Awasu 2.4.3.alpha2

IMPORTANT: This is an alpha release (what's this?). Some features may not be complete and there will probably be bugs!

You must be already running 2.4.1, 2.4.2 or 2.4.3.alpha1.

To install:

• Read the release notes below first!
• Backup your Awasu installation directory and keep it, even if the alpha appears to work correctly.
• Unpack one (!) of the following zips on top of your existing installation:
  • Personal Edition
  • Advanced Edition
  • Professional Edition
• Run admin.exe to upgrade your database (this will be quick).

IMPORTANT: Awasu has been upgraded to use MSXML6, a Microsoft component that Awasu uses for advanced features such as XSL transformations and metadata modules. If you are running on Vista or Windows 7, it will be already installed but if you are on XP or earlier, you will have to install it manually by downloading and running msxml.msi (or msxml_x64.msi) from here.

Changes to the HTTP API

The ability to create and update channels has been added. Full details are here.

The ability to delete channels and reports has also been added via the following entry points:

• $/channels/delete
• $/reports/delete

The $/reports/get entry point has been updated to allow temporary reports to be created and run. If an existing report is not identified via the id or name parameters, a report configuration can be passed in via the POST data that Awasu will use instead to generate the response.

Other minor changes:

• Creating channels and reports via the API now returns the ID of the new object in the response.
• The response returned after updating channels and reports now indicates which ones were affected.
• $/feedItems/open now handles multiple items properly.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There have been some breaking changes to the $/channels/list response:

• <configFile> is now <configFilename>
• <lastFeedFile> is now <lastFeedFilename>
• <searchQuery/feedTemplateFilename> is now <searchQuery/templateFilename>
• <channelSummaryTemplateFile> is now:
  

      <channelSummary compact="..." showItems="..." itemWindow="..." contentFormat="...">
          <templateFilename>...</templateFilename>
      </channelSummary>
  

• <enclosuresDir> is now:
  

      <enclosures enabled="..." keepFor="...">
          <saveDir>...</saveDir>
          <fileTypes>...</fileTypes>
      </enclosures>
  

Report destinations

The template parameters recognized by the report generator have been standardised. The following elements:

• output filename
• post-processing command
• FTP upload filename
• email subject and body

• {%REPORT-FILENAME%}
• {%REPORT-NAME%}
• {%REPORT-DESCRIPTION%}
• {%CHANNEL-FILTER-NAME%}
• {%TEMPLATE-FILENAME%}
• {%WORKPAD-NAME%}
• {%CHANNEL-FOLDERS%}
  By default, channel folders are comma-separated, delimited using double-quotes. Use the sepChar argument to specify a different separator, quoteChar to specify a new delimiter e.g. {%CHANNEL-FOLDERS% sepChar=; quoteChar=#} or {%CHANNEL-FOLDERS% quoteChar=[]}
• {%REPORT-TIME%}
  Use the format argument to control the format of the timestamp (using strftime syntax) e.g. c:\temp\report-{%REPORT-TIME% format="%Y-%m-%d"}.html
• any user-defined parameters

Minor changes and bug fixes

• Plugin channels and hooks now receive the channel's display name when they are called.
• If the post-processing command for a report is {%REPORT-FILENAME%}, it will be opened taking the file's extension into account.
• Updated the Feed Validator URL.
• User tools now recognize the {%APP-SERVER-URL%} and {%API-TOKEN%} parameters.
• Added a new "Awasu Search" user tool.
• JavaScript user tools are now supported (start their command with javascript:).