Version 8.11 Build 9182

This build of PxPlus adds a number of new features to the development suite as well as incorporates the enhancements included with Sage's v8.11 of ProvideX.

New with this build are an improved file system, better debugging tools, a spell checker interface, and a Windows service to monitor background tasks to name just a few.

The following is a more detailed list of PxPlus Exclusive features that have been included in this release.
(click here to view information on the prior build --9181)

General
  • SPELL CHECKER throughout much of the system
    An Internet based spell checker interface has been added to a number of the system utilities. This option of allows you to easily add the spell checker to all text input controls within your application. Five languages are currently provided: English, French, Spanish, German, and Dutch.
  • Dual mode NOMADS
    In order to ease the transition from the pre-V8 folder style Nomads designer to the new Property sheet based designer, PxPlus NOMADS has been enhanced to provide both modes of operation. The user can select either view from the Nomads 'Utilities' menu.
  • PREFIX FILE can now include IOLISTs
    The PREFIX file has been enhanced to allow not only the inclusion of the file pathname and option string, but also the IOLIST to be used when the file is opened with IOL=*. This option allows applications to emulate embedded IOLISTs on data files without the need to have them embedded within the file structure itself.
  • Enhanced VLR files provide Smaller/Faster files
    A new optional key tree structure has been provided with this release that not only reduces the size of VLR file by as much as 30%, but also reduces the number of IO required to lookup keys thereby improving performance.
Directives
  • PROPERTY HIDE and FUNCTION HIDE options for OOP
    Adding the HIDE keyword to a property of function/method definition causes it not to be displayed in the '* property/method list. This allows the developer to provide specific functionality that is not generally known.
  • MERGE OBJECT
    A new feature has been added to the OOPs that allow objects to merge properties and methods between instances of two distinct objects.
   
Functions
  • The CVS( ) function Code page conversion is now available on Unix/Linux
    Both Unix/Linux and Windows products now provide the ability to translate 8 bit characters based on their character set codepage.
  • DTE ( ) function resolution enhanced
    The DTE function has been enhanced to maintain additional accuracy when converting system time values.
  • FIN(0, "BLINKTIME"), FIN(0, "KEYBOARD"), and FIN (0, "RMOUSECOPY")
    The FIN function was extended to provide access to these new 'OPTION' mnemonic settings.
  • FIN(nn, "LCL_CTIME / LCL_MTIME / LCL_ATIME")
    These three new FIN functions value return file creation, modification, and last access time. Unlike their UTC_xxxxxx counterparts, the values returned are based on local time.
   
Mnemonics
  • Support for 'BB' mnemonic in Windows and the 'OPTION'("BLINKTIME", ..) mnemonic
    This build enables the use of the 'BB' and 'EB' mnemonics to cause both text and/or graphics to blink on a Windows device (Windows and WindX). In addition, a new 'Option' mnemonic has been provided to control the rate at which the blinking occurs.
  • 'OPTION'("FLASH", ..) mnemonic
    This new mnemonic allows a Windows based application to call attention to itself by flashing both its window frame/caption bar and its task bar icon. Options have been provided to enable the window to flash until disabled, or to enable the flash until the user brings the application into the foreground.
  • 'OPTION'("KEYBOARD", "hhhh") mnemonic
    This mnemonic can be sent to channel zero to switch the current keyboard layout on Windows (or WindX). This allows applications dynamic control over which keyboard layout to use.
  • 'OPTION'("RMOUSECOPY", ..) mnemonic
    This mnemonic has been added to provide text mode applications the ability to copy/paste text trough the use of the Right mouse button. If enabled the user can highlight and copy text from the text plane or select a popup menu option to paste data from the clipboard into the text mode application.
  • 'OPTION'("FRAME", ..) mnemonic enhanced
    This FRAME option now provides a new frame style: "SIZABLE". This will set the frame of the window to represent a resizable window.
   
Parameters
  • '>K' System parameter
    This system parameter controls the enhanced VLR Keyed file support mechanism. When enabled, the new Keyed file structure will be used.
  • '+M' System parameter (Unix/Linux only)
    This parameter enables millisecond accuracy for WAIT directives on Unix. Enabling it will allow systems, which allow this feature, to support wait time resolution of less than one second. Disabling it assure compatibility with older releases.
  • '+U' System parameter
    The WindX auto-download parameter has been enhanced to provide a new option, to download any outdated file accessed in the system library. This feature makes it easier to keep WindX workstation up-to-date on an as needed basis. Simply change a library program on the server and it will be auto-updated on the workstation.
   
Properties
  • 'ExcelStyle property for List views
    This property has been extended from its original implementation in Grids to include List views, allowing list views to display grid lines making visual alignment easier. In addition, both the Grid and Listview support two addition modes of grid lines: vertical only and horizontal only.
  • 'Loadpoint property for List/Drop boxes
    This system parameter controls the enhanced VLR Keyed file support mechanism.
  • 'ShowDropDown property for Drop boxes
    This drop box property can be used to access the display of the drop down list. When set to a 1 the drop list will be displayed. Setting this to a zero will cause the drop list to be collapsed. The current state of the drop list can be determined by reading this property.
   
