Home / Middleware / Oracle Mobile Application Framework

27 Deploying MAF Applications

This chapter describes how to deploy MAF applications for testing and for publishing.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Section 27.1, "Introduction to Deployment of MAF Applications"

• Section 27.2, "Working with Deployment Profiles"

• Section 27.3, "Deploying an Android Application"

• Section 27.4, "Deploying an iOS Application"

• Section 27.5, "Deploying Feature Archive Files (FARs)"

• Section 27.6, "Creating a Mobile Application Archive File"

• Section 27.7, "Creating Unsigned Deployment Packages"

• Section 27.8, "Deploying MAF Applications from the Command Line"

• Section 27.9, "Deploying with Oracle Mobile Security Suite"

27.1 Introduction to Deployment of MAF Applications

Before you can publish an application for distribution to end users, you must test it on a simulator or on an actual device to assess its behavior and ease of use. By deploying an iOS application bundle (.ipa and .app files) or Android application package (.apk) file to the platform-appropriate device or simulator, MAF enables you to test applications before publishing them to the App Store (Apple iTunes), or to an application marketplace, such as Google Play.

27.1.1 MAF Deployment Options

MAF executes the deployment of a project by copying a platform-specific template application to a temporary location, updating that application with the code, resources, and configuration defined in the MAF project. MAF then builds and deploys the application using the tools of the target platform. You can deploy a mobile application as the platform-specific package (.ipa, .h for Android) which you can make available from a download site or application marketplace, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play. For testing and debugging, you can deploy to a simulator or to a device. You can reuse the application features by deploying the view controller projects as a feature archive (FAR). You also have the option to reuse the entire mobile application by deploying it as a Mobile Application Archive (.maa) file.

27.1.1.1 Deployment of Project Libraries

The libraries that you declare for the project using the Libraries and Classpaths Dialog, shown in Figure 27-1, are included in the deployment artifacts for the project. This dialog enables the application features to access these libraries at runtime.

Figure 27-1 Adding Libraries to the Project

27.1.1.2 Deployment of the JVM Libraries

For both Android and iOS applications, each MAF deployment includes a set of different libraries that are specific to the type of deployment (release or debug) in combination with the deployment target (simulators or actual devices). In addition, each set of these libraries includes a JVM JAR file. The application binding layer resides within this virtual machine, which is a collection of Objective-C libraries. For example, MAF deploys a JVM JAR file and a set of libraries for a debug deployment targeted at an iOS simulator, but deploys a different JVM JAR file and set of libraries to a debug deployment targeted to an actual iOS-powered device.

27.2 Working with Deployment Profiles

Preparing mobile applications for deployment begins with the creation of platform-specific deployment profiles. A deployment profile defines how an application is packaged into the archive that will be deployed to iOS- or Android-powered devices, iOS simulators, or Android emulators. The deployment profile does the following:

• Specifies the format and contents of the archive. For iOS, the archive format is an .ipa file, known as an application bundle. For Android, the format is an Android application package (.apk) file.

  Note:

  The .apk file is archive-compatible, meaning that you can view its contents using an archiving tool such as WinZip or 7-Zip.

• Lists the source files, deployment descriptors, and other auxiliary files that will be packaged into the archive file.

• Describes the type and name of the archive file to be created.

• Highlights dependency information, platform-specific instructions, and other information.

27.2.1 About Automatically Generated Deployment Profiles

After you create an application, MAF generates deployment profiles that are seeded with default settings and image files. Provided that you have configured the environment correctly, you can use these profiles to deploy a MAF application immediately after creating it by choosing Application and then Deploy, as shown in Figure 27-2.

Figure 27-2 Default Deployment Profiles

Using the Deployment Action page, shown in Figure 27-3, you then select the appropriate deployment target.

Figure 27-3 Selecting a Deployment Target

Note:

iOS and Android application deployments have distinct environment set up and configuration requirements. For more information, see Section 27.3, "Deploying an Android Application," and Section 27.4, "Deploying an iOS Application."

As illustrated in Figure 27-2, MAF creates application-level profiles for both supported platforms (iOS and Android) and names them iOS1 and Android1.

Note:

MAF increments the name of each new deployment profile by 1. For example, iOS2, iOS3.

You can accept the default values used for these profiles, or edit them by selecting the profile from the Deployment page of the Application Properties dialog and then clicking Edit. Figure 27-4 illustrates the Options page for a default Android application profile. For information on the values configured for MAF application profiles, see Section 27.2.4, "How to Create an Android Deployment Profile" and Section 27.2.5, "How to Create an iOS Deployment Profile."

Figure 27-4 Editing a Default Deployment Profile

MAF packages the application and view controller projects as separate Feature Archive (FAR) files. These JAR files of MAF files are used as resources for other applications and are described in Section 27.5, "Deploying Feature Archive Files (FARs)." Because MAF creates these FAR files as dependencies to the MAF application profile, you can include or exclude them using the Profile Dependencies page of the Application Properties dialog, as illustrated in Figure 27-5.

Note:

The application controller project must contain a single FAR profile dependency; otherwise, the deployment will fail.

Figure 27-5 Editing FAR Contents from MAF Projects

Using the File Groups-related pages of the Project Properties dialog, you can customize the contents of the view controller FAR file, as shown in Figure 27-6. For more information on the Project Properties dialog, see the Oracle JDeveloper online help and also the "Configuring Deployment Profiles" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle JDeveloper.

Figure 27-6 Editing the View Controller Project's FAR

In addition to the platform-specific deployment profiles, MAF also creates a deployment profile that enables you to package the MAF application as a MAF Application Archive (.maa) file. Using this file, you can create a new MAF application using a pre-existing application that has been packaged as an .maa file. For more information, see Section 27.6, "Creating a Mobile Application Archive File" and Section 27.7, "Creating Unsigned Deployment Packages."

By default, this deployment file bears the name of the MAF application followed by _archive. As illustrated in Figure 27-2, this profile is called Employees_archive and, if needed, can be edited using the Application Properties dialog.

Figure 27-7 Editing the Default Deployment Profiles Using the Application Properties Dialog

For more information on editing deployment profiles using the Application Properties dialog pages, see the "Viewing and Changing Deployment Profile Properties" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle JDeveloper and the Oracle JDeveloper online help for the Application Properties and Project Properties dialogs.

27.2.2 How to Create a Deployment Profile

As described in Section 27.2.1, "About Automatically Generated Deployment Profiles," MAF creates a set of deployment profiles when you create a mobile application. You can deploy an application using these profiles, edit them, or construct new ones using the MAF-specific deployment profile pages. The Create Deployment Profile wizard, shown in Figure 27-8, enables you to create a default deployment profile from these pages. You can create as many deployment profiles as needed. For more information on these standard deployment profile pages, click Help to see the JDeveloper online help.

Note:

MAF application deployment only requires the creation of an application-level deployment profile; you do not have to create a view controller-level deployment profile.

Before you begin:

To enable JDeveloper to deploy mobile applications, you must designate the SDKs for the target platforms as described in the "Configuring the Development Environment for Platforms and Form Factors" section in Installing Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

Tip:

For iOS deployments, run iTunes and the iOS Simulator at least once before you configure their directory locations.

To create a deployment profile:

1. Choose Application and then Deploy.

2. Choose New Deployment Profile.

3. Depending on the target platform, select either MAF for Android, MAF for iOS, or MAF Application Archive, as shown in Figure 27-8.

4. Accept the default name for the profile or enter a new one. Click OK.

5. If needed, use the Options and Application Images pages as required for the applications and then click OK.

   Figure 27-8 The Create Deployment Profile Wizard

   
   

27.2.3 What Happens When You Create a Deployment Profile

After you complete the wizard, JDeveloper creates a deployment profile and opens the Deployment Profile Properties editor.

Table 27-1 lists the MAF-specific pages in the Deployment Profile Properties editor, shown in Figure 27-10.

Table 27-1 MAF-Specific Deployment Profile Pages

Page	Function
iOS Options	Enables you to modify the settings for an application to be deployed on an iOS-powered device or iOS simulator.
Android Options	Enables you to modify the settings for an application deployed to an Android-powered device or Android emulator.
Application Images	Enables you to assign custom icons to an application by adding the appropriate graphics file.
Device Orientations	Enables you to restrict the display of an application to certain device orientations. This page is used only for iOS deployment profiles.

Note:

Deployment depends on the needs of your application. You can deploy an application using the default values seeded in the pages listed in Table 27-1.

