Interview and Document Assembly Release Notes

(HotDocs Core Assembly Service Release Notes)

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About Release Notes

Because we update the various parts of HotDocs Advance independently, we provide the following:

About Interview and Document Assembly Release Notes (HotDocs Core Assembly Service)

The HotDocs Core Assembly Service is a background process that runs when you launch an interview on HotDocs Advance. The service itself is responsible for delivering the interview and for creating assembled documents. Because we sometimes make updates to it independently, and it's installed separately for HotDocs Advance On-Premise configurations, we provide you with separate release notes found here.

Upgrade Note

There is a mandatory path via Core v1.1.83 for upgrade to all later versions on premise. If you upgrade from Core v1.1.82 or earlier, you must install Core v1.1.83 before upgrading to Core v1.1.84 or later.

New Features and Enhancements

The following HotDocs Core Assembly Service incremental releases contain new features and enhancements:

1.193 (29 March 2024)

Feature Enhancements

  • This release contains various background improvements.

1.192.1 (Cloud) (30 November 2023)

Feature Enhancements

  • This release contains various background improvements.

1.192.0(26 September 2023)

Feature Enhancements

  • Improvements to authentication with HotDocs Advance, reducing authentication requests when uploading templates.
  • API documentation for HotDocs Classic templates is now available on the Core Assembly Service landing page.

1.191.0 (Cloud)(28 June 2023)

New Features in HotDocs Author 

1.190.1 (Cloud)(18 April 2023)

New Features in HotDocs Author 

1.190.0 (25 February 2023)

Feature Enhancements

  • This release contains various background improvements.

1.189.1 (12 November 2022)

Feature Enhancements

  • This release contains various background improvements.

1.189.0 (Cloud)(17 August 2022)

Feature Enhancements

  • No publicly exposed features added.

1.188.0 (Cloud)(31 May 2022)

Feature Enhancements

  • No publicly exposed features added.

1.187.2 (Cloud)(21 April 2022)

Feature Enhancements

  • No publicly exposed features added.

1.187.1 (Cloud)(17 February 2022)

Feature Enhancements

  • The Core Web API now enables you to retrieve documents from an in-progress interview, using the GET /ipi/session/{sessionID}/ongoing-session/docs endpoint.
  • When retrieving documents from a session using the Core Web API (e.g. when using GET /ipi/session/{sessionID}/docs), you can now use the format parameter to specify the format of the returned document.
  • The Core JavaScript API now provides an answer changed event handler, enabling you to register event handlers for answer changes made to individual interview fields.

1.187 (Cloud)(6 November 2021)

Feature Enhancements

  • No publicly exposed features added.

1.186 (15 July 2021)

Feature Enhancements

  • An explicit SaveAnswers function is now available in the Interview JavaScript API; this may be used in addition to the interview's automatic save.
  • Further improvements to programmatic announcement of dynamic screen changes.

1.1.85 (Cloud) (19 May 2021)

Feature Enhancements

  • The erase answers "X" button is now always visible and keyboard accessible.
  • In Advance, the page title now includes the dialog title.
  • Language-specific characters now appear correctly in variable prompts.
  • The HotDocs Author installer now downloads the latest available version of VSTO 2010 runtime.

1.1.85 (27 March 2021)

Feature Enhancements

  • Improved keyboard accessibility.
  • Better programmatic announcement of dynamic screen changes.
  • Improved field labeling for screen readers.

1.1.84 (19 January 2021)

New Features

  • You can now use answer packages downloaded from Advance with Author to work with image files.
  • Configuring FileStream is no longer required.

1.1.83 (30 September 2020)

New Features

  • A new type of variable, the Image variable, is available. You can now add placeholder fields to templates for users to upload their own images during the interview.
  • Multi-line answer text boxes now have a maximum height of 50 lines.
  • A new dialog element, the interview event dialog element, is available for integrators to create a custom event in interviews.

Upgrade Note

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is now required.

1.1.82 (30 July 2020)

Upgrade Note

  • For users of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or Microsoft SQL Server 2014: if you upgrade to Core v1.1.82 or later, you should ensure that existing interviews in Advance are completed before upgrading. Some in-progress session data in SQL Server 2012 cannot be migrated following an upgrade. Completed sessions are unaffected.

New Features

  • No publicly exposed features added.

1.1.81 (15 July 2020)

New Features

  • You can now overlay answers for Multi-select variables on repeat dialogs.
  • Very large template sets now upload correctly.
  • Spelling errors in text entered during a HotDocs interview are now marked in Word when the template is assembled.
  • When using interviews with dialogs, actions are now available from the interview outline. Clicking the ellipsis on an item brings up a menu of available actions.

1.1.80 (10 June 2020)

New Features

  • HotDocs Author now supports LocalDB 2019.
  • Author now allows non URL-encoded query stings on web links. "javascript:" style web links are no longer supported.
  • The HotDocs API now supports downloading answer sets in JSON format. The method is GET JSONAnswers, available on the AuthorAnswerSet and the AnswerSetBuilder classses. XML format is the default unless specified.
  • You can now filter an answer set to retrieve only the required answers. This is done by providing an optional function to Deserialize. Some built in functions to assist with some common scenarios are available from HotDocs.AnswerSetSDK.AuthorAnswerSetFilters
  • To support JSON format answer sets, the Answer SDK 2.0.4 requires the following modifications to be made:
  • Changes to names:
    • ColumnTypeEnum is now called ColumnType.
    • ProductTypeEnum is now ProductType.
    • VariableTypeEnum is now called AnswerType.
  • Changes to values:
    • textVarType is now called Text.
    • numberVarType is now called Number.
    • Etc.
  • Changes to Multi-Select and Single-Select Variables:
    • You can now identify the correct underlying type for Multi-Select and Single-Select variables.
    • A multi select will be TextList, NumberList, DateList etc.
    • A single select will be Text, Number, Date etc.
    • Select options for Multiple Choice answers are now included when using the latest version of HotDocs Author.

