Features in Depth

If you were not able to attend either one of the live webinar events on April 4th that walked through all of the new features of dBASE PLUS 8 with ADO, you can still see a recording of the event on youtube by clicking here. [button url=”http://youtu.be/BTdK1rxRwy0″ bg=”EB1A22″ color=”FFF” bg_hover=”#EB1A22″ target=”blank”] View Video [/button]
ADO Support – Components
ADO Support - Components

Being able to use an ADO data source is great, but we did not stop there. We have also added in several custom ADO components that make working with ADO a breeze in dBASE PLUS 8.

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ADO Support – Connectivity

More has changed under the hood of dBASE PLUS 8 than just support of Microsoft’s latest operating system. We have also added support for connecting to ADO datasets.

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ADO Support – UDL

The new support for ADO includes the ability to create and use Microsoft based UDL files. A UDL File stands for universal data link (.udl) file is essentially a text file that contains the connection string for an OLE DB data source. This connection string can then be loaded into dBASE and used by the components and tools to connect to ADO data sources.

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Backgrounds and Textures

dBASE PLUS 8 has a wide range of new graphical features, that include Icons, Application Themes, new components, and also new textures. Developers can now use these textures to create modern looking interfaces that are very common today. These textures are used in the background property of the form and the product supports all common window sizes for easy application building.

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Drag and Drop SQL Builder

Completely redesigned, the SQL Designer can be used to quickly pull all of your data together in a visual way. You can see the relationships between each dataset, and create result sets that meet the true business needs of your application.

[button url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrPVMghnb_I&feature=share&list=PL0B0-JlQQm96yPyAnoFPGazgdyteCtcXs” bg=”EB1A22″ color=”FFF” bg_hover=”#EB1A22″ target=”blank”] View Video [/button]

Enhanced Project Navigation

One of the important features of an MDI interface, which dBASE PLUS 8 is based, is the ability to quickly find Windows, Wizard, tool windows in the interface. The new Window tab manager can be customized to the developer’s desire and really help find and manage open windows.

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High Precision Math

Implemented via 128 bit decimal floating point numbers that support up to 34 digits of precision. A decimal floating-point number is stored using a base 10 value, which reduces conversion errors that normally occur switching back and forth to base two floating-point values.

[button url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dRQ7zrDRDQ&feature=share&list=PL0B0-JlQQm96yPyAnoFPGazgdyteCtcXs” bg=”EB1A22″ color=”FFF” bg_hover=”#EB1A22″ target=”blank”] View Video [/button]

Included Glyfx Icons and Graphics

There is more to staying current than just maintaining functionality. While the user interface for dBASE PLUS 8 has itself been enhanced to look more modern, we realize that the applications dBASE users have created also need to be updated with the times. That is one reason dBase, LLC has partnered with Glyfx to provide a rich set of visually stunning graphics that can be used to enhance the look of any dBASE application.

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Modern Application Themes

The new IDE supports Microsoft’s themes, these are packaged colors, fonts, and window looks. The current themes supported in dBASE PLUS 8 include most of the standard themes using in Microsoft office 2007 and 2010.

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Project Explorer

The updated project file allows users to build applications with all needed resources (tables, forms, queries, bitmaps, and so on). In addition to keeping things organized, having a project file lets you Compile and build a project. It also allows you to set properties for the project as a whole and set properties for individual files. It will allow you to designate which file should be the first to open when your executable file is run.

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Revised Help System

Getting help when and where you need it is important to everyone. In dBASE PLUS 8 we have updated the content and enhanced the in app help system just as we have been expanding our available training solutions for dBASE users. Knowing how to get things done right in dBASE PLUS 8 is as important to us here at dBase, LLC as it is to you.

[button url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7h0Czx3Ang&feature=share&list=PL0B0-JlQQm96yPyAnoFPGazgdyteCtcXs” bg=”EB1A22″ color=”FFF” bg_hover=”#EB1A22″ target=”blank”] View Video [/button]

Tool Palette Docking Support

In addition to supporting themes inside of dBASE PLUS 8, it also support docking of tool windows. Therefore, tool windows like Component, Format, Fields, and the Inspector can now be docked to the sides of the screen, stacked on top of each other with a tab interface, or strategically laid out to the developer content. In addition to supporting tool windows, the product also supports movable menus as well.

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Updated Look and Feel

dBASE PLUS 8 now includes an updated and modernized interface. These additional features include new professional icons, updated wizard graphics, and support for Microsoft Themes. The product appearance has been updated as the new default theme is based on the black color scheme, which is configurable by the user at any time including while the product is running.