When you deploy an application, JDeveloper creates a deployment directory and related subdirectory. It also creates Feature Archive files (FARs) for the view controller projects (which must have different names) and application controller project. In addition to these two FARs, JDeveloper creates copies of any FARs that were imported into the project. Changes to the compilation profiles require the removal of the deployment directory. You can remove this directory, as well as the deployment directory within the view controller project that contains the FAR, by selecting Build and then Clean All.

27.2.4 How to Create an Android Deployment Profile

The deployment profile creates the template for the application deployment to an Android device or emulator, or for creating an application as an Android application package (.apk) file.

To create the deployment profile for Android, you must define the signing options for the application, the behavior of the javac compiler, and if needed, override the default Oracle images used for application icons with custom ones.

Before you begin:

Install and download the Android SDK as described in the "How to Install the Android SDK" section in Installing Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

If you deploy to an Android emulator, you must create a virtual device for each emulator instance using the Android Virtual Device Manager, as described in the "Managing Virtual Devices" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/index.html).

You must also set the MAF preferences for the Android platform SDKs (accessed by choosing Tools > Preferences > Mobile Application Framework > Android Platform) to the locations for the SDK, platform, and build tools, which are part of the Android SDK package download. Figure 27-9 shows these locations.

Note:

To enable deployment, the Android Build Tools Location field must reference the location of the build tools aapt file (appt.exe on Windows systems).

MAF populates the Android Build Tools Location field with the latest version of the build-tools directory installed on the development computer.

Note:

Push notifications require devices and emulators running Android 4.0.3 (API 15) platform (or later). The Google Play store must be installed on these devices, and the Google API must be installed in the SDK to enable push notifications on emulators. Users must create a Google account (and be logged in).

See also the "GCM Architectural Overview" chapter in Google Cloud Messaging for Android, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/index.html).

Figure 27-9 Setting the Android SDK, Platform, and Signing Properties

Using the Android Platform page, you also define the debug and release properties for a key that is used to sign the MAF application that you deploy to the Android platform. Within the deployment profile, you subsequently designate a mobile application's release type as either debug or release. You only need to define the signing key properties once. For more information, see Section 27.2.4.3, "Defining the Android Signing Options." See also the application publishing information in the "Signing Your Applications" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html).

27.2.4.1 Setting the Options for the Application Details

The Android Options page, shown in Figure 27-10, enables you to do the following:

• Denote the version of the application. For more information, refer to the "Versioning Your Applications" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/versioning.html).

• Configure the Android zipalign tool, an archive alignment tool that optimizes the packaging of .apk files. Data files stored in each application package, such as data manifests, are continually accessed by multiple processes within the Android operating environment. For more information, see the "zipalign" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/help/zipalign.html).

• Set the logging level output as either non-verbose or debug (verbose).

• Set the signing options appropriate to the deployment target (emulator or device). For more information, see Section 27.2.4.3, "Defining the Android Signing Options."

Figure 27-10 The Deployment Profile Properties Editor (Android Options Page)

To set the application options:

1. Choose Android Options, as shown in Figure 27-10.

2. Accept the default values, or define the following options:

   • Application Bundle ID—A unique ID for the application, as set in the id attribute of the maf-application.xml file. Each application deployed to an Android device has a unique ID, one that cannot start with a numeric value. For more information, see Section 3.3, "Setting Display Properties for an Application Feature."

     If needed, you can override this value in the deployment file. However, for the application to deploy, this name must follow the <manifest> element's package attribute of the Android manifest file. This element is described in the document entitled "The AndroidManifest.xml File," which is available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html). Specifically, the ID uses a reverse package format of an internet domain (com.company.application). To avoid naming collisions, the package name reflects domain ownership, such as com.oracle.application.

     Note:

     The application bundle ID cannot contain spaces.

   • Application Archive Name—If needed, enter the name for the .apk file created by MAF. Otherwise, accept the default name.

     By default, MAF bases the name of the .apk file on the application id attribute configured in the maf-application.xml file. For more information, see Section 3.3, "Setting Display Properties for an Application Feature."

   • Version Name—The release version of the application code that displays for the user. See also Section 3.3, "Setting Display Properties for an Application Feature."

   • Version Code—An integer value that represents the version of the application code, which is checked programmatically by other applications for upgrades or downgrades. The minimum and default value is 1. You can select any value and increment it by 1 for each successive release.

27.2.4.2 Setting Deployment Options

The Options page enables you to set values that are passed in by the javac compiler tool options, set the zipalign options, and also the Android API revisions.

To set the JDK-Compatibility level for the R.java and .class files:

1. Select the JDK-compatibility level from the Source Files dropdown list. The value is specified when the deployment runs the javac tool to compile R.java, the Android-generated file for referencing application resources, using the javac -source option.

   For information on R.java, see the "Accessing Resources" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/accessing-resources.html).

2. Select the JDK version compatibility for the compiled .class files from the Class Files dropdown list. The value is specified when the deployment runs the javac tool to compile the R.java file using the javac -target option.

3. The Target SDK API Level shows the minimum API Level on which the application is designed to run. This value cannot be changed. For more information, refer to the description of the <uses-sdk> attribute in the document entitled "The AndroidManifest.xml File," available through the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html).

4. Select the minimum API Level on which the application is able to run from the Minimum SDK API Level dropdown list. The minimum and default value is 15, which corresponds to Android 4.0.3 platform. You may increase the minimum SDK version to exclude devices running older Android versions from installing your application.

5. Select the native-encoding name that controls how the compiler interprets characters beyond the ASCII character set from the Character Encoding dropdown list. The default is UTF-8.

To set the ZIP alignment options:

Select the byte alignment (32-bit or 64-bit). Selecting 32-bit (the default) provides 4-byte boundary alignment.

To set the storage option for the deployed application:

By default, mobile applications are stored on a Android-powered device's internal storage after they have been deployed from JDeveloper to a device, or downloaded from an application marketplace, such as Google Play. The following options, which are available from the Preferred Storage Location dropdown list, enable you to specify a preferred storage location for the mobile application.

• Internal—Forces the mobile application to be installed on the device's internal storage.

• External—Allows the application to be installed on the device's SD card. However, if the Android system determines that the application cannot be installed on the SD card (for example, no SD card has been mounted, or the SD card exists but has insufficient space), then it installs the application on the device's internal storage instead. The mobile device user can move the application between internal and external storage using the system settings.

• Auto—Specifies that the application may be installed on the device's external or internal storage. The mobile device user can move the application between internal and external storage using the system settings.

Selecting the External or Auto options enables the deployment framework to update the <manifest> element in the AndroidManifest.xml file with an android:installLocation attribute and a value of "preferExternal" or "auto". Populating the AndroidManifest.xml file with this attribute enables mobile applications to be stored on an external SD card or internal storage. For more information, see the "App Install Location" chapter in Data Storage Guide, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/install-location.html) or from the Android SDK documentation.

To set the logging level:

Select Verbose Output for the Android deployment to log the full output provided by each of the command-line tools invoked by the deployment while building the .apk. If you do not select this option, then the deployment does not log the full output.

27.2.4.3 Defining the Android Signing Options

An application must be signed before it can be deployed to an Android device or emulator. Android does not require a certificate authority; an application can instead be self-signed.

Defining how the deployment signs a mobile application is a two-step process: within the MAF Platforms preference page, you first define debug and release properties for a key that is used to sign Android applications. You only need to configure the debug and release signing properties once. After you define these options, you configure the deployment profile to designate if the application should be deployed in the debug or release mode.

Before you begin:

If no keystore file exists, you can create one using the keytool utility, as illustrated in Example 27-1.

Example 27-1 Generating a Keystore

keytool -genkeypair
        -v
        -keystore c:\jdeveloper\mywork\releasesigning.keystore
        -alias releaseKeyAlias
        -keyalg RSA
        -keysize 2048
        -validity 10000

As described in the "Signing Your Applications" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html), the keytool prompts you to provide passwords for the keystore and key, and to provide the Distinguished Name fields for your key before it generates the keystore. In Example 27-1, the keystore contains a single key, valid for 10,000 days. Refer to Java SE Technical Documentation (http://download.oracle.com/javase/index.html) for information on how to use the keytool utility.

To configure the key options for the debug mode:

1. Choose Tools, then Preferences, and then Mobile Application Framework.

2. Choose Platforms.

3. Select the Debug tab, shown in Figure 27-11.

   Figure 27-11 Configuring a Debug Deployment

   
   

4. Enter a password used by the deployment to create a keystore file and key needed for a debug deployment in the Key and Keystore Password field. This password, which generates a keystore and keyfile for deployment to an Android-powered device or emulator, can be any value, but must be at least six characters long. The default password is Android.

