Posted on

Aussie DevCon 2007 .. Part 2 (Friday Content)

I’ve decided to split posts about the Conference in half .. but not chronologically, or by content.

The split will go thusly. The Content, and then The People.

"The People" will look at .. well more than just the people. I’ll talk about my observations of the Aussie Community, issues that were addressed, what people were talking about, etc etc.

Okay.

Sometime Friday afternoon the Conference began proper. Bob Z was sighted. Tony gave a welcome speech. People arrived. Clipboards were opened. Three rooms were opened up into one big one. And everyone ate those little white mints. Man, they were hard to bite down on.

Our first session with Bob and Clarion 7 was all about the IDE. And you know what, if i recall correctly, we got through the entire couple of hours without a single question as to release date.

It was certainly bubbling about in the thinning mind-o-sphere, but quite amazingly, noone brought it up. Well, not till Saturday. Ha ha.

Anyway, what I’m going to do now is give you my notes. As they will be the best indicator of an individual point of view. I’ll just say, I don’t think I’m a good journalist. While i can certainly be obnoxious, I tend to wander off into various levels of reality, getting distracted by possibilities and dream-like sequences.

So here goes. My notes on Clarion 7 – The New IDE.

There will no doubt be quite a number of discrepencies in this report .. If you find them, please comment/email and I’ll update .. in RED no less :).

Cheers!

I’d also like to apologise for the dodgy, dodgy Editing. I’d forgotten how frustrating it is to take something from Word to HTML .. well, it is probably easy .. except I was trying to put this Live Writer in between, and then ended up spending heaps of time finding a wysiwyg editor (landed on Nvu) because I needed something that’s a lot better than Live Writer .. and Live Writer has a stupid limit on how large the page can be .. and .. AND .. Bruce! Quick .. Waffling again! ARRRGGGGG!!!!

Clarion 7

 

I’ve just noticed in IE that the apostrophes are all wierd .. I’ll update as soon as possible, clean it up.

– Pads

  • they have a pin
  • you can move them anywhere you want .. which is true of all the windows
  • you have the opportunity to decide how you best work with the IDE
  • everyone will find their own preference

nice
 
the clarion header in the main window seems pretty huge
 

– Project

  • an App, in essence is a Project
  • now the Project is the big object .. the App now takes a second seat .. rather, the Project is now more visible than it has been.

 

– Solution,

  • this particular one was created by Bob Foreman
  • Solutions encompass more than Projects .. ahhh, the Solution is actually above the project, outside .. the project is a child of the Solution
  • There are a bunch of cool options for the Solution

 

– Project Options

  • output type, link mode, Target Name, Output Path

– start with debugger (F5)
– start without debugger (Ctrl F5)
 
Bob then pressed the right green button, and the build began and finished, and the Visual Styles Demo app started.

– Options

  • Build and Run Options (under General)
    • Output details
      • Quiet, Minimal, Normal, Detailed, Diagnostic
  • Clarion -> Application Options
    • Hasn’t changed much
  • Clarion .Net
  • Clarion for Windows
    • Enable project parsing .. relates to code completion, Clarion 7 has code completion in the system. When you open any app or soln project, it is parsed immediately, completely. Used to build the code completion db. And the Class Viewer, somewhere in here.
    • If you’re not gonna use the info, then you can turn it off
    • Someone had an app, 750 modules .. I have to wait .. this takes that away.   
  • Versions
    • Compile with any version (build, not just major) that you would want to compile with.
    • You can have individual builds
    • Let’s you take one IDE and let’s you use it with any version of Clarion .. we have known about this for a while.
  • Window Forms Designer
  • WINDOW Structure .. missed the last couple

-    Different Designers .. Clarion 7, .NET, ASP .NET .. going to go through all of them.

  • The "design" of these Designers is consistent across all versions .. which is a good obvious need

-    Opens up the "School" example app

  • "parsing" building parsing tables for Code Completion and the Class Viewer 
     

At this stage, Clarion 7 broke. However .. (Bob’s issues with laptops). This can’t have made him happy. So yeah.

I asked if Bob wanted to run the demo on my laptop .. which allowed him to go into his issues with slides .. etc etc.

