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FormReturn Changelog

What's new in FormReturn 1.7.3

Oct 1, 2018
  • Bug Fixes:
  • QR codes now read properly for the barcode reader area.
  • PDF images now render in the test preview area.
  • Improvements:
  • PDF images now render internally at 400 DPI for better barcode detection.

New in FormReturn 1.7.1 (Nov 2, 2016)

  • Version 1.7.1 fixes a few critical issues for users of both Mac and Windows. In particular, this version fixes layout issues for Windows users with High DPI displays, such as the Microsoft Surface.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Print forms button and option will work properly again.
  • Windows users no longer have to shut down FormReturn server to restart the client again.
  • Fixed the display options for Java to render the program correctly on High DPI displays. This requires use of the bundled JRE since java.exe and javaw.exe had to be modified to get it to work.

New in FormReturn 1.7 (May 31, 2016)

  • Improvements:
  • Zoom to fit. Previews and reprocessor screen images will now zoom to the size of the window, so you can view all of the image.
  • Updated all dependencies to their latest versions where possible.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Save bug fixed on both Mac and Windows, where a form would sometimes not save.
  • Updated the PDF creation library so that publications can contain many more pages in a PDF file (more than a few thousand without affecting allocated memory).
  • FormReturn Scanner for Mac has been rewritten to work with more recent versions of Mac OS X. It will now (only) work with Mac 10.10 or higher.
  • Signed windows installer with new security certificate.
  • Fixed the Apple developer certificates for FormReturn.app, FormReturn Server.app and jsonscan so gatekeeper will allow the apps to run again.
  • Fixed a bug on Mac where cut and paste between applications was not working with the command key (would only work with ctrl-c and ctrl-v).

New in FormReturn 1.6.1 (Sep 17, 2015)

  • Version 1.6.1 patches a few critical issues for version 1.6. The main fixes include a complete overhaul of the look and feel (interface) for Mac, fixing editor bugs. It also includes a number of fixes for preferences bugs and a few other critical issues caused by changes to the preferences and export code. We highly suggest upgrading to this version if you are running version 1.6.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Editor bugs on Mac are fixed. Was fixed by changing the look and feel to use WebLaF, rather than the bundled look and feel that comes with Java for Mac.
  • A critical preferences bug caused parts of the program to not open. This bug should resolve issues where parts of the program don't open (like captured data).
  • Fixed a critical bug with the CSV statistics, which was broken in version 1.6.
  • Fixed a bug with the exporter task. Will now prompt for export settings before saving the task.
  • Improvements:
  • Updated Java to 8u51, which is compatible with Windows 10. Has been tested fully with Windows 10.
  • Mac now uses WebLaF which is a great improvement over the outdated aqua user interface that the current version of Java included.

New in FormReturn 1.6 (Apr 23, 2015)

  • Version 1.6 fixes all font issues, a big improvement for photocopiers with the blur enhancement
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed font bugs where you could not select bold or italic. Greatly improved the loading of font style information
  • Removed newline characters from CSV export when an error flag occurs
  • Fixed a group by filter exclude bug when not including empty records in the export screen
  • Fixed the default settings for the export area. Clicking the "set as default" button in the export screen should work properly now
  • Fixed a score aggregation calculation bug when recalculating scores is performed
  • Fixed a right to left editor issue when showing the edit text dialog
  • Fixed a null pointer exception when changing pages
  • Improvements:
  • Added a blur enhancement to allow images to be scanned with photocopiers - a blur removes speckle
  • Switched the supplied unicode font to one that has support for Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and many others
  • Changed the quick guide steps image on the desktop, along with other graphics and icons in the program. Rebranded the program

