Suma 4.0.0 Release - New Data Collection Client

[Kevin Beswick]

Hi,

Beginning in iOS 13, support for WebSQL, a technology that the Suma data collection client relies on to work, has been deprecated. The workaround that had been in place to re-enable WebSQL has been removed as of iOS 15, which was recently released. The previous version of the Suma client will no longer work once you upgrade to iOS 15.

We’ve been working on a new version of the Suma client, and today we’re releasing it to the community in Suma 4.0.0. It is a drop-in replacement, meaning that you just need to copy over the files or pull the latest version from GitHub, and it should just work with no other changes. The client largely looks and works the same as the old one, but we’ve started making some improvements to it. Here is a short list of some highlights:

• The client now works with non-WebKit browsers (e.g. Firefox).

• The client is responsive, and looks better on mobile devices, tablets and computers.

• Sidebar with initiative/location selection can now be hidden.

• Added a button to reset all counts at a selected location.

• Activities and locations can now have descriptions added to them, and these are shown in the client through an information icon that can be tapped or hovered over.

• Improved performance with syncing large numbers of counts to the server.

• See all of the improvements here: https://suma-project.github.io/Suma/upgrade_client/

UNC Chapel Hill University Libraries has been using this version of the client in production for the last year without issue. We at NC State University Libraries will be available to help resolve any issues you might have in using the new client. For any issues, please either open a GitHub issue, or email the Suma mailing list with a description of your problem.

Special thanks to Niqui O’Neill and Jason Raitz at NC State who are the developers of the new client, and to our late colleague and former Suma technical lead Bret Davidson for his contributions to this client rewrite, and to the Suma project as a whole over the years.

Thanks,

Kevin

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Kevin Beswick

Associate Head, Digital Library Initiatives

NC State University Libraries

919-513-2612 | kdbe...@ncsu.edu

[Glenn G]

Some basic questions:

- Is there a Suma 4.00 server as well as a Suma 4.00 client?

- Will the Suma 4.00 client work with a Suma 3.x server?

Thanks,

Glenn

[Kevin Beswick]

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for your question. There have been no updates to the Suma server for 4.0.0 from the last 3.x releases. So a 3.x server will work with the new client.

Thanks,

Kevin

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[Ian Dean]

How do I turn the multi count feature on? It was done in previous versions using the parameter multiCount=true, but that no longer appears to work. Do I need the server for that?

Thanks

[Kevin Beswick]

Hi Ian,

You can turn this on within the client by clicking the settings button (gear icon) in the top right corner of the interface and checking the "Show Multi-count" box. The setting should persist. I didn't realize the parameter option wasn't there anymore - we can add that back in as well.

Thanks,

Kevin

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[Ian Dean]

Ah, it didn't show up because I had the query string in the url. However, as a part of the old multiCount it kept the options selected, and that doesn't appear to have been kept, or am I mistaken?