-    Okay, the school example app

  • Worked the second time.
  • Showing us the class viewer
    • The icons, Bob mentioned some of their lameness I think
    • Works a lot like the c++ IDEs, which is natural, because it’s built offa SharpDevelop
    • MDI Tabs, Different Styles on Sheet combinations
    • Collapsing the definitions .. every piece of code
  • Which again, is like the better IDEs around.
    • Summary of what is within the collapsed code
    • Bookmarks are saved between sessions ..
    • Navigate Forward, Navigate Back ..
  • So every place in the code you visit is saved in a buffer

-    Now we’re looking at a WinForm version of the school app

  • Straight MDI .. not much to it (Bob’s words)

-    Another WinForm app with a twist

  • It has the tabs coming across like a new tab in Firefox ..
  • It’s using the same docking library that the IDE uses
  • It’s an open source library .. Weifen-lou??

-    Taking a look at some of the Designers

  • Comparing designing for Win32, WinForms, ASP.NET, Compact Forms
  • The Properties window (dockable etc etc) replaces the current Properties window in C6. A far far better interface .. oh man
  • I wonder if this whole IDE will scare people .. being too much like MS and other stuff .. OR too much NOT like the preceding Clarion IDEs

-    Powerful searching (and replacing)

  • Eg. Multi-DLL Solutions .. you can search across the whole family of apps/projects
  • Bob does a "Find All" .. which brings up the Search Results
    • Double-clicked on a search result, and the window popped up.  
    • Every key is stored in a text file, so you can change it if you want 
    • Ambient Properties
      • That you select more than one control .. change a property, and they all change .. like the F12 (similar in practice, but more powerful .. Bob’s words 

-    The IDE is looking slick .. and the window designer .. nice.

  • Goes into Options .. WINDOW Structure Designer
  • General -> Smart Tags, Auto open Smart Tags, Suppress Transparency, UseVisualStyles by default, Select Toolbox .. missed the rest
  • Grid Options -> Snap Lines
  • Makes it very easy to visually align a control
  • Better than the snap-grid .. arguably 

-    Back into the WinForm app

  • There isn’t a keystroke to activate the Designer
    • It’s a tab at the bottom of the window (this isn’t in Clarion 7, only in .NET)
    • In .NET can have one class .. I don’t really understand what Bob said here, as to why it’s only in .NET .. should have listened better.
    • Can do Regular Expressions in the Search and Replace 
       

-    Bob goes into a couple of different design contexts .. forms, reports ..

-    Opens up an ASP.NET app, and then the Designer ..

  • Showing again the consistency between the Designers
  • uses IE to show the app
  • code is all Clarion code, for the ASP

-    Compact Forms

  • Can’t run (test) directly, but through the Device Emulator.
    • nice, looks like Eclipse/NetBeans stuff
  • This doesn’t look TPS files .. uses an XML dataset ..
    • But all Clarion code that’s driving it.

-    Clarion to CSharp

  • Since it’s a full fledged .NET language, you can operate with any other .NET language.   
  • Showed us a CSharp form, Bob :: "not that impressive, hard to do impmressive stuff in CSharp"

-    CSharp to Clarion

  • You can pop the CSharp data right into the Clarion code, and it’s seamless.

-    The UI is not completely done .. some things won’t fill in etc etc.

-    Can open lots of files at once .. DCTs, most other code files .. but the Solution (and App by extension) works differently, and can only be opened one at a time .. piped through a different section, or something I can’t remember exactly.

-    QuickView is distinct from Editing

  • Opening a number of fields at once, tabbed, opened top and bottom
    • In other words, all the docking capabilities are the dictionary too
    • Pretty much, get any kind of view of the dictionary that you want.
  • There is going to be extensive drag’n’drop capabilities
  • Sorting of fields etc, alphabetically .. etc etc
  • Switched away from IDs to GUIDs in the Dictionary 
     

-    Warren Marshall then asked

  • "possible to comment?? Out different parts of the dictionary in the IDE, and in the dictionary itself??"
  • Bob’s Answer:
    • Categories, you can Categorise the dictionary
    • So have a Category look like a dictionary to the AppGen

-    Russ then passed on a question

  • Possible to be able to have multiple dictionaries associated to one App
  • Bobs Answer::
    • No, initially, Yes with a virtualized dictionary

-    Q. something about the External Name .. possibly easily viewing the External Name, yeah, how to see it easy

  • A. search capabilities across all the attributes
    • Would be reasonable to declare the External Name was complete, detect it, and report an error. 
       

