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This document contains important information that you must read before using ApplinX version 11.0. Included in this document is information about functions that are added, removed, or changed for this product. The document also includes details about functions that are supported for each platform and installation requirements.

What's new in release 11.1

Multi-session functionality support

ApplinX 11.1 (and later) supports the ability to open multiple sessions on different browser tabs. Each browser tab uses a different session. This allows users to function independently across multiple tabs.

Session-level code page configuration support

This feature supports code page configuration from the application (JSP and .NET) and enables the configuration of distinct code pages for different sessions.

Ability to retrieve partial fields from the screen API

This release enhances the Screen API, providing a flexibility to retrieve partial field sets by specifying a row range.

Accumulated screens included in output for path procedures REST endpoints

This release implements the functionality to return screen data from the path procedure having only flat attributes and screens that are sending data to the base object.

Enable SSL/TLS support for SMTP

This release implements an enhanced SMTP connection feature to ensure robust and secure email communication. It includes the following:

Custom Ports: Allows specification of customer ports for SMTP connections, providing flexibility in configuring email services.
SSL/TLS connections: Supports secure email transmission with SSL/TLS protocols. It includes compatibility with TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3, ensuring high data encryption and integrity standards.
SSL certificates: Facilitates the integration of SSL certificates to enhance the security of SMTP connections, enabling encrypted and authenticated email communication.

Upgrade announcements

Java Version 17 Support: ApplinX now fully supports Java Version 17 (runtime and compile time).
Upgrade to Tomcat Server 9.0: The ApplinX internal Tomcat server is now version 9.0.
Eclipse Support in Designer: ApplinX now supports Eclipse version 4.25 provided by the webMethods suite.
Azul Support: ApplinX runtime now supports Azul Java 17.

Retirement announcements

Discontinuation of CentraSite Support: Centrasite support is removed and is no longer supported.
Discontinuation of Web-Page Integration Support: Web-Page Integration support is removed and is no longer supported.

What was new in release 10.15

Increased platform support

ApplinX now supports the following additional platforms:

Windows: Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022
Linux: Red Hat 9

Java version 11 support

ApplinX now fully supports Java Version 11 (runtime and compile time).

Docker enhancements

Building a Docker image for ApplinX has been improved. For more information, see Building and Running the ApplinX Docker Image.

SSL enhancements

SSL handling for ApplinX has been improved. When you configure an ApplinX server and check the Secured Port check box, you can now upload an SSL server certificate. For more information, see Secured port in the Administration documentation.

For more information, see note on using self-signed certificate in Appendix B: Security in ApplinX.

What was new in release 10.11

Default password handling

For greater security, default password handling has been enhanced for Software AG products that are installed with the SAG Installer. On the Administrator Password panel, enter a default product administrator password for the products you are installing, and choose whether to require the password to be changed on first product login. For more information, see Defining Passwords in the ApplinX Administration documentation for details.

Note: If you are migrating from a previous install base, the password of this previous version applies, regardless of what you specify in the Administrator Password panel. We recommend you change this password as soon as possible.

License handling

Expiration: For ApplinX licenses of type subscription or test, a daily message in server log will appear if there are less than 60 days to expiration date. In earlier ApplinX versions, this value was 8 days. For more information, see ApplinX License Keys for more information.
Enhanced Support: With an Emergency License Key, Software AG Support is now able to offer immediate help to customers if they suffer from license key issues, until the problem has been identified.

Rest API enhancements

You can now generate a page in Angular, and also execute a procedure (stateless or stateful) using the ApplinX REST APIs.

Security enhancement

Improvements to the existing hotfix script mean you can now update or replace a JAR file, making it easier to address security vulnerabilites.

Other changes and enhancements

Japanese Composition Mode: Japanese composition mode is now supported.
Supported Microsoft Visual Studio Versions: ApplinX now supports Visual Studio 2019 in addition to 2017. Visual Studio 2015 is no longer supported.
Eclipse Support in Designer: ApplinX now supports Eclipse version 4.19 provided by the webMethods suite.
Azul Support: ApplinX runtime now supports Azul Java 11.

What was new in release 10.7

Deprecation of Solaris v.11.3

The original provider of the operating system Solaris (Oracle) strongly recommends to upgrade from version 11.3 to 11.4 as of now. In order to provide for enough time for Software AG customers to react to the upgrade policy of Oracle for Solaris versions after v.11.3, production environments based on Software AG products of this October 2020 release will in general continue to work without the immediate need to upgrade. However, Software AG customer support will only handle issues for Software AG products that can be reproduced in a Solaris v.11.4 environment. All newer versions of Software AG products AFTER the October 2020 release will no longer work with Solaris v.11.3.