New in FormReturn 1.5 (Sep 8, 2014)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed the automatic opening of FormReturn when double clicking on a segment or form file in your desktop or file system. Previously, the files that were clicked on didn't always open once FormReturn was launched.
  • Fixed an issue with fonts not reading on Java 7+.
  • Fixed a major issue with form files and preferences not saving/reading on Java 8. Upgraded to latest version of xstream to resolve the issue.
  • Fixed a null exception with the aggregation rule if the string detected was empty.
  • Fixed a server launcher issue with Oracle/OpenJDK java on Mac. Will properly detect the server to launch now when starting.
  • Fixed FormReturn Server iconification issue on Mac (minimizes again on start now).
  • Removed all database connection detail instances of "localhost" and replaced with 127.0.0.1. This was an issue with some Macs.
  • Fixed a bug with the server task scheduler with machines that can't resolve their own hostnames. Was causing the task scheduler not to start.
  • Fixed an issue where some licenses were not generating free trial periods because of ProGuard.
  • Fixed an issue with the licensing code where BackingStoreException was sometimes causing the licenses to malfunction.
  • Fixed a screen resolution issue on some macs. Will now properly go fullscreen on launch.
  • Fixed FormReturn Scanner app (mac) launch bug on Oracle/OpenJDK JRE.
  • Fixed a bug when closing the program and you click cancel, if a form was open, it will no longer close the form before you select yes.
  • Fixed the task scheduler. Will now correctly display the task status and start/stop correctly.
  • Fixed the timer for the database and form processor status. Will no longer reset and count when vacuuming the database and closing.
  • Fixed the image rotate bar in the reprocessor.
  • Many clean-ups in the reprocessor.
  • Fixed the memory leak in the reprocessor on OS X by using a non-Apple JRE.
  • Fixed code128 barcodes with the value of (anything)1-100 being detected as a segment barcode when they shouldn't. E.g. test001 would previously be seen as a segment barcode.
  • Fixed the list of third party licenses in the about dialog.
  • Fixed a jpeg file read bug when FormReturn is using OpenJDK.
  • Fixed the image upload and folder upload features. Will now show "image uploaded" or "not uploaded" properly.
  • Fixed the creation of internal derby procedure "CHECK_INCOMING_IMAGES()" which was occasionally not being created properly and causing wait times for images to get uploaded and processed.
  • Fixed a null pointer exception when clicking on a form page that has no image and reprocessing it.
  • Enhancements:
  • Added a segment score column. Segment can be individually scored which can be useful for breaking up tests into parts.
  • Aggregation rule now has a range function to check if marks are in a range of values.
  • Added Gnome Desktop launcher creation to the linux jar installer. This is useful for creating icons in Unity (Ubuntu) where a desktop launcher file is required.
  • Rebuilt the build system from Apache Ant to Maven. This enables us to check for the latest versions of third party libraries that FormReturn uses. All third party libraries have now been updated to their latest versions.
  • Added a "scanned in order" option for key field publications. This feature requires that all forms are scanned in order of the forms and form pages. The first page must contain a reconciliation key and the subsequent pages for that form don't require a reconciliation key when they normally would. Handy for doing multi-page key field publications.
  • Added a new help system with a help icon that goes to the help version of the program version being used. This will help users get help quickly when they are in a complicated part of the program.
  • Added a "fill cell" feature to the source data record editor. This allows you to "fill series" or "fill duplicate" once you select an existing cell. This is handy for creating anonymous Form ID publications, where you need to add a field like "form_number" to source data and fill it with values from 1 to 100 (for 100 anonymous forms).
  • Added home folder opening functionality. This means you can now go to the "About" dialog in the program and click on "open home folder" to quickly find your database and preferences files.
  • Added "recalculate scores" feature to publication settings. This will re-run the aggregation rules for all forms and calculate a new score if any rules have changed.
  • Added "capture time" field to the list of fields able to be exported.
  • Updated the image reading code to use the latest JAI core. This resolves issues with some tiff images not being able to be read.
  • Added "scanned page number" to the list of fields able to be exported.
  • Improved the way fonts are read when launching. Will no longer cache fonts if a font is available from the OS directly. This improves memory consumption and vastly improves initial load time of the program.
  • Updated to the latest version of Apache Derby.
  • Added an "image upload" button to publication settings where you can override the Form ID barcode. If the publication is a Form ID publication, a Form ID recovery dialog will appear where it gives you the option to partially recover Form ID forms if they are scanned in order.
  • Added Chinese, Korean and Japanese character support by making it optional to install "Droid Sans Fallback" as the system font rather than "Bitsream Vera Sans". When installing the program, you will be prompted if you want to use this font. You can also select it from the Preferences -> General dialog.
  • Changed the design of "publication settings" dialog to include tabs.
  • Added grading and xsl-fo template tabs to "publication settings" dialog.
  • Added the ability to change the type of key field publication in "publication settings" dialog.
  • Removed PDF import feature as it was not very useful. If you want to import a word document, view the tutorial videos on how to do that with a PDF file and Inkscape.
  • MAJOR FEATURE: Automatic export task added in the task scheduler of FormReturn Server.
  • Removed the JAR export feature because the API has changed and there will be a different API in future versions.
  • Added icons to many of the buttons in the program to help users quickly select the correct button.
  • MAJOR FEATURE: Added an "image export" feature. This can export all of the scanned images, optionally with an overlay of the marked responses, mark scores and form scores.
  • MAJOR FEATURE: The desktop now shows the general process for using the program. You can click on each step to launch the help for these steps, or hide the help on the desktop.
  • Added chromium-browser help launcher for linux machines.
  • IMPROVEMENT: Changed the grip size on the editor and reprocessor to remain the same when zooming in and out. This means you can zoom out and still change the size of elements on the page easily.
  • Changed the stencil tool icon to represent a stencil in the reprocessor.
  • Chagned the default stencil that gets added to the first stencil of the form in the reprocessor.
  • Added the ability to easily change the stencil in the combo box of the stencil properties on the left of the screen in the reprocessor.
  • The Mac installer is now a disk image.
  • The Mac app is now a single, self-contained app with everything inside of it.
  • The Mac app is codesigned.
  • The Mac app includes Oracle Java 8 (8u20) and no longer requires the Apple JRE.
  • Added form password and form page ids to the list of exportable fields.
  • Added "upload image" and "upload image folder" to both the desktop contextual menu and the applicaiton file menu.
  • Added include errors field to turn on or off "!!error!!" results in the exported CSV file.
  • Added include timestamp prefix option in the export settings.
  • Cleaned up the look of the segment area properties dialog so it is easier to understand. Has some help as well now.
  • Updated the bundled windows jre to Oracle Java 8 JRE (8u20).