-    some more questions .. I was phased out a bit

-    Bob now takes us into the Invoice dictionary

  • List of all tables in dictionary was blank
  • Second list is tables actually on the diagram
  • Then the third window was the Diagram itself
    • Which is a visual representation of the tables
      • Which is techinally just another view of the Dictionary, strictly ..
  • "View as Diagram" will be an option
  • Such a big difference in the Interface .. it’s gonna rock
  • Tooltips on each of the Keys, and the Fields (all of it configured, tooltips, additional information)
  • Tables are scrollable .. not with a scrollbar, but with the arrow buttons in the header
  • Same dialog that you’d see in another view
  • Print Preview, Print, Print to PDF .. and although not in there at the moment, Print to Image
  • Annotations will persist
  • Being able to just see the Titles of the Tables, and their relationships.
  • Only available in the Enterprise edition .. just the Diagram Tool. 
     

-    Wrapping up the first session

  • Looking at the XPP
  • Applications Pad
    • Generate All, Generate, Edit
    • Lists as many apps as you have in your Solution
    • The XPP is a separate entity to the Project created above it.
    • E.g. Generating the XPP redoes the tree above .. the Project tree.
  • Now we’re seeing the App Gen.
    • Not going too deep, because it’s had some changes .. Bob stresses the complicated nature of everything. 
       

-    Determining Page Breaks in the Reports

  • I began the question, but really had no idea .. Warren took it over
    • A. it still is happening.
    • But, Clarion 7 is a superset of Clarion 6.
    • Fixes for Clarion 6 immediately go into Clarion 7.
    • Vica Versa.
    • Reports have not been revisited in Clarion 7.
    • So no. 
       

-    Some more questions .. kind of fading away.

-    one was .. Q. How many file drivers for the Compact?

  • A. Talked about how the XML was a dataset .. not a file driver.
  • A. You can use anything natively available on the compact framework .. at this point in time you can’t use any of the drivers most of us are familiar with in Clarion.
  • CESQL, XML .. anything else.
  • Geoff Bomford (even though your comment is just below Geoff, I’ll still update the post, heh heh) writes ..
    • I’m pretty sure that Bob said the TPS driver was being developed for use on compact devices, where it would be perfect because of the compact size of the database.
Posted on

Previously, On Clarion

Ping Clarion 7

Art posted a classic reply to a post entitled "Ping Clarion7", which was asking if there has been any recent news.

Following is Art’s response,

C:\\Documents and Setting\\Programming\\Clarion> Ping Clarion7

Pinging Clarion7 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for Clarion7:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\\Documents and Settings\\Programming\\Clarion

 

Ha ha. I likey.

The Flame

Spend a few minutes on any major gaming forum, and you’ll discover the idea of "Flaming".

Something like, posting something simple to raise the ire of other folk.

On the newsgroups, it’s almost completely different. And this is mostly because of moderation. Good (and I use that descriptive wordy thing, to differentiate) Gaming Forums have Moderators who keep things under control. They might have ego issues, I’m not sure, but I’ve seen forums run very well.

Anyway, back to the Clarion Newsgroups.

"The Flame" is not someone posting to incite anger. It’s a topic. Any topic that someone has issue with. People might be annoyed about something. They post. Responses flow in, opposite. Then the backlash. Peppered with "Let’s not get fired up" posts.

The Flame burns bright, and then ends abruptly, probably carried into the hearts of the people in the middle.

Dan Pressnell had a couple of quite interesting posts. The first generated some .. discussion.

As I was reading through the posts, the solution came to me.

Take down the newsgroups!

Ha ha. No. Seriously. No. Well. Maybe.

What I would like is to see someone bring about VR for everyone, so we can get in a boxing ring, beat the living crap out of each other, then get back to work. Seems to me we (and I’m including myself here) don’t know how to handle heat on the newsgroups.

I’m leaning (not totally given, but "leaning") toward the Moderation idea. That the discussion is moderated. It’s a community. Any community needs rules. And needs those rules enforced. Arnie did it with awesome calls like "I let him go". We could do it with some clear rules, and some .. ruling.

