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                    *                                   *
                    *          DB/C Newsletter          *
                    *           October 2005            *
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                              News and Comments

     DB/C DX 14 has been released.  Thanks to all of you who have helped
with beta testing.  It has been a long process, but the new software was
worth the wait.  This month's newsletter gives an overview of the features
that are new in DB/C DX 14.0.

                                                     don.wills@dbcsoftware.com

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                                DB/C DX 14.0

     DB/C DX 14.0 has a variety of new features.  Many of the new features
are related to GUI programming.  Other new features are associated with Smart
Client, with the DDT development process, and with printing.

     The two most important new features are the addition of two new GUI
controls - the table control and the popbox control.

     The table control provides a long sought after way to do tabular data
entry.  The typical usage is in an order entry situation where there is
header information and detail (or line item) information.  The table control
is perfect for data entry for the detail information.  The table control
consists of titled columns with scrollable detail lines below.  Cells in
the table can contain text, dropbox, popbox and checkbox controls.

     The popbox control looks similar to a dropbox control, but operates
much differently.  The visual difference is that a popbox has an arrow that
points upward in the right side of the control where the dropbox has a
downward pointing arrow.  When you select popbox, the only automatic action
is that a message is sent to the associated queue variable.  The intended
purpose is for the programmer to then display a dialog which allows for a
more sophisticated browsing/choosing mechanism than is provided with a
standard dropbox list.

     Probably most the most universally useful new feature in DB/C DX 14.0
is the ability to specify multiple commands in a single CHANGE statement.
Here is an example:

     CHANGE DLG, "gray10,11,12,available20,unmark21,text22";DIM80

In addition to being easier for a programmer to write and maintain code,
this new feature can improve performance in a Smart Client environment.

     GRAYALL and AVAILABLEALL are new change resource commands that make
all controls gray or available, respectively.

     The new ICONITEM control allows for menu items that contain icons.
The new ICONSUBMENU control allows for submenus that contain icons.
The new CHECKITEM control should be used for menu items that will be
checked.  The existing ITEM control should be used for menu items that
will not be checked.  To allow for backward compatibility, ITEM controls
are checkable with the Windows runtime or Windows Smart Client.

     The icon displayed in an ICONPUSHBUTTON can now be modified with a
CHANGE statement.

     Left, center and right justification can now be specified in the prep
string that defines EDIT, LEDIT and FEDIT controls.

     The text of a TAB item can be changed with a CHANGE statement.

     The CHANGE ERASE command now works for VTEXT, RVTEXT and CVTEXT
controls.

     When using Smart Client, the runtime will now time out and terminate
the currently running program if the connection between the client and the
server appears to be broken for more than 60 seconds.

     The CLOCK UI statement can now provide the user interface info.
CLOCK UI returns "GUI", "CUI", "GSC" or "CSC" ("SC" means Smart Client).

     The LOAD statement for images now supports PNG image files.

     Graphical printing now allows for printing of dots, circles, boxes,
rectangles and triangles for PDF output and Windows printers.

     The print paper bin can now be controlled with the *FB control code 
in the print statement.  This works for PCL output and Windows printers.

     The exist utility now allows for optionally searching the image
file path.

     Eclipse 3.1.x is required for DDT to operate correctly.

     The DDT project can be set up to automatically send compiled output
(.dbc files) to a remote computer via ssh.  This is useful for development
where the target (testing or deployment) computer remote.  Remote debugging
can now be done through a firewall.

     The DDT icon editor now supports up to 256 by 256 pixel icons.

     A folder can be marked in a DDT project to contain programs, includes
or other, ignoring the file extension.

     The Ctrl + / keyboard action marks and unmarks the selected line
or lines as comments.  The TODO, FIXME and CODE keywords in comments now
display in the Tasks View.

     An Export button is provided in the DDT launcher which allows the
configuration information to be stored in a file in the dbcdx.cfg format.

     Hopefully these new features will be useful in your applications.
As always, feedback privately or publicly via dbctalk is welcome.

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                          DB/C DX Class Schedule

   Class:     DB/C DX Fundamentals
   Date:      January, 2006
   Location:  Woodridge, Illinois

For information, send email to admin@dbcsoftware.com.


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