Release Notes

This document covers the following topics:


Additional Product Information

Beside this product documentation, additional product information is available at the following places:

Prerequisites

For detailed information on the supported operating systems, application servers, web containers, web browsers, and other prerequisites, see System Requirements.

Security

This section covers important security information.

JDOM Removed

JDOM has been removed from the product.

New Features in Version 9.3.1

This section describes new features and enhancements in Natural for Ajax which have been added with this release of Natural for Ajax.

Docker Support

With this version, the Natural for Linux and Cloud 3.1 installation also contains a Natural for Ajax docker use case. For the general information about the docker use cases, see the Natural documentation. For the details of the Natural for Ajax docker use case, see the readme file in the directory <install_dir>/Natural/docker/NaturalAjax.

Xalan Replaced by a New Implementation

The 3rd party Xalan component is not part of the product anymore. It has been replaced by a new implementation that fully supports the functionality used in Natural for Ajax and NaturalONE. In case you have been using features beyond this functionality in your Java components and discover issues, you can switch on the original Xalan support via the setting sdofullxpath in cisconfig.xml. For details see General cisconfig.xml Parameters > sdofullpath.

Removed Controls: LINECHART, NETMEETING and SKYPECALL

The deprecated controls LINECHART, NETMEETING, and SKYPECALL have been removed from the product. Instead, use RCHART and RPIECHART for chart controls .

New Responsive Control BMOBILE:CARD

BMOBILE:CARD ist a container control with options for headers, footers, images, text and more content. For details, see BMOBILE:CARD

BMOBILE:DATATREE: New Property openonselect

Per default, tree nodes are opened when selecting the text of the corresponding node. Via the property openonselect you can customize this behavior. See BMOBILE:DATATREE.

New Responsive Control BMOBILE:LISTGROUP

A list group displays a number of items as a vertical list. For details, see BMOBILE:LISTGROUP.

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID: Frozen Columns

The responsive grid BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID now supports to freeze columns to the left and to the right.

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID: Keyboard Focus

The responsive grid BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID now supports keyboard navigation thru the single columns of the grid.

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID: New Property triggersearchprop

Via the new property triggersearchprop, you can now set search values and trigger a search from your Natural program. See BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID.

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID: New Property withkeyboardfocus

Keyboard navigation for columns, rows and pages is now supported. Use the new property withkeyboardfocus. See BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID.

ROWTABLEAREA2: Frozen Columns

ROWTABLEAREA2 with GRIDCOLHEADER controls now supports freezing columns to the left. The number of frozen columns can be defined at design time, or dynamically at runtime, and via click by the application's end-users. See section ROWTABLEAREA2 - The Flexible Control Grid

Support of custom dates in DATEINPUT2

DATEINPUT2 now supports special handling of custom dates. See DATEINPUT2 – Custom Dates

Bootstrap-Icons Upgraded to Version 1.10.5

Version 1.10.5 contains over 1800 icons.

TAB Key for DISPLAY Input Controls

The file cisconfig.xml now supports the new settings displayallowtab. Use this setting to configure whether tabbing into DISPLAY input controls is possible or not. See Ajax Configuration for details.

Generation of Parameter Data Area Supported

Optionally, you can now generate a Natural Parameter Data Area (PDA) for a layout. This PDA avoids manual updates of Local Data Areas in your Natural programs in case of layout changes.

The context is explained in Natural Pages Development > Generating the Adapter.

Enhanced Accessibility Support

Many accessibility features have been added to the product, such as labels, language information, and roles. Corresponding samples are available in the NaturalAjaxDemos. See section Accessibility

NaturalAjaxDemos with Search and Navigation

The NaturalAjaxDemos now come with search and navigation support to find and explore the samples.

Web Service for Optimize for Infrastructure Retired

The web service NJXOptimizeService.war has been removed from the product.

Enhanced License Check Support

You now get informed about license expiration 40 days before the license expires. For details see License Check

New Features in Version 9.2.1

This section describes new features and enhancements in Natural for Ajax which have been added with this release of Natural for Ajax.

