What's New

v10.8 sees MX renamed as Digitise Apps and incorporated into our new digital transformation platform, Evolve. Evolve builds on the power and success of our previously separate products, creating mobile apps (MX) and web forms (FX) and robotic process automation (SX and DX), adding workflow, improved integration and simplified web service connections. The new platform offers you even greater opportunities to transform your business processes, increase efficiency and reduce costs.

As part of the development of Evolve, MX has been renamed Digitise Apps and re-branded in line with other components of this new platform. The colour scheme has changed to turquoise from the old pink colour you may be familiar with and new logos have been added. In terms of functionality, backwards compatibility and ease of upgrading are paramount. As with previous releases of MX, as far as possible, the new Digitise Apps components, App Server, App Studio and App Manager, have kept their old names and look and work in a very similar way to the previous version of MX. Existing versions of the MX Client and MX Standalone Apps will work with the latest version of the Digitise Apps App Server without any changes and, likewise, new Digitise Apps Clients and Standalone Apps will work with the previous version of the MX App Server. New features in the product, beyond this re-branding, are listed later in this topic.

Following on from the product rename and re-brand there have been some other changes, e.g. to replace MX in program, file and folder names with Digitise Apps and to provide new icons for the Digitise Apps components. However, in order to allow versions of MX to be easily upgraded to Digitise Apps, in some cases the MX has been retained. Some of the main changes are:

• The default install folder for a clean install is now: C:\Program Files (x86)\NDL Software\Digitise Apps.

  If you are upgrading MX to Digitise Apps, the setup will retain your previous setup settings and install Digitise Apps to the same folder as the previous MX, which, by default, was: C:\Program Files (x86)\ndl-metascybe\MX.

• If you include the Windows Desktop Client in the installed components, the Client is now installed to: C:\Program Files (x86)\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Desktop Client and the Client executable is now called DigitiseAppsClient.exe. Previously the Client, MXClient.exe, was installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\ndl-metascybe\MX\MX Desktop Client.

  If you want to use the Run Project button on the Ribbon's Home tab, to test an app from within App Studio, you will still need to specify the Client to run in the App Studio Settings, but the relevant option is now under the Run Digitise Apps Client section on the Setting's General tab and not Run MX Client. If you are upgrading to Digitise Apps, you will need to check this option and edit the name and location of the Windows Desktop Client to use the new name and folder as in the previous paragraph.

• Shortcuts to the new Digitise Apps' versions of App Studio, App Manager and the Windows Desktop Client will now be found on the Windows Start menu under → N → NDL Software Digitise Apps, rather than the previous NDL Software MX group.

  The Windows Desktop Client, has been renamed the Digitise Apps Windows Client, from the MX Windows Client.

  The Windows Universal Client will now be found under → D → Digitise Apps Universal Client, rather than → M → MX Universal Client.

  Windows Desktop Standalone Apps will also now have shortcuts under the NDL Software Digitise Apps group on the Start menu, rather than the previous NDL Software MX group.

• New default icons for the App Studio, App Manager, Clients and Standalone Apps.

• The ndl-metascybe MX App Server service is now called NDL Digitise App Server.

• The default Projects root folder in App Studio is now: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Projects. Previously it was C:\Users\<user>\Documents\ndl-metascybe\MX\Projects\.

  If AutoSave is enabled, it will now save to a folder named after the Project below the new Projects root folder, i.e., C:\Users\<user>\Documents\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Projects\<projectname>, rather than under the previous Projects root folder.

  You can change the default Project folder in File -> Settings -> Advanced tab -> Projects Folder option.

• When building a pre-configured Client or Standalone App, under the Security tab in the Build Request dialog, the Mode option allows you to choose whether you want users to log in or not and which type of authentication to use if they do. The previous MX Authentication option, which forced a user to login using an MX User name, has been renamed Standard Authentication and we now refer to MX Users as Digitise Apps Users.

• The file names for Pre-configured client install files have changed:

  Platform

  Previous file name

  New file name

  Android

  com_ndl_mx_awiclient-awiMX-release.apk

  DigitiseApps-release.apk

   

  Apple

  awiMX.ipa

  awiMX.plist

  DigitiseApps.ipa

  DigitiseApps.plist

   

  Windows Universal

  MXClientUWP.zip

  MXClientUWP_nn.nn.nn.nn_x86_arm.cer

  DigitiseAppsUWP.zip

  DigitiseAppsUWP_nn.nn.nn.nn_x86_arm.cer

   

• If you publish your Project to a Package file, the default file name and file path is now: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Packages\Exported\<projectname>_Ver_<projectversionnumber>.mxp, changed from: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\ndl-metascybe\MX\Packages\Exported\<projectname>_Ver_<projectversionnumber>.mxp.

  When you import a Package file into App Studio, the package will now be copied to the default Projects folder mentioned earlier, rather than the previous default Projects folder.

  The Configure Package dialog now has the default value in the Output Folder option set to: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Packages\Exported\Standalone, instead of the previous: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\ndl-metascybe\MX\Packages\Exported\Standalone. If you are creating a Standalone App for the Windows Desktop Platform, the folder specified here will also be used to store the install file (a '.mxi' file) created for the Standalone App.

  The Configure Package dialog is displayed by clicking the Package Settings button on the Ribbon's Publish tab.

• When building a pre-configured Client, the Build Request Pane will now list the application as DigitiseApps, previously it was awiMX. If you build a Client using an earlier version of the MX Client (the Codebase version), it will still display as awiMX in the Build Requests Pane.

