Immersive SPAT

• Authentication is now required only once. Subsequent syncs will not require the user to enter password and username data.

v 0.6.4

• NOTE: This version of the app was never promoted to a deployed version - it was only available on the testing portal.
• This version of the app is primarily made up of optimizations and new features to assist with partial zip file downloads. It seems that large zip files are not always being downloaded fully. The major cause seems to be poor connectivity and/or server disconnections, but RAM saturation, connection issues, etc. are all being treated as causal factors.
• To combat these, we've implemented the following:
  • We now place zip files first in the download queue to avoid RAM issues during download
  • We have beefed up error handling around file stream errors. This should let us know if the file size error is indeed due to RAM saturation (my current suspicion), or to something going on in the connection between our servers (this seems less likely as the software should already be throwing errors here, but anything is possible).
  • We've added better error handling when clicking on a link that has the 'file access error'.
  • Now, when a user experiences this error, it will ask them if they want to re-sync that singular file. Chances of something going wonky in the download of a single file are far lower. If they choose this option, it deletes the file and the unzipped content and pulls it back down from the server.
  • Cache busting: we've swapped the cache busting method we're using so that when the file is requested from the server it should be pulling unique content regardless of proxy server, caching setup, etc.
  • Added an option to reset all launchable media (only zip files) alongside the option of resettingALL media. This should help users who have more than one "file access error" item in their list.
  • Adding a short delay between download completion and writing the file to disk. This will guarantee that the file stream has finished and closed properly before we attempt to write the data to disk. We had previously trusted the 'completion event' on the download, but a few milliseconds of time may help alleviate the random byte size changes noted below.
• Added a check to ensure progress bars never show more than 100% progress.

v 0.6.2 - 0.6.3

• These versions were hotfixes built to resolve the 'file sticking' issue introduced in v 0.6.1
• Settings menu added in 0.6.3 -> Only setting available is "Reset All Media"
• Updates to progress UI
• Note - the cause of the sticking was related to network file size reporting and local file size reporting for the zip files being different. We disabled file size comparison for v 0.6.3 as there was no fix for the comparison issues at this time.

v 0.6.1

• NOTE: This version is known to have issues where for some users, files will become "stuck" and will constantly require syncing on relaunching the application.
• This version of Spat has gone through a data format overhaul.
  • In preparation for future updates and an administrative back-end, we have gone to a manual entry model for data. Files, resources, products, etc. are now separate entities within the data.xml file. The application still hits a php file, and this file simply outputs the same data from the server, but adds a modified and size value to each file node for version checking within the application.
  • Due to this overhaul, each file now has it's own enabled state - list views like the product view no longer wait for all files to be downloaded before enabling themselves - each video, document, resource, etc. becomes enabled when it is downloaded and ready for use.
• The Resource tab has been opened and content added for it.
• The "Resource" column under products has been renamed "Documents" in order to avoid confusion.
• Now, zip files can be used for more content than just course ware.
  • In any product or resource node, a <launchable> will be included, and specify both the zip package and the launchable file within the zip package that should be launched.
• File naming convention is no longer being used as the means to generate the data xml file, which removes a number of restrictions from the application.

v 0.6.0

• This version of the software can download and launch ICOM courses in addition to videos and pdf's.
• Now, server side communication can be toggled by setting the "offlineMode" property before publishing the app.
  • Future plans include the ability to toggle this at runtime.
• Automatic sync on startup has been disabled, as it presents a security risk as well as increases potential for being marked as "Malicious" by virus scanner software.
• Added a version number display to the title of the application window.

v 0.5.9

• This was the limited run Minexpo version of SPAT. It temporarily disabled all server communication.

v 0.5.8

• Files that are no longer present on the server will also be removed from the local file system. (They are moved to the trash by default).

v 0.5.7

• Video Playback quality at non-standard and/or small scales has been significantly improved using deblocking and smoothing.
• Video Playback quality at fullscreen resolutions has been improved. (Known Issue: At resolutions higher than 1280x720, the videos may appear blurry, but playback quality is still considerably higher than previous versions.)
• Resources and documents are now stored in the ApplicationStorageDirectory instead of the user's Documents directory, to prevent issues with certain backup systems.
• Submit button is now disabled for all authentication until a password is provided.
• Minor graphical changes to the UI.

v 0.5.6

This was the first released version of Immersive SPAT.