’s Additional Information property.
• PDF viewer
You can launch a third-party PDF viewer application installed on your device by using a client-side Invoke OS operation with the OS command pdf:filename (where filename is the PDF file in a public folder on your device, such as the /SDCARD folder). You can use the ServerFileToClient and ClientFileCopy functions to copy the file to that folder.
• Modifying Edit controls in a Table control
The Android operating system does not behave as expected when it needs to open a keyboard for an Edit control that is placed in a Table control. To solve this problem, by default, when clicking on a modifiable Edit control (which is not a Date or Time control) in a table, an Edit dialog box will be shown and users will enter their data in this dialog box.
If you want to maintain the previous behavior and enter your data in the Edit control inside the table, you can define the value editdialog=0 in the Additional Information property of the Edit control.
• Scrolling mechanism
The scrolling mechanism was improved and now supports scrolling on both parent and nested objects. The values of ScrollHorizontal and ScrollVertical in the Additional Information property are therefore no longer required and were removed.
• Manifest and Source files
The AndroidManifest.xml file and the java source files were changed. If you changed these files in your application, you will need to make these changes in the new files.
BlackBerry Support
The BlackBerry client is no longer supported.
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The Magic Compare
Magic Software is happy to introduce Ocean Solutions’s complementary utility – the Magic Compare. The Magic Compare provides visual comparison of two projects or within a single project and locates all changes between repositories, objects, properties, and so on.
This version of the Magic Compare is a limited evaluation version displaying a partial compare results list.
To obtain a fully operational license of the Magic Compare, please contact Ocean Solutions at info@magic-optimizer.com.
Magic xpa Step-by-Step Video Clips
Magic now offers a collection of video clips that demonstrate how to use various Magic xpa features. New video clips are being added to our YouTube channel on an ongoing basis. To see the video clips, click here.
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Magic xpa 2.3a – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Android™ and iOS™ – Spinner Display
The Android and iOS clients now display a spinner when the application is busy.
Android™ – Cache Folder
The Android client supports the ‘temp’ keyword in the ClientOSEnvGet() function to retrieve the cache folder (as in iOS).
Controls’ SWFName Property
The value of the SWFName property of the controls can now be set with the value of Magic xpa’s Control Name property if the Control Name property has a value and when the SpecialSwfControlNameProperty special setting is set to Y.
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Magic xpa 2.3 – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Table Control – Multi-Mark Support in Online Tasks
Multi-marking is now supported for Table controls in Online tasks.
A row is marked by clicking on it. The Marking Column property is, therefore, obsolete and no longer supported.
Window Pulldown Menu Support for Online Applications
The Window pulldown menu is now supported and behaves similar to the V1.9x menu.
This menu will show all the windows defined with Show in Window Menu = Yes. The More Windows entry is, therefore, obsolete and no longer supported.
Label Control – Expression Support in Online Tasks
Expressions are now supported for the Label control in both Online and Rich Client tasks.
.NET Data View Control Binding in Online Tasks
It is now easier than ever to use .NET grid controls in Magic xpa.
A new property named Dataview Control was added to both the .NET control and the .NET control model so that you can define a .NET control as the dataview control. This definition means that the entire task data view will be assigned to the DataSource property of the .NET control.
You can now use any .NET control grid instead of the Magic xpa built-in Table control. Any modification made to the Magic xpa variables will be automatically reflected in the .NET control grid and vice versa.
Note that at this point this functionality is supported in Online tasks only and when the Preload View = Yes.
For more information on how to use .NET dataview control binding, see the .NET Tutorial sample installed with Magic xpa.
.NET Choice Controls’ Data
It is now easier than ever to use .NET choice controls in Magic xpa.
A few new properties were added to the .NET control model so that you can define the .NET control properties for the data source, display member, and value member values.
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After these properties are defined, the .NET control placed on the Form Editor will have the same properties as the built-in choice controls, so you can use the .NET control in the same way as you use any Magic xpa built-in choice control.
For more information on how to use .NET data binding, see the .NET Tutorial sample installed with Magic xpa.