I know for most folk it’s an issue of being treated like kids.

But that’s got it the wrong way around. Anarchy might be fine for your mindset, cool. But we’re not a bunch of individuals. We’re a community. So send in the marines already. Well. Perhaps the SAS. Or whatever we have over here in Oz. Start moderating conversations, not because we’re badly behaved children, but because it establishes a level of trust in the community, for new people coming in seeing that things are in order, and for old folk who if they take issue can go talk about it somewhere else.

Clean it up. Only good will come of it. Sure, some winnowing (? not sure if that’s the right word) might occur. This happens.

Anyway, as I step of this high and oh so mighty pulpit, I’ll leave you with something less preachy.

Here’s my rundown of the situation.

TheFlame

Posted on

Waking Sleep

Sometimes, right now being this case, I’m never quite sure what will spew forth into the blog. My mind can lead itself down some pretty twisty turns.

My "foundational" work on Archer is taking longer than expected, naturally, BUT .. is yielding some fantastic results.

I’ve been spending the last couple of days doing a number of things.

1. Tightening up the base code, my skeleton apps, and the Tools dll. Although I don’t have a _lot_ of functionality at the moment, I want to do it right from the beginning. If ever the niggling voice jumps in and says that would be better in Tools, I take some time listening, weighing up, and if the voice is speaking truth, then Stop. Change. Update Tools. Update Apps. Begin again.

It means I’m slower, especially at this stage. But it also means (and this weighs far heavier than the former fact) that the code is cleaner, there are no shortcuts (well, not many), and that my development is tight. Clean. Clarity of purpose.

2. In my User Skeleton App (which is more a combination of a simple desktop app + nettalk web server) I’ve added the Advanced User functionality (User Groups, Security Profiles). This has meant that not only was I able to add the functionality on a "dummy" system (thus not having to worry about breaking complicated functionality), but I got to make sure future projects have this plugged in from the start.

I’m finding that the idea of this particular skeleton app is changing. Not the idea. The reality. It’s still a skeleton, but more and more it’s becoming something special. I guess this is happening as my base functionality (and understanding) grow.

3. Developing a Task management system (simple, of course) to .. manage .. my tasks. I’m getting swamped trying to keep up with everything I write down in my notebook. I’m sure there’s a lot of good ideas that go to waste, because I write twenty pages a day and don’t read back over seventeen of them.

Yes, Projman was a Task management app. But Projman was more of a test. It wasn’t built on a solid foundation. I was then even more newbish than now. My methodologies were lame (although back then I thought they were okay). Which makes me think .. in a year, will I think my current ones are lame? Probably. This makes me want to strive harder to get better quicker in this stuff.

This Task management system will be simple, streamlined, and powerful. That’s pretty much what any company will say about their product. You’ll just have to wait and see I guess. I do plan to release it as an app, but not for a while. It will stay plain (not prettied up) while I use it day in and out, making sure the processes are .. clean, lean and fast. Simple. Powerful.

For now, Rasp is my main concern. No. Immediate. After the next build (my current plan), I’ll begin charging for Rasp. I’m going to do something similar with SecretKeep and DeleteThem as well. As small as they are, functionality-wise, there’s still no good reason why I can’t start selling them. Professional products. If people don’t buy them, then so be it. I will learn why, and return more powerful than ever before! Wait .. :).

So Rasp. Yeah. So the User functionality will slot right in. And i’ve been nutting out the folder/files/users/security thing. The more the ideas coalesce in my mind, the more convinced I am that this product will rock. Seriously.

4. The website. Arggg. That reminds me .. stupid IE<7 not liking transparent pngs. I’m just going to have to do everything in bmps or something.

Ahem. Some might have noticed on the Archer site there are a couple of new images. I’m wanting to take some of the good from what I see on a lot of awesome looking blogs and web 2.0 development sites. They have clean but spek looking images for processes. Most especially downloading.

So the site is going to visually start looking better, hopefully. Not cluttered. Better.

Also, I want to get a blurb on the frontpage. Something that says "You really should look at our software, our products, we are awesome, but humble, and funnny, and if you are George R R Martin please personally email me and we can be best friends".

5. Well, there’s probably more, but this black duck has to go to bed.

—

Almost.