To configure the key options for a release mode:

1. Choose Tools, then Preferences, and then Mobile Application Framework.

2. Choose Platforms.

3. Select the Release tab, shown in Figure 27-9, and then define the following:

   • Keystore Location—Enter, or browse to and retrieve, the directory of the keystore containing the private key used for signing the application for distribution.

   • Keystore Password—Enter the password for the keystore. This password allows access to the physical file.

   • Key Alias—Enter an alias for the key. This is the value set for the keytool's -alias argument. Only the first eight characters of the alias are used.

   • Key Password—Enter the password for the key. This password allows access to the key (identified by the alias) within the keystore.

     Tip:

     Enter the password and key password requested by the keytool utility before it generates the keystore.

     In addition to designating how the application will be signed, these parameters designate how the R.Java classes are compiled.

4. Click OK.

To Set the Android build mode:

1. In the Options page, select either Debug or Release as the build mode:

   • Select Debug for developing and testing an application (such as Java and JavaScript debugging). This option enables you to deploy an application on the Android platform without having to provide a private key. Use this option when deploying an application to an Android emulator or to an Android-powered device for testing. See also Section 30.3.5, "How to Enable Debugging of Java Code and JavaScript."

     Note:

     You cannot publish an application signed with the debug keystore and key; this keystore and key are used for testing purposes only and cannot be used to publish an application to end users.

   • When the application is ready to be published, select Release. Use this option when the application is ready to be published to an application marketplace, such as Google Play.

     Tip:

     Use the release mode, not the debug mode, to test application performance.

2. Click OK.

   After the .apk file is signed in either debug or release mode, you can deploy it to a device or to an emulator. At runtime, MAF indicates that an application has been deployed in debug mode by overlaying a debugging symbol that is represented by an exclamation point within a red triangle, as shown in Figure 27-12.

   Figure 27-12 Deployment Modes

   
   

27.2.4.4 What You May Need to Know About Credential Storage

MAF stores passwords for the key and keystore in the file-based credential store, cwallet.sso. This file, which manages credential storage and retrieval, is located within the o.maf folder in the user's JDeveloper system folder. For example, in a Windows 7 environment, the cwallet.sso file is located at C:\Users\jsmith\AppData\Roaming\JDeveloper\system12.1.3\o.maf.

For more information, see the "About Oracle Wallet" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide and the "Credential Store Basics" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Securing Applications with Oracle Platform Security Services.

Note:

MAF stores the key and keystore credentials in a file called product-preferences.xml. MAF migrates these credentials to the cwallet.sso file if you preserve the preference settings by clicking Yes in the Confirm Import Preferences dialog during the installation process of the current version of JDeveloper and MAF. However, the cwallet.sso file is not migrated to other installations of the current version of Oracle JDeveloper with MAF. If you reinstall (or create a separate installation), you must either copy the cwallet.sso file to the o.maf folder or reconfigure the release mode credentials in the Platforms preferences page.

27.2.4.5 How to Add a Custom Image to an Android Application

Enabling MAF application icons to display properly on Android-powered devices of different sizes and resolutions requires low-, medium-, and high-density versions of the same images. MAF provides default Oracle images that fulfill these display requirements. However, if the application requires custom icons, you can use the Application Images page, shown in Figure 27-13, to override default images by selecting PNG-formatted images for the application icon and for the splash screen. For the latter, you can add portrait and landscape images. If you do not add a custom image file, then the default Oracle icon is used instead. To create custom images, refer to the "Iconography" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/design/style/iconography.html).

Figure 27-13 Setting Custom Images for an Android Application

Before you begin:

Obtain the images in the PNG, JPEG, or GIF file format that use the dimensions, density, and components that are appropriate to Android theme and that can also support multiple screen types. For more information, see "Supporting Multiple Screens" document, available from the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html).

To add custom images:

1. Click Application Images.

2. Use the Browse function to select the splash screen and icon image files from the project file. Figure 27-13 shows selecting images for application icons and portrait orientation splash screen images that applications use for displaying on devices with low-, medium-, high- and extra-high density displays.

3. Click OK.

27.2.4.6 What Happens When JDeveloper Deploys Images for Android Applications

During deployment, MAF enables JDeveloper to copy the images from their source location to a temporary deployment folder. For the default images that ship with the MAF extension (located at application workspace directory\Application Resources\Resources\images), JDeveloper copies them from their seeded location to a deployment subdirectory of the view controller project (application workspace\ViewController\deploy). As shown in Table 27-2, each image file is copied to a subdirectory called drawable, named for the drawable object, described on the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/reference/android/graphics/drawable/Drawable.html). Each drawable directory matches the image density (ldpi, mdpi, hdpi, and xhdpi) and orientation (port, land). Within these directories, JDeveloper renames each icon image file as adfmf_icon.png and each splash screen image as adfmf_loading.png.

Table 27-2 Deployment File Locations for Seeded Application Images

Source File (...\resource\Android)	Temporary Deployment File (...ViewController\deploy)
display-ldpi-icon.png	drawable-ldpi\adfmf_icon.png
display-mdpi-icon.png	drawable-mdpi\adfmf_icon.png
display-hdpi-icon.png	drawable-hdpi\adfmf_icon.png
display-xhdpi-icon.png	drawable-xhdpi\adfmf_icon.png
display-port-ldpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-port-ldpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-port-mdpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-port-mdpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-port-hdpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-port-hdpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-port-xhdpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-port-xhdpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-land-ldpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-land-ldpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-land-mdpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-land-mdpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-land-hdpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-land-hdpi\adfmf_loading.png
display-land-xhdpi-splashscreen.png	drawable-land-xhdpi\adfmf_loading.png

For custom images, JDeveloper copies the set of application icons from their specified location to the corresponding density and orientation subdirectory of the temporary deployment location.

27.2.5 How to Create an iOS Deployment Profile

For iOS, use the Deployment Profiles Properties Editor to define the iOS application build configuration as well as the locations for the splash screen images and application icons.

Before you begin:

Download Xcode (which includes the Xcode IDE, performance analysis tools, the iOS simulator, and the Mac OS X and iOS SDKs) to the Apple computer that also runs JDeveloper.

Tip:

Refer to the Certification and Support Matrix on Oracle Technology Network (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/maf/documentation) for the minimum supported version required to compile applications.

Because Xcode is used during deployment, you must install it on the Apple computer before you deploy the mobile application from JDeveloper.

Tip:

While the current version of Xcode is available through the App Store, you can download prior versions through the following site:

https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

Access to this site requires an Apple ID and registration as an Apple developer.

After you download Xcode, you must enter the location of its xcodebuild tool and, for deployment to iOS simulators, the location of the iOS simulator's SDK, in the iOS Platform preference page. For more information, see the "Configuring the Development Environment for Platforms and Form Factors" section in Installing Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

Note:

Run both iTunes and the iOS simulator at least once before entering their locations in the iOS Platform preference page.

To deploy a mobile application to an iOS-powered device (as opposed to deployment to an iOS simulator), you must obtain both a provisioning profile and a certification from the iOS Provisioning Profile as described in Section 27.2.5.2, "Setting the Device Signing Options."

To create a deployment profile:

1. Choose Application > Application Properties > Deployment.

2. In the Deployment page, double-click an iOS deployment profile.

3. Choose iOS Options, as shown in Figure 27-14.

4. Accept the default values, or define the following:

   • Application Bundle Id—If needed, enter a bundle ID to use for this application that identifies the domain name of the company. The application bundle Id must be unique for each application installed on an iOS device and must adhere to reverse-package style naming conventions (that is, com.<organization name>.<company name>). For more information, see the App Distribution Guide, which is available through the iOS Developer Library at http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/). For information on obtaining the Bundle Seed Id using the iOS Provisioning Portal, see Section 27.4.4.3, "Registering an Application ID." See also Section 3.3, "Setting Display Properties for an Application Feature."

     Note:

     The application bundle ID cannot contain spaces.

     Because each application bundle ID is unique, you can deploy multiple mobile applications to the same device. Two applications can even have the same name as long as their application bundle IDs are different. Mobile applications deployed to the same device are in their own respective sandboxes. They are unaware of each other and do not share data (they have only the Device scope in common).

   • Application Archive Name—If needed, enter the name for the .ipa file or the .app file. MAF creates an .ipa file when you select either the Deploy to distribution package or Deploy to iTunes for synchronization to device options in the Deployment Action dialog, shown in Figure 27-24. It creates an .app file when you select the Deploy application to simulator option. Otherwise, accept the default name. For more information, see Section 27.4.2, "How to Deploy an Application to an iOS-Powered Device" and Section 27.4.5, "How to Distribute an iOS Application to the App Store."

