Clarion News - December 2000

Posted December 22 2000

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December 22, 2000

SoftVelocity Licenses Linder SetupBuilder
SetupBuilder for Clarion is the new install tool that replaces the Wise for Clarion installer in Enterprise Edition. Written in Clarion 5.5 by Linder Software, SetupBuilder is a Rapid Setup Development tool for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT4/2000, and offers a user-friendly visual development environment that does not require knowledge of a script language. All users who purchased a new license of Clarion 5.5 Enterprise Edition or who upgraded from 5.x Professional Edition can receive a free copy of SetupBuilder for Clarion. If you upgraded from 5.0 EE to 5.5 EE you are a licensed user of the "Wise for Clarion" installer, but you can upgrade to SetupBuilder for Clarion for a nominal charge of $25.00 for electronic delivery or $40.00 for shipped media. To obtain your copy of SetupBuilder for Clarion, contact us for instructions to download, or to confirm your mailing address if you wish to receive SetupBuilder on disk media format.

C55 PD 1-Touch Date Tools Update
Version 5.22 of PD 1-Touch Date Tools for Clarion 5 is now available for download. This release matches recent update to the C55 version. It adds auto population of popup calendars for date fields in an application either with a setting on the global extension or an override setting on the auto-populated procedure extension template. The popup calendar displays directly above or below the date entry and button depending on the entry's location on the window. The date entry fields and popup calendar automatically include Quicken and other extended hot keys, range limiting if set in the dictionary field user options or in a virtual SetRange method, colored holiday displays, schedule display, and more. There is no charge for this update for those with current licenses.

Lodestar Software/DeveloperPLUS Holiday Schedule
The offices of Lodestar Software & DeveloperPLUS will be closed 18-Dec-00 through 02-Jan-01 for the holidays. Support will be handled through email during this period although there may be a slight delay from day to day. Happy Holidays and a very happy, prosperous New Year to all.

HTML Designer Update
A new build of HTML Designer has been posted. This build makes use of its own API interface to the compiled HTML API from Microsoft. Also included is a wizard to add the extension template to all the procedures automatically. This file is password protected, so make use of the same password you received from ClarionShop. Also included in this update is a wizard utility to add the extension template to all the procedures except report and source procedures.

New Listbox Runtime Sort Template
The new RABSORT extension template adds listbox column sorting by clicking on the column header. The template automatically picks the fields from the listbox and automatically creates the sort orders. The default allows the user to ShiftMouseLeft on the Listbox column header to sort. During the sort process, the currently selected record is retained. This template currently does not allow any other custom sort orders other than those created by the template itself. Also it is not advised to use this template on listboxes with more than 15,000 records. This template is in beta and will be available from www.clarionshop.com for $59 discounted to $39 during the beta stage.

CapeSoft File Explorer Beta 2 Released
CapeSoft's newest effort comes in the form of a template wrapper around some common (and free) OCXs, including the Internet Explorer OCX which ships with Windows, the Adobe PDF viewer, and the Microsoft Media player. This means that any format supported by Internet Explorer, Media Player or Adobe Reader are supported. And you can view, or play these files directly in your application. Supported file types include HTM, HTML, PDF, AVI, MPG, WAV, SND, MP3 plus a whole lot of other obscure formats. This template allows you to simply drop the document viewer, or media control, directly into your application. Templates include some standard Clarion buttons to Play, Stop, Next Page, Last Page and so on. Beta 2 Improvements include: support for the HTML editing control; new methods (Edit, Save and PrintMe) added to the FileExplorer Class; events now trigger when a video, or audio, file completes playing; assorted other minor bug fixes and improvements. The normal price for File Explorer is $99, but it's currently on a Special Price of $69 during the beta program. Beta users will automatically get a free upgrade to the gold release, and beyond.

NetTalk Beta 9 Available
Beta 9 of NetTalk is now available. NetTalk allows you to build both robust TCP/IP communications between your Clarion applications, and also allows you to build generic TCP/IP (sockets) servers and clients. New in this beta: improved support for late versions of Windows NT and also Windows 2000; fixed bug so W2K, NetTalk, and OCXs happily work together; added news send and receive objects; added DIP client functionality. Also available on the web site is the DIP server, in both source code (requires WinEvent) and Executable format. DIP (Dynamic IP addressing) allows two machines who don't know each other's IP address to connect automatically. NetREFRESH updates browse screens on a LAN when the data underneath changes. No need to poll the database, if one user makes a change, it's reflected immediately on all browses. NetTalk will usually cost $299, but will be priced at $199 for the duration of the beta program. Beta users get free upgrades to the gold release, and beyond.

Special Agent 1.29 Released
This release of Special Agent fixes some bugs, and documents the examples. It also includes an update for Clarion 5.5 users.

Capesoft Office Messenger Version 1.1b Released
Office Messenger is not an Accessory, but rather a separate instant messenger-type utility. CapeSoft Office Messenger is used to pass messages from one employee to another inside the CapeSoft offices. This is a serverless system, yet all options can be set by a single administrator without going to each machine. Includes a phone book and many other features. This release fixes some bugs and has improved support for Windows 2000. A free 30 day demo download is available.

RPM and AFE 25% Holiday Discount
Just a reminder that the 25% discount on RPM and AFE is available through the end of the year.