Java 11 Required

Java 11 is now required for development and production environments.

Support for Tomcat10 and JBoss EAP

Tomcat10 and JBoss EAP are now supported

For detailed information see System Requirements.

Long Username Support for Natural on Linux

Long usernames support of Natural on Linux can now be used with Natural for Ajax.

New Responsive Tutorial

A responsive tutorial to develop a responsive mini-application is available. See First Steps Responsive Pages.

Customization of Whitespace handling for PDF Generation

You can now customize the whitespace handling in CISFO:* and REPORT* controls. For more information see the chapter Working with PDF Documents > Advanced Data Binding and Rendering > Whitespace Handling.

Layout Painter: Support for Responsive Style Classes

Layout Painter has extended the support for adding styleclasses on responsive pages. A corresponding dialog allows convenient selection among the most popular classes for a control. A help text explains the usage for each class.

DATEINPUT2 and BMOBILE:DATEINPUT2: new properties serverformat, clientformat, firstdayinweek

As of this version, the client date format (Browser), the server date format (Natural), and the first day of the week, can be controlled via design-time properties.

All details are documented here:

Working with Controls > DATEINPUT2 > Customizing Date and Calendar Formats
Responsive Page Layout and Controls > BMOBILE:DATEINPUT2 > Customizing Date and Calendar Formats

FIELD: new property placeholder

In FIELD controls you can now add an initial placeholder text.

See FIELD for Natural and FIELD for Java.

ROWTABLEAREA2: Export of Headers

Exporting the grid headers is now supported. It can be activated and deactivated dynamically. See ROWTABLEAREA2 for Natural and ROWTABLEAREA2 for Java for more information.

TEXTGRIDSSS2: new property cursormgtprop

You can now dynamically reset the keyboard cursor of the grid from within your Natural program.

Customization of Responsive Style via SASS now Supported

You can now easily customize your responsive style via SASS variables. See Responsive Page Layout > Styling a Responsive Page.

New Ajax Configuration Parameter notifyparentonpopupclosed

You can now customize whether or not a Natural program receives a "nat:page.default" event when a pop-up is closed. For details, see section Configuration and Administration > Ajax Configuration.

Support PROCESS PAGE MODAL in Responsive Pages

Responsive pages now also support opening pop-ups dynamically via the Natural statement PROCESS PAGE MODAL. For details, see section Natural Page Layout > Working with Pop-Ups > Pop-Ups - Responsive Pages.

New Responsive Control: BMOBILE:DATATREE

The BMOBILE:DATATREE control is a responsive tree control, which supports levels deeper than 2 and dynamic loading of subtrees.

For details, see section Responsive Page Layout > Responsive Trees > BMOBLE:DATATREE

Support for <ctrl><enter> in BUTTON controls

Responsive and non-responsive BUTTON controls now support the activation via <ctrl><enter>. This can be switched on for all buttons on a page. See the buttonctrlenter property in the NATPAGE control.

This property can be switched on for all pages in the application. See the buttonctrlenter property in the cisconfig.xml file.

Removal of Deprecated Controls: BMOBILE:SIDENAV, BMOBILE:NAVTREE, BMOBILE:SIDENAVCONTENT

The deprecated controls BMOBILE:SIDENAV, BMOBILE:NAVTREE, and BMOBILE:SIDENAVCONTENT have been removed. Use BMOBILE:SIDEBAR*, BMOBILE:HORIZONTALBAR, BMOBILE:CONTENT, and the new BMOBILE:DATATREE control instead.

NEWSFEED Control Deprecated

The NEWSFEED control is now deprecated. It requires rome-0.9.jar. The rome-0.9.jar is not packaged with Natural for Ajax anymore. The rome-0.9.jar uses JDOM.

JDOM has been removed from Natural for Ajax.

Using Bootstrap 3 is Deprecated

Responsive pages per default use Bootstrap 4. Using Bootstrap 3 in responsive pages is deprecated.

New Features in Version 9.1.4

This section describes new features and enhancements in Natural for Ajax which have been added with this release of Natural for Ajax.