     By default, MAF bases the name of the .ipa file (or .app file) on the application id attribute configured in the maf-application.xml file. For more information, see Section 3.3, "Setting Display Properties for an Application Feature."

   • Minimum iOS Version—Indicates the earliest version of iOS to which you can deploy the application. The default value is the current version. The version depends on the version of the installed SDK.

   • Simulator—Select the hardware and iOS version of the simulator to which you are deploying the application. Available versions are displayed in the dropdown list. For more information, see the iOS Simulator User Guide, which is available through the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/).

   • Family—Select the family of iOS products on which the application is intended to run. The default option is for both iPad and iPhone.

   Figure 27-14 Setting the iOS Options

   
   

27.2.5.1 Defining the iOS Build Options

The iOS build options enable you to deploy an application with debug or release bits and libraries. The iOS Options page is also where you can enable containerization with Oracle Mobile Security Suite (OMSS).

Before you begin:

Deployment of an iOS application (that is, an .ipa file) to an iOS-powered device requires a provisioning profile, which is a required component for installation, and also a signed certificate that identifies the developer and an application on a device. You must obtain these from the iOS Provisioning portal as described in Section 27.4.4, "What You May Need to Know About Deploying an Application to an iOS-Powered Device." In addition, you must enter the location for a provisioning profile and the name of the certificate in the iOS Platform preference page, as described in Section 27.2.5.2, "Setting the Device Signing Options."

How to set the build options:

1. Choose Application > Application Properties > Deployment.

2. In the Deployment page, double-click an iOS deployment profile.

3. Choose iOS Options, as shown in Figure 27-14.

4. Choose from the following build options.

   • Debug—Select this option for development builds. Designating a debug build results in the inclusion of debugging symbols. See also Section 30.3.2, "How to Debug on the iOS Platform" and Section 30.3.5, "How to Enable Debugging of Java Code and JavaScript."

   • Release—Select to compile the build with release bits and libraries.

     Tip:

     Use the release mode, not the debug mode, to test application performance.

   • Enable Oracle Mobile Security Suite—Select to enable containerization with Oracle Mobile Security Suite. For more information, see Section 27.9, "Deploying with Oracle Mobile Security Suite."

At runtime, MAF indicates that an application has been deployed in debug mode by overlaying a debugging symbol that is represented by an exclamation point within a red triangle, as shown in Figure 27-12, "Deployment Modes".

27.2.5.2 Setting the Device Signing Options

The iOS Platform preference page for iOS includes fields for the location of the provisioning profile on the development computer and the name of the signing identity. You must define these parameters if you deploy an application to a distribution package or to iTunes for synchronization to a device. You use a signing identity to code sign your application. When Xcode requests your development certificate, the certificate and its public key is stored in the Member Center, and the signing identity (the certificate with its public and private key) is stored in your keychain. You will not be able to code sign without this private key.

Note:

Neither a signing identity nor a provisioning profile are required if you deploy a mobile application to an iOS simulator.

To set the signing options:

1. Choose Tools > Preferences > Mobile Application Framework > iOS Platform.

2. From the Provisioning Profile dropdown list, choose the provisioning profile.

3. In the Signing Identity field, enter the name of the developer or distribution certificate that identifies the originator of the code (such as a developer or a company). You can view the name of the certificate using the Keychain Access utility (accessed from the Applications folder). Copy the entire name from the Keychain Access utility. The name entered into this field may look similar to the following example.

   iPhone Developer: John Smith (Oracle123)
   

   Figure 27-15 The Device Signing Section of the iOS Platform Preference Page

   
   

Note:

There are provisioning profiles used for both development and release versions of an application. While a provisioning profile used for the release version of an application can be installed on any device, a provisioning profile for a development version can only be installed on the devices whose IDs are embedded into the profile. For more information, see the App Distribution Guide, which is available from the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/).

27.2.5.3 Adding a Custom Image to an iOS Application

The Application Images page enables you to rebrand an application by overriding the default Oracle image used for application icons and artwork with custom images. The options in this page, shown in Figure 27-16, enable you to enter the locations of custom images used for different situations, device orientation, and device resolutions. For more information on iOS application icon images, see the "Icon and Image Design" section in iOS Human Interface Guidelines. This document is available from the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/).

Note:

All images must be in the PNG format.

To add custom images:

1. Choose Application > Application Properties > Deployment.

2. In the Deployment page, double-click an iOS deployment profile.

3. Select iOS Options > Application Images from the tree on the left of the iOS deployment profile properties editor.

4. Choose Browse to select an icon image to override the default Apple image that iTunes assigns to .ipa files. This image is required for all applications and must be 512 x 512 pixels for both iPhone and iPad applications. For more information, see Section 27.2.5.4, "What You May Need to Know About iTunes Artwork."

5. Select the device type to display the available image types in the tree. By default, MAF displays all of the image styles and types available to iPad and iPhone devices. However, you can narrow the selection by selecting the device type, as shown in Figure 27-16. In the Icon Folder field, MAF displays the location within the application's Resources directory where these image files are stored.

   Figure 27-16 Selecting the Application Images

   
   

6. Select an image type from the tree.

7. In the File field, choose Browse to select another image. This image file must exist within the current application.

   During deployment, JDeveloper copies the custom image file into the deployment profile and renames it to match the name of the default image.

8. Click OK.

27.2.5.4 What You May Need to Know About iTunes Artwork

By default, mobile applications deployed to an iOS device through iTunes, or deployed as an archive (.ipa file) for download, use the default Oracle image unless otherwise specified.

By selecting an iTunes artwork image as the icon for the deployed application, you override the default image. You can use an image to differentiate between versions of the application. Figure 27-17 illustrates the difference between the default image and a user-selected image, where Application4 is displayed with the default image and Application6 is displayed with a user-selected image (the Oracle icon, scaled to 512 x 512 pixels).

Figure 27-17 Custom and Default Application Icons

During deployment, MAF ensures that the icon displays in iTunes by adding the iTunes artwork image to the top-level of the .ipa file in a file called iTunesArtwork.

Note:

iTunes artwork is only packaged into the application when you select the deployment type called Deploy to iTunes for synchronization to device.

27.2.5.5 How to Restrict the Display to a Specific Device Orientation

By default, MAF supports all orientations for both iPhone and iPad. If, for example, an application must display only in portrait and in upside-down orientations on iPads, you can limit the application to rotate only to these orientations using the Device Orientation page, shown in Figure 27-18

Figure 27-18 Select a Device Orientation

To limit the display of an application to a specific device orientation: 

1. Choose Device Orientations, as shown in Figure 27-18.

2. Clear all unneeded orientations from among those listed in Table 27-3. By default, MAF deploys to all of these device orientations. By default, all of these orientations are selected.

   Table 27-3 iPhone Device Orientations

   Icon	Description
   	iPad, portrait—The home button is at the bottom of the screen.
   	iPad, upside-down—The home button is at the top of the screen.
   	iPad, landscape left—The home button is at the left side of the screen.
   	iPad, landscape right—The home button is at the right side of the screen.
   	iPhone, portrait—The home button is at the bottom of the screen.
   	iPhone, upside-down—The home button is at the top of the screen.
   	iPhone, landscape left—The home button is at the left side of the screen.
   	iPhone, landscape right—The home button is at the right side of the screen.

   
   

3. Click OK.

27.2.5.6 What Happens When You Deselect Device Orientations

Deselecting a device orientation updates the source .plist file.

27.3 Deploying an Android Application

After you define the deployment profile, you can deploy a mobile application to the Android platform using the Deployment Action dialog, shown in Figure 27-19. Using this dialog, you can deploy the completed application to an Android emulator or to an Android-powered device for testing. After you have tested and debugged the application, this dialog enables you to bundle the mobile application as an Android application package (.apk) file so that it can be published to end users through an application marketplace, such as Google Play.

Tip:

As an alternative to the Deployment Action dialog, you can deploy a mobile application to the Android platform in a headless mode using the OJDeploy command line tool as described in Section 27.8, "Deploying MAF Applications from the Command Line."

Figure 27-19 Deployment Action Dialog for Android Applications

27.3.1 How to Deploy an Android Application to an Android Emulator

You can deploy the mobile application directly to an Android emulator, also known as an Android Virtual Device (AVD).