.NET Data Binding – Behavior Change
When using a .NET control defined with data binding and updating the .NET control, Magic xpa automatically updates the Magic xpa variable with the .NET control value.
If after the update, the values in the Magic xpa variable and the .NET control are different, the control will be updated with the Magic xpa variable value (instead of keeping the typed value as in previous versions).
.NET in Batch Tasks Called from Rich Client Tasks
It is now possible to run .NET code in a Batch task called from a Rich Client task.
Note that:
• A client side .NET object (defined in a Rich Client task) will not be available on the server side (Batch task) and vice versa.
• It is not possible to send .NET variables as a parameter to a Batch task.
Generic Server Error Messages in Rich Client Applications – Behavior Change
At runtime, when there is an error serving a request (such as Server not found), a generic message containing only the error code will be shown (instead of showing a full message exposing the server address).
You can still have the previous functionality by specifying the ‘N’ value in the DisplayGenericError property in the execution properties.
List Box Control – Multi-Mark Support in Rich Client Tasks
Multi-marking is now supported for List Box controls in both Online and Rich Client tasks.
Edit Control – Vertical Alignment Support in Rich Client Tasks
Vertical Alignment is now supported for Edit controls in both Online and Rich Client tasks.
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Choice Controls – Data Source Properties
The data source properties (such as Item list and Display list) of choice controls were separated into a new group named Data Source.
Form – Startup Position Property
The Windows default bounds and Windows default location values were renamed to OS default bounds and OS default location respectively.
Tab Control – Hebrew Version
The Hebrew version is now aligned with the English version and supports the following properties for the Tab control:
• Tabs width
• Hot Track
• Multiline
• Image list fie name
• Image list indexes
These properties affect runtime only. They do not affect the Form Editor of the Hebrew version.
Functions – Data View Variables’ Indexes
A new function named DataViewVarsIndex() was added to retrieve the data view variables’ indexes.
Functions – Names and Types of Global Parameters and Shared Values
The following functions were added to retrieve the names and the type of the global parameters and shared values:
• GetParamNames()
• GetParamAttr()
• SharedValGetNames()
• SharedValGetAttr()
Background Mode – Showing the Verify Message Box
A new special setting named SpecialAppServerAllowVerifyInBox was added to allow opening the message box of the Verify operation when the engine is running as an application server in Online deployment mode.
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Application Installation Utility – Govern Web Service Installations
A new option was added to the application installation utility to define whether or not to install Systinet.
Enable Usage of 3-GB Address Space
The Magic xpa engine can now access a 3-GB address space.
For this to work you must modify the Boot.ini file to enable application memory tuning. To do this, add the /3GB parameter to the ARC path in the Boot.ini file. Refer to:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff556232(v=vs.85).aspx.
Using Magic xpa from .NET Applications
It is now possible for .NET applications, such as ASP.NET or a .NET web service, to interact with Magic xpa.
For more information, please see the Managed Requesters Help page.
Broker Execution
When launching the broker, it will now be launched as one process (without a watchdog process as implemented in previous versions). If you need to load the watchdog process, you can start the broker with the -StartAsWatchdog parameter.
Note: This is only applicable if the broker is started as an executable (not as a service).
Rich Client Deployment Builders – Mobile Device Support
The Rich Client Deployment Builder now creates Android, iOS and BlackBerry packages.
For iOS, since the compilation is done on a Mac machine, the builder will generate the required files. Therefore, you should simply copy them to the Mac and run the build script. You may also need to copy the iTunesArtwork and iTunesArtwork@2x files to the Mac.
Note that the deployment files for each operating system will be created in a subfolder with the same name as the operating system. If you want to maintain the previous folder structure for Windows desktop deployment, use the builder metadata file from the previous version.
Rich Client Form Editor – Combo Box Height
The Combo Box control’s Height property is now modifiable on Rich Client forms so it can be used to define the controls’ height on Android and iOS clients.
On Windows platforms, the value of this property has no effect since the Windows combo box control ignores the Height property and calculates the height according to the font used.