Edge Chromium Browser

With this version of Natural for Ajax the Edge Chromium Browser is now supported.

Bootstrap Icons Library

The Bootstrap Icons Library is now part of the Natural for AJAX product. It can be used in responsive and non-responsive controls in different ways. See Working with Icons for more information.

New Responsive Controls: BMOBILE:COMBOFIX, BMOBILE:COMBODYN

The BMOBILE:COMBOFIX and BMOBILE:COMBODYN are light-weight selection controls.

See Responsive Natural Page Layout > Responsive Controls for more information.

New Responsive Dropdown Controls

The controls BMOBILE:DROPDOWN, BMOBILE:DROPDOWNLIST, BMOBILE:DROPDOWNHEADER, BMOBILE:DROPDOWNITEM, BMOBILE:DROPDOWNSEPARATOR support various dropdown functionality such as dropdown menus and dropdown forms.

See Responsive Natural Page Layout > Responsive Controls for more information.

Responsive Controls with new Properties straighttext

All responsive controls with a name/nameprop property now also support a straighttext property. Via this property, the name value can be rendered either as html or as straight text.

Responsive Controls with new Properties titlestraighttext

All responsive controls with a title/titleprop property now also support a titlestraighttext property. Via this property, the tooltips can be rendered either as html or as straight text.

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID: Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting

The responsive grid BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID now supports Server-Side Scrolling and Sorting.

BMOBILE:FFIELD: new property withtogglepassword

For password fields you can now add an icon to toggle the password visibility.

ITR with New Property inline

ITR controls now support inline rendering via the new inline property. This improves the rendering when zooming pages in Google Chrome or Edge Chromium browsers. See section Working with Containers > Positioning of Controls inside a Container > ITR in Google Chrome and Edge Chromium for Natural and Java.

REPORT and REPORT2 Controls with New Property nameprop

The REPORT and REPORT2 controls now also support to set the name dynamically at runtime via the property nameprop.

New Features in Version 9.1.3

This section describes new features and enhancements in Natural for Ajax which have been added with this release of Natural for Ajax.

Responsive NatLogon and NatDisconnect Pages Supported

Responsive and non-responsive NatLogon and NatDisconnect pages are now supported.

Bootstrap 4 Supported in Responsive Pages

Bootstrap 4 is now supported for responsive controls. Bootstrap 4 is the default. If you still need to use Bootstrap 3, you can use the attribute uselatestbootstrap in cisconfig.xml to run all pages with Bootstrap 3 or use the property uselatestbootstrap in the NATPAGE control to run a single page with Bootstrap 3

See Ajax Configuration for details.

Support for Natural-specific Properties like njx:natname in Responsive Controls

Most responsive controls now support Natural-specific properties like njx:natname in the same way as non responsive controls.

PAGEBODY Container obsolete for Responsive Controls

The PAGEBODY tag is now obsolete for responsive controls. The templates for responsive pages do not contain the PAGEBODY tag anymore. Responsive pages with PAGEBODY tags are still supported but contain obsolete HTML code.

New Template for Responsive Pages with Sidebar

The Layout Painter supports a new page template for development of responsive pages with sidebars. See also Responsive Natural Page Layout for further details.

Major Enhancements of Responsive Forms

A more flexible and lightweight BMOBILE:FORM container is now supported. The BMOBILE-FORMGROUP containers now supports horizontal and vertical forms. For the usage in bar controls - like the BMOBILE:HORIZONTALBAR and the BMOBILE:SIDEBAR - a BMOBILE:FORMINLINE container is supported. A BMOBILE:FTEXTOUT control has been added to support plain read-only text in forms.

Enhanced Tooltip Support for Responsive Controls

Bootstrap 4 tooltip support is now used to render tooltips. The rendering can be customized via CSS style classes. All form controls now also support setting the tooltip text dynamically from within Natural. Use the property titleprop in the corresponding controls.

BMOBILE:COL: visisbleprop now supported

The BMOBILE:COL container now supports a visibleprop property.

