ODK Briefcase v1.9 Beta

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We need your help to ship great software, so please download this beta, try it, and report the issues you find. The release will be delayed until all reported issues with the beta are fixed.

@cherukip, @nader, @batkinson, @noel, and others who filed issues. Thank you for your contributions! Please confirm that the beta fixes those issues. If not, please report it below.

For everyone else who uses Briefcase, the important changes to verify are:

  • Now only runs on Java 1.8 and higher
  • Support for customizable bulk exports
  • Rewrite of command line interface
  • Faster launch for users with many forms

If you have a bit more time, please also verify the other changes in the release notes. Again, this beta will be released as is unless you report issues below.

Download beta

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Hi, as my January 31st deadlines are now passed I have finally got a chance to try it.
Multiple export with different folder locations all works very perfectly. Details are also stored after re-opening the software. Can I check if there will be any implications for the CLI syntax?

I hope to test more thoroughly in the coming weeks by using this version instead of the current one. I will also encourage my colleagues to do the same in order to ensure multiple contexts.

Noel

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Hi @noel! Thanks for trying it out!

Although all the previous CLI operations will run as always, I'd want to encourage using the new flag-based mode for launching CLI operations. Now passing a -h flag to the jar file outputs all the information you need to start using them:

Usage: java -jar briefcase.jar <params>

Available operations:
-e,--export                         Export a form
-h,--help                           Show help
-i,--import-odk                     Import from ODK
-pa,--pull-aggregate                Pull form from an Aggregate instance
-v,--version                        Show version

Params for -i operation:
  -od,--odk_directory <arg>           ODK directory
  -sd,--storage_directory <arg>       Briefcase storage directory

Params for -pa operation:
  -id,--form_id <arg>                 Form ID
  -p,--odk_password <arg>             ODK Password
  -sd,--storage_directory <arg>       Briefcase storage directory
  -u,--odk_username <arg>             ODK Username
  -url,--aggregate_url <arg>          Aggregate server URL

Params for -e operation:
  -ed,--export_directory <arg>        Export directory
  -file,--export_filename <arg>       Filename for export operation
  -id,--form_id <arg>                 Form ID
  -sd,--storage_directory <arg>       Briefcase storage directory
  (optionally)
  -em,--exclude_media_export          Exclude media in export
  -end,--export_end_date <arg>        Export end date
  -oc,--overwrite_csv_export          Overwrite files during export
  -pf,--pem_file <arg>                PEM file for form decryption
  -start,--export_start_date <arg>    Export start date

The new launcher is much nicer and will tell you if you're missing any required argument for the operation you want to launch. These flags are not stable yet and we're discussing them on issue #256

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