Release notes

Version 3.2.1

Single instance of Spice to perform integrated and Pay at Table transactions

A single instance of Spice is now able to perform integrated and Pay at Table transactions enabling merchants with one POS to support both transaction flows.

Reformat Spice logs to make them more legible

Spice logs have been reformatted to make them more legible when troubleshooting and deciphering individual log lines.

Additional updates:

• Fixed: Missing bill data is returned for the Pay at Table bill summary
  • Missing bill data where users would exit the split payment flow are now returned for the Pay at Table bill summary.

Version 3.1.1

Configurable Spice communication compression

Compression will now be configurable in the spi.json allowing users to disable it where the client hardware is having issues with communications, allowing Spice to to function without interruption resulting from client compression issues.

Version 3.1.0

Spice Logs uploaded into AWS S3

Spice logs will now be uploaded into the mx51 instance of AWS S3. This will enable fast and easy access for mx51 to download Spice logs for the purpose of troubleshooting and investigating rather than requiring merchants to access computer files and send them manually to mx51.

Version 3.0.1

Note: From this version, only Windows 10 and above are supported.

Electron framework upgrade to version 31

The Electron framework used by the Spice application has been upgraded to version 31. As a result of the framework upgrade, Windows 8 and 8.1 will no longer be supported.

Request authentication

Spice users can now enable authentication between the POS and Spice where every request will be authenticated to provide an extra layer of security in the integration. Users should only enable authentication when the POS supports authentication as an integrated feature.

Additional updates:

• Fixed: H&L Pay at Table server synchronisation
  • Updated the logic for H&L Pay at Table to fetch table data more frequently and hide bills that are paid but not yet printed in the venue.

Version 2.2.1

• Fixed: H&L Pay at Table tipping and surcharge mapping
  • Spice correctly maps tipping and surcharge for H&L Pay at Table ensuring correct table management calculations.

Version 2.2.0

H&L Pay at Table

Spice now offers the Pay at Table feature as part of the H&L integration. As part of configuration of the feature, users will need to enable Pay at Table, select H&L as their provider and enter their Venue ID. Merchants are required to contact H&L for prerequisite onboarding activities.

Pay at Table provider selection

Spice users are now able to select their Pay at Table provider. The providers include Spice and H&L with Spice being the default selected provider. Users are required to enable Pay at Table before they can select their provider.

Additional updates:

• Fixed: Strict validation on request field names replaced with a warning
  • Strict validation on request field names has been replaced with a warning to help ensure backward compatibility of integrations.

Version 2.1.0

Cashout endpoints

POS developers will be able to integrate cashout transaction functionality with dedicated GET and POST endpoints.

Spice is backward compatible with previous POS integrations who have integrated cashout transaction functionality using the GET and POST purchase endpoints.

API request property validation

POS developers will receive specific feedback regarding incorrect API requests with properties being validated with their corresponding data types.

Transaction “past the point of no return” message when cancelling transactions

Spice users will be informed when transactions are “past the point of no return”; they cannot be cancelled from Spice. This message is provided to Spice by the MXA. For some versions of the MXA, it may require the user to manually cancel the transaction on the terminal unless the transaction has been sent to the payment gateway for processing.

Reduced excessive and duplicate logging

Spice logging activity will be reduced to remove excessive logging as well as certain exception events that are already captured in external applications.

Version 2.0.6

Unknown transaction receipt details updated on transactions list

Spice users can see the receipt details updated for transactions of unknown status on the transactions list once Spice has reconnected to the terminal.

Additional updates:

• Fixed: Spice setting library to “Idle” following the override transaction scenario
  • Spice will correctly set the library to “Idle” following the override transaction scenario and be ready to transact.
• Fixed: Response parameters display as “camelCase”
  • Spice response parameters will correctly display with “camelCase” instead of “snake_case”.

Version 2.0.4

Force Spice to update

mx51 will have the ability to force Spice to update to the latest version that will allow a merchant fleet to be updated without cumbersome processes required to update all Spice instances of a merchant fleet.

The feature can be configured to have Spice update at a certain date and time to mitigate disruption to merchants as well as set operating system exceptions (such as for Windows 7) that will not force Spice to update.

Updated mx51 branding

Spice users can see the new mx51 logo to align with the new mx51 brand.

This enhancement can be accessed on the footer of Spice.

Additional updates:

• Fixed: Use of the %AppData% universal variable
  • Spice will use the universal variable %AppData% instead of hardcoding “AppData”.
• Fixed: Request amount number validation
  • Spice will validate amounts in requests from the Point of Sale and only accept numbers up to 2 decimal places.
• Fixed: Resume Spice update download after network disconnection
  • Spice will resume the update download process after network connection has been re-established.
• Fixed: Disconnection notification missing after toggling Pay at Table mode
  • The Spice disconnection notification will now correctly appear when disconnected after toggling Pay at Table mode.
• Fixed: Override scenario transaction recovery
  • During a transaction override scenario, when Spice reconnects to the MXA, it will sync up to the state of a transaction in flight and present that to the user, removing the override dialog OR for completed transactions, get the transaction response and automatically close the override dialog.