New in FormReturn 1.4.6 (Apr 9, 2013)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed an expired security certificate in the installation file for Windows where Internet Explorer would say that the download isn't trustworthy. We also suggest ignoring Internet Explorer's inarticulate warnings and using Chrome or Firefox to download the program if you download the file directly from our website and the security certificate expires again.
  • Fixed a bug in the locale selection in FormReturn Server to select a language other than English.
  • Fixed a small server shutdown bug that would cause the shutdown process to hang.
  • Fixed log4j logging for the quartz scheduler. Will now record task scheduler details to the server log.
  • Fixed a problem with FormReturn Server that happens rarely when a file that enters the processing queue has a java.lang.Error thrown by an image processor that can't read the file properly. All runtime errors are now caught and will not stop the processing thread.
  • Fixed a problem with the Spanish translation that would cause bugs throughout the program in some random places when Spanish is the selected language.
  • Fixed an instance checker bug in Mac OS X 10.8.x where FormReturn would not install, saying that it was already running.
  • Enhancements:
  • Removed the "confirm save" dialog in the reprocessor screen since it is redundant.
  • Rewrote the aggregation rule system. The new system includes more powerful aggregation rules for things such as string length checking.
  • Added the ability for aggregation rules to send forms to unidentified images if they do not meet a condition. For example, A?+1:!!error!! - if a is selected, give one mark, for everything else, send the form to unidentified images. This can be useful when used in conjunction with the string length checking. For instance, !!!strleneq(6)!!?!!error!! - a rule like this will send all forms that don't have an id string length of 6 characters to unidentified images for reprocessing.
  • When navigating between the tabs in captured data (publications, forms, form pages), the last selection in forms will be remembered. This is useful for remembering where you are up to when reprocessing form pages.
  • FormReturn Server can now be started as a windows service or as a linux daemon. It uses Apache Daemontools to do this.
  • FormReturn server can now be run in headless mode.
  • Server logs are now split into days and unique instance logs for the program on that day.
  • Added a database vacuum task to the task area of FormReturn Server. We recommend running this at least once a week to reduce the size of your database. If you don't vacuum your database frequently, you may end up with a very large database.

