Perform a New Install

The Digitise Apps Product Download includes two standard Windows setups which enable you to install Digitise Apps to development PCs and central App Server machines, and to install the Digitise Apps Windows Desktop Client to Windows tablets or laptops. It also includes install files for Android and Windows Universal versions of the standard Digitise Apps Client.

This topic describes installing the software to development PCs and installing the App Server software using the Windows setups on machines which haven't previously had Digitise Apps or Digitise Apps' predecessor, MX, installed. For information about upgrading an existing installation to the latest version of Digitise Apps, see Upgrade to the Latest Version of Digitise Apps.

 

To install the Digitise Apps software to development and App Server machines:

  1. Create a temporary folder on each machine (physical or virtual) on which you want to install the software and copy the downloaded product zip file into this folder. Alternatively, create your temporary folder somewhere from which you can access and run the files from your other machines, e.g. on a network drive or USB stick. Unzip the file into the temporary folder, maintaining the original internal folder structure.

  2. Run ndl-software_autorun.exe from the unzipped Product Download root folder, e.g., by double-clicking on it in Windows Explorer.

    If you get a message asking if you want to allow the program to make changes to your computer, choose Yes.

    • When installing Digitise Apps under Windows, if you experience problems during the install, you may need to run the setup as an administrator. Cancel the installation and then run ndl-software_autorun.exe again from the Product Download root folder by right-clicking on the file and choosing Run as administrator.

  3. The Installation menu will load:

    Picture showing the autorun install menu.

  4. The Installation menu provides two installation options:

    Digitise Apps

    Run the Digitise Apps setup wizard, allowing you to choose which Digitise Apps components you want to install and specify certain configuration settings, before installing your selected software.

    Digitise Apps Windows Desktop Client

    Installs the Digitise Apps Windows Desktop Client for Windows devices. This option runs a separate Windows Desktop Client install which only installs this version of the Digitise Apps Client.

    For more details see Install Windows Desktop Clients and Standalone Apps.

     

    In addition to the install options, the Help items on the right will open this online help at an appropriate page. The What's New link will take you to an overview of the new features in this release.

  5. In this topic we will assume you are installing the full software. If you only want to install the Digitise Apps Windows Desktop Client, refer to the link given above.

    Choose Digitise Apps under Installs. This option allows you to install the full Digitise Apps software or choose which components you want to install.

  6. The setup wizard will load.

  7. A dialog box may appear telling you that you need to install one or more software packages which Digitise Apps requires in order to work, e.g. one or more Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable packages.

    Click on the Install button to install the listed components.

    If, after the components have been installed, you are asked if you want to reboot now, click on Yes to perform the reboot – do not postpone it for later.

    After the reboot, the install should automatically reload and continue, but if not, you will need to reload the Installation menu and start the install again, as described above.

  8. The Welcome screen will be displayed. Click Next > to continue.

  9. The Licence Agreement is displayed. Read the licence terms and then select the radio button to accept the terms if you agree, and then click Next >.

    If you don't agree with the Licence terms and don't wish to install the software, click Cancel instead to exit the setup.

  10. The Customer Information screen is displayed. Enter your name and organisation. Click Next >.

  11. A list of the Digitise Apps components will be displayed allowing you to choose which components you want to install.

    For an App Server installation, we recommend you install all the default components.

    For development PCs, we recommend you retain all the default components. Installing all the default components will include installing a copy of the App Server and the Windows Desktop Client on the development machine which can be used for testing Digitise apps developed on that machine, simplifying the development process.

    The Windows Desktop Client component will install the standard Digitise Apps Windows Desktop Client to this machine.

    The Windows Universal Client component will copy over the install files for an NDL-signed version of the standard Digitise Apps Windows Universal Client.

    The Android Client component will copy over the install files for the standard Digitise Apps Client for Android devices.

    The iOS web installation files component copies sample web page files, which can be used as a guide to create a web site to download Digitise apps to users' Apple devices. For more details about using Digitise Apps with Apple devices see: Develop Digitise apps for Apple iOS Devices and Install Clients and Standalone Apps on Apple Devices.

