A package profile is a file containing configurations that are required for packaging the application. It includes the package type, device type, mobile template, application settings etc.
To create a package profile, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Click the Package
(
) button on the PowerServer Toolkit to open the
PowerServer Application Package
tool.
Step 2: Select the Standalone Mobile Project package type, select the device type (iOS or Android), and then click Add.
Step 3: In the Package Profile Configuration Wizard that appears, select the mobile template which is compatible with the version of PowerServer server where the application will run.
The template can be downloaded and installed from the Appeon web site. You can click the PowerServer Mobile Templates Manager link to download and install the template. Refer to Installing mobile templates for more details.
Step 4: Enter the text as the profile name and enter the description (if any) for this profile in the Remark box, and then click Next.
Step 5: Select the application that you want to package and click Next.
Only applications that have been deployed will be listed here for selection. If the application you intend to package is not listed here, you would need to deploy the target application using the PowerServer Application Deployment Wizard first (See Deploying PowerBuilder Applications).
The following table gives a brief introduction to the columns:
|
Column |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Selected |
Identical to the default application profile selected in the PowerServer Toolkit Configuration window. |
|
Application Profile Name |
Identical to the application profiles configured in the PowerServer Toolkit Configuration window. |
|
Device Type |
Identical to the current device type settings in the PowerServer Toolkit Configuration window. |
|
Deploy Mode |
Identical to the current mode the application profile is set to in the PowerServer Toolkit Configuration window. It is recommended that the packaged applications should be available in Release mode, as this mode prevents most forms of reverse engineering, and like application packaging, it protects the author's intellectual property. |
Step 6: Specify the parameters according to the device type and then click Next.
-
For apps running on iOS, specify the parameter according to the following table.
Group
Value
Description
General
Display Name (Required)
Due to a limitation of the package tool, the app name cannot contain double-byte characters (such as Chinese, Korean, or Japanese characters).
The app name will be used in two areas:
-
part of the file name of the generated package.
For the app to have the auto-upgrade feature, you should always use the same app name every time when creating the package for the same application.
-
the name of your app that will appear in the Apple App Store.
For the name to be displayed completely, it should be about 12 letters but it depends on the width of each individual letter, for example, w takes more room than i.
Team ID
Specify the application's Team ID, and it must be the same Team ID used in the provisioning profile for building the Xcode project later.
The Team ID is the prefix of the App ID. It is a 10-character hexadecimal string automatically supplied by Apple when you generate the App ID in the Apple Developer Member Center. It is unique to your development team.
Keep using the same Team ID for different apps, so that these different apps running on the same device can be recognized as running on one device, not on multiple devices by the Appeon license file. For details on the Device control type in the Appeon license file, refer to the section called “License Management” in PowerServer Configuration Guide for .NET.
Bundle Identifier (Required)
Specify the application's Bundle Identifier.
The Bundle Identifier is the suffix of the App ID. It can be explicit or a wildcard. If you have specified a wildcard bundle identifier when creating the App ID, for example, com.abcexample.*, you will need to replace "*" with an explicit string, for example, com.abcexample.app or com.abcexample.1 etc.
The Bungle Identifier is also used as part of the file name of the generated package. To help your app's auto-upgrade feature to work, you should keep it unchanged every time when creating the package for the same app.
Version
Specify the version number for your app.
Build
Specify the build number for your app. The build number for the same version should be unique and each time when you create an updated package, you should increase it to a greater number.
Supported Orientation
Set the screen orientation supported by the app.
URL Scheme
A URL scheme is a specially formatted URL that allows users to open your app from other PowerServer mobile apps or third-party apps. A typical URL scheme looks like this: schemename://?url=http://ipaddress/appname[&parm1=aaa&parm2=bbb...&parmN=zzz]
schemename is what you specify in the URL Scheme Name field as the unique scheme identifier for the application to be packaged. The scheme name is highly recommended to be unique; if you use the same scheme name as another app, iOS or Android will not know which app to launch. Scheme name is case sensitive; it can only contain lower-case letters and numbers, and can only start with lower-case letters.