New in FormReturn 1.4.5 (Aug 2, 2012)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed a major memory leak in the reprocessor part of the program. Normally you could only load around 7-10 images before the program would run out of memory and become unresponsive until it is restarted. This has been fixed.
  • Fixed a bug where the error flag would not go away if you clicked on clear data in a form id publication.
  • Fixed the timestamp in the digital signature of the FormReturn installer. It will now use the Symantec timestamp rather than the Verisign one which expired on the 15th of July, 2012.
  • Enhancements:
  • Added a row count to all of the table listings so you know how many records a table contains.
  • Set the database to nolock as all the transactions in FormReturn are only used for rollback. This will mean you can access the database without it locking while processing or publishing forms.
  • Recreated the windows installer for FormReturn. It will now detect if FormReturn is running before it is installed. It will also check if Java needs to be installed or not.

New in FormReturn 1.4.4 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed: Some PDF files would cause the processing queue to stop and jam.
  • Fixed: Selection bug - clicking on an item in the editor would sometimes incorrectly show the wrong dialog (such as the mark dialog editor or text area editor).
  • Fixed: The margins for the paper size became 0 in 1.4.3. Forms created in this version may have no margin and will not print out within the bounds of your printer unless you re-add the margins and publish or print the published PDF files with the "scale to page size" option.
  • Fixed: Java for OS X Lion Update 1 has introduced a new bug into Java which will freeze the GUI of applications that try to minimize a window (as is done in FormReturn Server). We have reported the issue to Apple who have acknowledge the issue, however, we've had to remove the automatic window minimize for OS X in this new version as a result.
  • Fixed: Some new installations of the program required a restart before the editors would show.
  • Enhancements:
  • This version gives you the ability to change the default data directory for the program. This feature requires the FormReturn Admin program. If you'd like a copy of the FormReturn Admin beta, visit http://download.formreturn.com/beta, download the fradmin.zip file, extract the files to your desktop then double click the fradmin-1.4.4.jar file to launch. Be sure that FormReturn and FormReturn Server are shut down first.

New in FormReturn 1.4.3 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • The source data record editor was not able to manually edit or add new records. This bug has been fixed.
  • Fixed a bug that could possibly cross-link records if two different source data tables are linked to the same publication and contain the same reconciliation key.
  • Enhancements:
  • When the program is launched for the first time, a setup wizard will now appear. The setup wizard assists in the selection of default page size, language and automatic update checking.
  • In windows, if you click on the scan forms button, if a scanner was not detected or would not load, no message would be displayed. The program will now display a message as to what could be wrong.

New in FormReturn 1.4.2 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • The barcode boundary bug has been fixed. Barcode boundaries will now always detect correctly which ensures that the detection areas are correctly selected. This issue only affected some users in certain circumstances.
  • A fix for the aggregation rule where checkboxes that have "combined column characters" turned on to form a string would not be able to use the string in the aggregation rule.
  • Fixed a program freeze bug that would occur if you performed an undo action while editing text in the text editor.

New in FormReturn 1.4.1 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • The barcode boundary reader was not correctly detecting barcode boundaries for large images. Have reverted back to the previous barcode boundary reader.