Software AG therefore strongly recommends to address necessary migration steps timely.

Support of Natural-IO Protocol

ApplinX support of the Natural-IO protocol enables you to create an SSL connection to a Natural Linux host without the need of a third-party component. For more information, see Support of Natural-IO Protocol under Reference Guide > Appendix C - Natural for Linux and Cloud Installation.

New Host Key Pattern

The new pattern, TWO LINES, is similar to the existing Natural patterns logic but is more customizable and allows you to change or add host keys and captions. For more information, see Using Customizable Host Key Pattern TWO LINES.

Automatic Load of ApplinX Server deployed as WAR

When you deploy an ApplinX Server as a Java Web Archive (WAR) in the application server, the web services defined in the application are now loaded automatically. (In earlier versions of ApplinX these services were not available until the application was first accessed.)

For more information, see Deploying ApplinX Server as a WAR File (Java Web Archive).

Web Services Stack

The Web Services Stack is now always enabled. The option to disable WS-Stack is no longer provided.

If you are using a SOA-based license, both the procedure group and the administrative web services are deployed.
If you are using a web-based license, only the administrative web services are deployed.

For more information, see Deploying a Procedure Group to WS-Stack.

Natural Screen Tester

The Software AG product Natural Screen Tester has now been incorporated in ApplinX. For more information, see First Steps - Unit Test.

Administration using Batch Commands

You can now perform various administration tasks from a command line using the tool gxadminconsole.sh (UNIX) or gxadminconsole.bat (Windows) in the ApplinX utilities folder. For more information, see Administration using a Batch File.

ApplinX REST API

You can now create and disconnect a session, and also get and update a screen using the ApplinX REST API. For more information, see ApplinX REST API.

Printing with BaseObject API

New classes in the ApplinX BaseObject API provides an additional means of activating a mainframe or AS/400 printer session. For more information, see BaseObject API under Printing in the Web Application Development documentation.

ActiveX Support Dropped

ActiveX technology is no longer supported by ApplinX. Features that relied on this technology have been reworked if necessary. For more information, see for example Support type ahead under Emulation in section Web Application Configuration Parameters.

Doc Enhancements

The documentation describing log files in ApplinX has been thoroughly reworked. For more information, see Log Files in ApplinX.

What was new in release 10.5

ApplinX Web Emulator as Part of the ApplinX Docker Image

The ApplinX docker image now contains an ApplinX web emulation. Here you can configure host connectivity and various application settings within the browser. In previous versions this was only possible using ApplinX Designer. For more information, see recording.

Administration Improvements for the Natural-UNIX Host

Better Correlation between the ApplinX Session and the Natural Process

It is now easier to track the ApplinX session ID for a NATAPX process within the Natural environment, and the Natural user used by an ApplinX session within the ApplinX Administrator. For more information, see recording.

Health Check in a Docker Environment

A utility is provided to check that all components (ApplinX server, ApplinX Natural daemon, Natural, Adabas) are functioning in a Docker environment. For more information, see Building an ApplinX Docker Image.

Customized Startup of Natural Applications

When you start a Natural application in ApplinX you can now specify additional information using the CUSTOM argument. For more information, see Starting a New Natural Application.

Security Support under Natural for Linux and Cloud

The following security models are supported in a Natural Linux environment:

System.
PAM. You can now configure PAM authentication (for LDAP/Kerberos integration) within the ApplinX Natural daemon.

For more information, see Authentication under Configuration Files in the Appendix C: Natural for Linux and Cloud Installation.

For more information, see recording.

Copy Session ID

The ApplinX session ID is visible in the Administrator session view. You can copy this ID to your clipboard with CTRL+C, the context menu or by pressing the Copy icon

New Platform Support

Visual Studio 2017
Designer plug-in environment based on Eclipse 4.11
Log4J version 2.x

Documentation

New section on setting up your ApplinX environment for High Availability with container orchestration has been added. For more information, see High Availability with Container Orchestration.

What was new in release 10.4

Font Size: You can now determine the font size to be used in the web application for each screen resolution. With class GXBasicContext.java (or GXBasicWebForm.cs in .NET application) you can add a method called getColumnMappingPerResoultion where you can create a map for font size per resolution and number of columns of the screen. For more information, see Determining Font Size per Resolution and Number of Columns.
Other: Various bug fixing and usability enhancements.