I was talking to Bruce this evening, and realised, by the time of the Aussie Clarion Devcon (I never know which order to put the words .. is it the Aussie Clarion .. or the Clarion Aussie??) we will have our mits on Clarion 7. This got me quite excited. More. Clarion 7 has kind of been this hazy fog in the future, a dream seen through a grey stained glass window seen through my rugby jersey after a game in the mud. Now, the very idea of the reality of holding it in my muddy hands fills this heart with joy.

Not "heading up to home" joy (heh), but .. "Diablo 3 has been announced!!!" joy. You know what I’m talkin bout.

Actually, that’s not _too_ far from the truth. More than ever lately Development has eclipsed Gaming in my excitement tank. Sure, I spend at least 40 minutes a night playing tennis and boxing on Wii Sports, sweating it up (it WILL get me fit .. ha ha), but that’s for .. well .. fitness. And a little fun.

Anyway, I’ve a feeling this post is gonna quadruple the size of the Dev Dawn frontpage. So without further ad …

Posted on

New, Clarion, News

Okay.

It’s the UK Clarion UG (User Group) Meeting.

Bob Z is there.

Capesoft is there.

More Clarion Guru’s are there.

And here is the news:

Unorganised List

  • No GPF‘s in IDE. It will give you exceptions, but you can continue
  • Clarion 7 doesn’t need a bin directory in path
  • Option to copy redirection to solution directory
  • IDE creates bin directory for solution then debug/release directories for the exe/dlls including copying of the needed dll’s from the c6/7 bin directory
  • Command line option to make solution
  • Win32 compiler is a .Net compiler that compiles win32 programs. It does that by falling back in Win32
  • IDE can be setup for multiple users and different logins into windows can customise how they like it
  • Clarion 7 redirection files have a new command (include %REDIR%\\%REDNAME%), this command will include other redirection files
  • Addins (mods) are easy to develop in for the IDE so new opportunities for 3rd Party Developers
  • Source control is more difficult for APP files compared to code files, no real solution for the problem, only bridge building
  • Inplace activation at design time for ActiveX controls
  • PRJ files are now CWPRJ files and are XML
  • Multiple versions of Clarion selectable, ie, if you have 9049 and 9053 installed, you can choose which one you want to use going right back to 1.5
  • Clarion .NET will support compact framework 2.0 (Not sure what this is, will have to look it up) – The Compact Framework is the .NET version for PocketPCs and the like, thanks Ubaidullah!
  • Clarion 7, New toolbox template for xp/office style
  • New algorithm for disabled icons
  • Powerful grouping features to allow subset views of the tables in the dictionary
  • Column view that displays every field from all tables and allows edits
  • Cascade any file change throughout the entire dictionary
  • Open multiple tables
  • Generate reports on history of changes in PDF/XML/HTML
  • Opening multiple apps will be in separate IDE‘s, unlike the coding solution project which can be all in one
  • Code folding
  • Built-in class browser c7 and .NET
  • Procedure class method navigator
  • Search/Replace across projects and solutions
  • Access dictionary from within hand coded projects
  • Clarion .NET, Winforms will not use a window structure like c7/6, it will use a class definition
  • ado.NET supported with TPS files

    From Diego:This mean that there is an ADO.Net provider for TPS and is included with Clarion.Net, then you can use a DataSet with the ADO.Net data provider or with the old good FILE/VIEW

  • the := symbol introduced, ie mydataset := People, or, SELF.components := NEW System.ComponentModel.Container()

    From Diego:The := does not replace the = or &= and both are still valid. In Clarion we use = for value types and &= for references. In Clarion.Net you can use := for both and the compiler will create the right one for you, but that does not mean that you can not use = or &=, it is just a short cut.

    ——-

  • TPS driver is not managed code, it uses c7 drivers – This is not set in stone, and may change before release
  • Clarion .NET only for TPS files, this was bluntly answered – This MEANS .. TPS Files will only work in Clarion.NET, you can’t use them in Visual Studio etc

    From Diego:You can use any driver on Clarion.Net, maybe the examples showed there where using only TPS because is easier but all the drivers are supported.The file access can be done using the old good Clarion Win way or you can use the DataSet and related classes.