Enhanced Testing Support for Responsive Controls

Most responsive containers and controls now support a testtoolid property.

New Responsive Containers: BMOBILE:SIDEBAR*, BMOBILE:HORIZONTALBAR, BMOBILE:CONTENT

The new responsive containers BMOBILE:SIDEBAR*, BMOBILE:HORIZONTALBAR and BMOBILE:CONTENT support frequently used patterns for modern responsive pages.

Additional controls like BMOBILE:TOGGLER, BMOBILE:SIDEBARGROUP, BMOBILE:BARTEXT support corresponding functionality for flexible rendering.

Help IDs supported in Responsive Input Controls

Responsive input controls like BMOBILE:FFIELD now support a helpid property in the same way as non-responsive controls.

Page Pop-Ups Fit to Parent

The file cisconfig.xml now supports the new settings pagepopuponresize, pagepopuphorizontal and pagepopupvertical. Use these settings to fit a page pop-up to its parent.

See Ajax Configuration for details.

FIELD Control: New Value in Property formautocomplete Supported

The formautocomplete property of the FIELD and BMOBILE:FFIELD controls now supports the value new-password. In the current versions of Chrome, this can be used to prevent Chrome from autofilling form fields.

FIELD Control With New properties onclickmethod and ondblclickmethod

Natural programs can now react to click and/or double click events. Refer to the description of the FIELD control properties for details.

RPIECHART With New Property animateselection

Use the new RPIECHART property animateselection if you want to render the selected slice with a bigger radius (= move out effect).

Several Responsive Modal Enhancements

A new BMOBILE:HELPMODAL dialog shows help texts for specified help IDs. All responsive modal dialogs - BMOBILE:MODAL, BMOBILE:INTMODAL, BMOBILE:HELPMODAL - are now draggable and resizable.

For BMOBILE:MODAL, the page URL can now be specified dynamically at runtime.

Natural Web I/O Pages Support Additional JavaScript file

You can add own JavaScript to Natural Web I/O pages in a file usernatunicscript.js. See section Natural Web I/O Style Sheets for details.

New Features in Version 9.1.2

This section describes new features and enhancements in Natural for Ajax which have been added with this release of Natural for Ajax.

New Ajax Configuration Parameter urlopenstreetmapgeocoder

You can now adapt the third party geocoder URL in the Ajax configuration file if needed. See Ajax Configuration for details.

AUTOCOMPLETE supports limiting the results shown in a drop-down box

The AUTOCOMPLETE (Natural / Java) control now enables you to limit the results shown in the drop-down box. The AUTOCOMPLETE control now also has a new property maxresults. The FIELD (Natural / Java) control now has a new property autocompleteresultsref.

DATEINPUT2 with new Properties stylevariant and displayprop

DATEINPUT2 now supports the properties stylevariant and displayprop in the same way as the FIELD control.

New Control REPORT2

The REPORT2 control supports PDF report generation in responsive and non-responsive design. In difference to the REPORT control, it does not require to additionally render the data in the HTML pages.

New Ajax Configuration Parameter maxserverlogage

Automatic cleanup of ServerLog*.log files is now supported. You can configure the maximum storage age of ServerLog*.log files in days. See Ajax Configuration for details.

Support for editable columns in BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID now fully supports editable columns also on small devices.

ROWTABLEAREA2 supports Export to Clipboard and File

In ROWTABLEAREA2, all or just the selected items can now be copied to the clipboard or exported to a file. See Export to Clipboard and File in the description of the ROWTABLEAREA2 control grid for further details.

ROWTABLEAREA2 supports Icon Bars

ROWTABLEAREA2 supports the new controls ICONBAR, ICONBARLINE, TOCLIPBOARDICON, TOFILEICON and BLOCKSCROLLINGBAR. See Icon Bars in the description of the ROWTABLEAREA2 control grid for further details.

Layout Generation Enhancements

Performance of Layout generation has been improved. Also the analysis of generation errors has been simplified. See Generating HTML Pages Using the Command Line and the new attribute htmlgeneratorlog in the Ajax Configuration section.