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Rich Client Form Editor – Z-order Limitation
The limitation of setting a manual z-order for some controls to be above other controls (such as to define an Edit control with a z-order value higher than a Button control z-order) was removed, so that it can be used to define the controls’ z-order on Android and iOS clients.
On Windows platforms, combinations that are not allowed are still not supported, so they will be ignored.
Android™ and iOS™
The Android and iOS clients were enhanced and now support the following features:
• Edit control – behavior change
o Alpha and Unicode – picture mask
The picture mask of Alpha and Unicode Edit controls is now calculated when leaving the control (instead of after typing a character). This change provides support for the built-in auto-complete feature of the mobile devices.
o Date and Time – pickers
When the focus moves to an editable Date or Time Edit control, the native OS date or time picker will be opened.
If you want to update the Edit control manually without a picker, you can use the 'picker=0' value in the Additional Information property of the control.
• Resources per platform and device characteristics The Android and iOS RIA mobile client now support alternative resources to support specific device configurations.
You can define multiple copies for the same resource and place them in specific folders on the server. The RIA client will automatically retrieve the matching resource according to the device platform, resolution and DPI.
This can be used, for example, to automatically support:
o Images for different resolutions.
o Font files and color files for different platforms.
For example, if the runtime font file is Support\fnt_rnt.eng, then you can put the Android font file at Support\Android\fnt_rnt.eng and the iOS font file at Support\iOS\fnt_rnt.eng.
At runtime, the appropriate font file will be used automatically, if it exists. There is no need to define this file implicitly.
This is also the case for images. For example, you can place an HDPI image at c:\images\Android\hdpi\ and an LDPI image at c:\images\Android\ldpi\. At runtime, the appropriate image file will be retrieved automatically (if such a file exists).
For more information about how to use alternative images, refer to the Alternative images (Android and iOS) section in the RIA for Mobile Devices concept paper.
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• The controls’ border can be fully customized for controls with a non-system color by using the following values in the Additional Information property:
o 'BorderWidth=xxx' – the border width
o 'BorderColor=xxx' – the border color from the color table
o 'BorderFocusWidth=xxx' – the border width when the Edit control is in focus
o 'BorderFocusColor=xxx' – the border color when the Edit control is in focus
• The corner radius of the Text, Edit, Button, Group and Image controls can be fully customized for controls with a non-system color by using the following values in the Additional Information property:.
o 'CornerRadius=xxx' – defines the controls' corner radius
Note: For iOS devices, the Subform and Table controls also support this functionality.
• The internal Press event is raised when performing a long-press gesture on a control or form on the mobile device.
• The application area size in inches can be retrieved using the device_physical-width and device_physical-height values in the ClientOSEnvGet() function. These values can be used, for example, to determine whether the device is a phone or a tablet.
• The Row Highlight Style property is now supported.
• Gradient Support – The form and the Group and Push Button controls support the following gradient styles: Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal Left and Diagonal Right.
Note: On Android devices, the Label control also supports the above gradient styles.
• Launching the application from another application You can launch your application from another application or from an email using a URI convention such as myapp://?parameters on iOS and http://com.mycompany.myapp?parameters on Android. The query parameters sent to the application can be retrieved using the ClientOSEnvGet function with the value of 'device_udf|getargs'. For more information about how to use this feature, refer to the Launching the application from another application section in the RIA for Mobile Devices concept paper.
iOS Only
• Fixed orientation form, so the form will not be rotated upon screen rotate.
This is done by defining the value of the Additional Information form property to orientation=portrait or orientation=landscape (as in Android).
• OS commands are now supported when defined as a menu entry (as in Android).
• Popup screens are supported by defining the popup=Y value in the Additional Information form property (as in Android).
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On iOS devices, unlike Android, the window size and location can be defined using the navigation properties and the Startup Position property.
• Printing a PDF using the AirPrint protocol.
Printing a PDF can be done via the Invoke OS command with the command of Print:filename, where filename is either:
o A path to a local file (as received from the ServerFileToClient() function)
o A URL to a file on a web server (such as 'http://1.1.1.1/myfile.pdf')
Android and BlackBerry Only
• Popup screen support – behavior change
Popup screens are now defined using the popup=Y value in the Additional Information form property.
