Oracle Mobile Application Framework 2.5.0 Release Notes

New Features

1. This release of MAF requires you to install the MAF extension in Oracle JDeveloper 12c (12.2.1.3.0). See Installing Oracle JDeveloper Studio in Installing Oracle JDeveloper and Installing Mobile Application Framework with JDeveloper.
2. For faster performance, MAF applications now evaluate EL expressions in the Java VM layer where previously this evaluation took place in the Web View layer. MAF applications that you migrate to this release use the new behavior (evaluate EL expressions in the Java VM layer). If your MAF application includes custom components, you must now create a /META-INF/amx-tag-libraries.xml file that describes the custom components your MAF application uses. See Creating Custom UI Components. You can configure new or migrated MAF applications to evaluate EL expressions in the Web View layer. See Evaluating EL Expressions in the Java VM Layer.
3. The embedded Cordova platform engines have been updated to the following versions:
   1. iOS version 4.5.0
   2. Android version 6.2.3
   3. Universal Windows Platform (UWP) version 5.0.0
4. For MAF applications that you deploy to the iOS platform, note the following:
   1. You need Xcode 9.x to build and deploy your MAF applications. Upgrade your installation to Xcode 9.x, as described in Using Xcode 9.x with MAF 2.5.0.
   2. You can now specify version and build numbers for the MAF applications you deploy to the iOS platform using new input fields that the iOS deployment profile exposes. See How to Create an iOS Deployment Profile.
   3. The Application Images page in the iOS deployment profile dialog now exposes a Marketing Icon Image input field where you can override the default marketing icon image provided by MAF with your own icon. The icon must be in PNG format and 1024 x 1024 pixels in size. See Adding a Custom Image to an iOS Application. 
5. For MAF applications that you deploy to the Android platform, note the following:
   1. MAF now supports the deployment of MAF applications to devices that use Android 8.0. See Deploying a MAF Application to the Android Platform.
   2. You must install Android API Level 26 to build and deploy MAF applications to the Android platform. Ensure that you install the Android API Level 26 into the Android SDK Location that you have specified in your MAF preferences, as described in Setting Up Development Tools for the Android Platform. As a result of this change, MAF applications can no longer share file: // URLs to external applications and restrictions apply on the directory location of files that you display to an external viewer using the DeviceFeatures data control’s displayFile method, as described in How to Use the displayFile Method to Enable Displaying Files.
   3. MAF now includes a new core plugin “Storage Access” (maf-cordova-plugin-storage-access) that controls the storage permissions of MAF applications you deploy to the Android platform. MAF enables this plugin in new applications and in applications that you migrate to this release. When enabled, MAF applications that you deploy to Android devices can access local storage if granted the Storage permission by users. See Introduction to Using Plugins in MAF Applications.
   4. MAF now enables multidex support by default in MAF applications that you deploy to Android. Configure your Android deployment profile, as described in Deploying a MAF Application to the Android Platform, if you want to disable multidex support.
   5. MAF’s Android deployment profile now includes an Allow Backup checkbox that, when selected (the default value), allows your MAF application to participate in Android’s backup and restore infrastructure. See Deploying a MAF Application to the Android Platform.
   6. The inputDate component has been changed such that tapping the up arrow increases the value and the down arrow decreases the value. To keep the older behavior, there is a new attribute (legacyMode) whose value can be set to true. See How To Use The Input Date Component for more details.
6. For MAF applications that you deploy to the Universal Windows Platform, note the following:
   1. MAF now uses standard JDeveloper constructs to deploy MAF applications to the Universal Windows Platform, which means that you can deploy your application from the command line, as described in Deploying MAF Applications from the Command Line Using OJDeploy. The number of log levels that you can specify when you deploy an application has also increased. You configure the log level you want to use (Quiet, Minimal, and so on) in the Windows deployment profile. See Working with Deployment Profiles."

Deprecated Features

The following features have already been identified as deprecated and will be removed from the product in a future release.

Removed Features

The following features have been removed from the product and are no longer available.

Known Issues