CapeSoft Newsletter #41
- December 2004 -
Announcing... Another New Product
from CapeSoft: Secwin Online Server!
CapeSoft has been hard at work again, developing another new product
to help you build leading edge applications. Secwin Online Server - the
name speaks for itself... CapeSoft has taken it's existing technology
to the next level to bring you online automated Product Activation and
Licensing functionality.
Secwin Online Server provides immediate access to temporary or permanent
product activation codes via the internet, for any product which has
the Secwin Online Client enabled. Activation codes can be blocked for
specific clients, products or datasets, allowing the supplier full control
over product sales and distribution, but giving prospective or new clients
immediate access to products. Activation codes can be issued as temporary
or permanent product codes. Secwin Online Server features:
- Can be installed as a service
- Creates Secwin Activation codes for any product
- Authorise temporary or permanent activation codes
- Features a web user interface
- Datasets, clients or products can be blacklisted, preventing any further issues of activation codes
- Stores product and client activation code history
- Requires Windows 98se or higher operating systems
Please note: Secwin Online Server requires your Client Applications to
use Secwin and NetTalk.
Find out more about Secwin Online
Server
For more information on Secwin Online
Server:
http://www.capesoft.com/accessories/sossp.htm
Feedback
If you have any queries, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate
to contact
us:
.
Where to buy Secwin Online
Server
Secwin Online
Server is being released at the special price of $199 during
it's Beta phase.
The expected Gold
price will be $299.
Secwin Online
Server is available at ClarionShop:
https://www.clarionshop.com/secure/checkout.cfm?pid=764&q=1
GPF Reporter to the Rescue
Guys and Girls, this one is a real gem! Ever get those inconsistent,
unrepeatable, highly irritating GPF's on your Client sites? Well, now there's
a tool that not only tells you that it happened, but also tells you the code
sequence executed prior to the GPF, and reports the line number the GPF occurred
on! Try it, once it's help you solve just 1 GPF, it will have paid
for itself. You will wonder how you ever managed without it!
Compatible with Clarion 5 and up, ABC and Legacy, Multi-DLL, and Standalone and
Local Compile modes, what more could you ask for?
Here are a few user's comments:
"I have no idea why Bruce had not arranged this product as the first,
but wow thank goodness it is here now, I say it should be part of Clarion not
just
a
addon....."
Terence James
"I bought it last week - and have already paid for it by the time it
has saved."
Kevin Erskine
" Sounds expensive ! <vbg> I was so impressed with GPF reporter
that I bought it, none of this taking it off the shelf BS. Now I am just daring
one of my apps to GPF so I can
use
it!"
Geoff Bomford
Find out more about GPF Reporter
For more information on GPF Reporter:
http://www.capesoft.com/accessories/GPFRepsp.htm
Feedback
If you have any queries, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate
to contact
us:
Where to buy GPF Reporter
GPF Reporter costs $99
GPF Reporter is available at ClarionShop:
https://www.clarionshop.com/secure/checkout.cfm?pid=743&q=1
File Manager 3 Keeps Getting
Better
Now Supports Sybase!
File Manager 3 has really come leaps and bounds in the past months in terms
of features and stability. FM3 now supports a total of 7 Database Drivers,
and 5
popular SQL Backends. These drivers include TopSpeed, Clarion, Btrieve, MsSql,
Oracle,
ODBC and Sybase, and includes MsSql, Oracle, MySQL, FireBird and Sybase Backends.
What else is new?
With
the growing number of database support comes a brand new ConnectToSQLBackend
Control Template which is far more fool proof, generic and customisable than
before. Be sure to check out a complete set of new SQL Examples which now show
far more
real to life SQL scenarios in terms of Database Design. Conversion from TPS
to SQL, RelationShips in the Dictionary, and examples of each supported Datatype.
FM3 now also supports the brand new IP Driver released recently by SoftVelocity.
(Note: This is available for purchase online @ ClarionShop!
More on this later...)
And Did you know?
FM3 & Multi-Proj is perfect combination for those needing to maintain
support for TPS and SQL in their applications in a manageable way! Multi-Proj
allows
you to maintain ONE Dictionary, and ONE App (or set of apps for Multi-dll)
and produce exe's for TPS, MSSQL, Sybase, etc, etc, etc... ;-)
Find out more about FM3
For more information on FM3:
http://www.capesoft.com/accessories/fm3sp.htm
Find out more about Multi-Proj
For more information on Multi-Proj:
http://www.capesoft.com/accessories/multiprjsp.htm
Feedback
If you have any queries, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
contact us:
Where to buy FM3
FM3 costs $249
File Manager 3 is available at ClarionShop:
https://www.clarionshop.com/secure/checkout.cfm?pid=460&q=1
Where to buy Multi-Proj
Multi-Proj costs $119
Multi-Proj is available at ClarionShop:
https://www.clarionshop.com/secure/checkout.cfm?pid=8&q=1
CapeSoft Price Increase Looming
As of January 1st, there will general price increase across the CapeSoft Product
range. If you are thinking of adding some more excellent products to your
Clarion Toolbox, now is the time to get them! New product price information
will be available on our website from January 1st.
