Releases/Spring 2024
The 17.1 / Spring 2024 release was released on June 4, 2024.
Android: lost login information
Android app versions 17.1.0 - 17.1.3 store data in a non-standard folder.
- As a result, when you update from 17.0.x or earlier to one of the affected versions, you will be asked to log in and sync again. The previous local data becomes temporarily unavailable; a new copy will be created instead.
- After updating from the affected versions to 17.1.4 or later, you will return to the original local data.
Mitigation strategies:
- Avoid versions 17.1.0 - 17.1.3.
- Synchronize often to ensure you are not temporarily locked out of your data.
MSAL authentication problem
In this release, Resco Mobile CRM supports a new way of authenticating with Azure AD, using the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL). MSAL integrates with v2.0 endpoints of Azure AD API (rather than the v1.0 endpoints used until now).
Switching to MSAL will eventually allow us to support dynamic permissions. With dynamic permissions, the app will no longer need all permissions immediately, even for features you don't use. Instead, the app will only request permissions for features that you are using.
Some users report problems with MSAL authentication on iOS devices. For troubleshooting, please follow these steps:
- Go to the app Setup > CRM and initiate a full-flow synchronization from here.
If you encounter problems, record the errors and logs and send them to our support.
If that doesn't help: - Synchronize with a tenant admin user. Grant consent on behalf of your organization.
If you encounter problems, record the errors and logs and send them to our support.
If that doesn't help: - Go to the app Setup > MSAL Mode and set it to "Off". Save all changes, then start the synchronization again.
If you encounter problems, record the errors and logs and send them to our support.
| Tip | Even brand new users of the Resco Mobile CRM app can get into the Setup and change the MSAL Mode. On the Welcome to Resco Mobile CRM screen, tap Skip & use demo data. On the next screen, tap Skip. You can then access Setup as normal. |
Resco mobile platform (Microsoft, Salesforce, Resco Cloud)
Geofencing
The geofencing feature of Resco mobile apps (Android, iOS) introduced in release 17.1 allows you to get immediate updates when your front-line workers enter or leave one of your predefined locations (such as office, service location, etc.). This works reliably on a wide range of devices with minimal battery impact and improved user privacy (only presence at pre-set locations is monitored, not the overall location).
JSBridge upgrade for web app
In order to improve security, browser compatibility, and performance of Resco JavaScript Bridge on web app, we strongly recommend to upgrade your JSBridge.js to the latest version. However, you need to do it after the release of 17.1. You don't have to update your code.
Resco web app allows you to access your app projects from a web browser. Web app is available for Resco Cloud server; however, there's also a hidden WebApp web resource in Resco Suite (Dataverse, Dynamics, Power Platform).
This change does not affect Resco mobile apps in any way.
Microsoft Store app: switch to WebView2
We are deprecating legacy WebView in Microsoft Store app. To avoid warnings in Woodford and in the app, go to project Configuration and Use Edge WebView2.
OCR in forms
You can now use OCR to populate text fields on forms in Resco mobile apps. Take a photo or open any picture, let the device recognize the text on the image, and then select portions of the text to populate fields on the form.
Too much flexibility in forms
When defining the layout of flexible forms in Woodford, you can place cards into left panel or right panel. However, the app does not strictly follow this arrangement; sometimes, cards shift around to make the panels equally high. With this release, you can disable this screen real estate optimization: set Cards Layout to "Strict" on the form layout page.
View designer redesigned
We have modernized the Woodford user interface for designing and configuring views. You can immediately see all rows included in a view. The properties have been revised.
View designer: responsive resize
We have changed how field cells behave in views. Cells set to Responsive Resize grow wider when the available space for the entire view row increases. Empty spaces between cells don't change width. If you disable responsive resizing, you can Anchor the left or right border of the cell.
See also: New cell resizing Blog
| Tip | If you switch to the new app (17.1 or later), you may notice that some of your views may look different. You don't have to update to the latest Woodford version! You can use Woodford 17.0.x (or earlier) and the old way of modifying anchors in your views. |
View designer: custom map pin
We have changed how you can configure custom map pins in the view designer.
To define a custom map pin binding, click Add Map Pin. A new "Configure Map Pin" window opens.
When you add a custom map pin to the row, it's displayed above it.
Woodford: find fields used in the mobile app
When designing an app project in Woodford, an important paradigm is reducing the amount of server data that gets synchronized on the mobile device:
- Select only the necessary entities.
- Select only the necessary fields.
- Select only the necessary records.
In this release, we're introducing a useful tool for the project designers, helping them answer the question: Which fields are actually in use? Can we turn them off? Another scenario is when you want to remove a field from the app project and you want to find all the places where the field is used.
- Click Check Usage to display a list of used fields.
- Click Disable Unused to disable fields that are not used in the project. Save changes to confirm.
This feature is released in preview quality; there still might be some obscure parts of the app project that are not fully checked.
Woodford: more clarity into "Project Default"
In Woodford, when editing an app project, you can set the project default values in the Configuration. Later, for example when designing views, one can see that a particular property is set to "Project Default". Previously, Woodford admins had to go to Configuration and check what was the default setting. With this release, in many locations across Woodford, particularly in the view and form designers, they can immediately see the default value in parentheses.