The previous way (using a Floating window type) is no longer supported.
If you used the Floating window type in previous versions, you need to manually update your application,
Prerequisites Update
The minimum .NET Framework version required to run Magic xpa is V2.0 SP2 (instead of SP1). When using this version, you also need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable.
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Magic xpa 2.2a – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
As Parent Initial Mode in Rich Client Tasks
The behavior of the As Parent initial mode in Rich Client tasks was changed and it will now be recomputed when there is a change in the parent task mode (instead of being set only once when the subform task is opened).
Database Connection Pooling
Magic xpa uses a database pooling mechanism that allows for sharing of connections between different contexts.
This behavior improves the efficiency and the performance of the server.
However, there are scenarios in which you need a separate connection per RIA client, so when the context is closed, so does the connection.
This can now be done by setting the new SpecialDatabaseConnectionPooling flag to N.
Android™ and iOS™
The Android and iOS clients were enhanced and now support the following features:
• Subform control
• Client side images
• Spinner display – This is done using the SetCrsr() function.
• Image picker from the gallery – This is done by sending the value of ‘images’ in the ClientFileOpenDlg() function’s second argument.
• Call to a native OS code – This is done by evaluating the ClientOSEnvGet() function with the value of ‘device_udf|my_string’.
Performing this action will send the value ’my_string’ to the function named userDefinedFunction in the mobile application code.
• Call from the native OS code to the application – This is done by running the invokeExternalEvent(“my_string”) command in the native OS code. Performing this action will raise the internal event named ‘External Event’ in the Magic xpa application and send the value ‘my_string’ to it.
iOS Only
• Simpler customization methodology – The iOS application customization settings (such as defining the package name and the provision file) were changed and are now defined in a single file named settings.properties as in Android.
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Android Only
• Fixed orientation form, so the form will not be rotated upon screen rotate – This is done by defining the value of the Additional Information form property to orientation=portrait or orientation=landscape.
• Define scrolling on the form or its controls – The Android interface allows only one scroll object inside a hierarchy. This means that, for example, if the form has a scrollable object, such as a Table, Browser or Subform control, then the scroll can be done in either the form or the subobject, but not in both. You can set the scrolling for the form or its controls by defining the value of the Additional Information property of the form or its controls to scrollhorizontal=X or scrollvertical=X where X can be Y or N.
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Magic xpa 2.2 – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Dependency in Mshtml.dll in Rich Client Tasks
The Mshtml.dll file is no longer required to run Rich Client tasks.
If your RIA application needs to use the BrowserScriptExecute() function, then it should include a reference in the CRR to this dll file.
Additional Functions Supported in Rich Client Tasks
The SubformExecMode, MnuRemove and MnuReset functions are now also supported in Rich Client tasks.
Status Bar Panes in Rich Client Tasks
The task mode, wide and zoom indications can be seen in the status bar of a RIA application using a new special setting named SpecialShowStatusBarPanes.
Spanish Language Support
Magic xpa now supports a Spanish Language Studio.
The new language was added to the Language list in the installation wizard.
Android™ Support
The Android client was enhanced with the following features:
• Simpler customization methodology
• Repackaging script
• Support device location (GPS)
• Accessing the mobile devices’ capabilities (telephone, text messages, emails)
• Support of the Row Highlight Color property for the Table control
iOS™ Support
The iOS client was enhanced with the following features:
• Support of the Row Highlight Color property for the Table control
• Support of the Subform control (Beta feature)
Refer to the RIA for Mobile Devices PDF or to the RIA for Mobile Devices concept paper available in the Magic xpa Help.
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BlackBerry™ Support
The BlackBerry client is now available as part of the installation.
In addition, the BlackBerry client was enhanced with the following features:
• Support of the Line and Group controls
• Support of the Wallpaper form property
• Support encryption of messages between the client and the server (The SpecialClientSecureMessages=N is no longer required.)