To take advantage of the current pricing, check out our products @ ClarionShop.com:
Accessories and Software Programs:
http://www.clarionshop.com
CapeSoft Gets Around...
Jono recently attended the UK & German Usergroup meetings. Other than great
food & drink, these meetings provide an environment for Clarion users to
get together and pool ideas, ask questions, pass on tips and to have great fun
rubbing shoulders with fellow Clarion developers. Jono was able to provide product
training as well as offering discounts on CapeSoft accessories.
If you are interested in having a CapeSoft representative visit your user-group
in 2005 then please contact us at sales@capesoft.com - we don't promise anything - but if you don't ask it'll
never happen!
More information as well as photos
of past meetings are available at:
UK Usergroup:
http://www.clariondevelopers.co.uk/
Munich 2004 Usergroup:
http://www.schoeffler.biz/usertreffen2004.html
Munich 2005 Usergroup:
http://www.schoeffler.biz/usertreffen.html
New Softvelocity Drivers
Available
I want to say a quick word about 3 new non-CapeSoft products for a moment.
Over the last few months SoftVelocity have released 3 new file drivers, and
after having the opportunity to play with them, all I can say is that I'm
overwhelmed. Quite simply this is the most important new technology
to be made available this year, and the impact on your applications is
potentially staggering. Trying to cover all of their benefits here would be
impossible, so I'll highlight just a few, which I am already using myself.
IP Driver ($300)
If you are using TopSpeed files then this driver is a
no-brainer. In 10 minutes or so you can turn your existing
application into a Client/Server program. Say goodbye to file corruptions
for ever. And there's a speed improvement on busy networks, or if you have
multiple users. That's just the tip of the iceberg, but it's a fairly impressive
tip.
In-Memory driver ($225)
Allows you to declare structures in the
dictionary, that only exist "In-Memory". Useful for temp files
etc. (but read on)
Dynamic File Driver ($225)
Allows
you to declare file structures at runtime. For example creating a data structure
based on the result of a SQL
select statement. (but read on)
Bruce's Comments
I've been using the In-Memory driver for a while now. I am busy writing a
simulation program (that simulates a business process.) By using the
In-Memory driver I got the speed of Queues, but all the templates (Browses,
Reports, Graphs etc) still worked just fine.
I recently also got to try the new Dynamic Driver. To be honest this one
excited me the least, because (by definition) the tables are not declared
in
the dictionary, and so no templates really work with these Dynamic
structures. However when you pair the In-Memory driver with the Dynamic
driver you get something truly unbelievable.
When used together these 2 drivers allow you to _globally cache_ and
_locally cache_ files. Let me explain. Global caching means that a file can
be loaded when the program starts, it stays In-Memory for the life of your
program and then (optionally) gets written back to disk at the end. Well
a
quick analysis of my TNA dictionary showed about 20-30 tables that really
(almost) never change. But they get used all over the place as lookups etc.
(You know the ones - lists of Departments, Countries, that sort of thing.)
Caching these files makes some of my program go a _LOT_ faster, and of
course reduces network traffic, this making all the other users go faster
as well. Way cool! But wait there's more...
Local Caching lets you do the same trick but have it apply only to 1 thread,
not to the whole program. For practical reasons I can't cache many of my
tables globally, because the user is updating them regularly, and those
updates need to be written to the server. That said, there are times when
I want to cache it for a specific report or process. Some of my reports are
complicated, they do lots of loops, and lots of lookups. I can't help that
because at the end of the day the report is doing a lot of work. BUT by
using Local Caching I can cache the file, _only for this thread_ when the
report starts. The results are impressive. I'm seeing speed improvements
on some reports of 80% - 90%. Reports that took an hour now complete in 7
minutes. If I get 1 report in an entire application to improve that much,
then the drivers are well worth the price.
So there must be a catch right?
Like maybe it's a lot of work to make this
work to add this to your application? Actually no. Global and Local caching
work _without_ changing your dict, or your app. You add a global extension
to the app, and (if you want)
a local extension to your reports. If it breaks for some reason you can also
disable it with a single global checkbox. Trying it out and judging the
improvement for yourself will literally take 1 or 2 minutes.
Am I completely unbiased?
Well no. Firstly I did have a small role to play
in helping create the drivers. Nothing special, I participated in the Alpha
program, and made some suggestions along the way (hence I _am_ expecting
to get _all_ the glory <bg>). Plus because the drivers
are now available from ClarionShop (of which CapeSoft is a part-owner) we
stand to gain financially. Nevertheless I am excited by the possibilities
of these drivers myself, and I expect to be using them a lot in the coming
days
and
months.
At ClarionShop we've negotiated a special Bundle
price - for a limited time
only you can get all 3 drivers together for $675.
It sounds like a lot, but in fact it's ridiculously cheap considering the
impact it
will have on your
programming. There are also other bundles, and of course the individual
products here: http://www.clarionshop.com/results.cfm?type=Accessory&sup=SoftVelocity
And Lastly...
The CapeSoft Team would like to wish all our Customers and fellow Clarion
Developers Happy Holidays and best wishes for the New Year! We'd like to
thank you for your continued support over the last year. It has been our
privilege to help you work smarter, not
harder! See
you in 2005...