Configure Universal Standalone Apps

When you create a Standalone App, you can pre-configure the configuration settings and optionally lock them to prevent a user changing them. Options which aren’t pre-set or which you allow users to change can be configured from within the app. An app must be configured to connect to the App Server to which the app was published, so if this hasn't been pre-configured, you will need to enter the connection details into the app after it has been installed to a device. There may also be other settings you want or need to change, depending upon how the app has been configured when built.

1. If the app isn’t already running, load it in the usual way for the device you are using, e.g. by choosing → <appname> or by tapping or clicking on its tile in the device’s apps list or, if you have pinned the tile to the Start screen or taskbar, on the Start screen or taskbar, respectively.

2. The app will load and display its Home screen.

3. If, when the app was created, it was configured to require the user to log in, the following login fields will be displayed:

   

   If the login fields display, you will need to log in as a valid user in order to use the app.

   • If your Standalone App hasn't been pre-configured with the App Server address, you won't be able to log in. Ignore the login fields and go to the Settings screen to enter the App Server address (see below).

   If you are able to log in, your Digitise Apps Administrator, i.e. the person who configured the App Server if that wasn’t you, will provide you with login credentials and you should enter them here.

   By default, values you enter in the Username field and, if shown, the Domain field are automatically saved and will be filled in the next time the Login screen is displayed. When building a Standalone App, you can turn off username saving within the build request options, if required.

   If the Save Password option is displayed, you can instruct the app to remember your password as well and automatically fill in the password field the next time you log in. Set the Save Password option to On to save your password. The password entered will be stored in an encrypted database on the device.

   The Domain and Save Password options can be pre-configured and can also be locked so that the user cannot change them on the device. If the domain field is locked, you cannot include the domain in the Username field and an attempt to do so will result in an error message being displayed. As part of the pre-configuration, the Domain field can be hidden if it isn’t required for you to login. If the Save Password option is set to not allow password saving and is locked, the option will not be displayed in the login screen.

   If you have been given a domain name to use as part of your login, you can enter the domain name in the Domain field or include it with your username in the Username field in the format:

   <domainname>\<username>

   Including the domain name in the Username field will overwrite any domain name specified in the Domain field. If you do not have a domain name to enter, but there is a value in the Domain field, you will need to delete this. If you cannot clear the field, this means that the app has been configured to require a Windows domain login.

   When you have entered your credentials, tap Login. If you have entered valid user credentials, the app will continue to load and display its first screen.

4. If the Standalone App wasn’t configured to require a login, when the app loads, it will display its Home screen briefly and then display the app’s first screen.

5. Return to the Home screen by tapping the icon on the title bar.

6. Tap on the toolbar to display the following menu:

   

   The About option provides system information and copyright notices. It includes the version numbers of the Standalone App and the Client, the Device ID, the device's IP Address and the currently logged-in user. It also provides information about the available memory on the device and the amount in use by Digitise Apps.

   The Settings option allows you to configure the App Server connection details, displays the App Server you are using or last connected to and provides other configuration options.

   Note that if you have logged in, you will see a log off option displayed at the top of the Home screen:

   

   This option allows you to log off the current user and log in again, as a different user if required.

7. Tap or click Settings to configure your app.

8. The settings screen will be displayed:

   

   The Settings screen allows you to configure the App Server connection details and enable or disable the option to check for updates when the app is loaded. Note that when running a Standalone App, the settings screen doesn’t provide all the options available in the standard Digitise Apps Client.

   The Last server item displays the address of the last App Server the Client connected to. If you haven’t connected the Client to your App Server yet, this will display None, as in the picture above.

   You can enter a list of App Server addresses to provide backup should your first App Server not be available. After a successful connection to an App Server, subsequent attempts to connect to the Server within the same session will try the address displayed here first. A session ends when you close the Client or modify the list of Server addresses.

   Settings which have been pre-configured and locked will be disabled, so that they cannot be changed.

9. If this Standalone App hasn’t been supplied with the App Server address pre-configured, you will need to enter the required connection details to allow it to communicate with its App Server.

   Tap or click Manage Servers to configure your connection details for your App Server(s).

   Before you have configured any connection details, the servers screen will look like this:

   

10. Tap or click Add a new server to add connection details for a new App Server:

     

11. Enter the DNS name or IP address of the Server running your App Server in the Address field.

    • If you will be using the enhanced certificate-based private key exchange encryption mechanism for data in transit between your App Server and Clients, you must enter a DNS name here. You cannot use an IP Address in this case. In addition, the DNS name you enter here must match one of the hostnames specified in your SSL Certificate’s Common Name field and/or Alternative Names fields.

    Leave the Port at its default setting of 3431, unless you are sure that port is in use by another application. Note that if you do change it here, you also need to change it on the App Server, which you do using App Manager - the Port setting can be found within the Server category Properties.

    Tap or click Save to save the details.

12. You can enter more than one server in this list if required, for example to provide access to a backup server, and when the Client attempts to connect to the App Server, if the first address in the list fails it will automatically try the next one down and so on. On subsequent connections within the same session, the last used successful address will automatically be used first. A session ends when you close down the Client or modify the server list.

    To add another address, tap the Add server button at the bottom of the screen, .

    If you enter multiple Servers, they will be displayed on the Servers screen like this:

    

    To edit an entry in the list just tap or click the server details you want to edit, make your changes and then tap or click Save.

    To change the order in which the Servers are listed, and hence tried, tap the Reorder button, .

    Click or tap and drag an entry you want to move to its new position and then release it.

    When you have finished, to exit reordering mode click or tap the Reorder button again..

    To delete an entry, first tap the Select button, , to display check boxes at the start of each row. Select each server address that you want to delete by clicking or tapping the appropriate check box or server address and then tap the Delete button, .

    Tap the Select button again to exit selection mode and return to the Servers list.

    Return to the Settings screen by tapping or clicking the blue Back button, , in the top left-hand corner of the window.

    • If you are installing a version of the Client which has been pre-configured, the developer can lock some individual settings when the Client is created. Settings which have been locked can be viewed but not edited. If the server addresses have been pre-configured and locked, the Add server option will be disabled and the toolbar at the bottom of the screen will not be displayed, preventing the details from being changed. This also applies to some of the other configuration settings described below.

13. In addition to allowing you to configure your App Server list, the settings screen provides the following options and information:

14. The Check for updates option determines whether this Standalone App will automatically check for updates each time the app loads.

    If this option is set to On, when you load the app, it will check with the App Server for any updates available to any of the primary or secondary Models contained within the Standalone App. If there are updates available to you and any of them have been designated as forced within App Manager, the Standalone App will automatically download and install them. If there are updates which are designated as optional, the app will inform you that updates are available and ask if you want to download them.

    If this option is set to Off, the app will not automatically check for updates and the user will have to manually check instead.

    For more information see Update Universal Standalone Apps.

15. The Allow untrusted certificates option is only relevant if you are using the enhanced certificate-based private key exchange encryption mechanism for data in transit between an App Server and your Digitise Apps Standalone Apps and your SSL Certificate doesn’t have a trusted third-party Root Certificate, e.g. when using a self-signed Certificate.

    By default, the option is set to Off, which means the device must have an appropriate trusted Root Certificate installed in order for the Client to communicate with the App Server. If you are using a self-signed Certificate or the Standalone App displays a message saying that the Certificate is untrusted, you should set this option to On.

16. Tap or click the blue Back button, , in the top left-hand corner to return to the app’s Home screen.

17. For information about running your Universal Windows Standalone Apps on Windows devices see Run Windows Universal Versions of the Client and Standalone Apps on Windows Devices.