Valence 3.1 (all builds)

[richard.milone]

Versions:

3.1.20120810.0, released on 2012-08-10 (UPDATE ONLY - Support Access Required)
3.1.20120604.0, released on 2012-06-04
3.1.20120430.0, released on 2012-04-30
3.1.20120416.0, released on 2012-04-16
3.1.20120402.0, released on 2012-04-02
3.1.20120326.0, released on 2012-03-26

About this Release:

This is the latest release of Valence 3.1. These release notes are intended to document what has been added, changed and fixed since the last Valence 3.0 maintenance release and provide general information about Valence.

Licensing:

By obtaining and using Valence, it is your responsibility to ensure that you and your company are following the proper licensing terms of Valence. Be sure to review the licensing options in the Valence Store and also review the Licensing & Suport FAQs page before downloading and using Valence.

Installing This Release:

• Go to the downloads page to see what releases are available. If this release is superseded by another release it may no longer be available.
• If this release is available for download then click the link to the download installation file.
• It is highly recommend that you perform the installation from a PC that is on the same internal network as your IBM i. Performing the installation through a slow WAN connection or via a VPN connection may work but can take many hours to install.
• Once you obtain the file, launch the installer on your PC and follow the prompts to install Valence to your IBM i.
• If you download the file and the .exe is missing from the end of the file please rename the file to add back the .exe and then launch the file.
• You may need administrative rights on your PC to launch the installer.
• It is highly recommended that you use QSECOFR to perform the installation to avoid permissions issues.
• This release will install to library VALENCE31 and ifs path /valence-3.1. It will also install an Apache server instance named VALENCE31.
• If you are installing a newer build of Valence 3.1 and do not have access to Valence updates you may delete your previous copy of Valence 3.1 and install the new build. Before installing a new build over a previous build you should delete your previous Valence 3.1 installation. See "Uninstalling Valence 3.1" near the bottom of these release notes.
• If you have Valence versions 3.0 and prior installed on your system you may install this release without affecting those earlier versions.
• Once installed you can access the Valence portal with the link http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:7031/valence/vvlogin.pgm where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the ip address of your IBM i.
• The default user for administrative login to the portal after installation is vvadmin with password vvadmin.
• It is highly recommended that you go into the Users administration app in the Valence portal and add an IBM i user cross reference to vvadmin with security officer authority (like QSECOFR) so you will not have permissions issues. Or you can switch the portal to IBM i login mode (see the Valence Manual for more info).
• To convert portal data from Valence 3.0 use VVCNV31 (see the Valence Manual for more info).

New Features in Valence 3.1.20120810.0

• JSONP: vvOut calls can now return JSONP formatted responses to allow for your Valence server-side programs to handle Valence and non-Valence requests from another domain.
• Added close all tabs to Nitro Source editor.

New Features in Valence 3.1.20120604.0

• BETA: In Nitro App Builder added an import/export feature so that data sources, widgets and apps can be easily packed up and copied to other server instances on the same machine or moved to a difference machine. This feature should be considered BETA as we are still testing and waiting for developer feedback.
• In vvOut_execSqlToSS added option to output the Excel file to the IFS instead of streaming it back to the browser. This way the file can be archived or emailed.
• Set redirect so that user can just type in the ip address:port or system name:port and be redirected to the login page. For example, http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:7031 will automatically redirect to http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:7031/valence/vvlogin.pgm. If you are doing a full install this will work with no changes. If you are applying a Valence update you must change the DocumentRoot directive in the VALENCE31 Apache server instance configuration to: "DocumentRoot /valence-3.1/html" for this feature to work.
• In Nitro Source Editor added buttons on the toolbar for automatically commenting selected sections of code.
• Added two new Touch examples for "Form and List MVC" and "Weather Map." With full install these apps will appear automatically. For an update you must add the apps to the portal manually as follows:
  • Add App record for "Form and List MVC"
    • Name on Navigation Tree: Form and List MVC
    • Icon: phone
    • When App is Selected: Run a Valence Application
    • HTML File to Initialize: [HTML_PATH]/examples/touch/ListFormMVC/index.html
    • Primary Interface: Touch
    • Requires Backend Authorization: checked
    • Authorized IBM i Programs: EXGRIDALL, EXFORM
    
