Heard it through the Bit-vine... - Notes and News about the products you use

by Tom Hebenstreit, Review Editor

Published 1998-01-01    Printer-friendly version

Download the code here

First, let me wish each and every one of you a happy and prosperous New Year! What with OOP, ABC, CIC, C4 and all, we do indeed live in "interesting times", and this coming year should be one of many new challenges and opportunities...

The shiny new machine!

Well, the future has finally arrived, in the shape of a little brown box brought to my door by a nice deliveryman. Yup - C4 has not only shipped, it has arrived! Weighs in 9 pounds and a bit under 70 megs (30+ megs of which are example programs - thank you TopSpeed!).

New look, new logo, but Richard Taylor and his team's usual fine work inside the manuals (he is Director of Technical Communications at TopSpeed). And since Richard isn't here at the moment, let me remind you all to run through the examples in the 'Getting Started' and 'Learning Clarion' manuals once you get C4. You know, the ones that we 'know-it-alls' usually miss because we just file those books on the shelf and dive right into the LRM. As he often points out, this is where he shows off the spiffy new features and tricks in a new release.

Oh yeah. Don't bother searching through the packing peanuts for a printed 'User Guide' and 'Programmer's Guide', though. They are now provided only in Adobe Acrobat PDF form on the CD. Word has it that they will be provided in printed form only in the long-awaited (and still waiting) Enterprise Edition. There is also PDF documentation for the Assembler, C/C++ and Modula-2 compilers that just snuck onto your disk as well.

The first scratch in the paint job

If you use SQL or ODBC drivers, be warned of a pesky critter (more like an elephant, actually) that has been found in C4: Get(File,Key) is broken. This was confirmed by Scott Ferrett (TopSpeed driver guru). Recommended workaround is to initialize your key field(s) and use Set/Next to get a specific record. Seems like this one should get HIGH priority on the fix list...

A word to the wise

Someone recently asked about converting a C4 ABC templates app over to the C4 Clarion templates (the 2.00x compatible template chain)...

The response was, to quote David Bayliss: "There is no conversion route from ABC to Clarion without some heavy manual .TXA hacking." So, if you are going to start new projects in C4, be SURE to choose your template set wisely.

In other words, if you start with ABC, you are committed to ABC unless you are willing to either: a) do the aforementioned TXA hacking, or b) willing to start over with the C4 2.00x template chain. Going from the 2.00x chain to ABC is no problem (relatively speaking<G>) since you can use the App converter.

"Server in a Box" stays in the box

True to their word, TopSpeed has included Pervasive's Scalable SQL server in the box with C4 Professional Edition. Unfortunately for some of us, it will only run if your box happens to be running Netware or Windows NT. Windows 95 (and earlier) users should not try installing the Server. Note that this applies to the Scalable SQL server engine only - the Scalable SQL client runs happily under the other OS's.

So, if you don't have NT or Netware, your best bet for experimenting with SQL on a single machine or small network seems to still be Sybase SQL Anywhere.

Other news

Here are some tidbits and announcements gleaned from the TopSpeed forum and elsewhere over the last couple of weeks. If you see any products here which you would like to see scheduled for a full review in Clarion Online, let us know!

• Dave Harms has updated his 'Unofficial OOP Page' again. Be sure to tune in for the latest installment at http://www.incunabula.com/cwoop/index.htm. He is starting to get into some nitty-gritty ABC details that are required reading if you are going to go the ABC route. Thanks, Dave!
• The sponsors of the East Tennessee Clarion Conference and Gathering (May 5th - 9th, 1998) have extended their advance registration discount offer. Save $30.00 on your registration if you register by January 31st, 1998! For more information check out the "etc" web site at: www.kcug.org/etc.htm
• L3 Technologies, Ltd. has released a public beta version of their CW Paradox File Drive 2.0. If you need direct access to Paradox files, you can get more information and download the driver at: www.l3.u-net.com
  Note that this is a case sensitive server - you must enter the URL in all lower case!
• Mike Hanson has posted the code and information for 'Metaphone' (an alternative method to SoundEx for doing "sounds like" searches in CW) on the Boxsoft web site: www.boxsoftdevelopment.com
• Larry Teames of Creative PC Solutions (CPCS) has announced the availability of CPCS Reporting Tools for C4 v4.01. This is an update for C4 (final release only - not betas) which works with the C4 'Classic' 2.00x compatible template chain. ABC support will be forthcoming in a later release. More details at: www.psn.net/~cpcs
• Kenny Gardner of Gap Development announced that the latest version of their CLACom package (the premiere communications/modem control library for CW) is now available at their web site, and that it fully supports C4 (both 2.00x and ABC). Details at: www.gapdev.com (Watch out for the Moody Blues tunes, though.)
• LinderSoft, makers of the LSPack compression libraries announced that they are now shipping v1.11 of their LSP SFX-Builder. This is a killer tool for building small install programs - check it out (and download a demo) at: www.lindersoftware.com
  They also posted a patch for a problem with LSPack when running 32-bit.
• CapeSoft announced that Version 2.0 of File Manager 2 is now shipping. This update is free to all registered users, and adds some really nice new tools to an already fine product. [Check out the complete review of FM2 in this issue of Clarion Online.]
• If you use Jerry Raymond's Tip of the Day templates, he announced that Tinman Development Corp has taken over both distribution and support for the product. More info is available at: www.southwind.net/~tinman

Can't beat that price...