     

    To deselect a component so that it isn't installed, click on the icon to the left of the component, Picture showing the icon used to include or exclude a component from the installation., and then choose This feature will not be available. from the menu displayed. The icon will change to Picture showing the icon used to indicate a component has been excluded from the installation., indicating that the component won't be installed. To include a deselected component, click on the Picture showing the icon used to indicate a component has been excluded from the installation. icon to the left of the component and choose This feature will be installed on local hard drive. The icon will change to Picture showing the icon used to indicate a component which will be included in the installation., indicating that the component will be installed. You can ignore the other options on the drop-down menu as they aren't relevant for Digitise Apps installations.

    For this topic, we will assume that you select to install all the default components. If you only select a sub-set of the components, the procedure is basically the same as described below but you will only be asked to enter information relevant to the components you selected and so you may not see all the setup screens described.

     

    By default, the software components you select will be installed to:

    32-bit Operating Systems:

    C:\Program Files\NDL Software\Digitise Apps

    64-bit Operating Systems:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\NDL Software\Digitise Apps

    If you want to install the files to a different folder, choose the Change button to display the Change Current Destination Folder page. Browse for or enter your new location and then choose the OK button.

     

    Click Next > to continue.

  12. The Database Server screen appears.

    This screen allows you to specify information required to create the App Server Configuration Database. This database will be used to store the App Server configuration settings, details of apps published to the App Server, diagnostic and audit log messages, and usage statistics.

    You will need to tell the setup which instance of SQL Server you want to use to hold this database, provide a name to be used for the database and supply user credentials to be used to access the SQL Server to create the database. If the database you name here doesn't already exist, it will be created by the setup in the instance of SQL Server you specify.

    You can use a local copy of SQL Server running on the same machine as you are installing Digitise Apps or on a remote copy running on a different machine, providing that the machine you are installing Digitise Apps on is able to connect to the SQL Server you specify.

    By default, the Configuration Database will be called ndlmetamx, but you can change the name of the database if you want to. For example, to use the same instance of SQL Server for multiple copies of Digitise Apps you would need to give each copy of Digitise Apps its own database with a unique name within this instance of SQL Server.

    You also need to provide user credentials to access the SQL Server. The user you specify must have SQL administrator rights in order to create the database. You can enter details of a SQL user or you can use Windows Authentication to authenticate using the user under which you are installing Digitise Apps.

    By default, Digitise Apps connects to SQL Server using a Microsoft OLE DB client, which requires the security protocols TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 to be enabled. If the machine running the SQL Server has these protocols disabled, the install will not be able to connect to the SQL Server instance and won't be able to create the Configuration Database.

    If you don’t know whether TLS 1.0 and 1.1 have been disabled or not, enter the connection details as you would if TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are not disabled (see below) and then click Next >. If the next screen of the install wizard displays, the install can connect to the SQL Server and TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are not disabled. If, on the other hand, you get an SSL Security error displayed, TLS 1.0 and 1.1 have been disabled – click OK to dismiss the message to return to the Data connection details page and then follow the instruction for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 disabled below.

    Leave the Database Server field blank (delete the contents if it has a value) and then click Next >. This will perform the upgrade without attempting to create the Configuration Database. Once the install has completed, you will need to manually create the database and configure App Manager and App Server to use it. See Manually Create the App Server Configuration Database for more information. Please contact the NDL Helpdesk if you need assistance with this process.

     

    We recommend that you create the App Server Configuration Database as part of the Digitise Apps install if possible, but if you can’t enter the required information now, e.g. if you want to use Windows Authentication to access SQL Server but the current user doesn’t have sufficient privileges to create the database, you can create the database later after the installation has finished. In this case, leave all the fields on this page blank and click Next >.

    If you are able to create the App Server Configuration Database, first specify the SQL Server instance to use to host the database in the Database Server field. Type in the name of the SQL Server, select it from the drop-down list or browse for it using the Browse button.

    If you want to change the name of the database, enter the name you want to use in the Database Catalog field, otherwise leave the default name of ndlmetamx.

    Next, under Connect using select the login authentication method you want App Server to use when connecting to the SQL Server - select Windows authentication ... to use the current user’s Windows credentials, i.e. the user under which you are installing Digitise Apps, or Server authentication ... to enter a specific SQL Server username and password to be used ("SQL authentication"). In either case, remember that the user you specify MUST have SQL administrator rights to the database.

