Intel XDK Release 3491, August 3, 2016

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Hello Developers,

Today we released Intel XDK version 3491. This very important release merges the Intel XDK IoT Edition and the Intel XDK Early Access into a single release of the Intel XDK. We are moving in the direction of supporting Internet of Things (IoT) app development. Since mobile devices are part of that equation, we continue our support of the development of hybrid Cordova mobile HTML5 apps. For more details regarding this new direction, please read Joe's blog. a

We have made some significant improvements for both IoT and mobile Cordova app development with this release:

• Replacing the Emulate tab with a new Simulate tab.
• Added a new Cordova CLI 6.2.0 build option (CLI 5.1.1 has been deprecated).
• Moved iOS mobile provisioning files, icons and splash screens to a new "package-assets" folder.
• Stability improvements and many bug fixes.

In future releases we will be adding more functionality for IoT app development. We will also be fine-tuning our Cordova mobile app support to align with the needs of IoT app development. As a result, we are deprecating some mobile app development features that are not heavily used or are inconsistent with IoT app development needs.

Feature deprecations and removals with this release:

• Profile tab has been removed. Please use the profiling features available in the Chrome Debug Tool (on the Debug tab).
• Cordova CLI 5.1.1 has been deprecated and will be removed in our next release, likely in September 2016.
• Legacy Windows 8.x build platforms have been deprecated. They are only available using CLI 5.1.1 and 5.4.1. Only Windows 10 UAP builds are supported with CLI 6.2.0. These older Windows 8.x platform builds will be removed in September 2016.
• Game Asset Manager, samples and templates have been deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
• Legacy Whitelist (Android only) was previously deprecated and is no longer available for new projects.

For detailed information about this release, and past releases, please see https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/release-notes-information-intel-xdk. Our automatic updater will notify existing Intel XDK users when the update is available within the Intel XDK. Updates will be released to all users within 24 hours. If you would like the update sooner, you can download it directly from xdk.intel.com and install it manually.

Please let us know of any issues you encounter via the Intel XDK forum.

Important note about Intel XDK versions 2893 and older!

Versions of the Intel XDK released prior to March 2016 (2893 and older) can no longer use the Build tab, the Test tab or App Preview and can no longer be used to create custom debug modules for use with the Debug and Profile tabs. This change was necessary to improve the security and performance of our Intel XDK cloud-based build system. If you are currently running version 2893 or older, of the Intel XDK, you must upgrade to the latest version of the Intel XDK!!

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Summary of fixes in the 3400 release:

This Intel XDK release is a hot-fix that addresses several bugs and issues:

• Crashes at startup due to a variety of timeout problems.
• Long startup times due to slow or spotty network connections.

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Summary of fixes in the 3357 release:

• The built-in Brackets editor now includes a new "tab view" making it easier to switch between all of your active source files.
• The standard Brackets Extension Manager toolbar is now exposed at the right-hand side of the edit window, where you will find it in a stand-alone install of the Brackets editor.
• The Brackets Git Extension is now more easily accessed, via the standard Brackets Extension Manager toolbar (see above).
• To minimize crashes due to the Emulate tab, the CDT debug window will automatically close when switching away from the Emulate tab, if you have enabled the "auto-refresh" feature of the Emulate tab (this is the default condition).

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Summary of fixes in 3240 hotfix release:

• When selecting Apache Cordova* CLI 5.4.1 you were not limited to the minimum target of iOS 8 which resulted in developers attempting to build for unsupported platforms and then building what appear to be non-working apps.
• If the index.html project file was not contained in the "www" directory of the project, The Emulator would display a '404: Intel XDK can't find your app' error.
• In some cases, if the Publisher Display Name was not populated for a Windows* build, the plugin add and subsequent build for Windows would fail. Validation for requiring the Publisher Display Name has been added.
• Corrected an issue where sometimes the plugin manager would not allow a third-party/local plugin to be added to the project.

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Summary of new features in 3088/3042:

• We no longer support CLI 4.1.2 builds. Projects that use CLI 4.1.2 MUST be updated.
• Added Cordova CLI 5.4.1 to the Intel XDK build system. See this FAQ for details.
• A new Certificate Management feature allows you to create or import Android certificate keystore files and iOS P12 distribution certificate files.
• The Build tab allows you to build your app for multiple targets with a single mouse click.
• Android and Android-Crosswalk options have been combined into a single target platform in the Build Settings section of the Projects tab.
• Crosswalk support in the Intel XDK is now based on the Crosswalk Webview plugin (AKA "Cordova 4" in Crosswalk docs).
• A new Publish tab has been added to assist you with creating and publishing application assets and information to a variety of Android stores.
• The Windows and Windows Phone build options have been expanded and significantly updated to include Windows 10 Universal Apps. Please use the CLI 5.4.1 build option for your Windows and Windows Phone builds.
• The built-in Brackets editor has been updated to version 1.6 and several new Brackets extensions have been added.
• Whitelist settings in the Build Settings section of the Projects tab have been updated.
• App Preview has been updated (to version 2.8.0). Check the respective stores to be sure you have the latest version.
• Updates to our project file format will require that all projects be "updated" before you can use them with this release.

This release also addresses the Google App Store warning regarding the use of older versions of Cordova-Android. You must migrate your app to our CLI 5.1.1 or CLI 5.4.1 build system to eliminate this warning and to be able to publish apps in the Google App Store after May 9, 2016. Our CLI 5.1.1 build system has been updated to address this issue (see this FAQ for specific details).