What was new in release 10.3

Docker Support: You can now build an ApplinX Docker image and run the Docker container using scripts provided with ApplinX. For more information, see Building an ApplinX Docker Image under Getting Started.
Customizing the Application to Pass Natural Parameters Dynamically: You can specify different parameters at runtime (for example NATPARM) depending on the business rule you choose. For more information, see Customizing the Application to Pass Natural Parameters Dynamically under General Application Customization in the Web Application Development documentation.
License Metering using Command Central: ApplinX now supports the license metering functionality provided by Command Central. License metering depends on license manifest files. Each license manifest file issued by Software AG contains all contracts for one location of your organization. If you received license manifest files from Software AG, you can generate or view a report of the current state of your landscape. For more information, see Creating and Viewing License Metering Reports in the Command Central Online Help.

What was new in release 10.2

Sort Function for List of Field Mappings

You can sort the contents of a List of Field Mappings table by field name or by any other column. Click the header of the column by which you want to sort. The contents are sorted in ascending order. Click again to sort in descending order. This feature is useful when detecting duplicate field entries. The sort will be cancelled when you close the screen entity.

Single Sign-on under AS/400

ApplinX now supports a single sign-on using a Kerberos ticket on the platform AS/400. A corresponding start-up response code is given. For more information, see Single Sign-on under AS/400 and Start-up Response Record in the Reference Guide.

Other Changes and Enhancements

Pop-up window handling has been enhanced.
Multiple usability enhancements have been made.

What was new in release 10.1

Support of Windows Server 2016ApplinX now supports the operating system Windows Server 2016. This includes support for the following:
- IIS 10
- .NET Framework 4.6
Single Sign-on under AS/400ApplinX now supports a single sign-on using a Kerberos ticket on the platform AS/400. A corresponding start-up response code is given. For more information, see Single Sign-on under AS/400 and Start-up Response Record in the Reference Guide. This functionality was provided with a fix after the original release of version 10.1.

What was new in release 10.0

Support of Visual Studio Version 2012 and 2015ApplinX now supports Visual Studio versions 2012 and 2015. Versions 2008 and 2010 are no longer supported. For more information, see ApplinX Visual Studio .NET Add-In.
Exclude connection information sets when importing applicationsA new option is provided in the Import Entities wizard. This enables better transition from development to test and production environments. If you check Do not overwrite existing Connection Information Sets, you can import an application without its connection information sets. For more information, see Importing an Application's Entities.
Enhanced Search Options in Software AG DesignerIn earlier ApplinX version you could search for entity names and referring entities, but it was not possible to search inside the entities themselves. With this version you can now search for the following components of each entity:
- Screens and screen groups
- Session data and date structure
- Path and flow procedures
For more information, see Searching Applications in the Software AG Designer under Developing an ApplinX Application.
Template Handling
- Template handling when creating an ApplinX Web application has been streamlined. For more information, see Creating an ApplinX Web Application.
- Obsolete templates are no longer provided.

What was new in release 9.12

Start/Stop Connection Pools from DesignerYou can now start and stop connection pools from the context menu of a selected pool in the Software AG Designer. For more information, see Managing Connection Pools.
Replacement for Print AppletApplet technology will soon be deprecated or no longer supported in new browser versions. An alternative for host printing is provided using Java Web Start technology. For more information, see To test HostPrint in the Web application under Getting Started with the ApplinX Printer.
UsabilityUsability has been enhanced throughout the product and a troubleshooting guide has been added. For more information, see Error Messages.
DocumentationMultiple documentation enhancements have been made, for example High Availability.

What was new in release 9.10

Platform certificationsApplinX now supports the following:
- Java 8The ApplinX code now compiles with Java 8, which means that customers can use Java 8 syntax in their ApplinX web applications.
- Windows 10The Windows 10 platform is now supported.
- Eclipse 4.5The ApplinX Designer Eclipse is now version 4.5.
- Microsoft EdgeMicrosoft's Edge browser is now supported.
Updating to CentraSiteYou can now update an ApplinX application to CentraSite; this updates the assets that were changed since last registration/update. For more information, see section Update the Application to CentraSite of the ApplinX 9.10 documentation.
Font SizeThe following changes have been made to font size handling in this version:
- Default font size for web application is 'Dynamic by resolution' instead of 13px.
- In the fontSize combo box in the Configuration and Emulation windows, you can select font size from 10-24px (10, 12, 14, 16... 24px). For more information, see The HTML Emulation Toolbar.
- In the fontSize combo box in the Emulation window, the new option 'Default' allows you to use the font size defined in Configuration. This is the default value in the Emulation window.
For more information, see Enabling the User to Control the Font Size.
RebrandingApplinX product and documentation have been updated to match the new Software AG look-and-feel.
DocTypeParameter DocType is no longer applicable for Framework Configuration - all pages now have the HTML5 doctype.
However, the option was retained in the configuration window for reasons of backward compatibility. You can remove this obsolete option if you prefer.