[&parm1=aaa&parm2=bbb...&parmN=zzz] is the parameter name and value pair(s) to be passed to the destination app. It is optional. When it is passed to the PowerServer mobile app, it can be obtained by the app using APIs. For more about the APIs, refer to the section called “of_geturlschemeparm” in Workarounds & APIs Guide and the section called “oe_urlschemesucceed” in Workarounds & APIs Guide.
At the time of writing this note, URL scheme is only supported in Safari and Opera Mini. If you want to use the other browser to open an app via URL scheme, please double check that the browser is supported.
Examples
Suppose you specify abcaws as the scheme name for your workspace, then the URL scheme to open your workspace will be: abcaws://
And the URL scheme to open the app XXX (suppose its app URL is http://demo.appeon.com/xxx) installed in your workspace will be: abcaws://?url=http://demo.appeon.com/xxx
Suppose you specify abcyyy as the scheme name for the standalone mobile app YYY, then the URL scheme to open YYY will be: abcyyy://?url=http://192.0.3.111/yyy&name=jacky|age=27
In-app Settings
App URL (Required)
Specify the URL to the mobile application that is deployed to the PowerServer. The URL should use the server domain (instead of IP address), for example, http://www.abc.com/sales. For more information, see URLs of PowerServer applications.
The URL supports both HTTP and HTTPS protocols, for example, https://www.abc.com/sales.
The URL can be changed in the screen under iOS Settings > App Name after the app is installed on the iOS-based device.
Make sure the URL is valid, as the mobile application will connect with the PowerServer via this URL at runtime; and when you submit the app to App Store, Apple will check the validity of this URL and if the URL cannot be connected, the app will be rejected by App Store.
App Description
Provide the description of your app that will appear in the screen under iOS Settings > App Name after the app is installed on the iOS-based device.
Full Screen by Default
Whether to display the app in full screen view (with the titlebar hidden) by default when it is opened. In the full scree view, the normal view icon will be available on the top right corner of the window, and when it is tapped, the application will return to the normal view (with the titlebar visible).
SSL Verify Peer
Enable or disable the SSL peer verification.
SSL Verify Host
Enable or disable the SSL host name verification.
Connection Timeout (seconds)
Specify the timeout seconds for your app connecting to the server.
Record Logs
Set whether to record app logs.
Support Auto-Upgrade
If the application will be uploaded to the online app store such as Apple App Store, Google Play etc., this option should be disabled, because the app's auto-upgrade will be controlled by the online app store. If the application will be provided on your own Web site, it is recommended that you enable this option as well as the "Check for Updates" option, so that the app can be automatically upgraded.
This option is disabled by default.
There are other factors affecting the auto-upgrade feature of workspace, refer to the section called “Enabling auto-upgrade of Appeon Workspace” in Appeon Workspace User Guide.
Check for Updates
Set whether to automatically check with the server if updates of app are available. If updates are detected, the end user will be prompted whether to install the update.
This option is disabled by default and is configurable only after Support Auto-Upgrade is enabled.
iPhone Settings (2x)
Specify the settings icon for the retina display on iPhone on iOS 9/10 (58 x 58 pixels).
iPhone Settings (3x)
Specify the settings icon for the retina HD display on iPhone on iOS 9/10 (87 x 87 pixels).
iPhone Spotlight (2x)
Specify the spotlight icon for the retina display on iPhone on iOS 9/10 (80 x 80 pixels).
iPhone Spotlight (3x)
Specify the spotlight icon for the retina HD display on iPhone on iOS 9/10 (120 x 120 pixels).
iPhone App (2x)
Specify the app icon for the retina display on iPhone on iOS 9/10 (120 x 120 pixels).
iPhone App (3x)
Specify the app icon for the retina HD display on iPhone on iOS 9/10 (180 x 180 pixels).
iPad Settings (1x)
Specify the settings icon for the standard display on iPad on iOS 9/10 (29 x 29 pixels).