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Peter and Flemming -- please see the "known issues" section of the release notes for details > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/release-notes-information-intel-xdk <

[Greg_B_1]

real disapointment.

I installed version 3491 - I am running ubuntu on 64bit and cant install ANY plugins whatsoever.

Everything works fine as soon as I add a plug in either I get uknown errors or inconsistent plugins when reloading the project.

I have rebooted, re-installed it is this build - last build did not have this issue.

Please fix this.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Greg -- are you seeing these errors with an existing project or with a new project? For example, if you create a project based on the "hello cordova" sample, do you get these problems?

[Greg_B_1]

I am indeed - brand new project - add plug ins and get failure.

Also when creating a new project takes a really really long time to create base files.

When adding a simple plug in like the camera plug in I get Uknown error as well. this release for ubuntu is really buggy.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Greg -- which version of Ubuntu are you running?

[Greg_B_1]

16.04 LTS

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Thanks, I'll alert engineering. May I give them your email address if they want to work with you directly?
 

[Greg_B_1]

sure- I also can see that it is only happening on ionic applications. it is not happening on native cordova apps. hope this helps.

[Henric_A_]

Is there any way to have your previous data and settings saved in the new simulator tab? before all the localstorage data from earlier was saved and also the gps position. Now every time i refresh the simulator the localstorage is wiped and gps position is reset. Thanks

[Mark_F_]

Is there a way to have the simulator just reload the app content (ie the html/js/css files) rather than having to "prepare cordova sources" every single time you make a change to a file?

The majority of editing does not include adding/removing of plugins and so it should not have to prepare the cordova stuff every time you make a change to a simple HTML/CSS or Javascript file, this slows down the development/debugging/testing time and is highly annoying as a result..

In other words it would be far better if there was a feature to "push" saved files to the sim and reload. Rather than completely reload the whole sim and prepare the same cordova stuff again and again even though nothing has affected anything cordova related.

[Alexandre_B_2]

Since I upgrade this version of XDK I have:

1- An infinite and zero download for newly created projects;

2- The non-recognition of older projects and the unavailability of the visual editor and archives in the brackets lateral window.

It's a version aparently useless and plenty of mistakes and I wish to revert to the previous version, but I can't found it in site. Where can I achieve this?

[prathan_s_]

ERROR (-7) from "client:upload-manager": Error in zipping package asset files: : Error in zipping config files: : Error in generating Build Config files: . Error at new ComponentError (C:\Users\keng pc\AppData\Local\Intel\XDK\xdk\core-modules\public\component-error.js:17:1122) at makeError (file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/components/client/upload-manager/upload-manager.js:17:170) at getComponentError (file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/components/client/upload-manager/upload-manager.js:17:265) at file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/components/client/upload-manager/upload-manager.js:17:21767 at _rejected (file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/node_modules/q/q.js:844:24) at file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/node_modules/q/q.js:870:30 at Promise.when (file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/node_modules/q/q.js:1122:31) at Promise.promise.promiseDispatch (file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/node_modules/q/q.js:788:41) at file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/node_modules/q/q.js:604:44 at runSingle (file:///C:/Users/keng%20pc/AppData/Local/Intel/XDK/xdk/node_modules/q/q.js:137:13)

I found error when compile all project from latest Construct 2 (233)  both android & ios please help to advise.

Thank you

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Henric and Mark -- regarding the simulate tab updates, we are working on a fix for that. You are correct, the "preparing sources" should only occur for significant changes to the project, such as a change in the mix of plugins. Changes to the source do not require that. A fix is in the works.

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Alexandre -- please see the "known issues" section of the release notes for a link to version 3400. Specifically the known issue regarding Construct2 apps has a link to the download. > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/release-notes-information-inte... <

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Prathan -- please see the "known issues" section of the release notes for a link to version 3400. Specifically the known issue regarding Construct2 apps has a link to the download. > https://software.intel.com/en-us/xdk/docs/release-notes-information-inte... <

[Mark_F_]

@Paul, I'm have you managed to find a work-around with the data-noxhrfix yet?

I've had to remove it from my <head> tag in order to get the simulator to work, however now I face a problem that for $http calls the Intel interceptor is screwing with my calls.

For example where I get back a 204 no-content reply from a REST API, this now gets interpreted as an error rather than a success due to whatever Intel's interceptor is doing.

I urgently need a fix here please.

[Anthony_H_Intel]

@Mark F. I sent you a PM with a suggestion for a short-term fix.

[Aezer_M_]

Dear Intel,

Has any problem with Phonegap-BarcodeScanner in this new version? My app is showing an error about it. Pls, look the picture.

In 3400 version, all my apps were running perfectly....

[Islam_A_]

Hi SWATI S.

I don't understant why, but when i export my project to another folder and open in xdk - all work fine again)

[PaulF_IntelCorp]

Aezer -- the old Emulate tab included some legacy code that allowed the phonegap barcode plugin to be simulated. The new Simulate tab does not include that legacy code, it depends on the availability of simulation code that is provided by the plugin developers, so that a true emulation of that feature can be provided for test in a browser environment. In this case, there is no simulation backend for that plugin, thus the reason you see the dialog that you posted. This is proper behavior for the Simulate tab when it encounters a third-party plugin for which there is no "simulate option."

[Jane_S_]

No more plugins? Only Bower management? I have code that uses plugins. Too much "improvement" wrecking what we've already built.