    
  • Add App record for "Weather Map"
    • Name on Navigation Tree: Weather Map
    • Icon: map
    • When App is Selected: Run a Valence Application
    • HTML File to Initialize: [HTML_PATH]/examples/touch/WeatherMap/index.html
    • Primary Interface: Touch
    • Requires Backend Authorization: checked
    • Authorized IBM i Programs: EXTWMAP
    
    
  • Add whatever authorizations you like to these apps and add to your desired navigation tree(s).

New Features in Valence 3.1.20120430.0

• In Nitro App Builder added chart render function to controller.
• In Nitro App Builder added example controllers in path /valence-3.1/html/nitroapps/_controllersamples.
• In Nitro App Builder Widget User Filters can now be reordered via drag/drop.
• In Nitro App Builder added new Grid Widget column functions for Day, Month, Year and Day of Week.
• Valence Paging Toolbar now allows developers to set any page size.
• Added logic to allow vvOut_buffer to work in tandem with other vvOut procedures.

New Features in Valence 3.1.20120416.0

• Improved Valence Portal Security. The portal now uses a cookie plus a tab-specific id for identifying a user session. If the Apache server is configured for SSL security the cookie will be in the form of a secure token that will only send over the SSL connection.
• Improved the Valence installation process. Progress bar will now accurately show the progress of the installation. Also, long running installations over slow WAN or VPN connections should work without timing out.
• The user session now identifies the login method of the user (Mobile/Desktop).
• Who’s Logged In now shows user login method (Mobile/Desktop).
• Changed library list processing to enhance performance.
• Added touch example for customer inquiry in MVC style. If you are doing a full install the new example will appear on the *MASTER Nav Tree under Examples-->Touch. If you are doing an update install from an earlier build you need to add the new app to the portal after applying the update. From the portal go to Administration-->Apps. Create a new app record called "Touch Customer Inquiry (MVC)" with the HTML path set to "[HTML_PATH]/examples/touch/customerInquiry/index.html". Authorize the app to RPG program EXCUSINQ with primary interface should be set to Touch. Select the ALL/Examples group and save the new app record. Then go into Administration-->Navigation Trees and add the new app to the *MASTER Nav Tree or your own tree.

New Features in Valence 3.1.20120402.0

• Instance Manager instance copy process was reengineered to eliminate the use of QSHELL and instead uses a SAV/RST process to improve reliability and compatibility with most systems.
• Filtered store in Nitro Widget now automatically shows button to reset filter.
• Now provide ability to shut off automatic display of filter reset when a store is filtered.
• In Nitro App Builder now provide ability to turn off autoload of datasource in a widget.
• In Nitro App Builder widget creation of grid....auto select “paging” and disable (force paging) if the total count is greater than 1000.
• In Nitro File Editor, jock filter mode will now populate text area with name of field being clicked.
• Grouping functionality added in Nitro App Builder View Grid Widget.
• In Nitro File Editor output sql error message when update/insert/delete fail rather than a generic message.
• In Nitro App Builder, can now easily hook in your own widget configuration overrides before Valence creates the widget.