Before you begin:

Deployment to an Android emulator requires the following:

• Install Android Platform version 21 (Android 5.0).

• Ensure that the Android Virtual Device instance configuration reflects the ARM or Intel Atom x86 system image.

• In the Android Options page of the deployment profile:

  1. Ensure that Debug is selected.

  2. Click OK.

  Note:

  The Android Platform preferences page must be configured with the password that is used to generate the keystore and key for debug-mode deployment. See Section 27.2.4.3, "Defining the Android Signing Options."

• Start the Android emulator (Android Virtual Device) before you deploy an application.

  You can start the emulator using the Android Virtual Device Manager, as illustrated in Figure 27-20, or from the command line by first navigating to the tools directory (located in Android\android-sdk) and then starting the emulator by first entering emulator -avd followed by the emulator name (such as -avd AndroidEmulator1).

  Note:

  You can run only one Android emulator during a deployment.

  Figure 27-20 Starting an Emulator Using Android Virtual Device Manager

  
  

To deploy an application to an Android emulator:

1. Choose Applications, then Deploy, and then select an Android deployment profile.

2. Choose Deploy application to emulator and then choose Next.

3. Review the Summary page, shown in Figure 27-8, choose Back to select another deployment activity or choose Finish. The Summary page displays the following parameters from the deployment profile:

   • Application Bundle Id—The unique, Java language-like package name identifying the application.

     Note:

     The Summary page shown in Figure 27-21 shows that the application bundle ID is in the reverse package format required for a successful deployment to an emulator. Deploying an application that does not follow the reverse-package format causes the emulator to shut down, which prevents the deployment from completing.

   • File—The name of the .apk that is deployed to an Android target.

   • Deploy Mode—The build mode. This value is either Release or Debug, depending on the value set in the deployment profile.

   Figure 27-21 Summary for Android Emulator Deployment

   
   

4. Review the deployment log, as shown in Figure 27-22. The deployment log notes that the deployer starts the Android Debug Bridge server when it detects a running instance of an Android emulator. See also Section 27.3.6, "What You May Need to Know About Using the Android Debug Bridge."

   Figure 27-22 The Deployment Log

   
   

27.3.2 How to Deploy an Application to an Android-Powered Device

You can deploy a mobile application directly to an Android-powered device that runs on API 15 or later (that is, Platform 4.0.3.).

Before you begin:

In order to deploy directly to an Android-powered device, connect the device to the development computer that hosts JDeveloper, set the device to developer mode, and turn on USB debugging. For more information, see "How to Set Up an Android-Powered Device" in Installing Oracle Mobile Application Framework.

In the Android Options page, select Debug as the build mode. Ensure that the debug signing credentials are configured in the Android Platform preference page. For details, see Section 27.2.4.1, "Setting the Options for the Application Details."

To deploy an application to an Android device:

1. Choose Applications, then Deploy, then select an Android deployment profile.

2. Choose Deploy application to device and then choose Next.

3. Review the Summary page. Click Back or Next.

4. Click Finish.

27.3.3 How to Publish an Android Application

After you have tested and debugged the application, as described in Chapter 30, "Testing and Debugging MAF Applications," you can publish it to an application marketplace (such as Google Play) by following the instructions provided on the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/publishing_overview.html).

Before you begin:

In the Android Options page of the deployment profile, select Release as the build mode.

Note:

You must configure the signing options in the Android Platform preference page (accessed by choosing Tools > Preferences > Mobile Application Framework) as described in Section 27.2.4.3, "Defining the Android Signing Options."

To deploy an application as an .apk file:

1. Choose Applications, then Deploy, then select an Android deployment profile.

2. Choose Deploy application to package and then choose Next.

3. Review the Summary page, shown in Figure 27-21. Click Back or Next.

4. Click Finish.

5. Publish the application to an application marketplace.

27.3.4 What Happens in JDeveloper When You Create an .apk File

Deploying an application results in the following being deployed in an .apk file.

• The content in the adfmsrc

• The content in the .adf folder

• maf-application.xml and maf-feature.xml files

• logging.properties file

• The JVM files

27.3.5 Selecting the Most Recently Used Deployment Profiles

After you select a deployment action, JDeveloper creates a shortcut on the Deploy menu that enables you to easily redeploy the application using that same deployment action.

27.3.6 What You May Need to Know About Using the Android Debug Bridge

The deployment restarts the Android Debug Bridge server five times until it detects a device (if deploying to a device) or emulator (if deploying to an Android emulator). If it detects neither, then it ends the deployment process, as shown in Figure 27-23.

Figure 27-23 Deployment Terminated

If you are using the Android Debug Bridge command line tool prior to deployment, then you must enter the same command again after the deployment has completed. For example, if you entered adb logcat to view logging information for an emulator or device prior to deployment, you would have to enter adb logcat again after the application has been deployed to resume the retrieval of the logging output. For more information about the Android Debug Bridge command line tool, which is located within (and executed from) the platform-tools directory of the Android SDK installation, refer to the Android Developers website (http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html).

27.4 Deploying an iOS Application

The Deployment Action dialog, shown in Figure 27-24, enables you to deploy an iOS application directly to an iOS simulator or to a device through iTunes. You can only deploy an iOS application from an Apple computer. Deployment to the iOS simulator does not require membership to either the iOS Developer Program or the iOS Developer Enterprise Program; registration as an Apple developer, which provides access to versions of Xcode that are not available through the App Store, will suffice. For more information on iOS developer programs, which are required for deployment to iOS-powered devices (and are described at Section 27.4.2, "How to Deploy an Application to an iOS-Powered Device," and Section 27.4.5, "How to Distribute an iOS Application to the App Store"), see https://developer.apple.com/programs/.

Figure 27-24 The Deployment Action Dialog (for iOS Applications)

Tip:

As an alternative to the Deployment Action dialog, you can deploy a mobile application to the iOS platform manually using the OJDeploy command line tool as described in Section 27.8, "Deploying MAF Applications from the Command Line."

27.4.1 How to Deploy an iOS Application to an iOS Simulator

The Deployment Actions dialog enables you to deploy an iOS application directly to an iOS simulator.

Before you begin:

To enable deployment to an iOS simulator, you must perform the following tasks:

• Run Xcode after installing it, agree to the licensing agreements, and perform other post-installation tasks, as prompted.

  Note:

  You must run Xcode at least once before you deploy the application to the iOS simulator. Otherwise, the deployment will not succeed.

• Run the iOS simulator at least once after installing Xcode.

• In the iOS Options page of the deployment profile, select Debug, and then click OK.

• Before you deploy an application, shut down the iOS simulator if it is running. If you do not shut down the simulator, the deployment will do it for you.

• Refer to the iOS Simulator User Guide, available through the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/). The iOS simulator is installed with Xcode.

To deploy an application to an iOS simulator:

1. Choose Applications, then Deploy, then select an iOS deployment profile.

2. Choose Deploy application to simulator and then choose Next.

3. Review the Summary page, shown in Figure 27-25, which displays the following values. Click Finish.

   • Application Bundle Id—The unique name that includes a Java language-like package name (com.<organization name>.<application name>) prefixed with the Bundle Seed that is generated from the iOS Provisioning Portal.

   • File—The file name of the final image deployed to an iOS target.

   • Signature—The developer or company that authored the application. If this value has not been configured in the Options page of the deployment profile, then the Summary page displays <Not Specified>.

   • Provisioning Profile—The name of the provisioning profile that associates one or more development certificates and devices with an application ID. If this value is not configured in the Options page of the deployment profile, then the Summary page displays <Not Specified>.

   Note:

   Deployment to an iOS simulator does not require that the values for Signing Identity and Provisioning Profile be defined. In this deployment scenario, the Summary page displays <Not Specified> for these values.

   Figure 27-25 The Deployment Actions Summary Dialog

   
   

27.4.2 How to Deploy an Application to an iOS-Powered Device

The Deploy to iTunes for Synchronization to device option enables you to deploy a mobile application to an iOS-powered device for debugging and testing. Deployment to an iOS-powered device or to a distribution site requires membership to either the iOS Developer Program or the iOS Developer Enterprise Program. For more information, see https://developer.apple.com/programs/.

Before you begin:

You cannot deploy an application directly from JDeveloper to a iOS device; an application must instead be deployed from the Applications folder in Apple iTunes. To accomplish this, you must perform the following tasks:

• Download Apple iTunes to your development computer and run it at least once to create the needed folders and directories.

• Set the location of the Automatically Add to iTunes folder (the location used for application deployment) in the iOS Platform preference page, shown in Figure 27-26.