1.1.79 (7 February 2020)

New Features

  • No publicly exposed features added.

1.1.78 (15 January 2020)

New Features

  • You can now use the command line to specify where the default workspace is created.
  • When upgrading Author, a default workspace is now created.
  • Meta data for assembled documents now indicates whether the template has been assembled completely with all referenced variables answered.

1.1.77 (17 December 2019)

Bug Fixes

  • Interviews for work items with apostrophes in their names now correctly load in Microsoft Edge (#SOL-3648)
  • Header spacing in interview dialogs now formats correctly in Firefox (#SOL-4713)
  • Wording for 'billions' is now correct for Spanish language number formats (#SOL-4970)
  • Placeholder fields for multi-select variables now render hard returns in assembled documents (#SOL-4367)

1.1.76 (11 September 2019)

New Features

  • When installing Core Assembly Service, you can now configure it to use Azure SQL as its database server (#SOL-4520)

Bug Fixes

  • The REPLACE function now correctly replaces carriage return characters (#SOL-4712)
  • Spreadsheet dialogs now display the correct number of rows when the Rows to Display setting is set (#SOL-4639)
  • Multi-select variables now use hard returns when their values are displayed in an assembled document (#SOL-4367)

1.1.75 (28 May 2019)

Bug Fixes

  • When you assemble a document, the Core Assembly Service no longer inserts unnecessary paragraph marker characters for text fields set to both multi-line and multi-paragraph (#SOL-3873)
  • Prompt text is no longer truncated on single-line fields set to full width (#SOL-4338)

1.1.74  (28 February 2019)

New Features

  • No publicly exposed features added

1.1.73  (12 December 2018)

New Features

  • Added support for TLS 1.2

1.1.71  (2 August 2018)

New Features

  • An improved error message now appears when a non-existent document preview or answer summary is requested
  • When a session is "InProgress", and an interview is currently being displayed, the session's idle time is now included in the session state returned to a SessionState query

1.1.70  (19 July 2018)

New Features

1.1.69  (5 July 2018)

New Features

  • Decreased interview loading speeds
  • Provided LegacyHostService.exe for assembling classic HotDocs templates with logging; the log file is located in a "Logs" subfolder in the folder where you install the LegacyHostService.exe
  • The Core Assembly Service now appropriately appends a trailing slash ('/') to an upload URL from a .hdrepoconfig file

1.1.68  (22 June 2018)

New Features

  • Improved template caching to speed interview load times
  • Extended the Developer upload plugin to support uploading templates to HotDocs Advance

1.0.67  (7 June 2018)

New Features

  • The HotDocs Author installer has now been added to the HotDocs Core Assembly Service installer so that whenever you get the latest version of Core, you can also update Author as well

1.0.66  (24 May 2018)

New Features

  • The assembly service now uses the LegacyHost.exe instead of HotDocs Server for on-premises assembly of classic HotDocs templates
  • Assembly service now allows creating sessions in and fetching packages from Advance

1.0.65  (10 May 2018) Not released publicly

New Features

  • The Core Assembly Service JavaScript API is now version independent – that is you can now use the same JavaScript API to run an interview without regard to whether the template is a HotDocs 11 or HotDocs Author template

1.0.64  (26 April 2018) Not released publicly

New Features

  • No publicly exposed features added

1.0.63  (12 April 2018) Not released publicly

New Features

  • Supporting HD11-specific assembly session options in Assembly Service

1.0.62  ( 29 Mar 2018) Not released publicly

New Features

  • Document Preview now works for HotDocs 11 templates

1.0.61  ( 15 Mar 2018)

New Features

  • You can now assemble multiple documents from one interview (and move from one interview to another) as specified by the ASSEMBLE instructions in HD 11 templates
  • HD11 sessions in the Cloud Assembly Service now support HPT+HFT templates
  • Assembly queues work for HD11 interviews in Assembly Service

1.0.60  (28 Feb 2018)

New Features

  • HD 11 interviews in Assembly service can now load initial answers
  • You can now save answers from HD 11 interviews in the Assembly Service

Bug Fixes

  • When creating a HotDocs Core install on a server with no internet access, the HotDocs license manager now asks for a manual license authorization and displays the proper type of license, as expected (#AC-739)

1.0.59 (14 Feb 2018) Limited release

  • HD 11 interviews now initialize and appear in AssemblyService sessions
  • Improved database setup dialog in the core installer

1.0.58 (31 Jan 2018) Not released publicly

  • Researched Core assembly sessions allowing HD 11 compatible interviews

1.0.57 (17 Jan 2018) Not released publicly

  • New macro signatures were added to this release
  • Support for assembling HotDocs 11 templates (but not for displaying interviews) added in this release

1.0.54  (8 Dec 2017)

  • Added JavaScript API docs to Core

1.0.53  (11/22/2017)

  • Core Installer now has a license agreement
  • There is now an About page for the Core Assembly Service

1.0.52  (11/8/2017)

  • Support for displaying a HotDocs interview in your host application using the AttachSession and DetachSession API's added to Core Assembly service

1.0.49  (9/28/2017)

Alert – To properly install this update, you first need to uninstall the previous version of HotDocs Core Assembly Service

  • The HotDocs Core Assembly Service has been prepared for limited release