New Features in Valence 3.1.20120326.0

• Valence Nitro App Builder - quickly generate business intelligence apps like charts, dashboards and queries through Valence with no programming! Use Data Sources, Widgets and Apps from the Valence Nitro App Builder to speed your development along and be successful with Valence quickly.
• Valence Nitro File Editor - great new Valence feature for viewing/editing/downloading data in any IBM i database file right from within your browser.
• Output Data to Excel - Added vvOut_execSQLtoSS and vvOut_toSS to the Valence RPG Toolkit to produce Microsoft Excel-compatible spreadsheets from either an SQL statement or array of externally defined data structure records. Ability to set the attributes and style of each spreadsheet column (width, alignment, decimal positions, etc).
• Added vvPDF_addTableFromSQL to the Valence RPG Toolkit for producing a PDF table from an SQL statement. Also added enhancements to PDF tables to set column alignment and numeric formatting via an edit code.
• Updated from Ext JS 4.0.1 to Ext JS 4.0.7 (Ext JS 3.4.0 is still retained for backward compatibility).
• Updated touch framework from Sencha Touch 1.1.0 to Sencha Touch 2.0.0 (Sencha Touch 1.1.0 is withdrawn -- touch apps can be made to work under 2.0.0 with minimal adjustment).
• Updated to Fusion Charts & Widgets 3.2.2. All charts and widgets now support HTML5 fallback for iPad and iPhone support.
• Updated all example apps to use Ext JS 4.0.7.
• Refactored most portal administrative apps to MVC design architecture.
• Refactored the Help Desk example app to use MVC design architecture.
• Added "Browser Tab Title" to the Portal settings, so browser title can be customized for each Valence instance.
• Disabled apps no longer show in the Apps and User administrative applications.
• Added a filter to the portal navigation tree to assist with locating apps.
• Refactored the Test RPG Call app to show return data in separate raw and formatted windows.
• Error handler no longer logs error file when non-posted variables are encountered.
• Quitting browser or closing browser tab running Valence instance automatically fires off the "logout" event.
• Removed "Warn user when attempting to close or leave browser while logged in" - this now defaults universally to "yes" but can be changed manually in the VVVSQ100 file, "PROMPT_CLOSE_BROWSER" record, if desired.
• Added cleanup routine to VVCALL - you may now optionally reclaim all eligible activation groups (or a specifically named activation group) at end of each back-end AJAX call, cleaning up open data paths, etc.

Bug Fixes in Valence 3.1.20120810.0

• Valence.util.execScriptFiles did not honor scope for the callback.
• In some cases, data returned from vvOut was short a few characters.
• In Nitro Source Editor sometimes received a MSGW when copying a file 3 characters or less.
• vvPDF_addTableFromSQL was not working if a columns array was not passed.
• Fixed issue in VVVPORT where nav trees with more than 999 nodes would break.
• vvPDF_addtable was bombing on any field > 999.
• vvIn_file was not sending back a response in the error field.
• Bug with setting classpath for vvmail which would cause vvMail_send to fail.
• When additional parms for an app specified in Apps they were not getting passed properly and in some cases would bomb program.
• If calling a url to auto login Valence and launch an app you could not pass extra parameters to the app.

Bug Fixes in Valence 3.1.20120604.0

• Valence.util.download was not working for apps using Ext 3.
• Touch portal was not working if multilingual unchecked.
• In Valence Portal the change password functionality was broken when in IBM i user profile mode.
• In Nitro App Builder calling up an app to edit that was made using a tabpanel....if you attempted to save the app and did not click on each tab beforehand it would cause an error.
• In Valence Portal when saving a user and login method is set to IBM i mode the VVSIUSER field was not being populated.
• In Valence Portal VVCALL now sets the classpath as opposed to VVPDF or VVMAIL, this should stop a missing classpath issue that would occur sometimes.
• In Settings, Portal Administration Settings would not save.

Bug Fixes in Valence 3.1.20120430.0

• Changed vvtemplate-touch.js to include sencha-touch-all.js instead of sencha-touch.js.
• Corrected error message in AutoCode when invalid file is entered.
• Valence Users administration app would sometimes fail to initialize and just show a blank page.
• On build 3.1.20120416.0 program objects with type SQLRPGLE were incorrectly compiled with *OWNER authority. This build corrects that to *USER.

