Appeon Mobile Beta3

** Hot News **

Appeon Corporation releases Appeon Mobile Beta #3

   Appeon Mobile Beta 3.0 is available now!  This is another much in a series of anticipated Release Candidate versions! Beta 3.0 also represents that Appeon Mobile is practically ready to go to market! This is your last chance to give Appeon feedback that we will be incorporated into the final release, which is scheduled for April 30. Appeon Corporation is also now accepting pre-orders for Appeon Mobile sp that you will receive a special early-adopter 30% discount for a limited time! 

• Highlights of What’s New in Beta 3:
  1. 2X faster performance and memory improvement
  2. Supports more iOS APIs, e.g. camera, barcode reader, etc.
  3. Encrypts data communication using SSL
  4. Can create standalone IPA files
  5. Deploys to either Java or .NET servers
  6. And more…

New PB Features

• Upper and Lower String functions are supported.
• DragAuto property for all controls is supported.
• KeyDown event will be triggered when Done is tapped in the iOS virtual keyboard.
• Appeon FileService object is supported.

New Appeon Developer Features

• Native mobile app package tool: allows users to package the mobile application as a standalone application that can be built into an IPA file using the Apple Xcode
• tool
• PBT/PBL list auto check: automatically detects if new PBLs have been added to the PBT and updates the PBL list.
• Config Wizard/Configure tool enhancements: adds new options such as device type, app display name, and new PBT display style.
• Appeon Developer supports Windows XP , Vista, 7, and 8

New Appeon WorkSpace Features

• SSL verify & SSL verify host: supports SSL peer verification and host verification to ensure data safety.
• Close All Apps: supports closing all applications that are running in the foreground and background in Appeon Workspace.
• Redesigned icons to be more intuitive.
• Other usability improvements to Appeon Workspace.

 New Mobile API's

• New functionality for Media, Camera, Notification, Barcode, and Device

For more information ... visit Appeon's website!

 Regards ... Chris

PowerBuilder Education

** Hot News **

Free PowerBuilder Education

   Yes, you read that correctly ... free PowerBuilder online education classes along with various testing mechanisms to make sure that you understand the materials. While the materials are based on older PB versions, the principles are 100% applicable to today's latest PowerBuilder versions - including PB.Net!

   So stop fretting about trying to attend an over-priced SAP/Sybase education class or paying significant dollars to 3rd party training companies that are just going to give you the same information. Instead, have a look at this comprehensive list of subject materials that you can explore that cover an extensive array of the IDE's features. These PowerBuilder courses are available from Hyerabad Colleges on the web - for more information - click here!

Regards ... Chris

Appeon Mobile - One-on-One

Appeon Mobile - Native Device Support

Mano et Mano

  The new Appeon Mobile Beta2 provides a set of new Non-Visual User Objects (NVUO) that facilitate the Mobile PowerBuilder Application's introspection and interaction of the iOS device it is deployed to. These great new extension features allows the PB application to communicate to:  the iOS device; Appeon Work Space (AWS); Camera; Connection (network); Device Manager; Media; Notification, and Recorder.

iOS Device

  Appeon Mobile has added to the "appeonextfuncs" NVUO that existed before in the Appeon Web product. Appeon have extended its capabilities on Mobile side. We can now get the state of the environment where the application is running. The value of the client type equals "PB" indicating running in native mode (win32) and the value "Web" indicates inside a Web Browser" - with a new value "Mobile" that indicates (for now) running on an iOS device.
The Cache Directory which is for web application where the browser is caching your temporary files is now showing the local iOS caching area. Like the Web environment, we can see common items such as IP Address, Server IP, Server Type (the value 2 above indicates .Net based), etc. The O/S type now shows the Apple O/S plus its version - which is nice for system-to-system controls from my frameworks point-of-view.

Appeon Work Space

    The AWS object named "eon_mobile_awsex" allows your PB application to introspect the AWS run-time on the device to provide some interesting feedback on how your PB application is interacting with the business user.  For example: the state of the touch bar, the AWS's orientation (portrait versus landscape), the project and server the application is running from, if the device's rotation lock is active, the version of the AWS as just an example. These items can be useful in finding out how the user is holding the device and what type of rotational activity is happening. These things can be very useful in system-to-system controls, resizing, feature control, etc for your PB powered iOS application.