      • If you choose to use SQL authentication, be aware that the username and password you specify are included in the connection string, in plain unencrypted text. You will also need to configure your SQL Server to allow SQL authentication.

      • If you choose to use Windows authentication to log in to a SQL Server which is running on a separate PC to your App Server, be aware that because the App Server runs under the System Account, the account has no username/password with which to be authenticated. Therefore, if your SQL Server is running on a separate machine to that on which you are installing the App Server, you will need to configure your SQL Server to specify the machine name of the App Server PC as the SQL login.
        If you want to use Windows authentication to access a SQL Server which is running on the same PC as your App Server, you will need to configure the relevant permissions within SQL Server for the System Account.

      • For some additional useful information about configuring SQL Server in both these cases, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

    Click Next > to continue.

     

  13. The Licence screen will now be displayed.

    You should have received a licence file for your Digitise Apps software in the email notifying you about downloading the software from our web site. To import this file, click Import Licence File and then browse to locate the file. Select the file and click on the Open button or double-click the file. The licence information fields will be filled in automatically.

    Alternatively, the email should also have included printed Licence details and you can enter the Serial number and Unlock key manually instead, if you prefer. When entering your Serial Number, ignore the first three letters and just type in the rest.

    The View Details… button displays information about the licence, such as how many sessions it is valid for.

    Click Next >.

  14. The Ready to Install screen appears. You can alter any of your choices by choosing the < Back button until you reach the appropriate screen and then continuing back through the installation wizard as before, re-entering any options you want to change.

  15. When you are ready, click on the Install button to install the software.

  16. When the installation is complete, click on the Finish button to end the install.

  17. To close the Installation menu, click on the Close button in the Title bar, Picture showing the install menu Close button.

  18. If you later want to add additional components to your installation, reload the Installation menu and choose Digitise Apps -> Next > -> Modify -> Next > to redisplay the list of available components and select the new component(s) required. Remember to leave selected any components which have already been installed on this machine, unless you want them to be removed.

  19. Once you have installed the Digitise Apps software to a development or App Server machine, you may need to configure the software, either before you use it or as part of your ongoing use of the software. For more information see:

    App Studio Settings

    Introduction to App Manager

  20. If you are installing Digitise Apps on a development machine and you will want to send data to or retrieve data from remote Web API data sources, you will need to install the Connect Wizard Extension before you will be able to add a Web API as a Data Source within a Digitise app. The wizard is available from the same Product Download page on our web site as the Digitise Apps software. To install the Extension:

    1. Download the Extension zip file and copy it to the same temporary folder as you used for the Digitise Apps software. Unzip the file and then load the setup, for example, by double-clicking on the file ConnectWizardExtensionSetup.exe in Windows File Explorer.

    2. The setup will load and display the Software Licence page. Read the licence terms and then select the check box to accept the terms if you agree.

    3. If you want to specify the install folder to be used for the Extension software, or check which folder is used by default, choose the Options button. You can then enter the full path of the folder you want to use in the Install location field or use the Browse button to locate and select the required folder. If you type in the path the folder must already exist. If you use the Browse button, you can create the folder if you need to.

      Click on the OK button to retain any changes, close the Setup Options page and return to the Software Licence page or click Cancel to abandon any changes.

    4. Click Install to install the software or Close to exit without installing the software.

    5. If you choose Install, click on the Yes button in response to the UAC message displayed asking you if you want to allow the setup to make changes to your computer.

    6. The software will be installed and then a message will be displayed saying the install was successful. Click on the Close button to end the install.

      • If you don't have the Connect Wizard Extension installed and you attempt to create a new Web API Data Source within App Studio, the following error will be displayed:

      • Picture showing error message displayed if you attempt to create a new Web API Data Source without the Connect Wizard Extenion software installed.

  21. Once the developer software has been installed, you can then go on to create your mobile apps. In order to test and run your apps, you will need to install the Digitise Apps Client or Standalone Apps on test or live mobile devices. For details about how to do this, see:

    Install Digitise Apps Clients and Digitise apps to Mobile Devices