alphaNumeric type inconsistencies across app settings editors

From the Garmin documentation (https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/core-topics/app-settings/) there is no mention what characters alphaNumeric type allows. By testing with Eclipse App Settings Editor, Garmin Express Windows and Garmin Connect Mobile Android I concluded that any UTF8 character is allowed. Unfortunately today I discovered that for Garmin Express Mac and Garmin Connect Mobile iOS this is not true. Here are the results for every app setting editor (all editors were updated to the latest version):

Eclipse App Settings Editor -> Supports all UTF8 characters
Garmin Express Windows -> Supports all UTF8 characters
Garmin Express Mac -> Supports only ASCII characters
Garmin Connect Mobile Android -> Supports all UTF8 characters
Connect IQ Store Android and iOS -> Supports all UTF8 characters except: < > |
Garmin Connect Mobile iOS -> Supports all UTF8 characters except: < > & \
When using & character, the character and content after it will be removed upon saving (e.g. "ab&c" will be saved as "ab")
When using \ character, the character will be removed upon saving (e.g. "ab\c" will be saved as "abc")
When using < or > character, the whole string is cleared upon saving (e.g. "a<b" will be saved as "") and then you get redirected to an unavailable page:

For Garmin Connect Mobile iOS the following thread exists: https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/f/discussion/5459/ios-gcm-ciq-settings-strings-do-not-accept-and-characters
but it is outdated as characters + and % are now successfully saved.

Can anyone explain why Garmin Express Mac and Garmin Connect Mobile iOS behave differently than others and what characters should be allowed by alphaNumeric type?

UPDATE:

I reported the mentioned inconsistencies:

Garmin Connect Mobile iOS not accepting <, >, & and \ characters
https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/garmin-connect-mobile-ios-does-not-accept-and-characters-for-an-alphanumeric-app-setting

Garmin Express Mac not accepting UTF8 characters
https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/garmin-express-mac-does-not-accept-utf8-characters-for-a-string-app-setting

Garmin Express Mac not handling maxLength attribute
https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/garmin-express-mac-does-not-handle-maxlength-attribute-on-a-string-app-setting

Connect IQ Store Android regression bug
https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/regression-bug-connect-iq-store-version-2-12-android-characters-don-t-working-anymore

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FlowState over 3 years ago

As you can see I started that thread over 4 years ago, and it looks like there's still issues....

They did fix the issues with "+" and "%", but all I can say is this is classic Garmin. All I can do I suggest filing (another) bug report.

The various settings apps also have inconsistencies with how they (don't) render newlines in labels and with long labels in general.

If you want to get an idea of how this kind of issue is received around here, I'll just quote this response from a non-Garmin employee:

"If this is an iOS thing (not GCM) I wouldn't count on it changing"

IOW, some problems are just impossible to solve, I guess. (I guess nobody in the history of iOS apps has ever needed to send characters such as ">" and "<" over the wire.)

maca88 over 3 years ago in reply to FlowState

Thanks for your feedback, I created another thread in the Garmin Connect Mobile iOS category:
https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mobile-apps-web/f/garmin-connect-mobile-ios/258279/alphanumeric-type-app-setting-does-not-accept-and-characters

FlowState said:
"If this is an iOS thing (not GCM) I wouldn't count on it changing"

I guess I will have to replace these characters to something else, so that Apple users will be able to use at least Garmin Connect Mobile iOS as in Garmin Express Mac maxLength attribute is currently not implemented/working, for which I created yet another thread :)
https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mac-windows-software/f/garmin-express/258277/maxlength-attribute-for-an-app-setting-is-not-working-implemented

FlowState over 3 years ago in reply to maca88

I could be wrong, but it seems that the CIQ bug reports section might be a better place for those bug reports. I always feel like those forums are for the more user-facing / non-CIQ issues. (I realize there's a fine line sometimes.)

maca88 over 3 years ago in reply to FlowState

You are probably right, I tried to move the original ones but I wasn't able to, so I created new ones, but due to the reached the max quota I had to wait until now to post the last bug report. I updated the initial post by linking the reported bugs for easier tracking.

maca88 over 3 years ago

I added the Connect IQ Store Android on the list as with version 2.12, the support for < > { } | ( ) characters were removed:

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/regression-bug-connect-iq-store-version-2-12-android-characters-don-t-working-anymore

It would be nice if anyone that has an iPhone could test these characters to see whether they works with the latest version of Connect IQ Store for iOS.

FlowState over 3 years ago in reply to maca88

I tried Garmin Connect and Connect IQ on iOS, after updating both apps.

Connect IQ: { } | ( ) < > are all removed from the settings string. The whole string isn't cleared, just the offending characters. This looks deliberate as it's reflected on the screen as soon as you press Save. (As opposed to the previous iteration of this bug, where you'd have to re-enter the settings page to see the effects of the bug).

Garmin Connect: I'm now redirected to Connect IQ when I tap on Settings for a CIQ app. Maybe app settings have been removed from Garmin Connect?

Pretty frustrating stuff as the same kinds of bugs pop up over and over again with Garmin. (Another example is when cadence is inappropriately halved.)

FlowState over 3 years ago in reply to FlowState

Honestly, it's this kind of thing that makes me not want to develop for Garmin CIQ, even "for fun". (Especially for fun.)

FlowState over 3 years ago in reply to FlowState

I noticed another bug where if you try to back out of settings without changing anything, the app will claim you have unsaved changes and ask you to confirm leaving the settings page.

jim_m_58 over 3 years ago in reply to FlowState

I think you mean Garmin Express and GCM and not Garmin Connect and GCM.

What I suspect may be happening is this involves App Settings 2.0 As announced at the GDVC in Oct and here: https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/b/news-announcements/posts/welcome-to-connect-iq-system-5

For now, do bug reports as that way things can be fixed before all the things move to the new back end.

FlowState over 3 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

jim_m_58 said:
I think you mean Garmin Express and GCM and not Garmin Connect and GCM.

I never said "Garmin Connect and GCM".

I said:

FlowState said:
I tried Garmin Connect and Connect IQ on iOS, after updating both apps.

and I meant it.

But let me be more precise.

I mean the iOS apps with the following names in the iOS App Store:

- Connect IQ Store

- Garmin Connect

And to be super precise, I used them on an iPhone, not an iPad. (Not that it would make a difference, since Garmin doesn't have iPad-specific versions of its apps last time I checked.)

jim_m_58 said:
For now, do bug reports as that way things can be fixed before all the things move to the new back end.

As you can see from reading this thread, the OP already filed a bug report:

forums.garmin.com/.../regression-bug-connect-iq-store-version-2-12-android-characters-don-t-working-anymore