Change of behavior:
• Forms with a Floating window type will now open as a popup window. The Title Bar property, which previously defined if the window opened as a popup window, is now supported for full and popup windows and defines whether a title bar will be shown.
• The forms will be automatically scaled according to the device’s DPI.
Refer to the RIA for Mobile Devices PDF or to the RIA for Mobile Devices concept paper available in the Magic xpa Help.
BlackBerry PlayBook™ Support
Magic xpa RIA client can run on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet using the PlayBook’s BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps’ capabilities.
The script for repackaging an Android 2.3.3 RIA application to BAR file format, which is the compatible file format required for an application to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS, is available as part of the installation.
Network Installation
The .NET runtime security policy (by default) disables code from running if it exists on a network drive. To run Magic xpa from a network drive you need to adjust your security policy.
This can be done via the Microsoft .NET Configuration tool or by running the following command:
c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\caspol.exe -machine
-addgroup All_Code -strong -file <path>MgxpaRuntime.exe -noname -noversion FullTrust -name Magicxpa_Assemblies_Access -description "Code group granting trust to Magic xpa assemblies"
This command needs to be executed only once in each of the computers.
You can also add a –silent key for a silent installation.
Mobile Application Samples
A sample project named Mobile Demo was added to demonstrate how you can write mobile applications using the mobile device capabilities of Magic xpa’s RIA technology.
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Magic’s Company Rebranding: A New Look for a New Age of Magic
Magic is launching its rebranding as a proactive strategic move to reflect the exciting changes that we are undergoing as a company and the major developments in our product offering.
Magic’s rebranding highlights our company values, the set of beliefs that guide and inspire us at every level throughout our organization.
For our brand architecture—the framework that defines the relationship between the corporate brand and the product portfolio—we have chosen to use the 'master brand' model, focusing more on our company brand (Magic) rather than on the branding assigned to our different products and services. This emphasizes that Magic’s different products are all instances of the same unified technology stack and the same fresh approach to enterprise software.
Accordingly, we have renamed our products as follows:
• uniPaaS is now named Magic xpa Application Platform
• iBOLT is now named Magic xpi Integration Platform
Magic's rebranding aims to illustrate that all our corporate activities and communications are infused with our core values, differentiating us from competitors, strengthening our relationships with customers, and increasing the popularity of our products and services.
Renaming of Product Executables
As part of the rebranding process, some of the product files were renamed, including:
• uniStudio.exe, which is now called MgxpaStudio.exe
• uniRTE.exe, which is now called MgxpaRuntime.exe
• uniRQBroker.exe, which is now called MgBroker.exe
• uniRQMonitor.exe, which is now called MgBrokerMonitor.exe
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uniPaaS 2.1 – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Android and iOS Support
The uniPaaS RIA client is now capable of running on Android™ and iOS™ devices.
As for the Windows Mobile and BlackBerry, the Magic RIA client for Android and iOS is a native operating system (OS) application implementing the Magic RIA client protocol. Using the Magic RIA client for the different mobile devices, developers can deploy enterprise connected, highly interactive RIA applications on the different mobile devices.
Note that the RIA client for Android is a Beta version.
Refer to the RIA for Mobile Devices PDF or to the RIA for Mobile Devices concept paper available in the Magic xpa Help.
Call to a Destination Subform or Frame in Online Tasks
The Call operation in Online programs was enhanced with a new property called ‘Destination’. This property provides the ability to dynamically call a program or a task and run it in a subform or a frame (similar to Rich Client).
Retain Focus in Online Tasks
The Call operation in Online programs was enhanced with a new property called ‘Retain Focus’. This property defines whether the focus will remain on the current control or be moved to the first control of the called program or task after executing the Call operation.
This property is enabled when performing the call from a logic unit other than the Task, Record, or Control logic units to a destination subform or frame using the Destination property.
Parallel Execution in Online Tasks
Parallel execution is now supported for Online tasks.
The Application Modal window type was removed and the Modal window type will behave as the old Application Modal.
The Window menu and window-related events are still not supported.