  • SoftVelocity have a mechanism to parse a c7 window structure to a .NET code
  • the Clarion language will support Partial classes——-
  • Extension for Clarion .NET source files is .cln
  • Because of how asp.NET works you don’t need a special IP to support it, you just distribute the DLL‘s in a bin dir on your page

    From Diego:Clarion.Net support all ASP.Net deployment strategies.eg: aspx page with embeded code, aspx page with code in other cln file (code behind), compiled aspx and code behind files, aspx and compiled clarion dll.When source code is deployed the asp.net compiler will compile the clarion code on the fly (same as C# & VB.Net)

    Also Clarion.Net is able to Create and Consume .Net WebService.

  • Demo with a list box showing states with a text box and a couple of buttons
  • Tools in Clarion.NET is a C# to Clarion converter
  • New .NET Template Change creating layer’d application, ie, presentation layer, business object later, ..
  • .NET 3.0 Support
  • Generic and Partial Classes
  • LINQ No idea at all about this
  • 64bit Native Compilers for .NET
  • When appgen is implemented you’ll be building .NET applications (Desktop, Web, or Handheld) without knowing any of the .NET
  • No hard and fast date for beta release, Bob is of the opinion that people don’t want the hand-coded version. But if enough of the populous want it, he may reconsider – This is interesting ..
  • The Clarion .NET IDE looks very stable

That’s all I’ve got for now. This is hot off the press. I’ll be updating this list as more info comes along.

Edit:

Okay, it’s finished. Thanks to MarkS for his streaming updates. Apologies for the confusion caused over the TPS Only item.

This has been a Dev Dawn powered News bulletin. Any issues with erroneous data can be taken up with the Management.

Posted on

Day Three :: Aussie DevCon

Edited :: 8th May 2006

Another Disclaimer, Again ::Apologies to any sessions that aren’t mentioned in these reports. I’ve said it before, my memory is faulty.

As Sunday’s are special to me, I did something special as soon as I woke, which wasn’t very early.

On went the togs, and before the sleep had fled my brain, or eyes, I jumped into the well landscaped pool.

And instantly became the most awake person within the campsite. Man alive! that was cold water. So, instead of getting out, I tried to jump around more, in and out, getting the body moving. That wasn’t working, so I sat in the heated spa that was next to the popsicle pool. This was just the ticket. If I sat in there for a bit, I was insulated enough to spend more time in the arctic waters before freezing. Twas fun.

Fun With Capesoft (Bruce & Jono)

Now, reader beware, there will be some ranting, some froth around the edges of my mouth.

At this point in the conference, we saw probably the best single capsuled event that should be the shining driving light of clarion.

One of the best things about the Web 2.0 phenomenon is watching the videos. I’ve seen countless showings of what these products can do, and most of them aren’t even out of beta form (Ruby on Rails – ROR – being one of the notable exceptions).

In this session, Bruce and Jono demonstrated what you can do with a generic (Wizard created) app and their bundle of addon templates. It was amazing. Not so much the app, for myself. I mean, that was amazing. Capesoft have some of the best functionality in existence. But more, I was caught in a vision of how things could be.

We need a video of what these guys did. Voice-over, watching the screen. From creating the app in the clarion wizard to watching Send To create a pdf of a browse.

And with that video, you could create the kind of momentum that comes with the Web 2.0 crowd. Seriously. It could be done .. it should be done. Look at how much interest ROR generated half a year ago. It only had that one video at the start, but man alive, what a video it was.

Same with the other startups.

The kind of functionality you can create for a database driven app in under an hour is overwhelming. I realise there are other factors involved, and that .NET has a lot of things going for it right now .. but there are other avenues. Other passages. And development should be lazy, as many have said before me. Good development has that lazy factor to it.

Back to the actual session .. this is what Capesoft provide. A way to create magical programs .. lazily. Easily. Without effort.

And really, Bruce waving his Mickey-Mouse hands around really were just icing on the cake.

The content was pretty awesome. Watching Jono work through the templates, adding the functionality, you really got a sense of how much Capesoft is integral to the success of Clarion. They are the beating heart .. Clarion being the body .. well, I don’t want to take that analogy any further, you get my drift.