One of the really nice things about using Clarion is the overall generosity of the user community. (Go ahead, all of you give yourselves a pat on the back!) Often, this manifests itself in truly useful templates which the authors have made available to the rest of us for that most favorite of prices: FREE! Each month, this column features a handy free template (or collection of templates) which you might want to add to your bag of Clarion tricks.

Note: If you decide to download and try out any free templates mentioned here, please remember that you get what you pay for - don't expect support from the author like you would from a commercial product. While most of them are generous to a fault (as witnessed by their giving away the template), they are NOT obligated in any way, shape or form to you because you want to use the template. Be nice to them!

This month's jewel is:

The TinTools Collection version 1.9

Tintools is a collection of templates from various sources, gathered together by the nice people at Tinman Development Corp. (makers of the DAS line of CW third party products such as DAS_Security, DAS_Registration, DAS_QuickHelp and more).

It is provided as a self-contained installation file which automatically creates a Tintools directory under your CW20 directory, places a demo there, creates icons and program groups (if needed) and copies the templates themselves into your CW20\Template directory. Very nicely done - I have products that I paid good money for that don't have an install this good!

What's inside? How about:

• View Record - A template to add a view-only button to standard CW Browses. An alternate version is provided for PowerBrowse users. (Author unknown).
• View Only Form Support - Used with the View Record button, it will prevent the user from making changes on a form. You can also selectively enable some controls. (Tinman and others)
• TT Report Viewer - A replacement for the standard CW Report previewer. (From the Tinman and Simon Brewer)
• MDI Background - Display an image in the frame of CW 2.00x applications, similar to the new C4 Wallpaper capability. (From George Petrov)
• TIN MDI Control - Offers three options for controlling MDI child windows, such as open once only, toggle open and closed each time called or limiting the maximum number of instances that can be open. (From the Tinman and others)
• Set Active Tab Color - Allows you to change the color, etc., of the title for the currently selected Tab so that the user can more easily see which tab is active. Really handy. (Jim Kane and Lee Hydechuk)
• New to version 1.9 are three templates from Castle Computing (see the review of their QuickEez Templates in this issue) covering: AppInfo - Information about your app, FlatButton (C4 only) and RecordLimiter - limit the number of records in a file for demo programs, etc.
• Additional templates for: PopUp Calendar, Calculator and Color Selection.Single and Multiple Control Record handling. A TAPI Phone Dialer, setting a default Application Icon and a whole lot more!
• Last but certainly not least, Tinman Development has now also included Vince Sorensen's WinAPI Toolkit, which just happened to be last months Bit-Vine pick! See that column for a more thorough discussion of this cool template set.

The biggest problem with this collection is that the Help file can't keep up with the number of templates they keep adding. Be sure to look in the Template registry after registering the Tintools chain to see the complete list, since there are at least a dozen other handy templates that aren't mentioned in the Help (and that I don't have space to mention here).

How do you get this gem? Right here, right now by clicking on the Download Source Code image at the beginning of this column. You will end up with a file called 'Tintools.Exe', which is the installation program described above. Like any template set, don't forget to register it after installation (see the Tintools Help file for instructions). Note that there are two chains to register, though: Tintools and the WinAPI Toolkit.

Next month: Who knows? You'll just have to come back and find out!

About the Bit-vine

Each month, this column will provide you with the latest in Clarion news, tips, rumors, freebies and basically anything else that seems interesting about the going's on in the Clarion world.

So, who determines what's most interesting? YOU DO!!

Are you a vendor? Let me know about new releases, updates, betas, product plans or anything else you think Clarion Online readers might want to know about.

Are you a user (and who isn't)? Drop me a line about any cool nuggets of information you come across, free templates or examples worth sharing, or anything else that other readers might find useful.

What do you get for contributing? Well, you'll see your name up in lights (phosphor, to be accurate) here in the Bit-vine credits. For especially useful bits, you may even win an autographed GIF of an official Clarion Online shirt or other similarly valuable prize. Come on, how can you resist?

Let me hear from you! The magic address is TomH@ClarionOnline.com

The disclaimer

Everything in this column is the sole opinion of me, the author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this magazine, its publisher, or even of myself (hey, I can change my mind, too!). Don't bet the farm on anything you read here: consider it a starting point for your own inquiries and research. The point here is that this column is intended to both enlighten and entertain, and that in the fast-moving world of software development this month's truth (or product release date) is often next month's "oops, did I say that...?".

'Nuff said!

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Clarion Magazine ISSN 1718-9942