New in FormReturn 1.4 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • New Features:
  • New CSV folder monitor will poll a folder for a CSV file of source data and create a source data table with the same name as the file (minus the extension).
  • Can override an existing form by specifiying the form's page ID in the end of the filename. This is particularly useful for key field reconciles publications where the scanned page is missing a form identifying barcode or the barcode is damaged or does not exist in the database.
  • Ability to export data in XML format.
  • New statistical data can be included in CSV and XML export formats.
  • Ability to exclude empty records from being exported.
  • Ability to include a JAR plugin that is run to export data.
  • Ability to include an XSL-FO template that is automatically merged with an XML stream from FormReturn's database to automatically create a PDF file.
  • Ability to automatically grade forms with custom grades.
  • Ability to filter out source data tables by name (using a regular expression) from appearing for a form template when it is about to be published.
  • Enhancements:
  • A brand new bubble detection algorithm that speeds up the reading of large forms by a factor of 10. Many other improvements made to the recognition engine.
  • Changed the folder monitor to be able to launch multiple instances of folder monitors.
  • Source data will now appear in the captured data > form tab. This helps people identify form recipients faster as they can view by their associated source data.
  • Simplfied the delimited export screen. Made included columns available in a sortable list.
  • Improved the reprocessor screen by including code that will automatically display the fragment area of a field that you double click on the right side of the screen.
  • PDF support substantially improved. Previously many PDF files were not readable by the pdf reader library. Now most PDF files that had an issue will work when you upload them into the program.
  • Added a new aggregation rule for blank answers. If you use !!BLANK!! in the aggregation rule, that will be treated as an answer.
  • A fragment will now error if any part of the bubble touches the edge of the fragment. This helps ensure that a full bubble is considered when detecting marks.
  • Many other smaller enhancements.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed a bug in the segment editor which would cause images to squish when rendered.
  • Minor GUI fixes where entering data would not be accepted unless you tabbed out of the input box before applying.
  • Caught uncaught exceptions when forms failed, now gives a better reason in the unidentified images when a form fails.
  • Fixed GUI buttons for Linux (ubuntu). Now displays with GTK PLAF.
  • Fixed the processing queue image counter. Was previously not showing all images in the queue that were processing in the server's information area.
  • Fixed an issue with the barcode boundary not being properly detected. Rule is supposed to be 10x the smallest bar or gap, not 3 times the size of the biggest bar as previously advised.
  • Fixed an issue with the server backup button. Some large database files would cause an out of memory error. Now using a small memory buffer to read and stream the zipped data out.
  • Fixed an export bug that would cause the program to run out of memory for large publications.
  • Many other smaller bug fixes.

New in FormReturn 1.3.1 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Bug Fixes:
  • When exporting data, if the image file name was included in the export options, it would stop the export from working if there was a blank record in the export (which normally happens when you have a form ID publication and there are forms in the publication that have not yet been processed).

New in FormReturn 1.3 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Enhancements:
  • The editor has been changed to create PDF files that almost exactly reflect what you design in the editor. There are no longer any issues with alignment of multiple lines of text with other elements (such as checkboxes).
  • Creation of PDF files and form records is faster as a result of the changes to the editor and publication code.
  • The barcode rendering library has been changed from barbecue to barcode4j which renders more accurate barcodes.
  • The layout of the editor toolbar has been moved from the top of the page to the right of the page.
  • The tabbed panel at the top of the window has been improved for Windows & Linux.
  • Linux now uses native look and feel and is compatible with both sun java 6 and openjdk 6.
  • When adding a text area to a page, it will not be filled by default.
  • Changed the duplicate fieldname error message for adding segments to a warning, but will still allow you to add duplicates. This can be used for particular form design issues.
  • New Features:
  • Form ID publications can be extended with the new "extend" functionality in the captured data -> publication area. Just add more records to a source data table, then go to captured data -> publications and click extend to add those new records and publish new forms on the same publication.
  • The backup button in FormReturn Server is now one of the easiest ways to backup your database. It will zip the database as well as the database password so you can restore it more easily.
  • Image file names can now be included in the captured data export. This means that you can name each image, and it will be tagged to the exported record.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed the folder monitor recursion bug.
  • Fixed the out of memory error for the form processor, double the memory has been allocated.
  • When you are zoomed in on the editor, and you select an element, sometimes it didn't deselect the current element or selected an element you didn't click on. This has been fixed.
  • Several bugs in undo/redo have been fixed. There should be few problems remaining in this area.
  • Fixed the 1.2.4 bug where a published template form appears in a key field reconciles publication. This can be a problem if the form is ever deleted by mistake.
  • Fixed copy/paste of images to different forms/segments.
  • Fixed the delete segment area bug whereby removing a segment area would cause the fieldnames to be stored in a cache, and when you add the new fields it would give you a message saying that the fields already exist.

New in FormReturn 1.2.4 (Jul 11, 2012)

  • Enhancements:
  • Limit, Sort, Search feature for all table displays. This will allow you to quickly navigate through publications, source data, forms and form pages. This feature will allow you to do things such as sort all form pages by the date they were processed (very handy for finding the last processed form).
  • The reprocessor area shows an image of the fragment being updated when modifying the selected marks.
  • Bug Fixes:
  • The reprocessor area now selects the correct segment when double clicking on it.