What was new in release 9.9

Comparing ApplinX ApplicationsWith the new function Compare Application... you can compare two ApplinX applications, typically two versions of the same application. In terms of application lifecycle management, being able to compare two different versions means you can perform impact analysis before deploying a new application version. For example, before deploying to your production environment you can compare your current test application with the production version to see what changes were made, make sure the new application version is complete and that all the included changes were intentional.
For more information, see Comparing Applications under Developing an ApplinX Application.
Invoking a Procedure, Using RESTIn addition to SOAP, ApplinX web services can now be invoked using REST. From the Procedure Group Entity Editor, select a procedure and choose the new option Copy REST URL to clipboard. For more information, see Invoking a Procedure, Using REST API under Web Services in section Designing and Developing an Application.
Upgrade to Tomcat Server 8.0The ApplinX internal Tomcat server is now version 8.0.
Improved Performance for Large Send SectionsPerformance for large send sections (for example Natural Data Transfer upload or the AS/400 save state feature) has been improved.
Enter Key RecognitionA distinction is now made between the two Enter keys (on numeric keypad and the main keyboard). The following line has been added to the keyboardMapping.XML" configuration file:
```
<GXKeyboardMapping additionalKey="0" keyCode="numpadENTER" targetFunction="[Function]"/> 
```
Note:
This applies only to the following browsers: Firefox 29 and above; Chrome; Internet Explorer 11.
For more information, see Keyboard Mapping under Client Side (JavaScript) in the ApplinX Development API References.
Improved Usability in Flow MappersLinks now show source / target index expressions (if any exist). Double clicking anywhere on a link opens the link properties dialog (if the link can have properties). If a target index exists, "Append" is now off by default.

What was new in release 9.8

New Look and Feel for Web Applications
- The look and feel of the new ApplinX Web applications has been enhanced, in particular for applications specifically designed for easier use on mobile devices:
- The new Web applications can use HTML5 features such as the native calendar feature of the device where they are running. For example, if you are running on an iPad, you will get the native date picker conrol.
- A new "green" stylesheet for the Web emulation template has been added:
Usability ImprovementsCreating new ApplinX applications has been simplified. You no longer need to define a repository, because the application now uses an internal one instead.
Performance ImprovementsPerformance has been improved. CPU usage has been optimized when using Natural host keys pattern, we have seen an average reduction of around 50 percent
Session FilteringIn the ApplinX Administrator you can now filter your sessions by Session ID, Application, Device Name, Duration, State, Connection Pool and Type. For more information, see Filtering your Session under Current Activity in the Administration documentation.
Detecting Use of ActiveX when Downloading a Natural FileWhen downloading a Natural file with method gx_getNdtDefaultDownloadFileName you can now use property isUsingactiveX(). This property indicates if the process is using ActiveX or not, and changes the logic accordingly.
Mobile Browser SupportApplinX now supports mobile browsers, for example the Safari Browser. For more information, see Supported Browsers for full list.
- Checking Feature SupportA new method gx_isSupportedFeature is provided on GXBasicContext (for Java) and GXBasicWebForm (for .NET) to indicate whether a particular feature is supported by the browser. Also, a new tag has been added to Java and .NET. For more information, see gx_isSupportedFeature for examples of using this method and the new tag.
- Modal Windows Support in Mobile DevicesBy default, modal windows are disabled for mobile devices such as iPad and iPhone. This behavior can now be overridden with the user exit userExit.js. For more information, see Enabling Modal Windows for Mobile Devices.

ApplinX supported platforms

For a full list of platforms supported by ApplinX see Product Version Availability on the Empower website.

Software AG provides ApplinX support for the operating/teleprocessing system versions supported by their respective manufacturers. In general, when an operating/teleprocessing system provider stops supporting a version of an operating/teleprocessing system, Software AG will stop supporting that operating/teleprocessing system version.