Bug Fixes in Valence 3.1.20120416.0

• In Nitro App Builder editing an existing Datasource could corrupt the file sequence in some cases.
• In Nitro App Builder a DataSource could become corrupt in some cases.
• Fix problem in vvOut_execSQLtoCSV with very long files.
• Fixed problem with auto refresh in Navigation Tree Mode.
• If in Nav Toolbar and clicked a folder it would hide the menu.
• Corrected an issue with library lists caused by developers manually changing the library list within backend RPG programs. Altered the Valence Portal logic to detect if the desired library list has been changed and if so reset it on each call. This change also enhances library list change performance.

Bug Fixes in Valence 3.1.20120402.0:

• Nitro File Editor and Nitro App Builder library list combo would fail if greater than 999 libraries.
• Nitro File Editor after changing column name tooltip was not hiding.
• Nitro File Editor date fields were not working properly when adding or copying record.
• Nitro File Editor toggling filters between jock mode and non jock mode would break the filter.
• Nitro App Builder attention/warning panel was displaying at wrong time in some cases.
• Nitro App Builder when creating/editing an app, if user presses add widget was no way to cancel this process--added a cancel link.
• In VVCALL if instance was NOT set as a development instance jobs were crashing because of new activation group cleanup process.
• In vvIn_JSON do not continue to process and log errors if a blank array or object was passed...treat this the same a blank post.
• Nitro App Builder gauge chart was only showing values of 1 – 100.
• In Errors program initial screen does not give enough width to the detail panel.
• Nitro App Builder widget filtering: choosing “all” filters and then selecting “between” would break.
• Nitro App Builder widget filtering: window sizes were calculated properly.

Bug Fixes in Valence 3.1.20120326.0:

• Corrected metadata routines of vvOut and vvUtility to work properly with long SQL names
• Corrected nuisance console message occurring during login relating to setValue(Valence.lang.getLanguage())

System Requirements:

• Any hardware running the IBM i operating system V5R4 or higher. Existing customers on previous versions of Valence at V5R3 will not be able to upgrade to this version until they are at V5R4 or higher. A personal computer running Windows XP, Vista or 7 (for installation only).
• A compatible browser on client computers. CNX now recommends Google Chrome for the best development and user experience. This version of Valence should work in newer versions of Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer as well as WebKit-based mobile device browsers like those on iPhone, iPad and Android.
• 5722ST1 is required to use AutoCode, and for the ability to recompile many of the Valence programs that include source code.
• If you would like to use the PDF and/or Email capabilities of Valence then you need 5722JV1 *BASE and option 6, Java Developer Kit 1.4. This is installed on most systems by default. After installing this version of Valence, just try to run the PDF and email examples. If they work then you know for certain your system has the correct configuration. Note that even though Java is required, you do not need to know or use Java to develop PDFs or send emails with Valence. You will use the Valence RPG Toolkit procedures, which use certain Java functions behind the scenes.
• Many Valence Nitro functions rely on QSHELL, which is 5722SS1 option 30. This is already installed on the vast majority of systems.

What is Valence?:

Valence is a web application development system for the IBM i. It includes these major components, all designed to work seamlessly and elegantly together:

• Ext JS - a JavaScript framework for an advanced rich user interface in the desktop browser.
• Sencha Touch - a JavaScript framework for an advanced rich user interface on mobile devices.
• Valence RPG Toolkit - everything you need to make it easy for RPG on the IBM i work with the Ext JS JavaScript framework.
• Valence Portal - A browser-based login, session management and menu system for your IBM i. This essentially lets users log in and launch web applications designed with Valence or other systems. The Valence Portal has a "desktop" mode that is optimized for full-screen keyboard-based computers and a "touch" mode that is optimized for touch-based systems like iPhones, iPads and Android devices. The Valence Portal will automatically detect and adjust to the correct device type at login.
• Valence Nitro Suite - A set of features including the Source Editor, App Builder and File Editor to make it easy for developers to be successful at building advanced web applications for IBM i.
• Valence Examples - For those developers that like to have a starting point to copy-and-modify and learn Valence development, there are dozens of included example apps.
• Fusion Charts and Widgets - An advanced charting system that includes hundreds of graphical components to use in your Valence dashboard or general apps.