iPad Settings (2x)
Specify the settings icon for the retina display on iPad on iOS 9/10 (58 x 58 pixels).
iPad Spotlight (1x)
Specify the spotlight icon for the standard display on iPad on iOS 9/10 (40 x 40 pixels).
iPad Spotlight (2x)
Specify the spotlight icon for the retina display on iPad on iOS 9/10 (80 x 80 pixels).
iPad App (1x)
Specify the app icon for the standard display on iPad on iOS 9/10 (76 x 76 pixels).
iPad App (2x)
Specify the app icon for the retina display on iPad on iOS 9/10 (152 x 152 pixels).
iPad Pro App (2x)
Specify the app icon for iPad Pro apps targeting iOS 9 and later (167 x 167 pixels).
App Store (1x)
Specify the app icon for App Store (1024 x 1024 pixels).
iPhone Portrait
Specify the launch image in portrait view on iPhone.
iPhone Landscape
Specify the launch image in landscape view on iPhone.
iPad Launch Screen
Specify the launch image on iPad.
-
-
For apps running on Android, specify the parameter according to the following table.
Group
Value
Description
General
App Name (Required)
Due to a limitation of the package tool, the app name cannot contain double-byte characters (such as Chinese, Korean, or Japanese characters).
The app name will be used in two areas:
-
the name of the generated package.
For the app to have the auto-upgrade feature, you should always use the same app name every time when creating the package for the same application.
-
the name of your app that will appear in the Android marketplace.
Specify the identifier for the app(s).
The App Identifier is used to identify the app, and when the app is to be installed on a device where another app with the same identifier has already been installed, the installation will fail.
The app identifier is also used as part of the file name of the generated package. To help your app's auto-upgrade feature to work, you should keep this app identifier unchanged every time when creating the package for the same app.
This app identifier must follow the same rules as those for naming packages in the Java programming language. It can only contain lower-case letters, dots, and/or numbers without spaces, and cannot start or end with dots or contain only numbers between dots. It is normally a combination of reversed domain name and the app name (com.companyname.appname), such as, com.appeon.sales, net.abc.helloworld, org.xyz.myfirstapp etc.
App Version Code
Specify an integer value that uniquely identifies your app to be uploaded to Google Play. It is used by Google Play for internal purpose and it is invisible to the end user. You can set the value to any integer you want, but each time when you are going to upload an updated file for your app, make sure you increase it to a greater integer value.
App Version Name
Specify a string value that represents the release version of your app. It will be displayed to the end user.
URL Scheme
A URL scheme is a specially formatted URL that allows users to open your app from other PowerServer mobile apps or third-party apps. A typical URL scheme looks like this: schemename://?url=http://ipaddress/appname[&parm1=aaa&parm2=bbb...&parmN=zzz]
schemename is what you specify in the URL Scheme Name field as the unique scheme identifier for the application to be packaged. The scheme name is highly recommended to be unique; if you use the same scheme name as another app, iOS or Android will not know which app to launch. Scheme name is case sensitive; it can only contain lower-case letters and numbers, and can only start with lower-case letters.
[&parm1=aaa&parm2=bbb...&parmN=zzz] is the parameter name and value pair(s) to be passed to the destination app. It is optional. When it is passed to the PowerServer mobile app, it can be obtained by the app using APIs. For more about the APIs, refer to the section called “of_geturlschemeparm” in Workarounds & APIs Guide and the section called “oe_urlschemesucceed” in Workarounds & APIs Guide.
At the time of writing this note, URL scheme is only supported in Safari and Opera Mini. If you want to use the other browser to open an app via URL scheme, please double check that the browser is supported.
Examples
Suppose you specify abcaws as the scheme name for your workspace, then the URL scheme to open your workspace will be: abcaws://
And the URL scheme to open the app XXX (suppose its app URL is http://demo.appeon.com/xxx) installed in your workspace will be: abcaws://?url=http://demo.appeon.com/xxx
Suppose you specify abcyyy as the scheme name for the standalone mobile app YYY, then the URL scheme to open YYY will be: abcyyy://?url=http://192.0.3.111/yyy&name=jacky|age=27
Supported Orientation
Set the screen orientation supported by the app.
