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AppLife Update Changelog

What's new in AppLife Update 5.4.0.0

Dec 13, 2017
  • New Install .Net 4.7 Actions:
  • New actions that will install .Net Framework 4.7 and 4.7.1 on deployed clients.
  • Support Passing License Key into the Command Line Build Utility:
  • A new optional command line argument accepts your license key, allowing the command line utility to be used with hosted build agents.
  • Disable AppLife Server Checks:
  • A new property on the Update Controller will disable automatic checks to identify an AppLife Server as the update location.
  • New Check Folder Exists Action:
  • Checks to see if a designated folder exists and sets a Shared Property with the result.
  • Optionally place an MSI exit code into a Shared Property:
  • Share the results of an Execute MSI Action with other actions and conditionals in the update.
  • Corrected an issue with Client ID Hardware Identification Signature:
  • Corrected an issue with AppLife Server Client ID duplication.

New in AppLife Update 5.2.0.0 (Aug 21, 2015)

  • AppLife Server 1.1 Support:
  • Supports session-scoped publishing, including selecting from available Server Access Control Lists to govern access to newly published updates.
  • New Install .Net 4.6 Action:
  • Deploy the .Net 4.6 framework during your next application update.
  • Improved Change Xml Node Action:
  • The action can now insert Xml Snippet replacements (Inner Xml) as well as text replacement (Inner Text).

New in AppLife Update 5.1.0.0 (Aug 21, 2015)

  • Improved the Run Sql Query Action:
  • Parses in-line queries on GO statements during update execution. Previously GO statements were only parsed during update builds.
  • Improved pre/post build variable definitions:
  • New Set Shared Property action options:
  • New options include Application Name, Number (double), and Update publish date and time.
  • Execute MSI Action:
  • Added a Display Property to customize what the user reads as the msi is executed.
  • System Tray Notification Control:
  • Corrected a display issue that would leave orphaned icons in the System Tray.
  • API Access to Update Summary Text Translations:
  • Translated summary text are displayed based on the clients system locale. For customized display, API access to all avaialble summary text translations are now available.

New in AppLife Update 5.0.0.6 (Mar 31, 2015)

  • AppLife Server Support:
  • The Update Controller and Make Update tooling supports publishing to and retrieving updates from the new AppLife Server platform.
  • New Check File Exists Update Action:
  • This new action checks for the existence of a specified file on the deployed client and sets a Shared Property to use the result.
  • New Update Display Version Update Action:
  • This new action updates the version of the designated application that is displayed in the Windows Control Panel list of installed applications.
  • New Install .Net Framework 4.5 Update Action:
  • This new action checks for the presence of the .Net Framework 4.5, and if not present, installs the framework.
  • New Read File/Assembly Version Update Action:
  • This new action reads the file or assembly version number of a specified file on the deployed client and sets a Shared Property with the result.
  • Support the use of dependency assemblies with IUpdateUI Implementations:
  • Customized Update Engine user interfaces that implement IUpdateUI can now use dependency assemblies. These dependencies can be packaged into built updates.
  • Improved HTML Update Summaries:
  • Add links and images to HTML update summaries. Improved round-trip HTML editing.
  • Enable Cached Update Checking:
  • Update packages are cached locally as they are downloaded. Previously, an active network connection was still required to check for updates before applying an update, even if the update package itself was previously downloaded. Now, the update check can be performed while offline as well by enabling cached update checking.
  • API Extension to Save Downloaded Update Packages locally:
  • Downloaded update packages and the Director.Xml file can be saved locally throught he Update Controller API.

New in AppLife Update 4.5.0.4 (Aug 24, 2012)