Camera

   The iOS's Camera can be accessed and controlled from the "eon_mobile_cameraex" NVUO. The object allows the PB application to open the photo repository and select an image for viewing or even launch the camera to take a photo or video.Inside the NVUO are simple function like "of_takeFile" that launches the camera or "of_openalbums" to view your video or photo album. If you do select a video, photo or activate the camera - the corresponding file name is returned to the PB application for further processing.

Connection

   The Connection NVUO - eon_mobile_connectionex - allows the PB application to introspect the network connection being used which can be: WiFi, Eithernet, 2G, 3G, None or Unknown. This allows the PB application to determine whether a high speed LAN is being used, a cell tower connection or a standard WiFi link.

Device

   The eon_mobile_deviceex NVUO allows your PB application to determine important device settings like DPI; Device Name, Platform, Orientation, Screen size; Memory usage, etc, This information can be important to your mobile application in resizing items properly, knowing if you are running on an tablet versus smart phone, if free memory is getting low and transactions in progress need to be saved or closed, recording and logging important information that might be used in remote debugging application problems from the in field device, etc.

Media

   The eon_mobile_mediaex NVUO allows your iOS based PB application to load either video or photographic information from the devices repository. Simple commands like "of_play" will allow your application to play instructional videos that give the user detailed information about using your application or just play videos that pertain the nature of your business application.

Notification

   The iOS operating system can interact with the device user via its "notification" feature that is implemented as a "Window Blind" feature. The eon_mobile_notificationex NVUO allows the PB application for format a notification message and then add this to the Window Blind. The business user can then read and delete the message or other NVUO functions allow the PB application to automatically remove a specific notification from the system under program control. This is very similar to the "Notification Bubble" feature of the old Windows CE operating system

Recorder

  The eon_mobile_recorderex NVUO allows the PB Mobile application to invoke the audio recording feature of the iOS device to record a message. The NVUO can also be used to access the device's repository of recordings to select and play a selected recording.


   The Appeon Mobile product in allowing low level iOS feature control really sets the bar to integrate more device features into your business applications. To the business user, this integration can be a key to unlocking the real usefulness of the PB application. The more the PB application can interrelate to the divices features - the better the iOS application experience can be achieved.

   The Appeon Mobile Beta2 release is already unlocking the Power of PowerBuilder on the iOS devices. This amazing technology should easily propel your developers to a new corporate level to implement high quality applications on the mobility platforms!

   The STD Foundation Classes are already being integrated with these features and have released an Appeon Mobile Device Test example application. You can download the free framework and sample Device Test application at the FC Project home on the SourceForge website ...  http://sourceforge.net/projects/stdfndclass



Regards ... Chris











 

PBTV - April, 2013

** Hot News **

Upcoming webinars on PowerBuilderTV

April, 2013 

 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 8:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) - 17h00 CET (Paris) Developing Developers We are all aware that PowerBuilder is currently out of vogue. IT managers, when weighing the future of their mission enterprise critical PowerBuilder applications, consider the current shortage of qualified PowerBuilder developers to be a negative factor. One viable, but not often considered approach, is to hire Java or C# enabled talent and train them in PowerBuilder. In this presentation, SAP Mentor Yakov Werde will show how eLearnITs web based "Complete PowerBuilder Series", addresses the PowerBuilder developer shortage through its cost effective and efficient PowerBuilder eTraining series.. Presenter: Yakov Werde

Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 8:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) - 17h00 CET (Paris) How to Develop Mobile Apps with Appeon Mobile This live Webcast will walk you through the process of configuring, developing, and deploying your mobile project with Appeon Mobile for PowerBuilder. You will learn how to configure your application target, configure application server connection cache, identify PowerBuilder features unsupported on mobile devices, and deploy your application as a native mobile app on an iPad or iPhone. This will be followed by a Q&A session at the end. This session is highly recommended for those considering or planning on using Appeon Mobile to develop cross-OS native mobile apps. Presenter: Armeen Mazda

Regards ... Chris

 

WSSG

** Hot News **

Web Service Structure Generator

    Software Tool & Die Inc (STD) are pleased to announce a new free utility for automatically generating PowerBuilder structures for use when building .Net based web services. The Web Service Structure Generator (WSSG) utility is designed to compliment the STD Web Service Foundation Classes (framework) specifically work with PowerBuilder Classic. 