In-app Settings
App URL (Required)
Specify the URL to the mobile application that is deployed to the PowerServer. The URL should use the server domain (instead of IP address), for example, http://www.abc.com/sales. For more information, see URLs of PowerServer applications.
The URL supports both HTTP and HTTPS protocols, for example, https://www.abc.com/sales.
Make sure the URL is valid, as the mobile application will connect with the PowerServer via this URL at runtime; and when you submit the app to App Store, Apple will check the validity of this URL and if the URL cannot be connected, the app will be rejected by App Store.
Full Screen by Default
Whether to display the app in full screen view (with the titlebar hidden) by default when it is opened. In the full scree view, the normal view icon will be available on the top right corner of the window, and when it is tapped, the application will return to the normal view (with the titlebar visible).
SSL Verify Peer
Enable or disable the SSL peer verification.
SSL Verify Host
Enable or disable the SSL host name verification.
Connection Timeout (seconds)
Specify the timeout seconds for your app connecting to the server.
Record Logs
Set whether to record app logs.
Support Auto-Upgrade
If the app will be uploaded to the online app store such as Apple App Store, Google Play etc., this option should be disabled, because the app's auto-upgrade will be controlled by the online app store. If the app will be provided on your own Web site, it is recommended that you enable this option as well as the "Check for Updates" option, so that the app can be automatically upgraded.
This option is disabled by default.
There are other factors affecting the auto-upgrade feature of app, refer to the section called “Enabling auto-upgrade of Appeon Workspace” in Appeon Workspace User Guide.
Check for Updates
Set whether to automatically check with the server if updates of app are available. If updates are detected, the end user will be prompted whether to install the update.
This option is disabled by default and is configurable only after Support Auto-Upgrade is enabled.
Key Alias
Enter the alias name for key.
Only the first 8 characters of the alias name are used.
You can use the default alias name generated by Appeon (which is appeon) or use your own name. If you use the default keystore file in the Key Store Path field, you need to keep this field as default.
Key Alias Password
Enter the key password.
You can use the default alias password generated by Appeon (which is appeon) or use your own password. If you use the default keystore file in the Key Store Path field, you need to keep this field as default.
Key Store Path
Click the browse button (...) to select the keystore file.
You can use the default keystore file or click the browse button to select your own one.
For how to create the keystore file, refer to Obtain a private key.
Key Store Password
Enter the keystore password.
You can use the default keystore password generated by Appeon (which is appeon) or use your own password. If you use the default keystore file in the Directory field, you need to keep this field as default.
Map Settings
Specify the Google Map API key. The Map APIs (see the section called “Map” in Workarounds & APIs Guide) read the key value and pass it to the Google Maps server, which then confirm that the app has access to Google Maps data.
For how to create the Map API key, refer to Obtain a Google Maps API key.
Google Play
Specify the app icon displayed in Google Play (512 x 512 pixels).
MDPI Screen
Specify the app icon for MDPI (~160 DPI) device screens (48 x 48 pixels).
HDPI Screen
Specify the app icon for HDPI (~240 DPI) device screens (72 x 72 pixels).
XHDPI Screen
Specify the app icon for XHDPI (~480 DPI) device screens (96 x 96 pixels).
XXHDPI Screen
Specify the app icon for XXHDPI (~640 DPI) device screens (144 x 144 pixels).
Landscape
Specify the splash image in landscape for the app.
The recommended size is 1024 x 768 pixels, and the tool will stretch or compress the images to accommodate various heights and widths.
Portrait
Specify the splash image in portrait for the app.
The recommended size is 768 x 1024 pixels, and the tool will stretch or compress the images to accommodate various heights and widths.
-
Step 7: Use the default location for the generated package or select a different location and then click Finish.
The profile will be created and listed in the PowerServer Application Package tool. Note that the profile is displayed according to the selected package type and device type.