Switch off Server Logging

You can now switch off writing log information to the server log. See loglevel in the Ajax Configuration section.

New Responsive Control BMOBILE:ICONCOL

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID now supports icon columns. See BMOBILE:ICONCOL for details.

Responsive Modal Controls

A set of responsive modal controls has been added:

  • BMOBILE:INTMODAL,

  • BMOBILE:INTMODALHEADER,

  • BMOBILE:INTMODALBODY,

  • BMOBILE:INTMODALFOOTER.

Icon Support in Responsive Controls

Many responsive controls now support icons as values for name/nameprop or as value for other text based properties. For examples see the Natural for Ajax Demos.

New Features in Version 9.1

This section describes new features and enhancements in Natural for Ajax which have been added with this release of Natural for Ajax.

Responsive Tab Controls

A set of responsive tab controls has been added:

BMOBILE:ALERT with new Property duration

For the BMOBILE:ALERT control, you can now define the duration after which the alert box will disappear.

BMOBILE:PANEL with new Property foldedprop

For the BMOBILE:PANEL container, you can now control the folded state dynamically from your Natural program.

BMOBILE:FORMAREA with new Properties legendprop, visibleprop and invisiblemode

For the BMOBILE:FORMAREA container, you can now control the visible state and the name of the legend dynamically from your Natural program.

BMOBILE:FORMAREA with new Properties textid and nameprop

For the BMOBILE:FORMAREA container, you can now dynamically define the name from your Natural program and from multilanguage files.

BMOBILE:FORMGROUP with new Properties visibleprop and invisiblemode

For the BMOBILE:FORMGROUP container, you can now control the visible state and the name of the legend dynamically from your Natural program.

BMOBILE:CHECKBOX with new properties

Some advanced properties have been added to the BMOBILE:CHECKBOX control.

New Responsive Control BMOBILE:RADIOBUTTON

A responsive radio button control BMOBILE:RADIOBUTTON is now available.

New Responsive MEDIA Controls

The responsive controls BMOBILE:VIDEO, BMOBILE:MEDIAUPLOAD and corresponding subcontrols have been added to integrate and upload media objects.

BMOBILE:NAVBAR with new Property brandstraighttext

For the BMOBILE:NAVBAR control, you can now set text and images as value of the brandprop property. Via the new property brandstraighttext you can distinguish between the representation.

BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID with Editable Columns

The BMOBILE:SIMPLEGRID control now supports editable columns. See the corresponding sample in the Natural Ajax Demos for details.

DATEINPUT2: Custom Holiday Rendering

Support to render custom holidays in different style has been added to the DATEINPUT2 control. For details, please refer to the new properties HOLIDAYS* and the corresponding sample in the Natural Ajax Demos.

DATEINPUT2 with new Property popuponF4F7

For the DATEINPUT2 control, you can now customize whether or not the calendar should open on using the F4 or F7 key.

DATEINPUT and DATEINPUT2 support Property testtoolid

The DATEINPUT and DATEINPUT2 controls now support the property testtoolid.

NaturalAjax Samples

The samples now contain an additional user interface component with performance hints for non-responsive layouts and containers.

PDF Reports - Upgrade to Version FOP 2.2

FOP 2.2. is now used for the PDF report generation in Natural for Ajax. This version requires more Java memory. When using this feature you might have to increase the configuration settings for Java memory in your web application server.

For details concerning Java memory settings, please refer to the documentation of your web application server.

CSVCOLUMN now supports Properties njx:natname and njx:natstringtype

The CVSCOLUMN control now supports the properties njx:natname and njx:natstringtype.

Responsive Style Guide

For responsive pages a style guide is now available. You find the latest version in the NaturalAjaxDemos NaturalONE project.

Standalone SWT Client with Java Web Start

The standalone SWT Client, which is based on Java Web Start, is not part of the delivery anymore. Until October 2019 you can request the client in case you require it.

Password Length 128

Natural for Ajax now supports a password length of 128 for Natural servers which also support a password length of 128.