The Digitise Apps Build System -
Build Standalone Apps &
Pre-Configured Standard Clients
The Digitise Apps Build System is a remote service provided by NDL allowing you to submit a Digitise Project to be converted into a Digitise Apps Standalone App or to request a pre-configured version of the standard Digitise Apps Client. In order to submit requests to the Digitise Apps Build System, you will need an Internet connection from your PC. Files are sent to and from the Build System using a secure SSL connection.
The Build System is used to build Standalone Apps and pre-configured Digitise Apps Clients for Android, iOS and Universal Windows Platforms. Standalone Apps and pre-configured Digitise Apps Clients for the Windows Desktop Platform are built on the development machine requesting the build and do not use the Build System. Consequently, this
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Before you can request a build from the Build System, you will need to be registered. Registration is by user within an organisation. To register you need to contact NDL's Helpdesk. They will register your organisation, if it isn't already registered, and issue you with a Username and Password by e-mail. The e-mail address you give at registration will also be used to inform you when build requests are started and completed.
E-mails from the Build System will be sent from: mx.build@ndl.co.uk
After receiving your registration confirmation e-mail, you will need to enter your credentials in your App Studio on the Build System tab in the App Studio Settings. When entering your Organisation, Username and Password you must make sure you enter them exactly as they appear in your registration e-mail. Having entered your credentials, we recommend that you change the automatically generated password provided to you in the e-mail to a more secure password of your choice. To do this use the Change Password button on the Build System tab and then enter your existing password followed by your new password. You will need to enter your new password twice. Click on OK when you have finished. A message will be displayed confirming the password has been successfully changed. You can change your password at any future time, should you want to, using the same method. If you forget your password please contact our Helpdesk for assistance. The password is saved to the registry in an encrypted format.
- The Build System tab includes the URL required to access the Build System. By default, this is entered automatically by the Digitise Apps install and shouldn't normally need editing. If the URL were to change, either permanently or temporarily, and you needed to specify a different URL, you would enter the new URL here on the Build System tab.
The Build System tab in the App Studio Settings, also allows you to upload your code-signing Certificates and Provisioning Profiles for iOS and Windows Universal Platforms. Uploaded Certificates and Profiles, are stored in the Build System and will be available to all users registered with your organisation, preventing users from having to upload the same Certificates or Profiles every time they request a build.
To upload a Certificate or Provisioning Profile, click on the Manage Certificates button. Choose the appropriate tab at the top of the Manage Certificates dialog box for the relevant Platform. Use the Browse button, 
, to browse for the file holding your Certificate or Provisioning Profile. For iOS Certificates you will need to locate the '.p12' file for the Certificate or a '.mobileprovision' file for a Provisioning Profile. For Windows Universal Certificates you need the '.pfx' file. Enter any other required details and then choose the Upload button to upload the file. Each Certificate and Profile must be uploaded to the Build System in this way by one user within an organisation before it can be used in a build request.
All currently available Certificates/Provisioning Profiles can be displayed by dropping down the list of Installed Certificates or Provisioning Profiles. Selecting a Certificate from the Installed Certificates lists will display the expiry date for the selected Certificate below the list box. If the Certificate has expired, the expiry date will be displayed in red as a visual warning.
- If you are developing Apps for Apple devices and have uploaded any Provisioning Profiles to the Build System, the Build System will e-mail you to notify you when a Provisioning Profile is about to expire. An e-mail will be sent 1 month before the Profile expires and then again 1 week prior to the expiry and finally the day before, unless the Profile is renewed beforehand. The e-mails will be sent to all registered users of the service within your organisation.
You can also use the Installed Certificates lists or Installed Provisioning Profiles list to remove a Certificate or Profile – select the relevant item in the appropriate list and then choose the Remove button to the right of the list. We recommend that you remove expired Certificates and Provisioning Profiles from the Build System.
For the Windows Universal Platform, a default NDL self-signed Certificate will be available in the Build System to all registered users. This Certificate has a life span of around 100 years and so you should not need to renew the Digitise Apps Client or any enterprise apps signed with this Certificate. However, if you prefer to create or obtain your own Certificate for enterprise Universal apps or you want to create store apps, you will need to upload your Certificate to the Build System once you have it.
When you request a Standalone App for the Android, iOS or Windows Universal Platforms, you will need to specify which type of app you want to build – an enterprise or store app. When you submit your build request, App Studio will send all the relevant Project files for the build to the Build System, which will combine them with a Digitise Apps Client into your Standalone App. When you request a pre-configured Digitise Apps Client, App Studio will send the build configuration information you specify in App Studio to the Build System, which will build a version of the Client using your settings. In all cases the Build System will then generate an installation package containing the files required to install your Standalone App or Client in the relevant format for the Target Platform specified when the build was requested.
For more information about configuring and submitting build requests see: Standalone Apps and Pre-Configured Digitise Apps Clients
When you submit a request to the Digitise Apps Build System, a record of the request will be displayed in the App Studio Build Requests Pane. The entry includes a unique number identifying your request, the date and time the request was submitted, the Target Platform the request relates to and the status of the request.
The Status column will initially display Pending while your build request is sent to the Build System and queued. Requests are handled on a first-come-first-served basis. When your request reaches the head of the queue and the build actually starts, the Status will change to Processing and the Build System will notify you by sending an e-mail to the e-mail address specified when you registered to use the Build System. Once the build has finished, another e-mail will be sent to you and the Status in the Build Requests Pane will change to Completed.
- If you want to change the notification e-mail address used by the Build System, please contact our Helpdesk for assistance.
When the Status changes to Completed you can then download the installation package for your requested build from the Build Requests Pane.
The installation file and your uploaded source files remain stored on the Build System, even after you download the installation package. This means that you can re-download the build later should you need to. When you are happy that you no longer need the download available you can delete it from the Build System storage from within the Build Requests Pane. For security reasons you may want to delete each build immediately after you have downloaded the installation file for that build. If you don't do this, we recommend that you check the list regularly and delete any old versions of your apps.
- Please be aware that from time to time NDL may, if necessary, clear down and delete old builds left on the Build System. We, therefore, recommend that you download your builds and delete them from the Build System regularly.
If there is a problem with a requested build and the Build System is unable to successfully produce the requested app or Client, you will be notified by e-mail and the Status will be set to Failed. Check your package and build configuration settings from the Builds group on the Ribbon's Publish tab and your Build System Credentials in the App Studio Settings' Build System tab. If all looks well, contact our Helpdesk for assistance. You will need to supply them with the unique ID number for the failed build as displayed in the Build Requests Pane in App Studio.
When requesting a Standalone App, in addition to the installation file(s) produced for the app, the download also includes a copy of the Digitise Apps Package file for each Model included within the app. It is important that the App Server and your mobile devices are completely in step version-wise and the Package files are provided as one way to achieve this. For more information see Publish a Digitise app.