A component to export the structure file
Thanks to 4D v17 R3, you can export your structure file in multiple text files. For example, with only a few lines of code you can create a copy of your database every morning. You can use this to keep track of the history or to send your database to a colleague and see the changes when they’re done working on it.
We provide you a ready-to-use component with only two methods: one to configure the data to be exported, and the other to export your database.
Better documents with two new attributes
To produce a nice document, you need to respect some typesetting rules and fundamentals. For example, the grammar, spelling, and structure of your document shows the quality of your text. One of these rules concerns the distribution of paragraphs and tables over multiple pages.
4D Write Pro offers you two options to manage paragraph distribution:
- Avoid page break inside paragraphs or tables, and
- Avoid widows and orphans for paragraphs or tables.
Let’s dig into more details.
Improving databases tests
As a developer, you’re aware that improving the quality of your developments is often based on unit tests. In order to launch these tests, developers and QA teams need tools to launch 4D databases in different modes (single user / client-server) and distinct environments (Macintosh / Windows).
4D products can already be launched using command line parameters to allow automatic testing or deployment. What if you want to create your own update mechanism or you need to handle a server farm with hundreds of 4D Servers running? Maybe you want to specify which database file to use – or pass parameters on launch …
Use your own icons in 4D for iOS
As we’ve seen in the last two 4D for iOS blog posts (data formatters and the creation of custom templates), 4D for iOS is becoming more feature-rich with each version. This provides more options when building your 4D for iOS applications. In this blog post, we’ll look at how you can use your own icons for more personalized apps.
Migrate 4D Write documents stored in picture fields
4D Write Pro has become a mature product with a lot of functionalities, surpassing the 4D Write plug-in in many areas (tables and bookmarks, for example). Furthermore, 4D Write Pro is 64-bits compliant, which is great since most operating systems will soon be 64-bits only. Migrating your documents from 4D Write to 4D Write Pro is a “must do”. In order to help you and your customers’ migrations, we’ve simplified the migration process with a ready-to-use component!
Page layout in 4D Write Pro
When creating a document, you need to define the page size, orientation, and margins. Starting with v17 R3, you can do all this by programming. And for that, new attributes are at your disposal.
Get info about the running application
4D v17 R3 takes your database analysis a step further by enabling you to create a customized server administration dialog. Following the ability to retrieve information about users & processes, getting all runtime information about 4D Web server, getting details about the active license, and getting all of the hardware and system details, you now also have the ability to retrieve the activity and network configuration of the running database.
Do you need to know on which IP address and port the database is listening, if communications between the client and the server are encrypted, or if the legacy network layer is used? Just call the new command, Get application info. And that’s not all! This command also returns information about the database such as: the amount of CPU used, the time since its been started, and the list goes on.
Convert classic 4D forms to dynamic forms
Your forms may need to be changed depending on your customer or user needs. For example, the color black might be perfect for one user but not so much for another user (who sees blue as the ultimate perfection). Luckily, dynamic forms (introduced with 4D v16 R6) are here to help you handle your users’ preferences. But rewriting an existing form to a dynamic form could be a difficult task, and it’s not always easy to start with a blank page. Ideally, it’d be best to have a draft that can be modified and improved. With 4D v17 R3, it’s now possible to easily convert a classic 4D form (stored in .4DB file) to a dynamic form.
Happy halloween 2018!
Have a spook-tacular Halloween, and a hauntingly good time hunting 4D-elightful treats!
Compatibility settings – Nested Transactions (Part 3)
Welcome to our ongoing series about compatibility settings and “hidden” features for improved performance. In the first post, we looked at the QUERY BY FORMULA command and its impact on an application’s behavior. The second post was about the “Use period and comma as placeholders” compatibility option to avoid running into “the numbers are displayed as >>>>>>>>>” hassle.
In this third installment, we’re going to explore Nested Transactions.
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