The Valence Design Methodology:

CNX believes very strongly in our architecture of the Valence system. It uses 100% JavaScript in the browser where JavaScript takes over and manages the user experience entirely. This gives the user a "rich" interface similar to what they would have with advanced apps from Google and Facebook. Valence marries this advanced interface with ILE RPG on the back-end through IBM i's built-in Apache server. There are no external servers or other non-native components between the browser and RPG. This design purity leads to reliability, speed and elegance. If you are an RPG developer, using Valence will seem like a natural step on the path to your future and the future of the IBM i platform.

Valence Next Steps:

Once you have Valence 3.1 successfully installed on your IBM i, try these next steps:

• Log into the Valence Portal with user vvadmin, password vvadmin (some systems require capital VVADMIN) and browse the many example apps. At the top of each example app it tells you where the front-end and back-end RPG source code are located. When you're ready, try modifying some of the examples to work with your data files.
• Watch the many Valence Training Videos and check back frequently for more.
• Launch the Valence Nitro App Builder from Navigation-->Development-->Nitro App Builder and try to create a dashboard app or whatever you can dream up. Click Help within Nitro App Builder for instructional videos.
• Read the Valence Manual.
• Check out further documentation within the Valence Portal located at Navigation-->Development-->Resources.
• Consider attending Valence Training classes at the CNX Training Center in Chicago. With formal training by CNX there will be no limit to the kinds of apps you can create with Valence for your IBM i users and customers.

Uninstalling Valence 3.1:

Follow these instructions if you previously installed this release and would like to completely remove it from your system.

• Log onto a 5250 session as QSECOFR or another profile with security officer authority.
• End the VALENCE31 Apache server instance with command "ENDTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(VALENCE31)".
• Before continuing, be certain there are no users and/or developers with a lock on the VALENCE31 library with command "WRKOBJLCK OBJ(VALENCE31) OBJTYPE(*LIB)". If there are any jobs listed, cancel them or ask the users/developers to exit.
• Delete the VALENCE31 library with command "DLTLIB LIB(VALENCE31)".
• Delete the IFS folder named /valence-3.1 and all subfolders and files. The easiest way to do this is to start with command "WRKLNK /" then use option 2 against the root folder, then option 9 (recursive delete) against the /valence-3.1 folder.
• Delete the VALENCE31 Apache server instance by navigating with your browser to http://[your_IBMi_ip_address]:2001/HTTPAdmin. Use the QSECOFR profile or another profile with security officer authority when prompted. Click on the “ALL Servers” tab, select the VALENCE31 server instance and then click the delete option.

If you need assistance with installing this release or have other questions please email support@cnxcorp.com or call CNX at (312) 477-7450.

[richard.milone]

A new build of Valence 3.1 is now available. Please go to the downloads page to obtain Valence 3.1.20120402.0 or the latest Valence build. Read the full release notes at the top of this thread for more information.

[richard.milone]

Valence build 3.1.20120416.0 is now available. This release adds new features and fixes several bugs. Read the full release notes at the top of this thread for more information.

[richard.milone]

Valence build 3.1.20120430.0 is now available. This release adds new features and fixes several bugs. Read the full release notes at the top of this thread for more information.

[richard.milone]

Valence build 3.1.20120604.0 is now available. This release adds new features and fixes several bugs. Read the full release notes at the top of this thread for more information.

[richard.milone]

Valence update build 3.1.20120810.0 is now available. Only customers who have access to Valence Framework Updates on the downloads page can apply this update. This release adds a new features for JSONP, the Nitro Source Editor and fixes several bugs. Read the full release notes at the top of this thread for more information.