  • Multiple Action Lists:
  • Segment your update action lists into independent, callable action lists. This new feature will not only help organize more complicated updates, but enable performing recursive and looping update activities.
  • Action List Undo/Redo:
  • The Make Update application now supports undoing and redoing user interactions while creating your update action lists.
  • New SQL Server Specific Actions:
  • New SQL Server specific actions supports both transacted and non-transacted database work. Open SQL Connections for exclusive access, Backup your database, Begin and Commit SQL transactions, Run GO separated sql files and queries, and Close your connection using new built-in update actions.
  • Use Rich Text for Update Summaries:
  • Write update summary text using rich text. All built-in user interfaces support displaying rich text, and the Update Controller API exposes rich text to your application as HTML.
  • Pre/Post Build Batch Scripting:
  • Move/Copy files and take other actions before and after an update is built. Pre and post build scripts add additional automation options and improve the ease with which update creation can be integrated into automatic and continuous build processes.
  • Improved File Comparison Actions:
  • Improved filtering provides the ability to skip individual subfolders from comparison consideration. Additionally, files that are present in the baseline folder but removed in the current folder can now be optionally deleted from deployed clients during update execution.
  • Improved Patch Folder Comparison:
  • The same improvements made on the Add and Replace files by Comparison action is also present in the Patch Folder action.
  • Automatic Selection of Last Update Version as New Update Target
  • Automatically detect the version number of the last published update, then use that version number as the target version for new updates, simplifying patch-style update builds.
  • Add Attributes to a New Xml Element:
  • When creating a new XML Element within an existing XML file during an update, you can now specify a collection of attributes that will be added to the new XML Element.
  • Manage Multiple Selected Updates Simultaneously:
  • When managing updates published to an update location, you can now select multiple published updates and perform actions on all selected updates.
  • Identify the Architecture of Client Operating System:
  • When executing an update, it is often necessary to identify whether the client is running a 32 or 64 bit operating system. The Set Shared Property action now provides this ability.
  • Delete Files Action Supports Wildcards:
  • You can now delete files based on * and ? wildcard characters, simplifying the removal of blocks of files during an update.
  • Force 32 bit Assembly Registration:
  • When registering .Net assemblies for COM registration during an update you can now force 32 bit registration when updating 64 bit operating systems.
  • Prepare a New Publish Folder without Publishing an Update:
  • Creating and testing a new update folder from the AppLife Update application now prepares the folder for use. Checking the new location for updates from your application will find no updates available. In previous versions, the folder was not prepared for use until an update was actually published.
  • Override Permissions Elevation Settings:
  • The permissions elevations settings set in application code can be overridden for individual updates.
  • Publish Updates to a Location Specified by a UNC Path Relative to your Project File:
  • Locations specified relative to the .aup project file can now be targeted to publish updates.
  • New Tester Property on the Update Controller:
  • In addition to the app.config setting, clients can now be identified as able to detect updates marked for "test only" through code by using an update controller property.

New in AppLife Update 4.0 (Aug 24, 2012)

  • Improved Update Publishing and Management:
  • Publish to multiple update locations from your AppLife Update project, manage and compare update locations, move updates between locations, and more. Each configured update location can be managed and maintained independently. This is a significant shift from the behaviors of previous AppLife Update versions. Information about previous updates is no longer maintained within the AppLife Update project. Instead, this information is retrieved from each update location individually.
  • New Visual Controls for More Options in Update Process Integration :
  • AppLife Update 4.0 comes with four new visual Windows Forms controls that you can use to quickly and easily implement automatic updating in your applications. Choose from an in-line style, system tray style, or details panel style updating experience. All of the controls use background update downloading so users have a simple, unobtrusive update experience. These controls can be dropped in and configured in an instant, and with optional settings such as static text and image replacements, automatic fade and repeated update checking, you can tune the behavior just the way you want. These controls are available with a limited license, providing UI flexibility not previously available with a limited license.
  • New WPF Update Controls:
  • New WPF controls that provide drop-in automatic update integration. These controls provide the same property-based customizations as the new Windows Forms controls, but being true WPF look-less controls, can be re-templated to match your application.
  • Improved Visual Studio Design Time Support:
  • Integrating AppLife Update into your new applications has never been easier. With new design-time support, you can set up a new project from Visual Studio and be publishing updates in seconds!
  • Automatic Update Chaining:
  • Updates that target intermediate versions can now be downloaded and applied in a single update process, improving the update experience for infrequent application users.
  • Install the .Net Framework 4.0 during an Update:
  • With the new Install .NET 4.0 update action, you can easily migrate your current application to the newest Microsoft .Net framework. This action checks for the presence of the .NET 4.0 framework, then installs the framework if necessary. The action can be configured to include the framework in your update, download it from Microsoft, or download it from a location on your internal network.
  • Patch Folder Contents for Smaller Updates:
  • The new Patch Folder update action processes and compares an entire folder’s contents with that of a baseline and creates patches for files with differences between the target and baseline. Using patching technology, updates can be significantly smaller than using the file actions that replace entire files.
  • Improved AppLife Make Update User Interface:
  • The Make Update application user interface has been redesigned to improve usability. A new build and publish update wizard, new project configuration window, and new update location management dialogs help you more intuitively accomplish your goals with AppLife Update.
  • Update Log Viewer Utility:
  • The new update log viewer makes it easy to troubleshoot updates. With an automatic listing of log files and filters to quickly drill down into specific update stages, actions, and errors, the log viewer will quickly let you verify your updates are performing as expected and help identify the issue when an update fails.
  • Windows Update Service Utility:
  • The new Windows update service utility helps in developing updates that utilize the AppLife Update windows service for permissions elevation. While in application development, you can easily register your applications with the service for testing updates.
  • Full .Net Framework 4.0 Support:
  • The Microsoft .NET 4.0 framework installs side-by-side with previous versions of the framework. AppLife Update already supported updating deployed clients running the .NET Framework 2.0 and higher. Now all aspects of the AppLife Update solution provide full .NET 4.0 support. Specifically, Dynamic Code actions can now target the .NET 4.0 Framework, and the AppLife Update tools can operate on any system with the .NET 2.0 and/or .NET 4.0 Framework installed.