December 12, 2000

25% Holiday Discount On RPM & AFE
Lodestar Software is offering a 25% discount on its Report and Presentation Manager and Automated Fax Engine products. RPM provides report presentation tools including viewing, paging, text search, printing, page numbering, document archiving, report merging/appending, and more. AFE includes all the tools necessary for integrating faxing into your application. Features include a developer's FaxMan fax engine license, 500 annual distribution licenses, support for unlimited fax servers on a network, cover sheet editor, variety of templates to support different faxing needs, multiple modem support, fax scheduling, fax grouping, and more.

PD 1-Touch Date Tools and PD Drops C55 Update
ProDomus is please to announce the release of a minor C55 upgrade to PD 1-Touch Date Time and Scheduling tools. This tool now includes a popup button class implemented by the ABC templates. Features include: popup Buttons may be created at run time for all date entries with a single global template entry; calendars may have range limits using a dictionary field options entry; calendars are displayed immediately above or below the entry; the button is skipped when tabbing from the date entry field - it is called with the AltDown key or by clicking the button; all calendars use colors for display of holidays and scheduled dates; all calendars display the week of the year according to local calculation rules; all calendars have a popup menu to jump to dates using a variety of calculations; all calendars have advanced navigation features including Quicken type keys. These calendars add an alternative to the previously provided auto-populated drop down calendars. ProDomus has also has new updated files for C55 PD Drops that include minor fixes resulting from the gold release.

HTML Designer Template
HTML Designer from Riebens Systems is intended to be a complete (D)HTML help environment geared for the Clarion Application Developer. The first part of this suite of utilities and tools (Version 1) consists of the Compiled HTML Help Source Extractor templates. These templates will be available from http://www.Clarionshop.com from 12 December 2000 onwards at a price of $99. During the BETA stage the price will be $49. Unfortunately no refund policy can be used as the product consists of a template that is not blackboxed but open for reproduction and modification. The HTML Designer suite allows the Clarion Application Developer to make use of the Standard Help, Tip and Message entry options on Screen Controls and Fields to enter information and a Wizard Utility Template will create the needed source code for the Compiled HTML Help. This source code is "Compile ready" in that with use of the Microsoft Help Workshop you only need three steps to create the Compiled HTML help file:1. Load the Project file into the Workshop; 2. Press the Compile button; 3. Sit and watch the file being created.

Crystal Clear Class Offers Crystal Reports Interface
Crystal Clear Class is a pure Clarion source ABC compliant class (no dll black boxes) that duplicates all the functionality provided by SoftVelocity's Crystal Reports class interface and adds additional features, including: the ability to embed Crystal report preview inside of the Clarion window and to fit the whole client area or a selected rectangle; export report to selected file format or to MAPI; log on to the SQL server; pass parameters and formulas to the report; change database at run time; set a printer for the print job. Crystal Clear Class is C5 compatible. Current price is $79.95. Demo available.

New Data Conversion Template Released
Vasiliy Goncharenko's Data Conversion template is now out of beta. This product handles automatic datafile conversion when a dictionary changes. Features include: automatic registration of data dictionary changes; automatic data file conversion; embed points to tune up the conversion code, including custom field assignment; converting several versions of a file at once; "Internal Converter" mode for simple one-application projects, when converter is inside of application; "External Converter" mode for a complex projects, when several applications uses one data dictionary, and converter is common to all applications in the project; backup of old versions of data files; fast transition from a "Internal Converter" to "External Converter" modes and back, without need for manual coding; 16 bit and 32 bit support, Local and Stand-Alone run-time libraries, Legacy and ABC templates set; multi-tables support (TopSpeed database driver).

December 5, 2000

SearchFlash 2.0 Released
The SearchFlash QBE template has been updated with the following new features: saving tags in a tag file; batch copy of tagged records to another file; developer-defined QBE conditions; manual editing of a QBE search string by the end user, allowing use of built-in Clarion functions; option to show only tagged records after a search. SearchFlash 2.0 is compatible with Clarion 2,4,5,& 5.5. Demo available.

Topspeed Turnpike Renamed
The TopSpeed Turnpike has been renamed: it is now called the Clarion Connection. It's still on the same server; it just has a new name.

ABC Free Templates Updated
The ABC Free Templates and Tools have been updated to fix the Copy Button template for use in Clarion 5.5 Gold.

Solace ReDesigner Demo Update
The Solace Redesigner demo has been updated to fix a problem when saving modified screen designs or changed properties. Note that the beta program for the templates closes on December 10, 2000.

RPM55 Gold Now Available
RPM55 for C5.5 Gold is available for download. This is a free upgrade from RPM5 using your current password and serial number. PNet55 and AFE55 for C5.5 Gold will be available shortly.

Clarion Handy Tools New Features
New features in build O of the Clarion Handy Tools include: a new download wizard; C5.5 no-browse edit form; wizard tab buttons; use of proxy server in FTP; disabling Windows-style list box marking; separate DLL for email and FTP; improved compile manager; new demo apps; a file synchronizer; and various bug fixes.

Clarion Third Party Profile Exchange
Dave Troxell's Profile Exchange now contains 212 product profiles and 180 vendor profiles. Requires Product Scope 32 PRO.