• The diagnostic log files are now stored in: C:\Users\All Users\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Logging. Previously they were stored in: C:\Users\All Users\ndl-metascybe\MX\Logging. When logging received data to file, the files for this logging will also now be stored in the new folder.

• The library of stock images supplied with the software is now stored in C:\ProgramData\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\App Studio\Library\Resources\Images. Previously it was located under:

  32-bit Operating Systems:

  C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ndl-metascybe\MX\mxformdesigner\Library\Resources

  64-bit Operating Systems:

  C:\ProgramData\ndl-metascybe\MX\mxformdesigner\Library\Resources

• Windows client was in C:\Program Files (x86)\ndl-metascybe\MX\MX Desktop Client\MXClient.exe, now C:\Program Files (x86)\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Desktop Client\DigitiseAppsClient.exe. Need to change this in Run Digitise Apps Client section -> Windows option in App Studio Settings -> General tab- where Run option finds the Client. Option was previously Run MX Client

If you are upgrading from a version of MX earlier than MX v10, there is a document available from the PDFs page in the Online help which describes how to edit existing MX apps to take advantage of newer features introduced in MX v10. Even if you are not upgrading from such an early version, you might still find the document interesting as it provides some useful tips about creating your mobile apps.

This version of Digitise Apps includes a preview of a new feature - the ability to access Web API data sources via NDL's Connect. As this feature is provided as a preview, please be aware that it may not be fully working yet and if you experience any problems when using it, please contact NDL's Helpdesk for assistance.

Web API Data Sources allow you to interact with remote RESTful Web APIs via NDL's Connect product, simplifying using Web APIs in your mobile apps.

Connect is able to read a Web API's definition file and create one or more tables which represent the Web API's operations and their request and response data items, so that you don't have to interpret the definition file within your mobile app. Deciphering Web API definitions and generating the tables is done using Connect within NDL's Hub Manager, another component of our Evolve digital transformation platform, and is done separately from creating your mobile apps. Interpreted Web APIs are stored by Connect and are then accessible to any users creating mobile apps or eForms with Evolve.

If you want to add a Web API Data Source to your mobile app, within App Studio you connect to Connect and view a list of Web APIs which have been interpreted by Connect. You can then select any operations that you want to use and import them into your Project as Data Sources. The Operations are presented to your app as one or more tables, with separate tables for request and response data. You treat these tables exactly as you would for a Database Data Source, including hiding data items you don't need in your app and mapping data items to Controls, making it very easy to incorporate accessing a Web API into your app.

At runtime, Connect acts as an intermediary between your app and the remote Web API. Your app can add records to the Web API request tables and, when you want to send the request to the remote Web API, forward them to Connect to be formatted appropriately and sent on to the Web API. Responses from the Web API are received by Connect, which converts the response data into the table format used in your app and then sent to the app, to be dealt with as required, e.g., to display the response data to the user. In this way, Connect does the hard work of handling the Web API request and response formatting for you, which can be extremely useful when dealing with complex Web API structures, leaving you to concentrate on producing apps which provide real benefits to your users.

For more information about using Web API 160;datasources in your mobile apps, see Web API Data Sources and Add a Web API Data Source.

A new option has been added to the SetApplicationOption Scripting Method, DISABLE_TABLE_SORT, allowing you to specify the order in which Data Sources should be processed when calling Synchronise.

By default, the Synchronise Scripting Method automatically arranges the Data Sources specified in the function call into an order which allows Primary and Foreign Keys to be resolved together. Calling SetApplicationOption specifying DISABLE_TABLE_SORT as "TRUE" turns off this automatic sorting and processes the Data Sources in the order in which you specify them in the function parameters.

The GetApplicationOption Scripting Method has also been updated to allow you to query the current value of DISABLE_TABLE_SORT.

From Android 11 onwards, changes to the Android Operating System mean that existing apps, calling the DeleteFile, DeleteFolder, WriteColumnToFile, WriteRecordToFile or WriteFile Scripting Methods, may no longer be able to access files and folders which they were able to access previously. This will only affect files and folders in shared storage outside the normal folders accessible to an individual app. It can also affect new apps you create where you also want your app to access files in shared storage using the same Methods.

A new option, Allow All Files, has been added to the Build request dialog's Permissions tab when building a pre-configured Client or Standalone App in order to allow your app to access these files and folders. If you select this option in the Build request, when a user first loads an app on their device, they will be asked to grant the app permission to manage all files. If the user grants permission, your app will be able to access files and folders in shared storage outside the app's own folders. If the user refuses permission, your app will not be able to access these files and folders.

The user can always change their decision later within the device's Settings.

You can now set the background colour for Edit and Combo Box Controls on Android devices from within a Script using SetControlBackColour. In order to do this, however, you need to add the following comment line to the Application OnLoad event's script

# ENABLE ANDROID_FULL_BACKGROUND_COLOURS

For more details see SetControlBackColour.

Control positioning now uses density independent pixels (DIP) on Android devices. This means Control Properties, such as left, right, top and bottom, now use DIP values rather than pixel values and the GetSystemInfo Scripting Method will return the screen height and width values in DIPs.

This may affect the operation of existing apps when upgrading to Digitise Apps and so an option is provided to disable this change, allowing your app to work as it did before the upgrade.

To disable this change, you need to add the following comment into the Application OnLoad event's script:

' #DISABLE ANDROID_SCREEN_INFO_DPI_FIX

For more information see Control Properties or GetSystemInfo.