View Refresh in Rich Client Tasks
The View Refresh behavior in Rich Client tasks was enhanced. After performing a view refresh with ‘Relocate Mode=0’, the position of the current record now remains as-is (and is not changed to be the first record).
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Row Placement Property in a Table Control
A new property was added to support the fixed number of table records.
Setting this property value to Yes means that the row’s height will be resized according to the table’s height, thus keeping the same number of records as designed in the Studio.
Default Location of Forms
A new option named Windows Default Location was added to the form’s Startup Position property. When using this option, the form is positioned at the Windows default location and has the dimensions specified in the form’s size.
The Default option in which the form is positioned at the Windows default location and has the bounds determined by the Windows default was renamed to Windows Default Bounds.
.NET Data Binding
It is now easier than ever to use uniPaaS data variables with .NET controls.
Two new properties were added to the .NET control model so that you can define the .NET control property to which you want to bind the data and the event that will be the trigger for the data update.
After these properties are defined, you can use the .NET control in the same way as you use any uniPaaS built-in control. You simply need to attach your data variable to the .NET control’s Data property.
The previous functionality of assigning a .NET variable to the .NET control is still supported and can be done by using the .NET Object property in the .NET control.
For more information on how to use .NET data binding, see the .NET Tutorial sample installed with uniPaaS.
.NET – DataViewToDNDataTable() Function
A new function was added to create a .NET DataTable object out of the task’s data view.
The .NET DataTable objects can then be used as the data source of other .NET objects.
.NET Controls – Change of Behavior
When clicking on a .NET control defined with Allow Parking = No, the focus will not leave the current control or record.
Requester and Broker Logs – Default File Names
The default value for the requester and broker logs were changed as follows:
mrb_event.log => BrokerActivity.log, mrb.log => Broker.log, req.log => Requester.log
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Mobile Devices – Additional Information
A new property was added to allow maximum flexibility with mobile device properties.
This property will be used to send specific pre-defined information to the mobile devices.
Mobile Devices – Press Event
A new event was added to handle the long press on a control in mobile devices. At this stage, this event is supported for BlackBerry only.
.NET 3rd Party Samples
A new sample project was added to demonstrate how you can use 3rd party .NET objects and controls in your application to improve the functionality and user interface.
The 3rd party assemblies are not included with this package and should be downloaded from the 3rd party vendor site as described in the sample programs.
Note: If your 3rd party package version is different than the one used in the samples, you will have to replace the assemblies defined in the CRR with the ones from your version.
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uniPaaS 2.0a – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
MDI Frame Color
A new color was added to the default color file with the value corresponding to an MDI Frame background.
This color is used as the MDI Form color in newly created projects (and can be changed in the proper ties of the Main Program form).
End-User Functionality Component
The End-User Functionality component is now added by default to newly created projects.
A new option was added in the migration wizard, which lets you select whether to also add this component to the migrated project.
Note that if you want to use both this component and the Report Generator, then the Report Generator component should be defined above the End-User Functionality component.
Subform Behavior
A new property named Refresh When Hidden was added to the Subform control in Online tasks.
This property provides the ability to load and refresh the task running in the Subform control the same way it was done in uniPaaS 1.9.
A value of Yes means that the subform tasks will be called for the first time after the Record Prefix of the host and again after each refresh of the subform. (This is similar to the behavior in uniPaaS 1.9 when the subform was attached to a container control and the container control was hidden.)
A value of No means that the subform tasks will be called only if the subform is visible. (This is similar to the behavior in uniPaaS V1.9 when the subform had a Visible expression.)
For nested subforms defined with a value of No, if the parent subform has a value of Yes at runtime, then the nested subform wi ll also be executed with a value of Yes.
The migration from uniPaaS 1.x will set the value of this property as follows:
• No – When the subform is attached to a container control.
• Yes – When the subform has a Visible expression.
• Exp – When the subform is attached to a container control and also has a Visible expression. The expression is the expression of the Visible property.
In addition, up until this version, when clicking on a Subform control, the Control Prefix and Control Suffix of the first control were always executed. This is now fixed, so only the Control Prefix of the clicked control will be executed.
