metadata.json seems to be loaded successfully but actually not?

[irvingwyc]

Hi,

I am trying to configure a Azure DevOps Release Pipeline to automate the process of updating an existing app release in the Microsoft Store. So far I can get most of the functions work as described in the wiki, with the exception to metadate updating. I am using a very simple structure/configuration of metadata.json like below:

{
  "targetPublishMode": "Manual",
  "listings": {
    "en-us": {
      "baseListing": {
        "description": "This is the new description",
        "releaseNotes": "This is the What's New section"
      }
    }
  },
  "notesForCertification": "Please DO NOT let this pass the certification. This is NOT a real release."
}

And it is placed under the following folder structure:

appMetadata
├ en-us
| ├ baseListing
| | ├ metadata.json

Part of the publish task debug output:

2021-01-28T09:01:39.0303576Z Obtaining app information...
2021-01-28T09:01:39.0303576Z ##[debug]Getting app resource from ID #########
2021-01-28T09:01:39.0303576Z ##[debug]Starting request with correlation id: aaaaa988-aaa8-1111-8888-aaaaaaaaaaaa
2021-01-28T09:01:43.4920148Z ##[debug]Finished request with correlation id: aaaaa988-aaa8-1111-8888-aaaaaaaaaaaa
2021-01-28T09:01:43.4920148Z Deleting existing submission...
2021-01-28T09:01:43.4920148Z ##[debug]Deleting submission at ***/v1.0/my/applications/#########/submissions/$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
2021-01-28T09:01:43.4920148Z ##[debug]Starting request with correlation id: dddddd50-6666-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff
2021-01-28T09:01:46.9396590Z ##[debug]Finished request with correlation id: dddddd50-6666-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff
2021-01-28T09:01:46.9396590Z Creating submission...
2021-01-28T09:01:46.9396590Z ##[debug]Creating new submission
2021-01-28T09:01:46.9396590Z ##[debug]Starting request with correlation id: dddddd50-2222-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Warnings occurred in request
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]	[SalesUnsupportedWarning]  The sales resource is no longer supported. To view or edit the sales data for this submission, use the Dev Center dashboard.
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]CorrelationId: dddddd50-1111-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Finished request with correlation id: dddddd50-2222-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z Submission https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/dashboard/apps/#########/submissions/$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$9 was created successfully
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z Deleting old packages...
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Removing 6.1.15.0
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z Updating package delivery options...
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Setting isMandatoryUpdate to false
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z Updating submission...
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Adding metadata for new submission $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Updating metadata of submission object from directory e:\R\A.D\_work\r16\a\_MicrosoftAppPublishing_CopyArtifactBuild\appMetadata
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Obtaining metadata for language en-us
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Obtaining base listing
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Loading listing attributes from e:\R\A.D\_work\r16\a\_MicrosoftAppPublishing_CopyArtifactBuild\appMetadata\en-us\baseListing\metadata.json
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Adding 1 package(s)
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Updating submission
2021-01-28T09:02:10.6363628Z ##[debug]Starting request with correlation id: dddddd50-5555-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff
2021-01-28T09:02:15.4256242Z ##[debug]Finished request with correlation id: dddddd50-5555-4ccc-bbbb-88888ffffff

So far it seems to me that only the

"targetPublishMode": "Manual" got picked in the actual submission created. Both the Description and What's New fields still have the lengthy contents from previous submission.

Just wondering if anyone can shed me some light on this? Did I miss some key parts in my metadata.json file?

Thanks a lot in advance.

[tesar-tech]

I have same structure, but the listing is different. This is full content of my metadata.json

{
  "privacyPolicy": "somelink",  
  "keywords": ["kw1","kw2"],
    "websiteUrl": "httop://superap.superdomain",
    "description": "looong descripton",
    "features": [
      "feature one ",
      "feature2"
    ],
    "releaseNotes": "Neeews",
    "title": "This is title",
    "shortDescription": "This is short description",
    "shortTitle": "",
    "sortTitle": "qqqr",
    "voiceTitle": "",
    "devStudio": ""
  }

Hope it helps.

[irvingwyc]

@tesar-tech Sorry for the late response. Did not get the chance to test it again until just now. With your suggestion, I tried again with the new metadata.json below:

{
  "targetPublishMode": "Manual",
  "description": "looong descripton",
  "shortDescription": "This is short description",
  "features": [
    "feature one ",
    "feature2"
  ],
  "releaseNotes": "News"
}

Now all the property values are picked up correctly and filled into the submission form! Thanks a lot.

However, I think I also misinterpreted the previous outputs. It seems that this line has never worked:

"targetPublishMode": "Manual"

The Publishing hold options under Submission options section of the submission form always defaults to the selection from previous submission.

Do you know how to set the publishing mode to Manual through metadata.json? The extension itself does not seem to provide a "sign off" mechanism. I hope to have a chance to briefly review the submission before it goes out of our door.

BTW, I referenced the example json on this page to create my orginal layered metadata.json (which does not work):
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/monetize/manage-app-submissions
Thanks in advance,

[tesar-tech]

@irvingwyc Unfortunately my knowledge isn't sufficient here. I have never used the "manual" mode. (BTW you have wrong link in the link)

[irvingwyc]

@tesar-tech Thanks for the prompt response and pointing out the link issue.

I have sent an inquiry to [email protected] as suggested on the wiki page and will update here if I get any response from Microsoft.