    The generator starts by introspecting any PBL (PowerBuilder Library) to see a list of DataWindow objects contained within. The WS PB developer can point the utility to any MS-Windows folder that may contain a PBL. From there, the generator displays a list of DataWindow Objects (DWO) contained in the selected PBL. Any SQL or External based DWO can be used to build a set of structures for to use in constructing an XML based result set. 

WSSG utility in action!

  For .Net based web services you need to build two structures. One that maps any DWO's primary buffer and a second structure that houses the first. The WSSG can build both structures by selecting the "generate parent structure" option on the lower left hand side of the "Structure Builder" screen. Once the DWO and parent structure option are selected, the "Generate" command button will allow the developer to select the target folder where the WSSG will build actual PowerBuilder object source code for the desired structure(s).

  For the Login DWO shown above, lets enter the structure name "login" when we select the "generate" command button. This will build two stuctures: "login" and "logins". The first login structure is the DWO primary buffer mapping and the next "logins" structure will house the first structure conforming to the XML standards required to define a Web Services result set.

  Once the two structures are built by the WSSG utility, all the PB developer needs to do to ready the structures for "action" is to use the RHMB on any PBL and select the "Import" menu option. This will now transfer the structures into working PB objects for use with the WS Foundation Class framework.

Actual WSSG generated structure

   I have now uploaded the new WSSG utility to the SourceForge website where you can download the utility for free use. I have also updated my latest "Web Services Test" application located in the Appeon Mobile beta framework area. Don't let the location fool you as this example Web Service client application can demonstrate a standard PB Client native windows application consuming the WS NVUO built from the WS framework. It can also build and deploy an Appeon Web and Appeon Mobile test client application that will test the WS NVUO as well.

   For the free WSSG utility and WS framework, please follow this link (click here). I hope all PB developers world wide can benefit from the WSSG utility and WS framework!

Enjoy ... Chris

Going Mobile?

Discover what PowerBuilder Projects are working on.

The final Mobile Survey results for 2012 are in…

Did you know that 65% of PB developers who filled out the survey are more interested in building native mobile apps than HTML ones? That 34% of these developers are more interested in having PowerBuilder features for their application than multi-device support.

Fill out this year’s survey to find out the full results!

Fill it in!

Check out PowerBuilderTV for our upcoming webinars, including:
How to install Appeon Mobile ...

The revolutionary solution for taking your PowerBuilder Applications Mobile.

 Visit PowerBuilderTV

Regards .... Chris

PBTV March, 2013

** Hot News **

Upcoming webinars on PowerBuilderTV

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 9:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) - 17h00 CET (Paris) Is the DataWindow Just For Displaying Rows and Columns? … Are You Sure? DataWindows are mostly used for displaying data in different kinds of presentation styles like grid, tabular, tree view etc. The DataWindow also has another great property: displaying shapes like rectangles, circles, etc. Moreover, these shapes can be created at runtime. In this presentation, Sonat Karakas of Turkcell will talk about creating shapes in a DataWindow, creating them dynamically and techniques for storing them in a database. At the end of the presentation, he will move up a notch by looking at displaying a server rack, showing its slots and painting them in different colors according to their usage status. Presenter: Sonat Karakas

Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 8:00 AM PDT (Los Angeles) - 16h00 CET (Paris) How to Install Appeon Mobile Beta 2 This live Webcast will walk you through the process of properly installing Appeon Mobile Beta 2 on a Windows 7 development machine. You will learn how to install .NET Framework 4, Microsoft IIS Server, and Appeon Mobile Beta 2. We will also highlight common configuration mistakes as well as how to properly configure your hotspot so your iPad or iPhone can connect to your local development machine. This will be followed by a Q&A session at the end. This session is highly recommended for those interested in trying Appeon Mobile beta or final release. If you would like to sign up for the Beta Program before attending the webinar you can do so here. Presenter: Armeen Mazda

• Don't forget to check out their archive of past webinars!