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EDP File Structure
The EDP file was changed a bit to prevent opening a uniPaaS 2.0 project in previous versions, in order to maintain the integrity of the sources.
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uniPaaS 2.0 – New Features, Feature Enhancements and Behavior Changes
Prerequisites
uniPaaS is a native .NET application, so in order to run uniPaaS on your machine, you must have .NET framework installed on your machine with one of the following configurations:
• Both .NET Framework V2.0 SP1 and Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable.
You can install them by running the NetFx20SP1_x86.exe and VCRedist_x86.exe files from the Scripts\RIA folder.
• .NET Framework V3.5 (or above)
Network Installation
The .NET runtime security policy (by default) disables code from running if it exists on a network drive. To run uniPaaS from a network drive you need to adjust your security policy.
This can be done via the Microsoft .NET Configuration tool or by running the following command:
c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\caspol.exe -machine -addgroup All_Code -strong -file <path>uniRTE.exe -noname -noversion FullTrust -name uniPaaS_Assemblies_Access –description "Code group granting trust to uniPaaS assemblies"
This command needs to be executed only once in each of the computers.
You can also add a –silent key for a silent installation.
Online Changes
In uniPaaS 2.0, the Online GUI is based on the .NET framework instead of Win32.
The .NET framework does not support all the appearances and control behaviors that were supported in previous versions, so there is a change in the uniPaaS Runtime appearance as well.
For a full list of changes, refer to the What's Different in uniPaaS 2.0 help topic.
Some of the major enhancements are described below.
.NET Integration in Online and Batch Tasks
.NET Integration was introduced to RIA applications in uniPaaS V1.8.
With this release you can enhance your Client/Server application offering by easily embedding and integrating any .NET control or assembly in your Online and Batch tasks.
For more information on how to add and manipulate .NET modules, see the .NET Tutorial sample installed with uniPaaS.
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Online MDI
The Online Runtime MDI Frame is now defined as any other form in the Main Program (similar to the Rich Client MDI Frame).
The benefit of this change is the centralizing of all the form properties from the different locations they were once defined in, into a single location.
The MDI can be disabled by defining Open Task Window = No in the Main Program properties.
Online Frameset
Splitter forms are now defined using a frameset form for an Online task (as in Rich Client tasks) instead of using a Splitter form.
User State Persistency in Online Tasks
The Online task’s form state persistency is now defined as a simple Yes/No property.
This change makes it simpler to use the form state persistency since you now do not need to define and maintain a list of unique identifier names for your forms.
Rich Client – Hebrew Support
The Logical() and Visual() functions are supported.
Rich Client – Forms
All UOM types (dialog units, centimeters, inches) are supported.
Rich Client – Drag and Drop
1. Drag & drop is supported for all of the controls.
2. User-defined format is supported.
3. DragSetCrsr() function is supported.
Rich Client – Post Refresh by Parent Event
A new internal event was added to execute logic every time the subform is refreshed.
This event is raised before the Record Prefix in the subform task when the subform is refreshed by the parent. The event is raised when one of the following occurs:
1. The subform is defined with Auto Refresh=Y and a variable sent to the subform as a parameter is changed.
2. The Subform Refresh event is raised.
3. The subform is executed for the first time.
The event is not raised when a ‘View Refresh’ is raised in the subform task.
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Sample Projects
Additional sample programs were added to the Online Samples and Rich Internet Samples projects. The new sample programs are for some of the uniPaaS functions and for connectivity to Google Calendar, Google Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
uniPaaS 1.x Release Notes
For information about uniPaaS 1.x releases, see the PastReleaseNotes.pdf file.
Magic Software Enterprises Ltd provides the information in this document as is and without any warranties, including merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will Magic Software Enterprises Ltd be liable for any loss of profit, business, use, or data or for indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages of any kind whether based in contract, negligence, or other tort. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd may make changes to this document and the product information at any time without notice and without obligation to update the materials contained in this document. Magic is a trademark of Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. Copyright © Magic Software Enterprises, 2014
Magic xpa 2.4c