  Tip:

  Although your user home directory (/User/<username>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes.localized) is the default directory for the iTunes Media folder, you can change the location of this folder as follows:

  1. In iTunes, select Edit, Preferences, then Advanced.

  2. Click Change and then browse to the new location.

  3. Consolidate the library.

  4. Delete the original iTunes Media folder.

  For instructions, refer to Apple Support (http://support.apple.com).

  You must also update the location in the iOS Platform preference page.

  Figure 27-26 Setting the Location for the iTunes Media Folder

  
  

• Enter the name and location of the provisioning profile and the signing identity in the iOS Platform preference page. The OS Provisioning Portal generates the certificate and provisioning profile needed for deployment to iOS devices, or for publishing .ipa files to the App Store or to an internal download site.

  Note:

  The deployment will fail unless you set the iOS provisioning profile and signing identity to deploy to a device or to an archive. MAF logs applications that fail to deploy under such circumstances. For more information, see Section 27.4.4, "What You May Need to Know About Deploying an Application to an iOS-Powered Device."

• In the iOS Options page of the deployment profile, select Debug as the build mode and then OK.

• Refer to the App Distribution Guide, which is available through the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/).

To deploy an application to an iOS-powered device:

1. Choose Applications, then Deploy, and then select an iOS deployment profile.

2. Choose Deploy to iTunes for Synchronization to device and then choose Next.

3. Review the Summary page, which displays the following values. Click Finish.

   • Application Bundle Id—The unique name that includes a Java language-like package name (com.<organization name>.<application name>) prefixed with the Bundle Seed that is generated from the iOS Provisioning Portal.

   • File—The file name of the final image deployed to an iOS target.

   • Signature—The developer (or company) who authored the application. If this value has not been configured in the Options page of the deployment profile, then the Summary page displays <Not Specified>.

   • Provisioning Profile—The name of the provisioning profile that associates one or more development certificates and devices with an application ID. If this value is not configured in the Options page of the deployment profile, then the Summary page displays <Not Specified>.

   Note:

   You must specify the Signature and Provisioning Profile values in the Options page to enable deployment to iTunes.

4. Connect the iOS-powered device to the development computer.

5. Open iTunes and then synchronize the device.

27.4.3 What Happens When You Deploy an Application to an iOS Device

The application appears in the iTunes Apps Folder, similar to the one illustrated in Figure 27-17 after a successful deployment.

27.4.4 What You May Need to Know About Deploying an Application to an iOS-Powered Device

You cannot deploy an iOS application (that is, an .ipa file) to an iOS-powered device or publish it to either the App Store or to an internal hosted download site without first creating a provisioning profile using the iOS Provisioning Portal, which is accessible only to members of the iOS Developer Program. You enter the location of the provisioning profile and the name of the certificate in the Options page as described in Section 27.2.5.2, "Setting the Device Signing Options."

As noted in the App Distribution Guide, (which is available through the iOS Developer Library at http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/), a provisioning profile associates development certificates, devices, and an application ID. The iOS Provisioning Portal enables you to create these entities as well as the provisioning profile.

Tip:

After you download the provisioning profile, double-click this file to add it to your Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profile directory.

Figure 27-27 The iOS Provisioning Portal

27.4.4.1 Creating iOS Development Certificates

A certificate is an electronic document that combines information about a developer's identity with a public key and private key. After you download a certificate, you essentially install your identity into the development computer, as the iOS Development Certificate identifies you as an iOS developer and enables the signing of the application for deployment. In the iOS operating environment, all certificates are managed by the Keychain.

Using the Certificates page in the iOS Provisioning Portal, you log a CSR (Certificate Signing Request). The iOS Provisioning Portal issues the iOS Development Certificate after you complete the CSR.

27.4.4.2 Registering an Apple Device for Testing and Debugging

After you install a certificate on your development computer, review the Current Available Devices tab (located in the iOS Provisioning Portal's Devices page) to identify the Apple devices used by you (or your company) for testing or debugging. The application cannot deploy unless the device is included in this list, which identifies each device by its serial number-like Unique Device Identifier (UDID).

27.4.4.3 Registering an Application ID

An application ID is a unique identifier for an application on a device. An application ID is comprised of the administrator-created reverse domain name called a Bundle Identifier in the format described in Section 3.2, "Setting Display Properties for a MAF Application" prefixed by a ten-character alpha-numeric string called a bundle seed, which is generated by Apple. Figure 27-28 illustrates an application ID that is unique, one that does not share files or the Keychain with any other applications.

Figure 27-28 An Explicit Application ID

Using a wildcard character (*) for the application name, such as 8E549T7128.com.oracle.*, enables a suite of applications to share an application ID. For example, if the administrator names com.oracle.MAF.* on the iOS Provisioning Portal, it enables you to specify different applications (com.oracle.MAF.application1 and com.oracle.MAF.application2).

Note:

For applications that receive push notifications, the application ID must be a full, unique ID, not a wildcard character; applications identified using wildcards cannot receive push notifications. For more information, see the "Provisioning and Development" section of Local and Push Notification Programming Guide, available from the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/)

When applications share the same prefix, such as 8E549T7128, they can share files or Keychains.

Note:

The Bundle ID must match the application ID set in the Options page of the deployment profile.

27.4.5 How to Distribute an iOS Application to the App Store

After you test and debug an application on an iOS device, you can distribute the application to a wider audience through the App Store or an internal download site. To publish an application to the App Store, you must submit the .ipa file to iTunes Connect, which enables you to add .ipa files to iTunes, as well as update applications and create test users.

Before you begin:

Before you distribute the application, you must perform the following tasks:

• In the iOS Platform preference page, shown in Figure 27-26, enter the location of the Automatically Add to iTunes directory.

  Tip:

  Run iTunes at least once before entering this location. See also Section 27.4.2, "How to Deploy an Application to an iOS-Powered Device."

• Test the application on an actual iOS device. See Section 27.4.2, "How to Deploy an Application to an iOS-Powered Device."

• Obtain a distribution certificate through the iOS Provisioning Portal.

  Note:

  Only the Team Agent can create a distribution certificate.

• Obtain an iTunes Connect account for distributing the .ipa file to iTunes. For information, see "Prepare App Submission" in the iOS Development Center's App Store Resource Center. Specifically, review the App Store Review Guidelines to ensure acceptance by the App Review Team.

• You may want to review both the and iTunes Connect Developer Guide. These guides are both available through the iOS Developer Library (http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/).

• In the iOS Options page of the deployment profile, select App Distribution Guide Release as the build mode and then click OK.

To distribute an iOS application to the App Store:

1. Choose Applications, then Deploy, and then select an iOS deployment profile.

2. Choose Deploy to Distribution Package.

3. Review the Summary page, which displays the following values. Click Finish.

   • Application Bundle Id—The unique name that includes a Java language-like package name (com.<organization name>.<application name>) prefixed with the Bundle Seed that is generated from the iOS Provisioning Portal.

   • File—The file name of the final image deployed to an iOS target.

   • Signature—The application's author. If this value has not been configured in the iOS Platform preference page of the deployment profile, then the Summary page displays <Not Specified>.

   • Provisioning Profile—The name of the provisioning profile that associates one or more development certificates and devices with an application ID. If this value is not configured in the iOS Platform preference page, then the Summary page displays <Not Specified>.

   Note:

   You must specify the Signature and Provisioning Profile values in the Options page to enable the .ipa file to be accepted by iTunes.

4. Log in to iTunes Connect.

5. Submit the .ipa file to iTunes Connect for consideration using the Manage Your Applications module and the Application Loader described in the "Adding New Apps" and "Using Application Loader" sections in iTunes Connect Developer Guide.

6. After the application has been approved, refer to the "Creating Test Users" section in iTunes Connect Developer Guide for information on using the Manage Users module. For testing multi-language applications, create a test user account for the regions for which the application is localized.

7. Refer to the "Editing and Updating App Information" section in iTunes Connect Developer Guide for information on updating the binary using the Managing Your Application module.

27.5 Deploying Feature Archive Files (FARs)

To enable re-use by MAF view controller projects, application features— typically, those implemented as MAF AMX or Local HTML— are bundled into an archive known as a Feature Archive (FAR). As stated in Chapter 8, "Reusing MAF Application Content," a FAR is a JAR file that contains the application feature artifacts that can be consumed by mobile applications, such as icon images, resource bundles, HTML, JavaScript, or other implementation-specific files. (A FAR may contain Java classes, though these classes must be compiled.) Example 27-2 illustrates the contents of a FAR, which includes a single maf-feature.xml file and a connections.xml file. For more information on connections.xml, see the "Lookup Defined in the connections.xml File" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developing Fusion Web Applications with Oracle Application Development Framework.