Utilities
  • Text Mode debugger
    This command mode utility allows you to assume control of an active task to view its current state and debug it. It is a text mode equivalent to the debugger found in the Integrated Toolkit, which requires a graphical environment.
  • *PLUS/OBJ/WRAPUP
    This object can be used to establish wrapup logic to be executed when a program exits, a file is closed, or a number of other 'wrapup' style events occur.
  • *PLUS/WINUTL/SERVICE
    A new windows service has been added to provide UNIX/Linux 'inittab' functionality. This utility allows you to create a list of processes to be run and monitored. A command line utility has been added to clear program cache (internal and external)
  • KEYED LOAD enhancements
    The Keyed load directive/utility has been enhanced to remove any invalid data pages from a VLR file that it detects when doing a full reload (all keys). In addition, it no longer uses the existing key table making key rebuilds faster and more accurate.
   
Fixes and Minor Changes
  • @X(..) correction for Print statements (details)
  • Corrected problem accessing passworded files from Windows Query system (details)
  • Incorrect Keyed directive parameters were not detected/reported (details)
  • *conv.tbd utilities did not properly convert CVT of 16384 correctly (details)
  • ODBC interface would not open tables names which included qualifiers (details)
  • TCB(84) not properly reporting the status of the last OS command on Unix (details)
  • The '+5' system parameter did not properly format continuation lines. (details)
  • Reduced the potentials for GPFs caused by invalid VLR data file contents. (details)
  • Eliminated inconsistent output of Timed trace between Windows/Unix (details)
  • Added support of "G"lobal option for Slider controls (details)

Supplemental updates:

The following additional update(s) have also been released:

9182.1
  • Corrected and enhanced the value returned in function TCB(83) (details)
  • Resolved problem with the launching of [WDX]*viewer* when using the WindX plugin (details)
  • Corrected SCOANSI device driver for graphics characters (details)
  • Improved memory management when reading Serial files
  • Added support for the OBJ( ) function for Object Defined Controls
  • Increased maximum memory allowance for the START directive to 100MB
  • Corrected problem with suppressing Trace Display when running WindX
9182.2
  • Added 'ld', 'load' and 'windx' system commands
  • Corrected problem with handling OS interupts during TCP/IP IO on Linux
  • Created a new *plus/winutil/get_file_box routine to handle file opens
  • Enhanced the DEF ARG functionality to all ARG(0) to be re-defined
  • Increased default library record size for Nomads panel libraries to 4000 bytes
  • Corrected problem with Selectoffset/SelectLength in Rich Edit fields
  • Added DEF HWD and DEF LPG to the system
9182.3
  • Added ability to use _proplist$, _propsep$ and _propvalues$ against OOPs objects
  • Added separators between global variables in DUMP output
  • Applied temporary fix to chart control to avoid incorrect display on pie charts with zero values
  • Corrected problem with reading large amount of Clip board data using UTF-8 conversions
  • Corrected problem with package 20013 activations on Unix
  • Updated iNomads beta code
9182.4
  • Initial version 1.0 of iNomads
  • Added SETTRACE RECORD option to output record to system log file.
  • Enhanced OBJECT SERVER to intercept SYSTEM_HELP directive
  • Preserved 3D/4D setting for Graphical Frames
  • Added 'u' option to Buttons with 'W' option to disable underscore
9182.5
  • Minor changes to iNomads to better handle Signal only buttons and initial values
  • Correction to SelectLength/SelectOffset properties for RICH text fields
9182.6
  • Added support for %NOMAD_ENTER_TAB to iNomads plus enhanced DTE usage for built-in Calendar control
  • Enhanced iNomads templates to provide 'title.tpl' for dynamic panel title generation
  • Changed iNomads to use DTE(*) value for calendar month/day names instead of message library
  • Corrected Report writer error caused when outputing HTML on text mode device
  • Corrected Views system problem with duplicate data descriptions
  • Resolved problem WindX caching caused by issuing multiple START directives
  • Resolved memory usage conflict in the MSG function
  • Improved scrolling of List boxes and multi-lines in scrollable windows
  • Corrected ERR= branch logic when calling invalid/unknown method
9182.7
  • Added support for %NOMAD_ENTER_TAB to iNomads plus enhanced DTE usage for built-in Calendar control
  • Improved rendering of bitmaps within the GRID to yield better image quality.
9182.8
  • Added support for File Upload/Download to iNomads.
  • Added support for data access controls to the Report writer and Views subsystems based on Nomads Data Dictionary settings.
  • Provided a new %NOMAD_QRY_PRINT$ global variable to allow for the specification of a Query print utility (details)
  • Added a 4th parameter the Query Printer setup routine (details)
  • Enhanced display options for iNomads to enable better Query, window rendering, and printer selections.
  • Corrected logic in system to allow files opened while XF was enabled to be accessed once XF is reset
  • Corrected parsing of AIX 'ps' command used in construction of debug process list
  • Added *WINPRT* and WINPRT_SETUP support to object server interface
  • Added 'Currentvalue$ property to grid to return the value of the current cell
  • Improved handling of DIR= with using MySql
  • Improved rendering of images in Cells of the grid control
  • Corrected Error branch logic for invalid method call.
9182.9