Regards ... Chris

Good-bye Sybase News Groups

** Hot News **

--------------------------- From the Sybase News Groups -----------------------------

The NNTP forums from Sybase - forums.sybase.com - will be closing down to new postings on March 28, 2013. 

After more than 10 years of service, it is time for SAP and Sybase to close down the NNTP forums. These forums have served as an important communication medium between you, our valuable customers, and us for a long time. Like all technologies, however, the NNTP protocol is now better served by other newer protocols and systems. So, with the migration to SAP, we have decided to close down the NNTP server (forums.sybase.com). 

All the posts in these forums will be copied and stored in an archive at http://nntp-archive.sybase.com. 

All new questions should be directed to the appropriate forum at the SAP Community Network (SCN), found at http://scn.sap.com. Over the next few days our employees and members of TeamSybase will be posting product specific URL's to Developer Centers and other areas in SCN. If you would like to get started immediately, go to http://scn.sap.com and search for your product in the search box (upper right corner) to find your specific developer center. 

All of us here at Sybase, TeamSybase, and SAP would like to thank all of you for your valuable contributions, questions, and insights. We look forward to hearing from you at our new home on SCN! Sybase Newsgroup Administration

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good-bye old friend!

Regards ... Chris

Web Service Framework

** Hot News **

PB Classic Web Service Framework

    Software Tool & Die Inc are please to announce the release of their new STD Foundation Classes for IIs (STD FC IIs). The new IIs framework is solely targeted to helping PowerBuilder Classic developers, develop .Net based Web Services deployed to IIs. The new IIs based framework  - while taking advantage of RAD techniques - employes an MVC (Model, View, Controller) architecture for superior performance, flexibility and extendability. All the STD frameworks are free and can be downloaded from its STD Foundation Classes SourceForge project website.

    The Web Service framework while greatly improving the PB developer's productivity also includes these types of features to help with RAD based projects:

• Helps the PB developer to Implement "stateless" programming
• Does DBMS transaction management automatically
• Manages DataStores for you automatically
• Manages DB updates for you automatically
• Facilitates  MVC design & programming
• Provides Encryption / Decryption servicesProvides extended numerical services (ie: And / Or / Xor / Xand / etc features to PowerScript
• Provides Result Set generation for any data
• Provides HTML generation for any data
• Allows STMP eMail generation
• and much more!

    The STD IIs FC's are a port of the EAServer version - originally designed from the PocketPC code-line - with a hybrid adaptation of Web.PB and ASP/ASP.net alignment. The interesting thing about these classes is the "small" footprint and exceptional speed at which it operates. On one IIs Server, where every CPU cycle is precious, the FC's have proven heir worth. Now you can enjoy a  "Light" version of the PFC without the heavy learning curve or high compile overhead. The STD IIs FC's will compile to less than 80K (PBD form) compared to nearly 12M for the Sybase PFC's which can not even be used within IIs for Web Services!

   The IIs version of the framework is also complimented by its PB Classic versions for the Win32, Winform and WebForm application platforms plus the Appeon Web & Mobile application platforms as well! This fully extends a "consistent" framework approach to the web browser, tablets, smartphones, and native windows client applications that can now fully utilize PB based web services back end NVUO's in an n-tier archtecture. This allows PB Classic developers to be productive in all of these above mentioned technology areas!

Example application running in Appeon Web consuming NVUO Web Service

   Along with the IIs based framework, STD has released a sample "Web Service" application housed in the Appeon Mobile section. The WS Test application demonstrates a) an actual example MVC web service NVUO built from the FC's that deploys to IIs - plus, b) a PB Win32, Winform client that comsumes the WS and that can also be deployed to Appeon Web or Appeon Mobile to demonstrate its interaction from those environments as well.

Example application running on my actual iPhone accessing WS NVUO

  This marks another mile stone for me as an original Beta tester on PB Alpha release 0.8 (Nov 1989) to PB 12.1.x and now 12.5.x in 2013 without missing a Beta cycle. Please enjoy the STD IIs FC's for PB web services ... I hope you find them as fun to use as I had in building them!  :-)


Regards   ... Chris

Chris Pollach (Author STD FC's)
President - Software Tool & Die Inc.
aka: Great White North Technical Evangelist ("Power" ON!)