Example 27-2 Contents of a Feature Archive File

connections.xml (or some form of connection metadata)
 
  META-INF
     adfm.xml
     maf-feature.xml
     MANIFEST.MF
     task-flow-registry.xml
 
  oracle
    application1
      mobile
         Class1.class
         DataBindings.cpx
         pageDefs
           view1PageDefs
 
  model
     adfc-mobile-config.adfc.diagram
     ViewController-task-flow.adfc.diagram
 
  public_html
     adfc-mobile-config.xml
       index.html
       navbar-icon.html
       springboard-icon.html
     view1.amx
     ViewController-task-flow.xml 

Working with Feature Archive files involves the following tasks:

1. Creating a Feature Archive file—You create a Feature Archive by deploying a feature application as a library JAR file.

2. Using the Feature Archive file when creating a mobile application—This includes importing FARs and re-mapping the imported connection.

3. Deploying a mobile application that includes features from FARs—This includes unpacking the FAR to a uniquely named folder within the deployment template.

   Note:

   MAF generates FARs during the deployment process. You only need to deploy a view controller project if you use the FAR in another application.

27.5.1 How to Create a Deployment Profile for a Feature Archive

Use the Create Deployment Profile dialog, shown in Figure 27-29.

Figure 27-29 Create MAF Feature Archive Dialog

Before you begin:

Create the appropriate connections for the application. Because FARs may be used in different MAF applications with different connection requirements, choose a connection name that represents the connection source or the actual standardized connection name.

How to create a deployment profile for a Feature Archive:

1. Right-click a view controller project, choose New, then Deploy, and then New Deployment Profile.

   Note:

   You do not need to create a separate, application-level deployment profile.

2. Select MAF Feature Archive in the Create Deployment Profile dialog.

3. Enter a profile name, or accept the default, and then click OK.

   Note:

   Name the profile appropriately. Otherwise, you may encounter problems if you upload more than one application feature with the same archive name. For more information, see Section 8.5, "What You May Need to Know About Enabling the Reuse of Feature Archive Resources."

4. Select the connections that you want to include in the Feature Archive JAR file, as shown in Figure 27-30.

   Figure 27-30 Selecting a Connection for the FAR

   
   

5. Click Next, review the options, and then click Finish.

27.5.2 How to Deploy the Feature Archive Deployment Profile

The Deployment Actions dialog enables you to deploy the FAR as a JAR file. This dialog, shown in Figure 27-31, includes only one deployment option, Deploy to feature archive JAR file.

Figure 27-31 Deployment Actions

How to deploy the Feature Archive deployment profile:

1. Right-click the view controller project and then select the Feature Archive deployment profile.

2. Click Finish. The Summary page, shown in Figure 27-32, displays the full path of where the Feature Archive file's JAR path is deployed.

   Figure 27-32 Deployment Summary Page

   
   

27.5.3 What Happens When You Deploy a Feature Archive File Deployment Profile

After you complete the deployment action dialog, MAF creates a library JAR in the path shown in the Summary page. To make this JAR available for consumption by other applications, you must first make it available through the Resource Palette, shown in Figure 27-33 (and described in Section 8.2, "Using FAR Content in a MAF Application") by creating a connection to the location of the Feature Archive JAR. Figure 27-33 shows Feature Archives that can be made available to a mobile application through a file system connection.

Figure 27-33 Deployed Feature Archive JARs in the Resource Palette

27.6 Creating a Mobile Application Archive File

You can create a new mobile application from an existing mobile application by first packaging the original mobile application as a Mobile Application Archive (.maa) file and then by deriving a new mobile application from this file. An .maa file can be used by third parties, as described in Section 27.7, "Creating Unsigned Deployment Packages."

An .maa file preserves the structure of the mobile application. Table 27-4 describes the contents of this file.

Table 27-4 Contents of a Mobile Application Archive File

Directory	Description
adf	Contains the META-INF directory, which contains the metadata files, including: The adf-config.xml file The maf-application.xml file The maf-config.xml file Other applicable application-level files, such as the connections.xmlfile
Projects	Contains a JAR file for each project in the workspace. For example, a ViewController.jar file and a ApplicationController.jar file are located in this directory when you deploy a default mobile application to an .maa file. The Projects directory of the .maa file does not include the .java files from the original project. Instead, the .java files are compiled and the resulting .class files are placed in a separate JAR file that is contained in the project JAR file (such as ApplicationController.JAR/classlib/mobileApplicationArchive.jar).
ExternalLibs	Contains the application-level libraries (including FARs) that are external to the original mobile application.
META-INF	Includes the cvm.properties and logging.properties files.
resources	Includes the following directories: android—Contains Android-specific image files for application icons and splash screens. ios—Contains iOS-specific image files for application icons and splash screens. security—Includes the cacerts file (the keystore file).

In addition to the artifacts listed in Table 27-4, the .maa file includes any folder containing FARs or JAR files that are internal to the original mobile application, as well as its control (.jws)file. See also Section 27.7.2, "What Happens When You Import a MAF Application Archive File."

27.6.1 How to Create a Mobile Application Archive File

JDeveloper creates a default MAF Application Archive deployment profile after you create a mobile application. Using the Mobile Application Archive wizard, you can create the .maa file.

Tip:

You can also create an .maa file using OJDeploy, as described in Section 27.8, "Deploying MAF Applications from the Command Line."

To create a Mobile Application Archive file:

1. Click Application, then Deploy, then New Deployment Profile.

2. In the Create Deployment Profile dialog, choose MAF Application Archive and then click OK, as shown in Figure 27-34.

   Figure 27-34 Creating an MAA Deployment Profile

   
   

3. If needed, enter a name for the Mobile Application Archive in the Application Archives Options page, shown in Figure 27-35, or accept the default name (and path). Click OK.

   Figure 27-35 Entering a Name and Path for the Mobile Application Archive File

   
   

4. If needed, perform the following:

   1. In the Application Descriptors page, shown in Figure 27-36, enter the file group name (or accept the default name) used for the contents of the META-INF folder (application_workspace\src\META-INF).

      Figure 27-36 Entering a File Group Name for the META-INF Contents

      
      

   2. Select the Contributors sub-page of this Application Descriptors page to edit the list of directories and JAR files that provide the contents for the file group.

      Figure 27-37 Editing Contributors to the Mobile Application Archive File

      
      

   3. Use the Filters page, shown in Figure 27-38 to edit the files that will be included in the .maa file or set the content inclusion or exclusion rules.

      Figure 27-38 Including (or Excluding) Files and Directories

      
      

   4. Use the Profile Dependencies page, shown in Figure 27-39, to specify dependent profiles within the project.

      Figure 27-39 Selecting Deployment Profiles

      
      

To package a mobile application as a MAF Application Archive file:

1. Choose Application, then Deploy and then choose the MAF Application Archive deployment profile.

2. In the Deployment Action wizard, select Deploy application to MAA, as shown in Figure 27-40.

   Figure 27-40 Deployment to a MAF Application Archive File

   
   

3. Click Next to review the deployment summary, as shown in Figure 27-41.

   Figure 27-41 MAF Application Archive Deployment Summary

   
   

4. Click Finish.

27.7 Creating Unsigned Deployment Packages

The MAF Application Archive (.maa) file format enables you to provide third-parties with an unsigned mobile application. By deriving a mobile application from an imported .maa file, you enable various customizations, which include:

• Giving an application a unique application ID (to enable push notifications, for example).

• Signing an application with a company-specific credential or certificate.

• Replacing the resources with customized splash screens and application icons.

Note:

Importing an .maa file into an existing application overwrites the workspace and project container files (the.jws and .jpr files, respectively). As a result, all prior changes to MAF AMX pages and configuration files, such as maf-application.xml, maf-config.xml, connections.xml, and adf-config.xml, will not be retained.

27.7.1 How to Create an Unsigned Application

You create an unsigned application by importing an .maa file into a new mobile application.

To create an unsigned application:

1. Choose File and then New.

2. In the New Gallery, choose Applications and then MAF Application from Archive File.

   Note:

   Alternatively, you can choose File, then Import, and then MAF Application from Archive File.

3. In the Location page, choose Browse in the MAA File field.

4. In the Select MAA File to Import page, highlight the .maa file, as shown in Figure 27-42, and then click Open.

   Figure 27-42 Selecting the .maa File

   
   

5. If needed, perform the following, or accept the default values:

   1. Enter a name for the mobile application derived from the .maa file in the Application File field, as shown in Figure 27-43.