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Addition of ActiveX Controls

dBASE has always had the ability to run ActiveX controls since they were introduced by Microsoft. dBASE has started to add additional ActiveX controls to the product to fill-in areas of functionality that is currently missing from the standard components included in dBASE. The new controls are focused on areas people have requested: dJvClockX Control – A quick clock control for standing time management. Support both digital and analog look and feel, support Dates, and it also has full support for Alarms. dJvDriveComboX Control – This is a simple window Drive combobox. It will show all the registered drives on a system. Find and interact with those drives in a couple clicks. dJvDirectoryListBox Control – This is a Directory listing component and can be easily connected to the dJvDriveComboX component. This will allow for traversing a drive and directory on a registered drive. Many advanced features are included with its Properties, Methods, and Events. dJvFileListBoxX Control – dJvFileListBoxX is a file listbox that shows all of the files inside a particular directory on a registered drive. This component works very well with both the dJvDriveCombo Control and the dJvDirectoryListBox control. This component has many advanced features that are exposed from its Properties, Methods, and Events. dBASE also supports 3rd party ActiveX components. The .ocx or .dll that are accompanied with the ActiveX’s must be deployed with your application.

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Running on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

One of the biggest concerns on the minds of current dBASE users is the future. Will dBASE continue to work on future operating systems. With dBASE PLUS 8, we have certified that all major and minor features of the product continue to work well on Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 8.

Callbacks

A callback allows you to write a function or method in dBL code and setup a pointer to it that can be passed to an external program – such as Windows or the BDE or some other 3rd party software that supports callbacks. Callbacks can be used to notify your program of specific events occurring with an external program OR to allow your program to modify what an external program is doing.

Core Features

Build Options
Conversion Tools

These are included tools to help migrate from prior releases of dBASE.

Build Web Application

Specialized tools for building applications for the web.

Runtime Engine

Allows dBASE application exe’s to be deployed and run on user’s workstations, servers, and web-servers.

Just-In-Time Compiler

Compiles source code into a highly compact object code (also called “byte code”) either on demand or only when needed – prior to running it.

Integrated Debugger

A debugger that has a graphical user interface inside of the development environment and is a used to test and debug other programs (the ‘target’ program).

Virtual Machine Interpreter

A highly optimized interpreter for executing dBASE object code (byte code) that has been generated by the dBASE compiler.

Tool Features
Command Window

The Command window is used to directly execute one-line dBL commands. It is handy for testing simple expressions and immediately seeing the results in the results pane.

Navigator

The Navigator provides a visual way to create, locate, access, and open individual files. It also lets you establish your working directories and search paths.

Form Designer

The form design window is a visual design surface on which you position the components you need for your form, then set their properties in the Inspector and code their event handlers and other methods.

Report Designer

The report window is a visual design surface to which you drag and drop the components you need for your report, then set their properties in the Inspector.

Menu Designer

Building basic menus through the designers is a simple two-step process of adding items, then adding code to make the items do what you want them to do.

Label Designer

Use the Label designer to create labels and other reports that use more than one report band.

Source Code Editor

The Source editor lets you view or edit code for any dBASE Plus form, report, menu, query, data module, program, or any other type of text file.

OLE / COM / ActiveX support

3rd party libraries support for extending dBASE applications.

Data Manipulation
Table Designer

Use the Table designer to design or restructure a table.

Data Module Designer

The Data Module design window is a visual design surface for designing data modules that you can use in your forms, reports, and labels.

Data Access Classes(Session, Database, Query, Rowset, Field, StoredProc and Datamodule)

A set of non-visual classes that make working with databases easier.

ODBC Support

dBASE can interact with any ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivty) data source and manipulate its data.

Support for Native dBASE Tables (Levels 3,4,5 and 7)

Supports all dBASE DBF table structures from level 3 thru level 7.

Support for Paradox Data

dBASE can interact with Paradox data structures.

Support for FoxPro and Visual FoxPro Data

dBASE can interact with FoxPro and Visual FoxPro data structures.

Customize Solution
Visual Object Classes

A set of components that are visual in design and make creating Microsoft Windows applications fast and easy.

Operating System classes

A set of components that allow for simple integration to the underlying Operating System items like the File System.

xBASE language support

One of the first functional database programming languages that the dBASE product pioneered.

dBL (dBASE Language)

dBL (dBASE Language) is an object Oriented langague for building rich database applciations in dBASE.

Local SQL

Local SQL (sometimes called “client-based SQL”) is a subset of ANSI-92 SQL for accessing DB (Paradox) and DBF (dBASE) tables.

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