Version 2.0.3

Notify older Spice versions running that an update is available

Spice software running older versions will receive a notification that an update is available. Note: This feature notification will only apply from Spice v2.0.3 and onwards.

Summary page software version state & "Update available" when an update is available

The software version will be available on the summary page and inform users of their Spice version and whether an update is available.

Additional updates:

• Log retention has been increased to 180 days
• Fixed an issue where Spice wasn’t retrieving transaction information after network recovery transaction override scenarios
• Fixed an issue on the EFTPOS address field value input disappearing when the user leaves the pairing screen

Version 2.0.2

Existing terminal pairing persistence

Users updating from v1.5.2 (or earlier versions) to v2.0.2 will have their existing terminal pairings persist and not have to re-pair their terminals.

Version 2.0.1

Disconnection notification delayed by 5 seconds

The notification that appears on the POS device after a disconnection has occurred is now delayed by 5 seconds. This was based on data where a vast majority of reconnections occur around 4 seconds after the disconnection has occurred. The purpose of the delay is to throttle negative messaging to the user where the disconnection is a non-issue, allowing 5 seconds for a reconnection to occur before notifying them of an issue. The UI of Spice has not been altered with any messaging delay and the Status page will display “Trying to connect…” the moment a disconnection occurs. Merchants should not notice the delayed disconnection message as Spice runs in the background and the POS is what they are using at the forefront.

Security enhancements

Several measures have been implemented to improve the security of Spice to align with industry standards and modern best practice with regards to encryption and cryptography.

Additional updates:

• Fixed an issue on the Transaction tab where transaction list total for cashout with surcharge transactions not being accurate and a totals mismatch was occurring vis a vis the transaction receipt which is displayed next to the transactions list.

Version 1.5.2

Major: The Operator IDs are now provided to the terminals (Pay at table)

When Pay at table is enabled, on startup, Spice gets a list of Operator IDs from the Table server using GET /v1/operators so it can pass these to EFTPOS terminals. Note that if an Operator ID changes, Spice must be restarted to get the updated list.

Terminals are prevented from accessing locked tables (Pay at table)

When Spice calls GET /v1/tables/{tableId} on a table and it responds with locked: true, Spice will not pass the table's bill data to any paired terminals. This prevents duplicate transactions by preventing terminals from making a transaction on a table while one is already being made.

Additional updates:

• Fixed an issue on the Pay at table settings page where clicking Restore defaults would not restore Tipping enabled to its default of ‘enabled’.
• Fixed an issue on the EFTPOS terminal pairing page that could cause Spice to crash when the fields were entered in a specific order.

Version 1.5.1

Note: From this version, only Windows 8 and above are supported.

Major: Added a ‘Pay at table’ toggle to the Spice UI

Pay at table mode can now be enabled or disabled from the Spice UI, without needing to manually edit the spi.json settings file. Learn more in the Pay at table guide.

Additional updates:

• Breaking: Security and stability updates.

Version 1.4.0

• Added Pay at table — a feature that allows making transactions from paired terminals instead of the POS.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.3.1

• Added more transaction updates (‘chatty messaging’).
• Fixed several issues:
  • GET transactions now return the EFTPOS terminal to Idle.
  • Invalid characters are not allowed in the ‘Other’ tenant field.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.3.0

• Added Pre-authorisation — a transaction type where funds are reserved before being charged later.
• Updated the Spice logo in the UI.
• Refreshed the styling of the About/EULA screen in the UI.
• Added a display of the total transaction amount to the transaction log.
• Removed zip transactions.
• Fixed several issues:
  • Spice now logs the connected POS.
  • A GT no longer shows the transaction window.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.2.3

• Internalised the port mapping.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.2.2

• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.2.1

• Fixed an issue so that configuration files would not become corrupted.

Version 1.2.0

• Added multi-tenant support.
• Refreshed the styling of some of the screens in the UI.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.1.2

• Issuer mapping fix for Mastercard transactions in OPI integration mode.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.1.1

• Updated the Spice tray icon to be more visible against dark backgrounds.
• Added a message that displays when Spice is started with corrupted configuration files.
• Fixed an issue so that Spice reports that it is busy.

Version 1.1.0

• Added a warning that displays when Spice's port is already in use by another service on the network.
• Fixed an issue so that the transaction window respects settings.
• Several updates to support Oracle.
• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.0.2

• Security and stability updates.

Version 1.0.1

• Changed the name of the software from Assembly Payments Adaptor to Spice.
• Changed the data directory location to C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Spice
• Added a screen for accepting the End User Licence Agreement (EULA).
• Disabled settings that are not available on certain EFTPOS terminals.
• Added pretty formatting to all logs and settings files.
• Fixed an issue so that the transaction window floats above other windows.
• Updated the Spice tray icon statuses to the following.
  • Red — there are no pairings.
  • Yellow — one or more terminals are paired but not connected.
  • Green — one or more terminals are paired and connected.

Version 1.0.0

• The first Beta release!