Max Columns was changed to just "Default (2)" since the default value does not come from Configuration, but is hardcoded in Resco mobile apps.
Newly supported FetchXML operators
Resco Mobile CRM now supports the following additional FetchXML operators:
- neq
- begins-with, not-begin-with
- ends-with, not-end-with
Monitor progress when publishing projects
Woodford now displays detailed progress information when you publish app projects. Gain insight into which steps of the publishing process are causing delay or trouble.
Dataverse: faster metadata download
We have sped up the download of metadata from Dataverse. Several metadata-heavy actions should be faster.
- In Woodford, opening an app project for editing.
- In Woodford, opening localizations.
- In Report Designer, opening filter editor.
Dataverse: faster sync download
We are working on a newer, significantly faster way of accessing Dataverse data. If you want to opt in and test lightning-fast sync download, edit an app project in Woodford, go to Configuration > Offline Data Sync > Sync Advanced, and enable Use TDS download method. You can also set up the behavior for each table in Woodford. Alternatively, app users can enable this feature in the app's setup.
| Warning | For now, this is an experimental feature. Do not use in production. |
Housekeeping: .NET 8
Resco mobile apps (Android, iOS) and other internal components now use .NET 8 instead of .NET 7 which is reaching its end of life in May 2024.
Clearer feedback for user actions
Resco Mobile CRM is now even tastier. It displays a snackbar as a feedback to the users after an operation (e.g., when they save a form or complete a questionnaire).
(iOS) nicer dropdown lists
The design of dropdown lists in the iOS app has been modernized. It now properly matches the theme and styles of the app.
Resco modules for Power Platform and Dataverse (Microsoft)
Questionnaire Player: better support of images
If you use Resco questionnaires in Microsoft Power Apps and Power Pages, the work with images and videos is significantly smoother. This includes components like tagged images and image gallery.
Questionnaire Player: offline mode
In model-driven Power Apps, questionnaires can be used in offline mode.
QR codes in PowerApps
When using Resco questionnaires in the Microsoft Power Apps app, you can now scan QR codes to answer questions.
Power Components
Resco has a long tradition of helping others develop mobile applications, dating back to early handheld devices (Resco MobileForms Toolkit). In this release, we're continuing that tradition by offering Resco Power Components, a bundle of premium PCF controls that app developers on Microsoft Power Platform can use in their apps.
New product alert: Build on Power Platform faster with Resco Power Components Blog
Inspections and questionnaires (Microsoft, Salesforce, Resco Cloud)
Mark mandatory questions
When answering questionnaires, mandatory questions are now marked with an asterisk.
Support for zero instances for repeatable group
Questionnaire templates now support zero instances of a repeatable group. In the Questionnaire Designer, you can set the Min Repeat Count property down to 0. When filling out questionnaires, you can also remove the first instance of a repeatable group if you don't need it. Only the header row is displayed, with a plus button for creating the first instance of the group.
| Warning | In a related change, the app now strictly enforces the Max Repeat Count property. Before this release, the value 0 was ignored. With this release, 0 means you won't be able to add any group instances. This is a breaking change. If you suddenly cannot add group instances in your questionnaires, check this property. |
Define score ranges for group results
You can now set question group results for each group. Define group score ranges and assign distinct labels for each range.
- Edit a questionnaire template in the designer.
- Enable scoring in questionnaire options.
- Select a question group.
- In the Properties pane, enable Customize Results.
- At the end of the group, set up Question group results: Define score ranges and assign labels.
Questionnaire Designer improvements
We have updated the user interface of the Questionnaire Designer. The components pane on the left has new icons; the designer pane has new buttons for adding, deleting, and repositioning components, and other small improvements that make questionnaire design simpler and more intuitive.
Save answers to different table
Traditionally, questionnaire templates and answers were saved in the same table (entity): resco_questionnaire. With this release, you can select a dedicated table for storing answered questionnaires: resco_questionnaireanswer. This division is particularly beneficial for large installations. Sync filter can be better optimized, resulting in faster sync times. Different tables for templates and answers also allow for more granular security and access control.
- If you want to use the new table in your existing questionnaires, set Feature Version to 4 (or higher).
- The new table has to be enabled in your mobile app project.
- Create at least one public view for this table.
Questionnaire integrity check
Rarely, as a result of interrupted sync or gross misconfiguration, it can happen that a downloaded questionnaire does not have all the necessary dependent records (questions, groups, annotations). With this release, the questionnaire player in Resco mobile apps and the web app now checks questionnaire integrity before attempting to display it. This ensures that any missing parts are handled gracefully.
Resco Guides (Microsoft, Resco Cloud)
Guides for Salesforce
In this release, we are debuting Resco Guides for Salesforce users.
- Guides library, the tool for managing and editing guides, is available on the Resco for Salesforce page.
- However, before you jump into action, update the metadata in Woodford.
- Also, read about the specifics and limitations of guides on Salesforce.