Perhaps I’m being opinionated, well .. no perhaps. But I’ll stick to my guns on this matter. Even knowing that SV are working extremely hard on Clarion 7, getting it shipped and out the door, it doesn’t change the unease I feel that all these opportunities to be Pimp’n Clarion are not being leapt at.

‘Nuff ranted on the matter, for the moment.

Clarion 7 News

Ahh. Here I actually switched on reporter mode and took some notes.

newclarionstructure

That’s the new structure, as I took it from what Russ drew on the board. Nice. Simple to understand.

List of Points

  • Page-Breaks in the Report .. This has been forwarded to the Reports team, no word on whether it’s in for Initial Release .. Instead of window orphaning?
  • Unlimited Undos
  • Debugger .. No changes in Initial Release ..
    • conditional breakpoints .. maybe
    • ability to remember your session settings between use .. on the list
    • using the debugger to, umm, debug & compile .. not yet .. maybe later

  • Controls on the window .. change properties in code?? Not sure about this one, missed the point, because obviously we can already do this
  • Looking good .. new controls
  • The ability to take a C6 app and compile it in C7, add a few lines of code, and it’s in the new look .. Bob Z (and his team) have been working hard on this
  • every hotfix with C6 is kept (binaries) in sync with C7 .. C6 ==> C7 .. YAY .. C<6 ==> C7 .. same as before, not so simple
  • Soon (not this weekend) Bob Z will release C7 to all the CSV subscribers .. all the way up to gold
    • Bob could change his mind
    • Not Clarion .NET, that is, not included in this possible release

  • there will be App & Dct support when it goes gold
  • the new subscriber model is going very well for SoftVelocity .. this was one of my questions .. the word from Russ is that they are very financially viable
  • Batch compiling is built in .. Solution? files can be used to compile all Apps in a Project .. external batch compilers won’t be needed any more is the word on the street
  • Multiple (Same Version) apps open at the same time .. personally, I find this one pretty cool, not hype-monkey, but still gonna be handy when wanting my Tools app open the same time as Core
  • Class code does not have to be in LIBSRC .. not sure about this one, and for some reason, i have the following note — do we need the ABC love of code? Yes, No, Maybe — Not sure at all about that
  • Debugger in .NET is Brand New!
  • Templates won’t change much in .NET
  • a Template Dialog Editor in .NET .. Not in Initial Release
  • Template Debugger in .NET .. Won’t be in the Initial Release. Possibly we’ll get it a few dot releases down the track .. not sure about the previous three points, what they mean, i’ve got them down, so they must have been talked about, and most probably it means they are planned
  • Report Writer, UI Improvements .. has been given a lot of love
  • Initial Pre-Release .. we’re in charge of Source Code
  • Clarion .NET, the port to 2.0 is DONE .. Russ was very happy to announce this
  • Clarion .NET, it can call both sides of Namespaces .. that is, from C++, C#, .. ==> Clarion .NET, and vica versa, Clarion .NET ==> C++, C#, ..

And there we have it. In a nutshell of notes. There are some exciting points. Hopefully things will turn out. But as I thought at the time, I’m still excited about what Clarion 6 can do .. realising it’s bugs, I’m more thinking about what we can show the world right now.

D-Icons .. Dave Beggs

Now, on the previous day (I think) i’d won a cd of D-Icons, so I had vested interest in this session. And after some hilarious jokes and even more hilarious banter, Dave preceeded (proceeded?) to give away his secret. It’s easy. Axialis Icon Workshop. This made me happy. I’ve had said product for some time, and used it to modify icons where I need. But to create new ones???? That would require me to .. wait on .. Dave showed the way.

It’s really really easy. But also, I’m stoked because I don’t even have to do that, with the bundle of each set on the cd. Nice Dave, very nice. They went onto this baby (laptop) asap when I returned home. Am hoping to get an app out here on DevDawn showcasing them soon :).

Andy K – Finishing Touches

Last (to my memory) was Andy K with a rundown of his stuff. I’ve already given my thoughts in Day Two, suffice to say, it’s good. Visit his website (Clarion Tools) or drop him an email (not sure, his website has a contact form).

Finis

And so the bell tolled for the conference to end (it didn’t, there was no bell, but man they are cool). We had to bail pretty much straight away to catch our flight.

Thanks again to Tony & Dave. Excellent stuff!

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