   2. Click Browse to retrieve the directory of the mobile application.

   Figure 27-43 Entering the Directory Location

   
   

6. Click Next.

7. Review the import summary information and then click Finish.

   Figure 27-44 Summary of MAF Application Archive Contents

   
   

27.7.2 What Happens When You Import a MAF Application Archive File

MAF performs the following after you import an .maa file:

1. Creates an application folder.

2. Unpacks the workspace container (.jws) file from the .maa file to the application file and renames it per the user-specified value.

3. Unpacks the adf directory and its contents to the application folder. This directory is renamed .adf.

4. Unpacks the META-INF directory and its contents and places them in a src directory in the application folder.

5. Unpacks the ExternalLibs directory and its contents to the application folder.

   Note:

   While any of the external resources contained in this directory are available in the mobile application that has been packaged as an .maa file (and imported into the application), the references to these resources will be invalid for a mobile application derived from the .maa file.

6. Unpacks the resources directory to the application folder.

7. Unpacks all folders that contain FARs (or other libraries) that are internal to the original mobile application. MAF preserves the original locations of these artifacts.

8. For each JAR file within the original mobile application's Projects directory, MAF performs the following:

   • Creates a project folder under the application directory that corresponds to the name of the JAR file (but without the .jar extension).

   • Unpacks the contents of the JAR files into the appropriate project folder. MAF includes the following in these project folders:

     • The original .jpr file.

     • The standard directories, such as META-INF, public_html, src, and adfmsrc.

     • The contents of the ExternalLibs directory.

       Note:

       While any of the external resources contained in this directory are available in the MAF project that has been packaged with the imported .maa file, the references to these resources will be invalid for an existing project, or a project created by importing the .maa file.

     • The classlib directory, which contains any Java classes packaged in a JAR file.

       Note:

       If the .maa file includes a classlib directory, then MAF adds all of the JAR files from this directory as library dependencies in the newly created mobile application.

27.8 Deploying MAF Applications from the Command Line

You can deploy iOS or Android applications from JDeveloper without starting the JDeveloper IDE using the OJDeploy command line tool. Command line deployment can serve as a tool for testing, as well as a means of deploying applications using a script.

After you have created iOS or Android deployment files using Deployment Profile Properties editor, you can use OJDeploy to deploy applications in the headless mode to iOS simulators and iOS-powered devices (through iTunes), or as iOS bundles (.ipa and .app files), or Feature Archive JAR files. Likewise, OJDeploy enables you to deploy applications to both Android emulators and Android-powered devices, or deploy them as an Android application package (.apk) file or as Feature Archive JAR files. For information on OJDeploy, see "Deploying from the Command Line" in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle JDeveloper.

Note:

To use OJDeploy on a Mac, add the following line to the ojdeploy.conf file:

SetSkipJ2SDKCheck true

This file is located at: jdev_install/jdeveloper/jdev/bin

27.8.1 Using OJDeploy to Deploy Mobile Applications

The following commands enable you to deploy MAF deployment profiles:

• deployToDevice—Deploys an application to iOS- or Android-powered devices. For iOS applications, this command is used in debugging scenarios where the application is deployed to a device using iTunes. For more information, see Section 27.4.5, "How to Distribute an iOS Application to the App Store."

• deployToSimulator—Deploys an application to an iOS simulator (as an .app file) or Android emulator. You can only deploy a mobile application to an iOS simulator on an Apple computer.

• deployToPackage—Deploys an iOS application as an .ipa file or an Android application as an .apk file. You can only package an application as an .ipa file on an Apple computer.

• deployToFeatureArchive—Deploys a Feature Archive to a JAR file.

• deployToApplicationArchive—Packages a mobile application as a MAF Application Archive (.maa) file.

You use these commands in conjunction with the ojdeploy command line tool, OJDeploy's arguments, and its options as follows:

ojdeploy deployToSimulator -profile <profile name> -workspace <jws file location>

Note:

OJDeploy commands and arguments are case-sensitive.

Table 27-5 lists the OJDeploy arguments that you use to modify the MAF deployment commands.

Tip:

Using the -help option with any command (such as ojdeploy deployToSimulator -help) retrieves usage and syntax information.

Table 27-5 OJDeploy Arguments for MAF Deployments

Argument	Description
-profile	The name of the Android or iOS deployment profile. For example: ojdeploy deployToSimulator -profile iosDeployProfile ...
-workspace	The full path to the mobile application workspace container (.jws) file. For example: ... -workspace /usr/jsmith/mywork/Application1/Application1.jws To package a mobile application as a mobile Application Archive: ojdeploy deployToApplicationArchive -profile applicationArchiveProfile -workspace /usr/jdoe/Application1/application1.jws
-project	For the deployToFeatureArchive command, you must provide the name of the project (that is, a view controller project) that contains the Feature Archive deployment profile. For example: ojdeploy deployToFeatureArchive -profile farProfileName -project ViewController ...
-buildfile	The full path to a build file for batch deploy.
-buildfileschema	Print XML Schema for the build file.

In addition to the arguments listed in Table 27-5, you can also use OJDeploy options described in the "Command Usage" section of Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle JDeveloper.

Note:

The following options are not supported:

• -forcerewrite

• -nocompile

• -nodatasources

• -nodepdendents

• -outputfile

• -updatewebxmlejbrefs

Table 27-6 provides examples of how to use the OJDeploy options with the MAF deployment commands.

Table 27-6 OJDeploy Options for MAF Deployments

Option	Description
-clean	Deletes all files from the project output directory before compiling. For example: ojdeploy deployToSimulator -profile iosDeployProfile -workspace /usr/jsmith/jdeveloper/mywork/Application1.jws -clean
-stdout, -stderr	Redirects the standard output and error logging streams to a file for each profile and project. For example: ojdeploy deployToSimulator -profile iosDeployProfile -workspace /usr/jsmith/jdeveloper/mywork/Application1.jws -clean -stdout /usr/jsmith/stdout/stdout.log -stderr /usr/jsmith/stderr/stderr.log

Table 27-7 lists the macros used with the deployToApplicationArchive command:

Table 27-7 Macros Used with MAF Application Archive Packaging

Macros	Description
workspace.name	The name of the application workspace container file (without the .jws extension).
workspace.dir	The directory of the application workspace container (.jws) file.
profile.name	The name of the profile being deployed.
profile.dir	The default deployment directory for the profile.
base.dir	Override the current OJDeploy directory using this parameter. You can also override the current OJDeploy directory using the basedir attribute in the build script.

27.9 Deploying with Oracle Mobile Security Suite

Oracle Mobile Security Suite (OMSS) provides enterprise-level security for mobile applications. It offers encryption of application data and database contents and prevents data leakage. You can download the OMSS C14N tool from Oracle Support.

Note:

At present, OMSS is only available on iOS devices.

OMSS uses containerization at deployment time to encrypt your application content. You enable containerization in the iOS deployment profile properties editor (see Figure 27-46). You must also specify the name and location of the provisioning profile as described in Section 27.2.5.2, "Setting the Device Signing Options."

To containerize an application using Oracle Mobile Security Suite:

1. Choose Tools, then Preferences, and then Mobile Application Framework.

2. Select Containerize.

3. Specify the location of the c14n containerization tool in JDeveloper preferences, as shown in Figure 27-45.

   Figure 27-45 Specifying the location of the Containerization tool

   
   

4. Click the Browse icon and browse to the location of the Oracle Mobile Security App Containerization tool on your local file system.

5. Click OK to select the containerization tool.

6. Choose Application > Application Properties > Deployment.

7. In the Deployment page, double-click an iOS deployment profile.

8. At the bottom of the iOS deployment profile properties editor, select Enable Oracle Mobile Security Suite, as shown in Figure 27-46.

   Figure 27-46 Selecting OMSS Containerization in the iOS Deployment Profile

   
   

To deploy an application using Oracle Mobile Security Suite:

1. Choose Application, then Deploy, and then select an iOS deployment profile.

2. In the Deployment Action dialog, select iTunes (for device deploy) from the list.

   Note:

   Containerization is supported for iTunes deployment only. Deployment to a distribution package or simulator will not invoke the c14n tool to create a containerized IPA file.

3. Deploy the application to iTunes. An IPA file secured by Oracle Mobile Security Suite will be created. After you add the containerized application to your device, it will display a lock icon, as shown in Figure 27-47.

Figure 27-47 Mobile Application Displaying the Lock Icon for Containerization